Life as Performance
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Actress by Anne Enright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am confident in saying that I would like anything Anne Enright wrote. She has that Irish storyteller's way with words. Her sentences are often short, and seem to leap around, sometimes appearing opaque; but all the while the meanings are floating out, joining up and grabbing your attention - a bit like a vast masterpiece of a painting where you catch fragments of its beauty until suddenly, standing from the correct angle and distance, the entire piece coalesces and makes breathtaking sense.
'Actress' shows off Enright at her skilful best. It tells the story of Katherine O'Dell, single mother to Norah, and an actress - a very famous actress whose star waxed and waned, before crashing spectacularly to earth, taking her sanity with it. The tale is not, to my knowledge, based on anyone in 'real' life, but it felt the whole time as if it was - as if I must have read reviews and celebrity gossip about this Katherine O'Dell, born Katherine Fitzmaurice, a darling of directors, appearing on front pages and in big productions, until emotional problems, advancing years and the solace of alcohol took their respective, predictable tolls.
The story is told through the eyes of Norah, the daughter, allowing Enright to zigzag around between memories and experiences throughout the lives of both women. Katherine, an actress to the world as well as the camera, is maddeningly elusive, even to her beloved child. Not even her name or her nationality are easy to pin down, since she changed her surname several times, and preferred to be thought Irish when she wasn't. Nor will Katherine admit to her troubles to anyone, ever - not even when they have grown extreme. Everyone is darling and everything is fabulous. Whether this is brave or cowardly remains one of the central, subtle questions posed by the novel. For the character of Katherine it ensures an invisible abyss, into which she eventually topples, leaving Norah as the novel presents her, a bereft and damaged narrator, trying to make sense of it all.
The best novels are stories that are not just about themselves, but which resonate with issues and truths in the wider world. 'Actress' is one such story, written with Enright's dry, light touch and wonderful flashes of humour, emerging effortlessly and believably from out of the difficulties encountered by her characters. A tale about an actress with a loving daughter and a stellar career that flounders, Enright shows that it is the 'behind-the-scenes' that matters, as of course it does for all of us, whether we tread the boards or not. Indeed, I don't think it is too glib to describe 'Actress' as one big metaphor. Life IS a performance. Outwardly we function, while our inner lives remain as fragile as seedlings - needing tenderness, nurturing and love in order to thrive.
View all my reviews
Actress by Anne EnrightMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am confident in saying that I would like anything Anne Enright wrote. She has that Irish storyteller's way with words. Her sentences are often short, and seem to leap around, sometimes appearing opaque; but all the while the meanings are floating out, joining up and grabbing your attention - a bit like a vast masterpiece of a painting where you catch fragments of its beauty until suddenly, standing from the correct angle and distance, the entire piece coalesces and makes breathtaking sense.
'Actress' shows off Enright at her skilful best. It tells the story of Katherine O'Dell, single mother to Norah, and an actress - a very famous actress whose star waxed and waned, before crashing spectacularly to earth, taking her sanity with it. The tale is not, to my knowledge, based on anyone in 'real' life, but it felt the whole time as if it was - as if I must have read reviews and celebrity gossip about this Katherine O'Dell, born Katherine Fitzmaurice, a darling of directors, appearing on front pages and in big productions, until emotional problems, advancing years and the solace of alcohol took their respective, predictable tolls.
The story is told through the eyes of Norah, the daughter, allowing Enright to zigzag around between memories and experiences throughout the lives of both women. Katherine, an actress to the world as well as the camera, is maddeningly elusive, even to her beloved child. Not even her name or her nationality are easy to pin down, since she changed her surname several times, and preferred to be thought Irish when she wasn't. Nor will Katherine admit to her troubles to anyone, ever - not even when they have grown extreme. Everyone is darling and everything is fabulous. Whether this is brave or cowardly remains one of the central, subtle questions posed by the novel. For the character of Katherine it ensures an invisible abyss, into which she eventually topples, leaving Norah as the novel presents her, a bereft and damaged narrator, trying to make sense of it all.
The best novels are stories that are not just about themselves, but which resonate with issues and truths in the wider world. 'Actress' is one such story, written with Enright's dry, light touch and wonderful flashes of humour, emerging effortlessly and believably from out of the difficulties encountered by her characters. A tale about an actress with a loving daughter and a stellar career that flounders, Enright shows that it is the 'behind-the-scenes' that matters, as of course it does for all of us, whether we tread the boards or not. Indeed, I don't think it is too glib to describe 'Actress' as one big metaphor. Life IS a performance. Outwardly we function, while our inner lives remain as fragile as seedlings - needing tenderness, nurturing and love in order to thrive.
View all my reviews
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