Triumph Over the Grave
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| "Triumph Over the Grave" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Denis Johnson | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Largesse of the Sea Maiden |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | January 16, 2018 |
"Triumph Over the Grave" is a short story by Denis Johnson first appearing in his collection The Largesse of the Sea Maiden published in 2018 by Random House.
"Triumph Over the Grave" is a discursive journey composed of vignette-like episodes, perhaps autobiographical or fictional. The unnamed narrator, a writer in his sixties living in San Francisco, recounts the lives - and deaths - of now-deceased friends, literary associates, and mentors.
The story opens with an incident at a restaurant involving a case of mistaken identity: the narrator confuses a red-headed woman for Nan, the spouse of his friend Robert, both of whom live in New York City. A phone call leads to the narrator's discovery that Robert had died suddenly that morning. The news leaves the narrator profoundly shaken.
The narrator, who in his youth led a precarious existence, describes his early efforts to become a successful author. He announces to the reader, "I'll write a story for you right now" which he titles "The Examination of My Right Knee", a tale concerning a failed operation for his trick knee, during which he was hallucinating on LSD.
The critical vignettes of the story relate the narrator's role as a witness to the death struggles of two elderly literary associates: Darcy Miller and "Link" Linkwits. Miller descends into madness— or perhaps enlightenment—as he succumbs to lung cancer. Linkwits, who the narrator had served as a caregiver and personal secretary, is defiant and stoic to the end before dying from cancer. Neither man goes gently into the night.
The story closes with the narrator's report that Nan, Robert's widow, had suddenly died after a short illness. The narrator writes: "It doesn't matter. The world keeps turning. It's plain to you that at the time I write this, I'm not dead. But maybe by the time you read it."[1][2][3][4][5]