Working it Out

[Terry]

This really NEVER happens to me! But after reading Don Hanratty's Working it Out the damn story just won't let me go.

The thing that's driving me nuts is when Matt and Mike get back together after Sarah's death. If I had been Mike I woulda been totally pissed that Mike was coming back to me as his second choice. He sure wouldn't have been there if Sarah was still alive! So how does someone get past that? I don't think that I could have gotten past it. It was like, "Yeah the person that you loved most died so now you want me!" I would have strangled the s.o.b.

Please! Someone give me a logical reason that Mike didn't feel that way! I know, I know, I'm nuts.

[reapersharvest]

I haven't read the story, but are you sure she was his first choice? Is it possible that it was simply easier for him to stay with her even if he didn't really want to, and her death was merely a grimly efficient way of solving that problem for him?

[Terry]

I haven't read the story, but are you sure she was his first choice? Is it possible that it was simply easier for him to stay with her even if he didn't really want to, and her death was merely a grimly efficient way of solving that problem for him?

Well, read the story, it's great. Hanratty is fine writer or I never would have gotten this hooked.

Mike and Matt had been a couple for several years and then Matt decided that he wanted kids and fell in love with Sarah. Aaaannnd would have stayed married to her except for her death during childbirth. That's when he went back to his boyfriend.

God! I can't believe that I'm writing this about a story! It really is a tribute to Hanratty's writing that I could get this hooked.

[Myr]

It is a hell of a story.

 

That's why I talked Don into letting me host it here. When you are done with that, check out his new story, Beloved.

 

Myr

[reapersharvest]

It is a hell of a story.

 

That's why I talked Don into letting me host it here. When you are done with that, check out his new story, Beloved.

 

Myr

 

I have tried out beloved and enjoyed it, I'll be sure to give this one a read.

[Rabble_Rouser]

I recommend this as a great read. You need to have some ability to suspend disbelief (at least I've never been so unlucky & lucky at the same time in my life...)

 

Maybe Don can give you a better answer but from when I read it first (it's been a while), part of the reason Matt was so strongly attracted to Sarah was his PTSD, triggered by his working at the hospice, created a strong need to ensure his immortality through children. Matt states (I think near the end of book 2) that he strongly felt he needed to procreate and that Sarah never provided that emotional spark that Mike did.

 

Mike didn't exactly roll over either. He moved halfway across the country, stopped attending all family functions and never even returned Matts phone calls for a year after he started begging to re-start a relationship.

 

That being said, I would probably have kicked him to the curb for showing up on my doorstep! :2hands:

Edited September 21, 2005 by Rabble_Rouser

[Terry]

It is a hell of a story.

 

That's why I talked Don into letting me host it here. When you are done with that, check out his new story, Beloved.

 

Myr

I have been reading Beloved and it's excellent also.

 

I recommend this as a great read. You need to have some ability to suspend disbelief (at least I've never been so unlucky & lucky at the same time in my life...)

 

Maybe Don can give you a better answer but from when I read it first (it's been a while), part of the reason Matt was so strongly attracted to Sarah was his PTSD, triggered by his working at the hospice, created a strong need to ensure his immortality through children. Matt states (I think near the end of book 2) that he strongly felt he needed to procreate and that Sarah never provided that emotional spark that Mike did.

 

Mike didn't exactly roll over either. He moved halfway across the country, stopped attending all family functions and never even returned Matts phone calls for a year after he started begging to re-start a relationship.

 

That being said, I would probably have kicked him to the curb for showing up on my doorstep! :2hands:

I agree with you! I don't normally get this emotionally involved with stories but Don Hanratty's stories just seem to have that affect on me. And that one particular point aside, this is a fantastic romantic and dramatic read.

[libbonobo]

Working It Out and Beloved are great stories!

 

As to the original question, the bottom line is that Mike took Matt back because he still loved him, and was able to forgive him. It may not be "logical", but the way I look at it is that he was miserable without Matt; maybe not crying everyday, but just empty, gray, meaningless nose-to-grindstone. Then, when Matt came back, even if he was angry at first, at least he felt alive again, and he was mature enough not to let wounded pride and anger and bitterness get in the way of what he knew would eventually make him happy again.

[TheZot]

This really NEVER happens to me! But after reading Don Hanratty's Working it Out the damn story just won't let me go.

The thing that's driving me nuts is when Matt and Mike get back together after Sarah's death. If I had been Mike I woulda been totally pissed that Mike was coming back to me as his second choice. He sure wouldn't have been there if Sarah was still alive! So how does someone get past that? I don't think that I could have gotten past it. It was like, "Yeah the person that you loved most died so now you want me!" I would have strangled the s.o.b.

Please! Someone give me a logical reason that Mike didn't feel that way! I know, I know, I'm nuts.

I went and re-read the story, and honestly this is the part of it (and the near-complete lack of consequences in later parts) that I had the biggest problem with believing. Sarah's death was kind of a cheap plot device as well, letting Matt dodge having to own up to a lot of what he'd done.

 

So... why not write a story where something like this happens and the spurned lover doesn't give a second chance? If it went another way -- the two lovers not getting back together after the spouse's death, or the married guy breaking it off and still not getting a second chance -- it'd give the possibility for a damn moving piece as good as, and in its own way possibly better than, the original. Stories don't always have to have happy endings. Sometimes they're more powerful for their lack.

[Terry]

I went and re-read the story, and honestly this is the part of it (and the near-complete lack of consequences in later parts) that I had the biggest problem with believing. Sarah's death was kind of a cheap plot device as well, letting Matt dodge having to own up to a lot of what he'd done.

 

So... why not write a story where something like this happens and the spurned lover doesn't give a second chance? If it went another way -- the two lovers not getting back together after the spouse's death, or the married guy breaking it off and still not getting a second chance -- it'd give the possibility for a damn moving piece as good as, and in its own way possibly better than, the original. Stories don't always have to have happy endings. Sometimes they're more powerful for their lack.

 

I guess, and this is Monday morning quarterbacking, that what I would have like to have seen Matt say is that while he loved Sarah he never loved her as much as he did Mike but was so consumed with the idea of having kids that he was blinded. And in a way he did say something very close to that in the next couple of chapters.

I have enormous respect for Don Hanratty and know how difficult this can be especially when you've already written a very long and very popular story and people are pushing you for the next chapter.

On another note I hope that Don is recovering from Katrina and that his life gets back to normal really fast.

[Myr]

Actually, for those who didn't follow the story as posted... there are different books. Book 1 ended with them separated. The epilogue has them seeing each other again after 2 years.

 

The story then stopped for a nearly a full year. I think the badgering of all the story's fans got Don to write more...

 

Myr

[sat8997]

So... why not write a story where something like this happens and the spurned lover doesn't give a second chance? If it went another way -- the two lovers not getting back together after the spouse's death, or the married guy breaking it off and still not getting a second chance -- it'd give the possibility for a damn moving piece as good as, and in its own way possibly better than, the original. Stories don't always have to have happy endings. Sometimes they're more powerful for their lack.

 

Sounds like a good plot for your next story, hmm?

 

Sharon

[TheZot]

Sounds like a good plot for your next story, hmm?

Not mine -- I don't think it's something I could survive to the end, at least not right now. Someone else, perhaps.