Response to T.C. Boyle's "The Love Of My Life"

         It takes a particular piece to honestly hold my attention for the entire durations of the piece, but T.C. Boyle’s “The Love Of My Life” did an almost surprising job at it. The title almost instantly turned me off, something about two lovers seems horribly overdone. But the plot and style used in this piece flipped my perspective, and despite the awful, tragic horridness of the events in the story, I appreciate the descriptions and often times short sentences that enhance the story. 

The first few pages were a bit slow developing and almost lured me in to the trap of being just another young love story. After the description of the couples relationship and brief, yet interesting, description of their current life, it became something I have never read. Boyle uses seems to use sexual innuendoes throughout the entire piece, no t just in the obvious spots. For example, page 138, the last paragraph starts “...they didn’t bother with clothes at all.” This happens to be right before the brief sex scene, an effective use and something that I noticed only after reading it twice. I’m not sure I have used these before in my work, but I would like to test its effectiveness.

Another consistent practice I notice throughout the entire piece is the vivid descriptions,most of which are used when it matters most. A few examples: when China is crying on the edge of the bed in the motel room when the boyfriend tells her she has to “get rid of it,” also when the actual crime is committed behind the hotel, the author paints the scene very horrific and almost sadistic-like. I am fan of using dark and eerie scenes, but these were as awful as it gets. Not written badly,they actually worked effectively with the entire mood and point of the story, but written in a way that proved the point of how China and Jeremy honestly convinced themselves they had done nothing wrong. By emphasizing the awfulness of something, and then having China go back to her dorm like nothing happened was an extremely effective point.

Another moment that demonstrated great emotion was when the narrator tells us that Jeremy honestly knew in his heart that the baby was alive when he put it in the dumpster. This is something I want to use in my future stories, this inset emotion you cannot shake, something that will not go away, a similar feeling to when something bad happens and you know you could have prevented it or made it less traumatic. 

Overall this story surprised me, both by the thought process the main characters used and by being able to keep my attention threw descriptive situations and meaningful dialogue.