On the face of it, it seemed like just another service--innovative, revolutionary, monstrous, call it whatever you want but when you came right down to it, Second Chance was the greatest economic success story of the twenty-first century. Unlike most great ideas, which tend to be quite simple, the idea behind Second Chance was a bit more complicated: Second Chance gave you the opportunity to go to one particular critical moment in your life, and instead of having to choose either one road or the other, you could continue along both.
from “Second Chance” by Etgar Keret, translated by Miriam Shlesinger
Etgar Keret’s contribution to the Watchlist anthology makes a perfect companion piece to T. C. Boyle’s story, “The Relive Box.” Both deal with regret and missed opportunities, and both are terrific pieces of fiction, sharp as icepicks which skewer our pretensions through and through. I'm a long-time fan of Keret’s flash fiction and “Second Chance” is right up there with the creme de la creme of his canon. It moves swift as a lightning round on a game show and makes its point sure as a preacher jabbing his finger at his congregation. He had me pinned to the page...all the way to the Keretian punchline at the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment