A Single Man, Excerpts

I've been reading A Single Man. Here's an excerpt:

page 62.

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Kenny is still laughing loudly at this when they reach the bookshop. He wants to buy a pencil sharpener. They have them in plastic covers; red or green or blue or yellow. Kenny takes a red one.

'What was it you wanted to get, Sir?'

'Well, nothing, actually.'

'You mean, you walked all the way down here just to keep my company?'

'Sure. Why not?'

Kenny seems sincerely surprised and pleased. 'Well, I think you deserve something for that! Here, Sir, take one of these. It's on me.'

'Oh, but - well, thank you!' George is actually blushing a little. It's as if he has been offered a rose. He chooses a yellow sharpener.

Kenny grins: 'I kind of expected you'd pick blue.'

'Why?'

'Isn't blue supposed to be spiritual?'

'What makes you think I want to be spiritual? And how come you picked red?'

'What's red stand for?'

'Rage and lust.'

'No kidding?'

They remain silent, grinning almost intimately. George feels that, even if all this double talk hasn't brought them any closer to understanding each other, the not-understanding, the readiness to remain at cross-purposes, is in itself a kind of intimacy. Then Kenny pays for the pencil sharpeners, and waves his hand with a gesture which implies casual undeferential dismissal, 'I'll see you around.'

****

Hmm.

Erh. Awesoooome! I'm Kenny, and I have a red sharpener. I am Kenny, and I have a red sharpener!
After that page, I continued reading with much zest... Here's another excerpt.

page 124.

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Kenny doesn't seem worried about it. He adds vaguely, 'I thought I'd walk around for a while.'

'But how'll you get back?'

'Oh, I'll manage.'

(A voice inside George says, You could invite him to stay the night at your place. Tell him you'll drive him back in the morning.

What in hell do you think I am? George asks it.

It was merely a suggestion, says the voice.)

The drinks arrive. George says to Kenny, 'Look, why don't we sit over there, at the table in the corner? That damned television keeps catching my eye.'

'All right.'

It would be fun, George thinks, if the Young were just a little less passive. But that's too much to ask. You have to play it their way, or not at all. As they take their chairs, facing each other, George says, 'I've still got my pencil sharpener', and, bringing it out of his pocket, he tosses it down the table, as though shooting craps.

Kenny laughs, 'I already lost mine!'

****

Okie. Hmm.

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