Bridge of Clay: Part Seven–"After the End"

by Markus Zusak
The oldest of five brothers, thirty-one-year-old Matthew Dunbar looks back on how he, Rory, Henry, Clayton, and Thomas had coped after the death of their mother and the disappearance and reappearance of their father.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: "Before the Beginning"–Part One, Part Two, Parts Three–Four, Parts Five–Six, Part Seven–"After the End"
40 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    There came a week, a good few years into the stint, when Ted started feeling different.
  2. covet
    wish, long, or crave for
    Only one race had eluded them, and no, it wasn’t the Race That Stops the Nation. Neither McAndrew nor Ted nor the owners cared about that one; it was the Cox Plate that they coveted.
  3. travesty
    a distorted, debased, or absurd imitation of something
    In the minds of the true experts, that was the greatest race.
    For Ted it was a travesty.
    He couldn’t make the weight.
  4. halcyon
    marked by peace and prosperity
    He thought he was back there, in the halcyon athlete’s foot days, and hoped he might distract her.
  5. amiably
    in a friendly manner
    After he’d checked on Ted’s progress, the doctor looked amiably at the children.
  6. dais
    a platform raised above the surrounding level
    He didn’t want the dais, or the medal; he only wanted Achilles.
  7. intimate
    imply as a possibility
    Fair’s fair, he seemed to be intimating, the gold medal round Goddamn Rosy.
  8. aptly
    in a competent capable manner
    I looked up council regulations, and there was definitely some sort of bylaw—written in 1946—explaining that livestock could be kept on premises, as long as they were aptly maintained.
  9. infringe
    advance beyond the usual limit
    The said animals, it stated, can in no way infringe upon the health, safety, and well-being of any residents on the property itself, or those bordering the property—which, reading between the lines, meant keeping whatever you wanted, unless someone else complained.
  10. appraise
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    Tommy was brushing the mane, while Henry appraised the tools. He carried stirrups and bridles toward us, and held them approvingly up.
  11. pallid
    lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
    The sun was cold and pallid.
  12. blight
    have a negative or detrimental effect on
    She apologized for the error of judgment, and hoped it hadn’t blighted thoughts on her character.
  13. miscreant
    a person without moral scruples
    Sure, fine, it was perfectly acceptable for her miscreant brothers to be jockeys—and average, lazy ones at that—but not for her.
  14. exemplary
    worthy of imitation
    They claimed it wasn’t his fault, and they were right; it was the game and these things happened, and his care for his jockeys was exemplary.
  15. desolate
    crushed by grief
    Despite every internal talking-to, and the desolate void in his stomach, he found himself gently crouching, and touching the four-digit gauge—and he knew the number instantly.
  16. dubious
    open to doubt or suspicion
    To be honest, I might not have been too impressed with that dubious two hundred bucks we spent, but there was one part I’ll always cherish; it was Rory at the kitchen window, the morning we’d brought him home.
  17. flounder
    have difficulties; behave awkwardly
    “She had a right to be upset,” I said, but soon I started to flounder.
  18. lethargic
    deficient in alertness or activity
    We thought it was lack of adrenaline; motivation was suddenly thin. What else could he do but win State? The athletics season was still months away; no wonder he was feeling lethargic.
  19. brazen
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    It was then she stopped talking and took a silent, brazen risk—and it was that that I first fell in love with.
  20. brooch
    a decorative pin
    What I do remember is her silver, sort of slicked-back hair, the softness of her crow’s feet, and the brooch on the pocket, on her left; it was a flannel flower, the school’s emblem.
  21. cohort
    a group of people having approximately the same age
    To be honest, um, we could have used you last year in our, um, year twelve cohort, Matthew.
  22. somberly
    in a serious and solemn manner
    Rory was so excited he almost clapped.
    Claudia Kirkby somberly nodded.
  23. contempt
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    He shook his head in contempt.
  24. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    "Nah."
    Happy but sad as hell, and adamant.
  25. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    Up close, she made Matador look boy-like, or at best, an ungainly young adult; she was the darkest brown you could imagine, you could be fooled she was actually black.
  26. vernacular
    a characteristic language of a particular group
    The vernacular of young people everywhere.
    The words like a wound, between them.
  27. staunch
    firm and dependable especially in loyalty
    He was staunch and would quietly fight it.
  28. flippant
    showing an inappropriate lack of seriousness
    She said, “I’ll keep this one if you don’t mind,” and “Love and love and love, huh?” but she was wistful rather than flippant.
  29. immaculate
    completely neat and clean
    Like before she was kind and immaculate, but quickly overrun with concern.
  30. visceral
    coming from deep inward feelings rather than from reasoning
    Up close she was light but visceral, she could keep you alive with her pleading; the pain in her good-green eyes.
  31. sordid
    foul and run-down and repulsive
    It certainly would have hurt less, or at least shorter than her epic Hartnell job, of death but never dying.
    There were all the sordid details, of course.
  32. jaded
    bored or apathetic after experiencing too much of something
    She tried to reassemble herself, to resemble herself, and sometimes she even believed it. At best we soon were jaded:
    The stupid light of hospital wards.
  33. jaundice
    yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes
    By then she was the color of jaundice, and never again the color she was.
  34. rapture
    a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
    They took up the devil's offer, and watched in total rapture, in the night, as he tore stones from up on the mountaintops, and anything else he came by.
  35. septic
    of or relating to or caused by the process of decay
    But she cut him off.
    A hollow, septic arm.
  36. founder
    break down, literally or metaphorically
    A part of him was foundering there, and the rest of us turned to watch. He looked so damn alone.
  37. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    Looking back I can see how rude we were, and Penny herself, pure insolence.
  38. swindler
    a person who steals by means of deception or fraud
    We sweated like merchants and swindlers, and Rory struck out at himself for a change—a palm through the wire of his hair.
  39. render
    cause to become
    The bridge looked totally finished, and the sandstone deck rendered smooth.
  40. lesion
    an injury to living tissue
    He was an idiot like that, our father, for he’d look at us then and mouth it—he’d go Look at this gorgeous girl!—but so careful not to bruise her.
    Bruises, scratches. Lesions.
Created on Tue Nov 08 09:06:59 EST 2022 (updated Wed Aug 30 10:37:44 EDT 2023)

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