‘Shot of Short’ #11: The Accident
October 13, 2008 by Rob
Filed under 100 Shots of Short
Title: The Accident by Mavis Gallant
Date Read: 12 October 2008
Available Online?: NO
Briefly: A story about a young Canadian couple who stop briefly in a small French village with disastrous consequences.
Afterthoughts: This is quite a good story. It does seem overly figurative in its presentation, which probably means I’m missing out on loads of allegorical or symbolic meaning, but taken on its own merit, this is a nice little story.
Notable Quote: “Pete pointed to the bike, then himself, then down the hill. With a swoop of his hand he tried to show he would come straight back. His pantomime also meant that there was still time before we had to be on the train, that up at the station there would be nothing to do, that eating bread, taking pictures of shops, riding a bike downhill and walking it back were all doing, using up your life; yes, it was a matter of living.”
Rating: 
*Story read as part of my 100 Shots of Short reading challenge.
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
