Article
June 5, 2019
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by Stephen

Who to Serve: the Client or the Reader?

Who is the index for?

This may seem like a trick question. You are probably thinking, “The reader, obviously.” So let me rephrase the question.

As the indexer, who are you trying to please?

I hope you are still trying to please the reader, but when writing the index, the first person or people to see and approve the index are often not the book’s readers. 

What I am getting at is the distinction between the client and the reader, and how the needs and wants of each may not be fully aligned. 

As freelancers, we primarily work with the client, which can be either the author, editor, or both. If you are the author writing your own index, this may not be an issue if you are self-publishing, but if you are working with a publisher, you may be working with an editor or proofreader on the index. 

Ideally, our vision for the index aligns with the client and the reader. But it can happen that the client wants something different. What happens when that point of difference violates indexing best practices? What do we do when we think that the reader will no longer be well served? Where does our ethical obligation lie?

There is a line of thought in business that the client is always right. So long as we get paid for our work, and the client is happy enough to come back for our services again, who really cares what the end product look likes? The client is paramount.

What this line of reasoning misses, though, is that the index, in this case, is not actually for the client. Sure, the client is paying us, but the people who will actually use the index are the readers. 

Now, I am not suggesting open conflict with our clients. Money is persuasive, and I like being paid as much as anyone else. At the same time, keeping the ultimate audience in mind, I think we should be willing to push back a bit when clients request changes that are detrimental. Perhaps the client simply does not understand and is willing to learn. Perhaps the client does have a point, and we can offer an alternative solution that is a better fix for the problem. Perhaps there is some other way to compromise. 

Gently pushing back can also be a reminder, to ourselves as much as to the client, that we are professionals. Being a professional does not always mean that we are right, but it does often mean we have a broader understanding of the situation. We should not be afraid to make our voice known, even if ultimately we accede to the client’s point of view. This also involves knowing what is worth speaking up for, and when to stay silent.  

Ultimately, I want both the client and the reader to be happy with the index. This requires taking both seriously, and not being afraid to explain my position when needed.

Article
June 3, 2019
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by Stephen

Business Changes Ahead

Last week in my recap of the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation conference I alluded to business change, which is a difficult subject to write about. Change is inherently disruptive, as it usually involves some kind of ending as well as a new beginning. Change also affects the web of relationships with colleagues and clients that I exist in. It is also often personal, especially in a single-person freelancing business, as I am the one making the change.

At the same time, I think that change is natural and even necessary in a business. I change as a person, in my interests, goals, experience, and circumstances. The publishing industry around me is also always changing. I believe that a successful business requires a certain amount of mindfulness and self-reflection in order to know when to change and when to hold the course. It may be that not changing is the right decision—I certainly do not believe in change for the sake of change—but that decision to not change should still be a conscious choice. 

I mention all this because I am feeling myself to be at a point of change. Really, to be honest, I feel like this whole year so far, and part of last year, has been a gradual reorientation in what I want to do for work.

 Being a freelance indexer, for me, has never really been about indexing. The original purpose was to create a more flexible schedule and an income to support my writing. Ironically, in doing the hard work to establish a freelance business, and then keeping up with the increasing requests for my services, I really have not done much writing. I have not put the time into writing, like I have for indexing, to become a published author, which is still a goal of mine. I have been feeling this discrepancy more acutely in the last couple of years, which is leading me to wonder: Can I change my business to incorporate more writing? Should I change and trade (some) steady income for a risky venture? What if I completely fail at being an author?

These are not easy questions to answer. The ideal scenario, at least as I envision it now, is to write part-time and index part-time. But cutting my indexing work in half overnight is not practical or sustainable. 

This year I have made a renewed effort to blog every week, and have also started to write a weekly reflection on indexing. Even committing to this has felt at times like a struggle, in relation to my indexing work, but I think it is also proving helpful for establishing a regular writing habit, and to orienting my focus more towards writing.

For fiction, I am trying to commit to one half-day a week, which is really a struggle, akin to drawing my own blood sometimes, in the face of looming indexing deadlines. But I do enjoy those mornings when I show up to write, and I feel like progress is being made, even if just in very small increments. My goal is to eventually work on fiction two mornings a week, and perhaps work up from there. 

I am writing this because I want to let you know of this change that I am trying to make. You will probably see more posts about writing, mixed in with the posts about indexing and freelancing. Eventually–hopefully–even some stories and news about publications.

I will still index, of course, though instead of using the lessons learned at the ISC/SCI conference to expand my indexing business as far as it can go, I am hoping to create more time to write—to index the same amount, or maybe a little less, in less time, essentially. I am excited to see what results from these changes, and I am also a bit scared. It will also mean a lot of work, starting with trusting myself that this is the right decision to make at this time. Thank you for following along. I do appreciate it.

Article
May 29, 2019
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by Stephen

On Double-Barrelled Entries

If the index structure can be likened to a skeleton, and the information that the index seeks to convey the lifeblood, then perhaps all the small details that shape and bind an index together can be considered the muscle and sinew. It is this attention to detail that can elevate an index. One specific type of detail, which I have been considering and using in some of my own recent indexes, are double-barrelled terms. 

By double-barrelled terms, I mean terms that bring together similar and related concepts into a single heading or subheading. The different components are usually connected by an and or a forward slash.

At the main heading level, I think this works best for concepts that are clearly related in some way. These could also be variations of a word, and if the terms would sort side-by-side anyway. Think architects and architecture, or canoes and canoeing. These terms are not quite synonymous, so if going the double-barrelled route, make sure that there is overlap in how these terms are discussed in the text. I find it also helps if each term would be a relatively small entry on its own. Otherwise, if the terms are used in distinct ways or would form substantial entries by themselves, then two separate entries are probably the better option.

Double-barrelled terms can also work as subheadings. The first situation would be the same as discussed above for main headings. The second situation (which does not work as well for main headings) is to link together related events. For example, in a family history I recently indexed I had the following subheadings: cancer and death; wedding and married life.

I think this works because it shows a clear chronological progression. This also works when the two discussions happen on the same page or across a small span of pages. Separate subheadings would have simply duplicated the information. As with main headings, it also helps if there are only a few locators to gather together. If there are a lot of locators—say an entire chapter or section each for the wedding and then married life, then separate subheadings make more sense.

If you need to shorten the index, double-barrelled terms can also be another tool you can use for merging entries and cutting down on duplication. It will probably not make a big difference, but can still be useful if just a few lines need to be cut or if used with other methods for shortening. 

Otherwise, I think elegance is the main reason for using this technique. Double-barrelled headings and subheadings can bring terms together in a way that is less didactic, and can provide a more nuanced understanding of the book than through standalone entries. Double-barrelled terms are not always applicable, but are useful to keep in mind for the right book.

What do you think of double-barrelled entries? Do you use them in your own work?

Article
May 28, 2019
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by Stephen

ISC/SCI Ottawa 2019 Indexing Conference Recap

I am home from the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation’s conference in Ottawa, back to working on an index that is due ASAP while also trying to recover from a few packed days at the conference and a late flight home Sunday night. I do enjoy the conferences—one of the best ways to gain a sense of community, in my opinion—and the conferences are exhausting, for this rather shy person. More so this year, perhaps, due to a busy couple of weeks in the lead up. For the first time ever, I skipped out on a session for some alone time. 

Still, I thought I’d jot down a few highlights while the conference is still fresh in my mind.

  • One of my key takeaways was to better learn how to vet books (to use Enid Zafran’s term) prior to indexing, and to get a much better handle on the index structure at the beginning of the indexing process, as per Fred Leise’s excellent presentation. This feels like a natural next step in improving how I index.
  • I also have much food for thought on how to run my business from Pierre Joyal’s presentation on incorporation, as well as from conversations with another more experienced indexer. I feel like I have to be very careful in how I grow my business, as I don’t want to focus on growth to the exclusion of writing. If anything, I want to index less so that I can write more. At the same time, I expect that I will index for many years to come, so I do need to pay attention to the business side of things. I think what I need is a business that grows in such a way to support the work and life that I want, rather than growth at any cost. 
  • I am very thankful to have attended Enid Zafran’s all-day workshop on indexing names, especially as Enid announced that she is slowing down and that this might be her last workshop. She is a masterful teacher and indexer, and I definitely learned a few things about names that I did not know before. 
  • Kate Mertes is also an excellent presenter, and her talk on index locorums was illuminating. That said, outside of Biblical citations, I don’t feel at all qualified to take on an index locorum. Kate definitely has a unique set of skills.
  • This conference felt like the beginnings of a generational turnover. There are a number of indexers in both the Canadian and American societies who have decades of experience, and who have done so much to teach and mentor. It seems like more of them are starting to either slow down or retire. I am glad that they are still with us, but this conference did seem to be a reminder that a new generation will need to step up in the next few years. 
  • I am no longer a coordinator for the Mary Newberry Mentorship Program. That responsibility is now passed on to Linda Christian and Alexandrea Jory. I think they will do an excellent job, and after two years of putting the program together, I am ready to pass it on. Still, letting go is bittersweet. 
  • For a door prize I picked up a hard copy of the manual for the new Cindex 4.0. I guess this means I better upgrade. 
  • The biggest surprise of the conference was being given the Tamarack Award, which is for volunteer service “above and beyond the call of duty.” In my case, so I was told, largely for putting together the mentorship program. I was also told that my face turned several shades of red while receiving the award. Many thanks to all present for your kind words and acknowledgement. If you are interested in knowing what the award looks like, here it is perched on one of the bookshelves in my living room.
Article
May 22, 2019
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by Stephen

On Rewriting the Book in the Index

I was recently talking with a new indexer who was struggling with how much detail to pick up and include in the index. The issues were, how granular the index should be and how much of the author’s argument should be revealed in the index. This discussion got me thinking about the common advice of, “Don’t rewrite the book.”

At face value, this is good advice. It speaks to the index’s role in directing readers to information, and an index that is too large will take up more space (what a publisher probably does not want) and more importantly, will likely be more difficult for the reader to use. An effective index should provide just enough information.

In practice, however, just enough can be difficult to gauge. What constitutes rewriting the text can also provoke clashing opinions. So I want to consider these questions and see if some rules of thumb can be derived. 

On the sparse, no-rewriting end of the spectrum, simply directing readers to information without explication is usually sound advice. There may be a damning political scandal behind the entry for SNC-Lavalin, but the reader can discover that on their own. If all entries are like this, however, I think it can be difficult for readers to understand how terms are connected to each other. Such an index lacks context. I believe that readers should be able to receive a rough sense of the book’s argument and contents from the index, so there is space for some light description.

The main place for this are the larger entries, by way of subheadings. Breaking down long strings of locators is helpful for the reader, and by definition will require telling the reader something about the contents of the book. I think it can also be helpful to signal to the reader which are the more important topics by means of a few subheadings or cross-references. This does not have to be extensive, and I see it as part of guiding the reader through the contents of the book. 

Clarity should also be a guiding principle when wording main headings and subheadings. The significance of each term does not need to be spelled out, but will the reader at least understand what the term means? The temptation, to avoid rewriting, is to be brief, even to the point of being cryptic. While brevity is ideal, I think it is fine to add a few more words if that is what is needed for clarity. 

The last consideration is the audience and the purpose of the book. For books that are intended for reference, where the index will be the first point of entry, an extremely detailed index, to the point of almost rewriting, is probably ideal. Whereas books that the reader is likely to actually read first are probably fine with a lighter index. 

As with any advice, “Don’t rewrite the book” needs to be contextualized to the specific project. What constitutes too much detail will vary. And regardless of how much detail is enough, the index entries need to be clear. Lack of clarity will derail any index, detailed or not. 

Article
May 20, 2019
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by Stephen

Index Live-Tweet Debrief

As you may have noticed, two weeks ago, on May 6, I started live-tweeting my indexing process, as I indexed the trade book Almost Human: The Story of Julius, the Chimpanzee Caught between Two Worlds. Those tweets are now compiled, with some additional commentary, which you can find here. I also want to take a moment to reflect on the experience.

First of all, I am glad that I did it. I have had the idea for at least a few months, wondering what live-tweeting an index would be like. Now I know, and it feels good to put the idea in action and see it to its conclusion. 

I am also very thankful for everyone who took the time to follow along, and to comment, ask questions, retweet, and like specific tweets. It was encouraging to know that I was not tweeting into a void. The indexing community on Twitter is supportive and positive, so I am glad to have you all with me. I hope the experience was interesting for you as well. 

As for my goal of raising the profile of indexing, even if just in a small way, and of reaching authors, editors, and publishers—I don’t really know how that went. As I learned, Twitter provides limited data. I was able to see how many impressions each tweet received, and of total impressions over the course of a day, but an impression simply means, if I understand it correctly, that someone saw the tweet. It could have been someone scrolling through their Twitter feed without really reading the tweet, or it could have been someone who was actually interested and following along. So while the live-tweets apparently got several thousand impressions over the course of the week, I don’t know how engaged those impressions where. Also, unless someone took the time to comment, retweet, or like, I don’t know who those impressions are from. So, maybe I met my goal? I don’t really know. All I can really go on is the feedback I receive from people who noticed and took the time to say something.

As for the indexing itself, I would make a couple of changes if I did this again. I found that I had less to tweet about as the index progressed, so I would put more effort into pre-planning some topics and making sure tweets were spaced out. I would leave room for spontaneous tweets as well, of course, but I think having a rough plan or outline ahead of time would have been helpful. I would also try to ensure that I was only working on that one project, so that I could finish the index in 3-4 days. I think having the indexing spread over seven days, due to a second project I also needed to finished, resulted in some live-tweeting fatigue. It is too bad how the scheduling worked, though that is also an insight into how I work, with overlapping projects when deadlines demand. 

I am not sure if I will do this again. As I mentioned above, I think it is a fun idea, but it is hard to tell how effective it is for reaching people. To switch things up, I wonder how it would be to live-tweet with someone else, so that there is more of a conversation throughout. That might be interesting to try. At the very least, I am glad that I tried something new and pushed myself out of my comfort zone. And thank you again to everyone who followed along.

If you are interested in reading the book, Almost Human, by Alfred Fidjestøl, it is forthcoming later this year by Greystone Books. You can learn more about it here. Many thanks again to Greystone for giving their permission for this live-tweet. They are a fantastic publisher and a pleasure to work with. 

Article
May 15, 2019
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by Stephen

External Consistency in Indexes

Last week I wrote about internal consistency in an index, and how internal consistency can help make for a smoother user experience. But external consistency is also important, for the same reasons. The index should align with the text. 

Most obvious, of course, is alignment of content. The index should strive to neither misrepresent nor misinterpret the text, or in more extreme cases, neither ignore indexable content nor make up content. But that is not my main focus today. I am more concerned about formatting, term selection, and structure.

Spelling

One area for consistency is spelling. It is simple, yet for me, at least, easy to overlook, given how much I take certain spelling conventions for granted. As a Canadian, I usually run into this issue with American spelling in indexes for books published by American publishers and for Canadian books intended for an American audience. If I do not have a style sheet for the book and am not sure which is used, I will run a quick search for certain words which are commonly spelled differently. Spelling can be subtle, but I think alignment is still important to give the book a unified feel. At the very least, this saves the proofreader some work, if they are alert to this issue.

Locator Ranges

Locator ranges are another area for consistency. Some publishers have a preferred way to abbreviate (or not), while for other publishers it seems to vary from book to book. If you are not sure, check the bibliography or keep an eye out for ranges as you index.

Term Selection

Try to follow the text’s lead for names and terms. This can be tricky if the text itself is not consistent, but try to determine what is used most often and what the audience will be most familiar with. Cross references and double posts can also be used to add alternative entry points. We cannot assume that the reader has already read the book, but mirroring the terminology can make the index a bit easier to use for someone who has.

Structure

Following the book’s structure is not always good advice as the book may not have a clear structure or it may not be easy to mirror. So use your judgment and choose a structure that works best for the index. If the book’s structure is amenable, however, then be consistent in importing that structure. This will help the reader who has already read the book, and might help orient the reader who hasn’t. 

When considering external consistency, we are recognizing that the index is part of a larger whole. While the index has its own conventions, it also needs to take cues from the text that the index is pointing towards. The reader should be able to recognize that the index and the text belong together.

What are your thoughts on external consistency? Are there any areas that I missed?

Article
May 13, 2019
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by Stephen

Should Freelance Work Come with Trigger Warnings?

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

I laughed when I first came up with the title for this blog post. It was a laugh at how absurd the title sounded, and also a laugh of recognition. Suddenly this issue was starting to crystallize into words.

Work seems so innocuous, being something we do everyday. How can indexing or proofreading hurt me? Yet I have worked on the occasional project that provoked painful memories or fears, and which in hindsight I should have declined.

Taking a step back from the term “trigger warning,” there is also work which is simply emotionally difficult to process. It may not trigger a sharp or personal response, but it can still be emotionally draining. I remember the indexers for the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, about residential schools, commenting on the emotional weight of their work.

I am not quite sure what to say about this subject. It is deeply personal; how I react to a text will likely be different from how someone else reacts. I am also no expert on mental health. Still, I think it is a subject that is at least worth mentioning. Freelancers are still people, after all, underneath our professionalism.

I know I am certainly tempted at times to take on projects with difficult content. Sometimes it is for the income, while sometimes I tell myself that as a professional I should be able to handle anything. In reality, though, the professional course of action would be to recognize my own limitations and try to screen projects accordingly. Catching an emotional curveball is not worth the few hundred dollars that may accompany it or the effects that that turmoil might have on the rest of my schedule and life.

At times it may not be the book itself which is so problematic, but rather something else happening in my life which is causing me to be less emotionally resilient at that particular time. And then there are the projects that seem innocuous, and which turn out to be very different, in a bad way, from what I anticipated.

I find that I am getting better at handling these types of difficult projects. The first line of defense, as I mentioned, is to try and screen projects and turn down ones that seems to be too much or not right for me at this time. It is important to recognize here that just because a book may be triggering or emotionally heavy does not mean that it is necessarily a bad book. It may be a very important book about a difficult subject, like the Truth and Reconciliation report. So I try not to blame the project itself, but simply recognize that not every project is a good fit. Also, knowing that what I find difficult may be fine for someone else can provide permission for passing a project along. 

If I do accept a difficult project, either by accident or because I think I can handle it, there are a few ways to make the work easier. I try to cut myself some slack by breaking the work into smaller chunks, while also taking more breaks to rest and process what I am reading. Acknowledging my emotions, instead of burying them under a professional veneer, can help with setting the emotions aside so I can focus. Keeping the ultimate purpose of the book in mind, if I think the book has something valuable to offer, can also help me stay focused, as I do want to contribute to the greater good. It can also help to remember that this is just one project and will soon be over—I will outlive the work. 

Be kind to yourself. Be honest about what is doable and what is too much. Get help or support if you need it. Keep the project in perspective. If you find yourself with an emotionally difficult project, you can get through it.

Article
May 8, 2019
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by Stephen

Internal Consistency in Indexes

Consistency is key in the quest to provide a smooth user experience. How the index works should be largely invisible to the reader. What we do not want is the reader to find errors or inconsistencies which cause them to question whether their interpretation of the index is correct or whether they are finding everything that should be available. 

In this post, I am going to write about internal consistency, which is making sure that the index is internally consistent with itself. Imposing consistency begins at the start of the indexing process, with selecting which formatting conventions to use and making initial decisions about what kinds of entries to capture. It then continues to be applied during the editing phase, when decisions are reaffirmed and double checked. 

Wording

Consistent wording is a subtle way to add consistency. This is part of gently shaping the reader’s expectations around preferred terms and how to recognize similar information.

If two or more synonymous terms are available, pick one as a preferred term and use it consistently, with a cross-reference if necessary. For a recent book I indexed on the annual encampments of the American Canoe Association, I choose to consistently use the word “meet” for each individual encampment, as in Jessup’s Neck meet and Grindstone Island meets. I could have chosen the terms “camp” or “encampment” instead, which were also used in the text, but I thought meet gave a better sense of community (an important theme in the book), it was short, and by using the same term I hoped to indicate to readers that these dozen or more entries throughout the index were all the same kind of thing. If I had also used the term camp, as in Jessup’s Neck camp, I was concerned that some readers might have questioned how a camp was different from a meet. 

Consistent wording can also be used in subheadings to indicate similar content. Using the same subheading across several entries, as such “accommodation” in a guidebook, indicates to the reader that the same kind of information is provided for all of the locations discussed. Within a single entry, similar wording can gather subheadings so that the reader can easily see all of the related information. For example,

Los Angeles: population growth; population projection

Glosses

A variation on consistent wording is being consistent with glosses. An index can have glosses for different types of entries. Within each type, though, try to provide the same information in the same order. Otherwise, I think inconsistency is visually disruptive and can cause the reader to spend too much time rereading entries to make sure it says what they think it says. For example, the following is not a good idea. Pick a style and stick to it.

Henry VIII (king of England)

James II of England

Louis VI (French king)

Louis XIV (king of France)

Victoria, Queen

Locators

Another basic place to impose consistency is with locators. Are ranges consistently identical, if used at all? Are typographical elements, such as bold or italics, used consistently to indicate figures, tables, or other illustrations?

Treatment of Topics

The last area I will discuss is the treatment of main headings and topics. Consistency here can happen in a couple of different ways. The first is to make sure that all examples of a certain type of information is picked up. To give a simple example, if I decide to index dog breeds, then I should make sure to pick up all breeds mentioned, so that the reader is not wondering, “I see the entry for Dalmatians, but what about Labradors? I am certain I saw Labradors mentioned in the book.”

Another way to be consistent is to treat similar topics similarly. If I decide that some supermain headings should have subheadings to indicate their importance and to break down a longer range, then ideally all supermain headings should have subheadings, even if some ranges are shorter. This is not always possible, if a topic is important but only discussed on 2-3 pages. But I think that consistent treatment is important, when possible, to help the reader identify similar topics and relative importance. 

These are the main areas for internal consistency that I think about when indexing. This can appear to be nit-picky, but I do think that it is the small details that can elevate an index and make for an easier user experience, without the user necessarily knowing why it is a nicer experience. When you index, what areas of internal consistency do you pay attention to? Feel free to reply and let me know. I am curious to know what other areas we should pay attention to.

Article
May 5, 2019
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by Stephen

Pascha with Papadiamantis

Photo by Pavlos Nirvanas

Christ is Risen! 

It is now a week after Pascha, or Easter according to the Julian calendar which most of the Orthodox Churches follow. It is two weeks after Easter for those who celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar.

It seems late to post a reflection on Pascha. The feast has come and gone, though in the Orthodox tradition, at least, we will continue to sing Christ is Risen until Ascension, forty days later. Today is Thomas Sunday, when the Church commemorates the Apostle Thomas coming to belief, after having a chance to see for himself Jesus Christ resurrected. It seems fitting so soon after the Feast of Feasts that we, with our short attention spans and worries, are reminded again of the resurrection and of the often intertwined realities of faith and doubt.

I initially drafted this post on Pascha afternoon, before my wife, Elim, and I headed out to a party at Elim’s godmother’s house. I have been meaning to revise and post all week, but it has been busy, so here I am, a week later. Perhaps that is fitting too, given the reflections here.

In the couple of weeks leading up to Pascha, I read the book Greece’s Dostoevsky: The Theological Vision of Alexandros Papadiamandis (now retitled Lessons from a Greek Island), by Anestis Keselopoulos (Protecting Veil, 2011). Writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Papadiamantis was a popular Greek journalist and fiction writer, as well as a pious Orthodox Christian who was spiritually formed on the island of Skiathos, where he grew up. As an adult living in Athens, many of his stories drew upon his childhood on Skiathos, and of the spiritual life of the farmers, fisherfolk, sheep herders, and towns people. Despite writing about such a different time and place, I was pleasantly surprised how familiar the liturgical life is that Papadiamantis describes. The order of services and the hymns have not changed much in over a hundred years. 

I am also struck, having also read three of his paschal short stories, by the all-too-human situations that Papadiamantis describes. In “A Village Easter” (which you can read here), the priest, Father Kyriakos, is beset by financial worries and literally runs out of the country chapel mid-liturgy to confront his fellow priest at the church in town because he believes that his fellow priest is taking more than his fair share of the offering. Besides the specific problem of a congregation suddenly bereft of a priest and the Easter liturgy, the story also underlines the problem of clergy not being adequately paid for their work. 

In “Easter Chanter,” the chanter who has promised to come finally arrives near the end of the service. His tardiness is largely his own fault because he did not leave home when he should have. The priest is frustrated and tempted to cancel the liturgy altogether, and in the end has to improvise with his illiterate and unchurched parishioners. The story then ends with a man sneaking meat from the lamb while it is roasting, and being slyly punished in retaliation by the man in charge of the roast who should have been paying more attention.

In the most tragic story, “Without a Wedding Crown,” the disgraced Christina, trapped for years in a manipulative relationship with a man who repeatedly promises marriage and never follows through, longs to attend the Holy Week and Paschal services but is too ashamed to show her face to the other, more respectable women. Instead, Christina finally leaves home to attend paschal vespers, which is a chaotic service full of servants and nannies enjoying their afternoon off. There is also an unflattering description of the churchwarden, who in trying to shush crying babies causes an even greater disturbance. 

Yet despite these conflicts and anxieties, the joy of the resurrection does poke through. Father Kyriakos comes to his senses and returns to the chapel to finish celebrating the liturgy. He is also later reconciled with his fellow priest, and realizes that his fears about the offering was just a misunderstanding. The tardy chanter finally take his place in the chapel and helps the priest and the congregation finish the liturgy. The man punished for sneaking meat still receives a few bites of the festal meal, saved for him by a couple of the older women. Christina is perhaps the only person attending paschal vespers who understands the significance of the feast, despite her shame and oppression. 

What I like about these stories is their honesty. They acknowledge both the joy of Christ risen and the baggage that we so often bring with us to celebrate these feasts. It seems like this side of the despoiled grave celebration will always be mixed with struggle. Every year there are dramas, large or small, that I either bring with me or can see playing out in the people around me. Part of being a Christian, I think, is to learn that balance between appropriately acknowledging and mourning these ruptures, while still resting in the spiritual joy and peace that underlies all. Papadiamantis does an excellent job finding and acknowledging this balance. His stories are not about an idealized Christian life, but instead allow spiritual truths to be revealed in the midst of our frailties, doubt, and obliviousness.

Christ is Risen! A blessed paschal season to all, as we muddle our way through.