July 22, 2010
One more thing about Still Life…
At some point in Still Life With Woodpecker, someone pulls out that old chestnut of a statistic: 60% of all marriages end in divorce. And of course, there’s usual up side in the 40% of marriages that don’t. But I thought also of the fact that Still Life… was published in 1980, which means that 40% marital success rate has been holding steady for 30 years. Kind of amazing, and the opposite of everything we’ve been led to expect. Imagine if– giambrones notwithstanding– we’re not all going to hell in a handbasket after all?
That is actually false. In Canada only about 38% end in divorce.
http://www.canada.com/life/Divorce+rate+Canada+lower+than+previously+thought/2245611/story.html
I remembered reading that a few years back.
Amazing! Though it raises the more sobering statistic that 60% of marriages end in death.