The Tartan

Spoiler warning for “The St. Alwynn Girls at Sea!”

Sofia Johnson: We’re so back!

Jimmy Baracia: I think you missed us.

SJ: Welcome to Book Buddies! The first one of the new semester! This week, we read…

JB: “The St. Alwynn Girls at Sea” by Sheila Heti.

SJ: I finished reading it less than a minute ago. Jimmy was watching me. There were some crazy twists and turns. I was a little apprehensive to start reading it because it was a bit longer than the stories we’ve read before, but it was an easy read.

JB: The voice was so clear, and the fact that the voice is a bunch of 14-year-old girls made it such a quick read. The emotions that they covered were so real.

SJ: As someone who was once a 14-year-old girl, there were some things that I found incredibly relatable, like over-analyzing letters from people I have crushes on. I still do that with texts. When you’re a teenager and you have a huge crush on someone, or when you have your first love, you go a little crazy, and you get a little delusional — or a lot delusional. I also thought that the whole community built around whether or not this guy likes her was so real.

JB: And when they asked questions to the portrait of Audrey, the Oracle? It’s so funny, but it’s also so real. We look for those signs that mean absolutely nothing, but then we treat it like confirmation that something is meant to be. Flora asks this really deep question like, “What is life for? Is it all worth it?” and Dani’s just like, “No, no. It wasn’t worth it. You’ll never understand,” just because she’s beefing with her. And that is just such 14-year-old behavior.

SJ: Interestingly, the story has that 14-year-old-shenanigan aspect, and then the underlying context is that they’re at sea because there’s a war happening.

JB: Can we please talk about that? Because that is so pertinent to the entire story. The whole point of the story is to show that when we’re young, like in high school, when we were teenagers, the silliest things felt like the end of the world. They felt like such big, defining moments in our lives. And then you move on from that, reflect back, and you’re like, “Wow. That was so unimportant. It never really mattered.” I’m sure the same will probably happen with college, to an extent. The story is about that coming-of-age and that realization that there’s more to life.

SJ: Obviously, the world is so much bigger than that. And that’s part of what the story is trying to say. There are these things that are such a huge deal to us, but other, bigger things are happening in the world. I feel like Lorraine is the foil. She represents how ridiculous the rest of the girls are. She watches the news and pays attention to the rest of the world, and then she has to go back and listen to Dani talking about Sebastien.

JB: Yes, the rest of them are completely guided by emotions, but she’s the rational one of the group. And, that works well in the context of the story to highlight just how ludicrous it all is.

SJ: We already talked about this, but I can’t emphasize enough how well the 14-year-old mindset — at least in my experience — is portrayed in this story. And I appreciate that some side characters who are mentioned briefly all have distinct personalities. It fleshes out the story well. Also, as far as establishing the setting, one line that sticks out to me is when they’re eating bananas with their breakfast and it says, “It was the last of the bananas. They didn’t keep fresh at sea.” The whole time, we’re not focused on the fact that they’re at sea; we’re focused on their lives and conversations. So I think that line was an effective but subtle way to reestablish the setting and remind us of the crazy situation they’re in.

JB: Can we talk about the setting a little bit more? Because I was so confused about what time period this takes place in. When I first started it, I was like, “Oh, this has to be a really long time ago.”

SJ: I was thinking early 1900s because it talks about bloomers –

JB: But then I was so confused as to why they’re talking about how Sebastien is always wearing headphones. Like, when does this take place? I don’t know, maybe they’re saying he’s… metaphorically wearing headphones. 

SJ: Also, there’s a letter where he talks about how he’s “practicing Prince songs.” Is there another Prince other than the Prince we know?

JB: It might just be a dystopian world. I originally thought it took place during World War I or World War II, but then it felt so modern. 

SJ: It’s a weird conglomeration of eras. I like that it’s a little confusing because the rest of the story is so straightforward. It adds a level of chaos and disorganization that contributes to how abnormal the setting is.

JB: I think the story works so well. It’s so beautifully written, and it didn’t feel like it was that long, even though it was, by far, the longest story we’ve read thus far. 

SJ: Folks, we’re getting closer and closer to book territory. I also liked the third-person omniscient narrator, and how we bounce around from person to person. It adds a little something.

JB: Third-person omniscient isn’t done very often anymore, but it works so well.

SJ: Part of the story is about the teenage experience, but because we have that omniscient narrator, we get so many different perspectives on that experience. We get Lorraine, who’s more realistic and angry. We get Dani, who’s delusional, in love with this boy, and a little selfish. We get Flora, who’s just going through a lot. I also thought Dani’s realization at the end — when she finds out Sebastien is talking to Yvonne — was interesting. She asks the question: “Why was it O.K. for Erica to be lied to, but it was not O.K. when he was lying to [me]?” And so she sort of has that realization of, “Oh, I’m not a great person.” 

JB: And I don’t think she’s an awful person. I think she’s just immature.

SJ: I do like how that moment humanizes her a bit. She’s delusional but she also has deep thoughts.

JB: I just think it captures so much of what it means to be a teenager and grow up. It’s told from the perspective of teenage girls, but it applies to any teenager. And on that note, we’ll see you maybe next week! Peace.