Minor details

So back to my urge to use details that pack a large punch.  I was grazing through my bookshelves earlier today and came across The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen.  Over a year ago I had joined an ill-fated book club.  When a newer member began a monologue on how he really wanted new friends and all his attempts on Craigslist ended with men soliciting him for sex, I knew it was time to go.  But they brought me to this book, so I suppose it was worth it.

Mullen fictionalizes a lesser known aspect of American history - when towns quarantined themselves during the 1918 flu epidemic.  A mill town in the Pacific Northwest votes to set up a guard to stop visitors from entering the town and infecting its population.  The moral struggles of the characters, both those for and against the quarantine, are beautifully presented.  And Mullen accomplishes this through his strong use of poignant detail.

Consider this example.  At the end of chapter two, the town has voted for a quarantine.  Rebecca, the wife of the town's founder, vehemently opposes the quarantine but cannot vocally go against her husband.  Their adopted son Philip volunteers to be a part of the guard.  Mullen writes:

"Beside her, Philip stood, and as he took his first step toward the line, Rebecca started to raise her hand instinctively to grab his shoulder, to pull him to his seat and tell him he was making a mistake.  He was only sixteen!  He should not stand out there and hold a gun against whoever might happen upon the town.  But before she could grab him, he had stepped beyond her, into that long line, sidling up beside Graham, who nodded at his unofficial brother and patted him twice on the shoulder.

For many year Rebecca would remember that shoulder clasp and the way Philip's back seemed to straighten under the weight of Graham's hand."

When I first read that passage, tears came to my eyes.  Such simple actions and details but set together, a mother's pain is revealed.  And my poor mother!  The Sunday afternoon I came to this page, I wanted to share it with someone.  I followed her around the house reading aloud, explaining why it was such fine writing.  I remember she smiled and said it was nice.

Mullen also has a knack for using detail to grab the reader's attention.  The first sentence of chapter five is "The body only felt light because six of them were lifting it."  Certainly caught my eye.

Coming across The Last Town on Earth gave me hope that I can continue to hone my use of details in my novel.  A longer work can sustain that specificity if it is balanced with plot and characterization.  Granted, I'm in a section of my novel that is heavy with dialogue and is filling in back-story so pretty sentences aren't on my mind at the moment.  But they will be.