Find an event
I Go to Some Hollow
One of the hoary old dictums that sends new philosophy students’ heads spinning is Greek philosopher Heracleitus’ declaration that you could never step into the same river twice, because the river never stops changing. The characters in Cain’s debut story collection seem to grasp this intuitively, but can’t quite keep themselves from dipping their toes.
In the opening story, “Black Wings,” the narrator says, “I read an article about the asexual movement and asexual rights and though I feel like a sexual person, I crave something else.” That something else remains unattainable, even unidentifiable, as the narrator tries out asexuality but finds there are plenty of other things missing that can’t be filled by the absence of sexuality.
There’s something calmly erotic about Cain’s writing, a treatment of sex as both a source of energy and a supremely unfascinating part of life. In the title story, the narrator says, “When you’re turned on your heart beats fast. But long periods of time can go by when I don’t even think about sex, when I would rather read or go through my things and get rid of them.” Even in the rhythm of the writing, there’s an ebb and flow of temperance and indulgence.
The self-examined lives of the characters in Hollow don’t lead to any deeper understanding. Or, it’s more correct to say they don’t lead to clearer answers. That river keeps changing. As the narrator of “A Body Walking Through Space,” writes, “I felt the distance I had traveled expand out in front of me, like a warm snake that never stops.”
