Reader's Diary #678- Donald Barthelme: City of Churches

A while ago, as a Short Story Monday review, JoAnn looked at Donald Barthelme's "City of Churches." Last week, Teddy Rose had a go at it. Both made it sound sufficiently interesting and so I too broke down and read it.

Yes conformity. It's what keeps us us. It's also what built the City of Churches, a town in which every building is a church. People live in churches. The barbershop is in a church, the Board of Education is in a church, and newcomer Cecelia will soon learn that her car rental establishment is also to be in a church. Except Cecelia is not sure she's ready for this place...

Though it would have been the obvious approach to take this story as a commentary on organized religion, I found myself actually thinking more about consumer culture. We wear advertisements on our clothing, we dress alike, we're all told what to eat, what to drive, what books to read, and what music to listen to. In Barthelme's story you might be a Lutheran or a Baptist. Coke or Pepsi?

I liked Barthelme's story for inspiring this unexpected train of thought, but I wasn't crazy about the ending. The story is mostly the slow revealing about the creepy eccentricities of the City of Churches, but near the end Cecelia's character begins to show some development, threatening to overshadow the city itself. Then it ends abruptly. Cecelia needs a novel.