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At the time, she wished the scene had been more anatomical.
Today, its Highsmiths sublime metaphors that pull her in.
Shes a fucking comet arcing into space, Danforth says.
She saw Carols pale hair across her eyes, and now Carols head was close against hers.
She held Carol tighter against her, and felt Carols mouth on her own smiling mouth.
My angel, Carol said.
Flung out of space.
But then the physical descriptions fall away.
If there was a handbook for writing an erotic scene, Im sure it would say Dont do that.
You cant pull out of the moment weve lost the hair on the breasts and the tingling pleasure.
But thats what I love about the scene.
That also puts an unbearable pressure on this scene to work.
When I first read the scene, in my mid-20s, I didnt want it to be artful.
I wanted it to be an instruction manual.
It does feel goofy to admit that, but I really wanted to do it correctly.
This was in the late 90s and early aughts.
Now, when I reread the passage, its the missing anatomy that I love.
Im filling in the details.
Highsmith allows space for the reader to do that work at exactly the right moment.
Shes taking the reader into the realm of the ineffable.
As a young reader, that is what I wanted the experience of sex to be like.
