After great pain, a formal feeling comes... Also, when he goes home afterwards and just sits in the chair doing nothing-- same thing. I like that so much better than if he'd thrown himself to the ground, wept, wailed, primal cry, etc.
Yes! This is exactly what I meant when I said the story was restrained. Clark's grief is restrained, private, and that's exactly in character for him, I think. He's in that "formal feeling" stage of grief, which I find much more touching than wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I much prefer it when an author leaves me room to find my own emotional response to a story, as Terry does here. I'm left feeling somewhat uncomfortable - and unmoved - by stories that ram grief or any other strong emotion down the readers' throats. Usually I finish those completely dry-eyed and feeling like a cold-hearted snake because I haven't gone through a box of tissues.
Terry took things we all know - flashbacks from the show, bits and pieces of Clark's characterization, and Lois's...and Henderson's, and Perry's, and Jimmy's, etc., and wove them together beautifully without ever once telling his readers exactly how they should feel about them. Some people seem to think that Clark *should* feel guilty, should maybe even be prosecuted as Superman. Others seem to think that his own guilt and loss are punishment enough, or that Lois's tape and assertion that the freezing was her choice is enough to exonerate him. This, to me, is the sign of a good story.
Caroline
