Review: The Emerald Light in the Air Novel by Donald Antrim

     The Emerald Light in the Air is an novel written by Donald Antrim and can be found at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/02/03/the-emerald-light-in-the-air in 2018. The story starts with a man called Billy French who had lost his parents and his love marriage with another man. It make him a bit depression because he always remind memories about Julia, his love. One day in the rain, at night billy drove a car. He wanted to throw the painting which given by Julia, because that painting always remind memories about her. In the way to throw that painting, he was flashback about Julia and lost his focus until his car trap at the river. A little boy found him and he expect that Billy was a doctor. He brought Billy to his house which theres is a women who sick there. A little boy with his brother come back into the river which tried to brought billy’s car back to his house. Billy tried to help his mother. Then, when they was comeback, billy took his car and just left for and he canceled to meet someone. Someone that he canceled to meet is Marry who is his junior highschool friend. At the end, he keep julia’s painting and do not want to throw that.

  

        I think this short story is presented the character only focus with one character, Billy French, of this story to make the reader easy to understand the story. “In less than a year, he’d lost his mother, his father, and, as he’d once and sometimes still felt Julia to be, the love of his life…”.” (The Emerald Light in the Air, page 2). According to Walsh (2018) explainded that the most short stories focus on one character, so the key of short stories is to focus on developing one character at most to maket he readers understand with the story. . It means the author have already described the important elements of character which presented the character only focus with one character, Billy French, of this story to make the reader easy to understand the story..

Moreover, I also think this short story is presented the setting in a good way which explained the place clearly enough until i think the readers can visualize ‘where’ and ‘when’ this story happen. “It was a humid Saturday morning. Thunderstorms had come through in the early hours after dawn, but now the rain and wind had passed, and sunlight lit the puddles on the road and the silver roofs of the farmhouses and barns that flickered into view between the trees, as he steered the ancient blue Mercedes—it had been his father’s, and his grandfather’s before that—across the county he’d grown up in.” (The Emerald Light in the Air, page 2). According to Maxwell (2014) explained that the setting of the story must give us a picture of where the story is taking place and when it’s taking place and gives the reader a better sense of the story. It means the author have already described the important elements which the setting of the place clearly enough until i think the readers can visualize ‘where’ and ‘when’ on this short story.

However, I think this short story is un-recommended for the readers at the young age, because this story a plot which too complex for children to understand.

The combination with a bit limitation age for the readers makes this short story still recommended to read for the readers, because this story have to great moral value at the end of the story. It showed when Billy want to throw away Julia’s painting then meet Marry after that, but there’s an accident with him then make him changed his mind to not throw away the julia’s painting and not meet to Marry. He realize that Marry only his another girl. Billy ever felt depression that he want to kill his self twice. Then after he met the mother of the child he can learn that life is meaningful for everyone. He still can be a helper even without anyone he have.

REFERENCES:

Maxwell, John. 2014. The settings of the short story Retrieved from https://vixstories.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/the-setting-of-short-story/ on May 30, 2018

Walsh, E. M. 2018. HOW TO WRITE A SHORT STORY OUTLINE. Retrieved from https://www.emwelsh.com/blog/short-story-character-development on May 30, 2018