Bruce Beckham's Blog - Posts Tagged "earl-grey"
My cup of tea
I’ve realised that John Updike is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, for me, he’s like Earl Grey, which I spend far too much of each day drinking. To date, I’m neither tea’d out, nor Updiked out.
To this end, I have just finished Marry Me: A Romance.
Marry Me is set in the mid-seventies, in a small coastal town somewhere outside of New York City. In a nutshell it is about two couples, Jerry & Ruth, and Richard & Sally. Jerry & Sally are having a heavy-duty affair; Ruth & Richard once had a lite version (unbeknown to their partners).
Most of the book (pp69-239) is given over to two chapters, in which first Ruth and then Richard ‘react’ to the revelation of Jerry & Sally’s relationship. Nothing much happens. But such is the skill of Updike that – if he’s your cup of tea – you just want to keep reading.
When I struggle to analyse a book I fall back on my triple criteria of subject-story-style. As I say, there isn’t much of a story – but Updike’s style – elegantly crafted prosaic poetry – makes what there is seem quite fascinating. I don’t know how he does it.
The subject, of course – the affairs – makes for voyeuristic reading, an experience perhaps vicarious, perhaps relived. He writes so convincingly, it makes me think he knows something about it.
Contrastingly, if there is a weakness, it is in relation to the couples’ children, and the impact their existence ought to have upon parental actions and agonies. In fact they are treated as chattels, and perhaps this reflects a gap in Updike’s know-how. (If I could get moving on his autobiography, I might find the answer to this.)
But an excellent read washed down with a few gallons of Earl Grey.
To this end, I have just finished Marry Me: A Romance.
Marry Me is set in the mid-seventies, in a small coastal town somewhere outside of New York City. In a nutshell it is about two couples, Jerry & Ruth, and Richard & Sally. Jerry & Sally are having a heavy-duty affair; Ruth & Richard once had a lite version (unbeknown to their partners).
Most of the book (pp69-239) is given over to two chapters, in which first Ruth and then Richard ‘react’ to the revelation of Jerry & Sally’s relationship. Nothing much happens. But such is the skill of Updike that – if he’s your cup of tea – you just want to keep reading.
When I struggle to analyse a book I fall back on my triple criteria of subject-story-style. As I say, there isn’t much of a story – but Updike’s style – elegantly crafted prosaic poetry – makes what there is seem quite fascinating. I don’t know how he does it.
The subject, of course – the affairs – makes for voyeuristic reading, an experience perhaps vicarious, perhaps relived. He writes so convincingly, it makes me think he knows something about it.
Contrastingly, if there is a weakness, it is in relation to the couples’ children, and the impact their existence ought to have upon parental actions and agonies. In fact they are treated as chattels, and perhaps this reflects a gap in Updike’s know-how. (If I could get moving on his autobiography, I might find the answer to this.)
But an excellent read washed down with a few gallons of Earl Grey.
