{"id":72533,"date":"2014-06-11T21:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=72533"},"modified":"2014-06-12T10:13:50","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T14:13:50","slug":"these-bugaboos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/11\/these-bugaboos\/","title":{"rendered":"These Bugaboos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sophieschoice\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One measure of a book\u2019s influence is the mark it leaves on the vernacular. In this sense, many plaudits must go to William Styron, born today in 1925, who helped start The Paris Review <\/em>and served as an advisory editor. His 1979 novel, Sophie\u2019s Choice,<\/em> has ascended into idiom, as Wikipedia<\/a> and Urban Dictionary<\/a> have acknowledged. The latter defines a Sophie\u2019s Choice<\/em> as \u201cessentially a no-win situation \u2026 a choice between two unbearable options,\u201d and gives the following example:<\/p>\n

\n

The loan [sic] hiker\u2019s arm was wedged in a crevice when he slipped and fell. He didn’t have the strength to release himself. Each movement wedged his arm more deeply into the crevice. After several days without food and water, he was left with a Sophie’s Choice: continue to wait for help and possibly die, or use the serrated blade of his pocket knife to cut off his own arm and climb to safety before bleeding to death.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But some don\u2019t seem to grasp the finer points of the phrase\u2019s usage.<\/p>\n

To wit: there has been, since 1984, a restaurant in England named Sophie\u2019s Choice<\/a>. Yes, a center of fine dining, serving \u201cmodern European cuisine and a range of wines from around the world,\u201d which takes its name from a novel whose titular choice involves which of one\u2019s offspring will die in a concentration camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur emphasis on good service creates\u00a0a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere,\u201d the proprietors write. Mains include roast breast of Barbary duck and char-grilled medallions of lamb rump with Cumberland sauce. They do weddings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Styron said in his second Art of Fiction interview<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\n

Not long ago I received in the mail a doctoral thesis entitled \u201cSophie\u2019s Choice<\/em>: A Jungian Perspective,\u201d which I sat down to read. It was quite a long document. In the first paragraph it said, In this thesis my point of reference throughout will be the Alan J. Pakula movie of Sophie\u2019s Choice<\/em>. There was a footnote, which I swear to you said, Where the movie is obscure I will refer to William Styron\u2019s novel for clarification. This idiocy laid a pall over my life for a dark brief time because it brought back all these bugaboos we have about the written word.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One can imagine that this establishment was no better received, if the author was aware of it. And I hope he was not\u2014this is a scenario in which ignorance is bliss. If you choose to celebrate his birth tonight, best to make your reservations elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One measure of a book\u2019s influence is the mark it leaves on the vernacular. In this sense, many plaudits must go to William Styron, born today in 1925, who helped start The Paris Review and served as an advisory editor. His 1979 novel, Sophie\u2019s Choice, has ascended into idiom, as Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13633],"tags":[11218,14268,14270,14269,11],"class_list":["post-72533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-department-of-tomfoolery","tag-restaurants","tag-sophies-choice","tag-whose-idea-was-this","tag-why","tag-william-styron"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSophie\u2019s Choice (the Restaurant)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"June 11, 2014 \u2013 One measure of a book\u2019s influence is the mark it leaves on the vernacular. 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