Save as Many as You Ruin

Save as Many as You Ruin

Through life we have many experiences and we come to gather a great deal of memories. Whether they are good or bad are not something we can predict. Something that is certain though is that some of these memories will follow us to the end of our days. We can perhaps choose to forget some of these memories, but if we take them into our hearts and tries to make something good of them, then we can, perhaps, be a lot stronger and we will learn from the memories not to make the same mistakes again. This is what "Save as Many as You Ruin" written by Simon Van Booy in 2007, is about.

The short story takes place in Manhattan on a cold and snowy day. Here we are presented to the main character that is called Gerard. He has experienced a great deal of things throughout his life, and he has chosen to keep these memories with him to the rest of his days. Unfortunately, Gerard doesn't seem to be in contact with his emotions because he has only loved one single woman but despite that, he has slept with a lot of women. Perhaps because he is sleeping with so many women and thereby is promiscuous, he has trouble settling down. It could also have something to do with a very low self-esteem, "Gerard vaguely remembers the feeling of being in love with Laurel and the desire to have sex with Issy." (p. 5, l. 123-124).

Perhaps he loves Laurel with all his heart, but he cannot remain faithful in any way because all of his lusts will not keep still, it takes over, and it will eventually start to control him. Perhaps it will even ruin his life.

If we are now talking about his sexual instincts and his difficulties of falling in love more than once, then we have to present the 2 women who are essential in this, and these women are Laurel and Issy. They have both been important in his life, but they have also made a very different imprint on him. Gerard is, perhaps, not aware of it, but in some ways he and Issy are a lot alike. Gerard no longer wishes to be having an affair with Issy; therefore he tells her that he is in love with someone else. In addition to that, Issy can no longer keep her secret about being pregnant to Gerard. At first she laughs, but eventually she starts crying. Like Gerard she has emotional problems. When she laughs it is a sign of happiness and joy, but when she then starts crying everything falls apart, and she cannot deal with her own feelings about her pregnancy and about Gerard. It is just like Gerard with his love and desire, which both speak against each other.

Now we have Laurel who was and is Gerard's one and true love. What Gerard had with Issy was only to satisfy his own sexual need, but it is very much different with Laurel. When Laurel broke things off with them, he couldn't help himself longing for her. That is also why he still have kept her wristwatch and sometimes sleeps with it. The wristwatch is