Sometimes a Great Notion

The omniscient narrator dives into the lives of Indian Jenny, Simone, theater and laundromat owner Willard Eggleston, Evenwrite, and Hank’s cousin Joe Ben.

Viv spends a great deal of time in her room reading distractedly; she notes, “I don’t think I even remember words” (231). Lee finally formally meets Viv in the kitchen. Hank flirts with his wife, joking about how he will show off Viv to Lee in the nude. Viv and Lee banter back and forth, but when she sees the cuts he has incurred from the logging work, she insists on treating the wounds.

A month later, Lee sits on his bed contemplating some “cigarettes” (marijuana joints). Lee writes to Peters that he has become smitten with Viv and consumed with getting revenge on Hank. Later, Hank and Lee drink and talk about the past while Viv snoozes on the couch. The subject of Myra’s funeral comes up, and Hank admits “I really wisht there’d been something I could of done” (242). The two almost have an intimate moment of bonding, but Lee later decides that they failed: “I think we approached each other that night and muffed it” (242).

On another workday, everything is going well for the Stamper brothers. They are in a good mood after laughing about one of the locals, Les Gibbons, falling off the boat after they gave him a ride. Work that day is easy and productive, and they even snipe a deer and bring it home to Viv for dinner. Viv makes baked apples for dessert. Outside, Lee has an epiphany, deciding to give up on his quest for revenge against Hank and instead to “[l]ove him as myself” (259).

Back home, a drunken Henry tells stories of the old days. Lee watches Viv, wanting “to be cuddled upstairs” like Hank’s kids (267). Viv starts to take Henry to bed, but then Lee suggests they all go hunting. Viv used to spend time alone in nature. She miscarried after moving to Oregon with Hank. Out in the woods, Joe Ben and Hank walk ahead to chase a fox. Viv, Lee, and Henry lag behind. Viv and Lee talk about white and dark Sphinx moths, which have a “skull” (281) pattern on them. They build a fire and Lee puts his hand on Viv’s neck, surprising her, while Henry continues his drunken storytelling, completely unaware. Viv and Lee talk about the relationship between Lee and Hank, but say nothing when Hank and Joe Ben return.

Back home, Hank and Lee talk about their mutual love of jazz. When Lee plays John Coltrane and other avant-garde jazz, Hank declares his preference for more traditional jazz. Later, Lee smokes joints in his room and writes to Peters. Lee includes some of the conversation about jazz in the letter, reflecting on how the brothers once again almost bonded during the discussion of music.