Hugh’s Cafe: A Conversation
The conversation is definitely not between the narrator (Hugh?) and his date Caroline. She’s on another planet. Maybe it’s between Peter and Martin as they collaborate on words and pictures (charcoal grey smudges of minor narrative acts and the empty edges of scenes, the lulls in the conversation). Maybe it’s between writers and readers. All stories are like that, but this one requires intent listening. Neither character listens well, it’s up to the reader to retrieve the story as it unfolds slowly in precisely timed details. In the end, Hugh and Caroline leave the café and the reader is left wondering. (TD)