Walter Briggs by John Updike

Walter who?

Walter Briggs is essentially Updike doing his usual Updike thing while on autopilot: sentimentality and nostalgia. 

Jack and Claire are driving home from a party late at night with their kids asleep in the backseat. To pass the time and fill the empty void, they decide to play a game called “Who’s Best,” ranking people based on their personal preferences. It quickly turns into an opportunity for them to air their WASPish superiority and make snide remarks about others. As the conversation meanders, they begin reminiscing about the past, particularly their first romantic meeting at a summer camp in New Hampshire.

One lingering memory takes center stage: "the fat man at Arrow Island who stayed the whole summer, played bridge every night, and wore a droopy fisherman’s hat." They struggle to recall his full name, and he becomes a kind of catalyst, launching them deeper into nostalgia. These shared memories, represent their collective past: the moments they built together. In the end, isn’t that what defines us? How we remember, and how we are remembered?

As they continue down memory lane, their recollections take on a six-degrees-of-separation quality, linking one person to another. But why does remembering Walter’s full name matter so much? Perhaps it is because he represents more than just a random person from their youth. He embodies the shared experiences that define their relationship and the slow erosion of those memories over time.

At one point, Jack offhandedly mentions that the camp’s kitchen boy had a crush on Claire, revealing an undercurrent of jealousy that has lingered for many years. This implied accusation hangs between them, but, as is often the case in Updike’s work, the real meaning isn’t in what’s said but rather in what isn’t said. Some memories are held close, too intimate to share aloud. Beneath the surface of their conversation is the loss of youth, the banality of routine, their former passion replaced by the everyday grind and responsibilities of parenthood. Jack, more than Claire, seems haunted by these memories, grasping at fragments of his carefree and youthful romantic dalliance with Claire. His epiphany at the end feels less like a victory and more like a moment of wistful realization.