In the Language of Love Read online

  The splendid terrors of daily life are like the power of gravity: invisible and inevitable, infinitely more dangerous than other more apparent enemies. Also reliable, dependable, and undeniable.

  gravity n. 1. the state or condition of being grave; esp. a) dignity or sedateness of conduct or demeanour; earnestness, b) ominous quality; danger or threat, c) seriousness of a situation. 2. weight; heaviness; authority. 3. terrestrial gravitation; force that tends to draw all bodies in the earth’s sphere toward the center of the earth.

  Only a fool would presume to be fearless, weightless, free. There are many things in life worth being afraid of. The trick lies in knowing what they are. There are fears you will grow out of and fears you will grow into. No matter what kind of life you are living, there is the dialectic of faith and fear which will turn you inside out eventually and then you will know how to begin.

  Gordon’s car creeps round the corner. Samuel stands at the end of the driveway, waving his father home. Joanna waves too but she might as well be teetering on the edge of a crater on the moon, on the shores of the Sea of Tranquillity perhaps, which even now is filling up with snow.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  The Kent-Rosanoff Word Association Test originally appeared in their article, “A study of association in insanity,” in American Journal of Insanity (1910).

  The definitions in 83. LOUD are from The Synonym Finder by J. I. Rodale (Warner Books, New York, 1978). Historical information was verified in The 20th Century: The Pictorial History (Hamlyn Publishing Group, London, 1990) and Timelines by Paul Dickson (Addison-Wesley, 1990). I have also quoted from the Dell Crossword Yearbook (Bantam Doubleday Dell, New York, 1991); Mastering Effective English (Tressler-Lewis, Third Edition, Copp Clark Publishing, Toronto, 1961); 501 French Verbs by Christopher Kendris (Third Edition, Barron’s, 1990); What Counts: The Complete Harper’s Index (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1991); “One Hundred Ways To Save Our Environment” by Harvey Schachter in The Kingston Whig-Standard, and Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers (Avenel Books, Barre Publishing, New York).

  9. MOUNTAIN appeared in different form as a story called “Still Life With Lover” in paragraph, Volume 13, Number 1, 1991. Six other chapters have been previously published as excerpts in slightly different form: 14. HAND in Quarry, Volume 41, Number 3, Summer 1992; 16. FRUIT in The Moosehead Anthology, Number 13, 1992; 30. WINDOW in What!, Numbers 31 & 32, Fall 1992; 45. TROUBLE in Prairie Fire, Volume 13, Number 2, Summer 1992; 60. BIBLE and 95. SALT in Quarry, Volume 42, Number 3, Fall 1993.

  I would like to thank the Ontario Arts Council for their generous financial support. For the many other forms of support given duringthe writing of this book, I would also like to thank Carla Douglas and Jim Kane, Bella Pomer, Colleen Dempsey, John Metcalf, Michael Carbert, Nora Gold, and Walter Cipin of Wayfarer Books. I am especially thankful to George Schoemperlen, my father, and Alexander, my son, for their patient and sustaining love.

  About the Author

  DIANE SCHOEMPERLEN has published five collections of short stories, the most recent of which, Forms of Devotion, won the Governor General's Award for Fiction. Her earlier collection, The Man of My Dreams, was shortlisted for the same award and for a Trillium Award. Her work has appeared widely in anthologies and literary magazines, including Ms. and Story. She lives in Kingston, Ontario, with her son, Alexander.

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  More Praise for The Language of Love

  “ …one of the most imaginative [novels] in recent memory.”

  The Globe and Mail

  “One of the finest montages of language to head south from Canada since Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing …with this novel Schoemperlen triumphantly establishes her literary credentials.”

  Publishers Weekly

  “ …beautifully written and brimming with complexity …. an impressive debut.”

  Boston Globe

  “Pure delight from beginning to end …”

  London Free Press

  “ …as notable for its clever and original structure as for its emotional resonance …we [are] thrilled by her quicksilver prose, warm humor, sexiness, precision and tenderness.”

  Booklist

  Copyright

  IN THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE: A NOVEL IN 100 CHAPTERS

  Copyright © 1994, 2000 by Diane Schoemperlen.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

  EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-1-443-40108-1

  http://www.harpercanada.com

  First published in hardcover by HarperCollins: 1994

  First HarperPerennialCanada edition

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  Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

  Schoemperlen, Diane

  In the language of love: a novel in 100 chapters

  1st HarperPerennialCanada ed.

  “A Phyllis Bruce book.”

  I S B N 0-00-648544-8

  I. Title.

  PS8587.C457815 2000 C813’.54 C99-933099-3

  PR9199.3.S26715 2000

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  01 02 03 04 RRD 6 5 4 3 2

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