Thursday, September 10, 2020

The Golden Honeymoon

The Golden Honeymoon is a 1922 short story by Ring Lardner. According to Wikipedia, "His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all professed strong admiration for his writing." The tale behind The Golden Honeymoon's original publication in Cosmopolitan Magazine is interesting and can be found here. The story itself can be read here. You can have it read to you at the bottom of this post. The story begins,
Mother says that when I start talking I never know when to stop. But I tell her the only time I get a chance is when she ain't around, so I have to make the most of it. I guess the fact is neither one of us would be welcome in a Quaker meeting, but as I tell Mother, what did God give us tongues for if He didn't want we should use them? Only she says He didn't give them to us to say the same thing over and over again, like I do, and repeat myself. But I say:

"Well, Mother," I say, "when people is like you and I and been married fifty years, do you expect everything I say will be something you ain't heard me say before? But it may be new to others, as they ain't nobody else lived with me as long as you have."

So she says:

"You can bet they ain't, as they couldn't nobody else stand you that long."

"Well," I tell her, "you look pretty healthy."

"Maybe I do," she will say, "but I looked even healthier before I married you."

You can't get ahead of Mother.

Yes, sir, we was married just fifty years ago the seventeenth day of last December and my daughter and son-in-law was over from Trenton to help us celebrate the Golden Wedding.

...


This 1980 one-hour film adaptation has an introduction by Henry Fonda:


18 comments:

  1. WOW. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the various links.

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  2. ...Trump's honeymoon is over for many!

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    1. I wish :( but he lost the popular vote last time, and look where that got us :(

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  3. I’ll watch it.

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  4. Made me think of my folks arguing 😺

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  5. Many thanks for the links.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I love finding the stories and their adaptations online.

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  6. As I read this I realized it sounded somewhat familiar. I must have been something I read in a college class. I forgot about him as an author. But not now!

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    1. I'd forgotten him, but his name sounded familiar.

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  7. Thanks, I have bookmarked them for 'later' in the hope that 'later' will one day take place! Valerie

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    1. My bookmarks contain enough for several lifetimes lol

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  8. That was sweet! Reminded me of my dad, too. He had a horseshoe pit in the back yard when we were ids and he took it so seriously. Age has nothing to do with emotions in people. I really enjoyed this--watched the little video of course. Easier on my old eyes. :)

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    1. Sweet :) I love those little moments and the ways people have of living out their love.

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  9. Wow, he must be to good to be recommended so highly by such amazing contemporaries 😁. Thanks for sharing! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. I didn't remember him, but he was well thought of in his day.

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