{"id":2677,"date":"2010-09-08T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2010-09-08T08:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alexhernandez.es\/?p=2677"},"modified":"2010-09-08T10:21:05","modified_gmt":"2010-09-08T08:21:05","slug":"padres-muertos-i-la-mesa-de-caoba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexhernandez.es\/en\/2010\/09\/08\/padres-muertos-i-la-mesa-de-caoba\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead fathers I, the mahogany table"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Frank McCourt’s “Teacher Man”<\/em>, chapter 14:<\/p>\n

\n

Whenever a lesson sagged, whenever their minds wandered, when too many asked for the pas, I fell back on the “dinner interrogation”. Government officials or concerned superiors might have asked, Is this a valid educational activity?<\/p>\n

Yes, it is, ladies and gentlemen, because this is a writing class and everything is grist to our mill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

First he asks James what he had for dinner the previous night, who cooked it (the mother), who set the table (the sister), what they talked about, whether they used a tablecloth, every details of the process. All the girls are shouting at him, the discussion is lively. McCourt moves on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Daniel, what did you have for dinner last night?<\/p>\n

Veal medallions in a kind of white-wine sauce.<\/p>\n

What did you have with the veal medallions in white wine?<\/p>\n

Asparagus and a small tossed salad with vinaigrette.<\/p>\n

Any appetizer?<\/p>\n

No, just the dinner. My mother thinks they ruin the appetite.<\/p>\n

So, your mother cooked the veal medallions?<\/p>\n

No, the maid.<\/p>\n

Oh, the maid. And what was your mother doing?<\/p>\n

She was with my father.<\/p>\n

So the maid cooked the dinner and, I suppose, served it?<\/p>\n

That’s right.<\/p>\n

And you dined alone?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

At a vast highly polished mahogany table, I suppose?<\/p>\n

That’s right.<\/p>\n

With a crystal chandelier?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

Did you have music in the background?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

Mozart, I suppose? To go with the table and the chandelier.<\/p>\n

No, Telemann.<\/p>\n

And then?<\/p>\n

I listened to Telemann for twenty minutes. He’s one of my father’s favorites. When the piece ended I called my father.<\/p>\n

And where was he, if you don’t mind my asking?<\/p>\n

He’s in Sloan-Kettering Hospital with lung cancer and my mother is with him all the time because he’s expected to die.<\/p>\n

Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry. You should have told me instead of letting me put you through the dinner interrogation.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter. He’s going to die anyway.<\/p>\n

It was quiet in the classroom. What could I say now to Daniel? I had played my little game: clever and amusing teacher-interrogator, and Daniel had been patient. Details of his elegant solitary dinner filled the classroom. His father was here. We waited by a bed with Daniel’s mother. We’d remember forever the veal medallions, the maid, the chandelier, and Daniel alone at the polished mahogany table while his father died.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank McCourt’s “Teacher Man”, chapter 14: Whenever a lesson sagged, whenever their minds wandered, when too many asked for the pas, I fell back on the “dinner interrogation”. Government officials or concerned superiors might have asked, Is this a valid educational activity? Yes, it is, ladies and gentlemen, because this is a writing class and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[38,103,64],"class_list":["post-2677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taller-literario","tag-cita","tag-narrativa","tag-no-ficcion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t