La vie idéale

by Jon Raymond, Nathalie Bru (Translator)

Changer de vie et revenir à l'essentiel : voilà ce à quoi aspirent Damon et Amy, deux trentenaires originaires de Los Angeles, en couple depuis six ans. C'est justement ce que propose " Rain Dragon ", une grande ferme bio du nord-ouest des États-Unis qui pratique l'agriculture raisonnée. Un projet alternatif qui attire beaucoup de jeunes en quête d'un idéal de vie et dans lequel tous deux vont peu à peu se faire une place, en s'éloignant inéluctablement l'un de l'autre.
Révélé en 2010 par Wendy & Lucy, un recueil dont la nouvelle éponyme a été portée à l'écran par la réalisatrice Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond écrit également pour le cinéma et collabore régulièrement avec Gus Van Sant et Todd Haynes. On retrouve dans La Vie idéale les thèmes qui lui sont chers et cette écriture visuelle qui en fait un écrivain à la fois original et résolument contemporain.

Genres: Fiction, Adult Fiction

317 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2012

About the author

Jonathan Raymond is an American writer living in Portland, Oregon. He is best known for writing the novels The Half-Life and Rain Dragon, and for writing the short stories and screenplays for the films Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy (both directed by Kelly Reichardt). He also wrote the screenplays for Meek's Cutoff and Night Moves, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his writing on the HBO miniseries, Mildred Pierce.

Raymond grew up in Lake Grove, Oregon, attended Lake Oswego High School and graduated from Swarthmore College. He received his MFA from New School University in New York.

Reviews

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a slow moving, surprisingly corporate book, disguised as a book about an organic farm and a failing relationship. the book had potential, but the content was just too boring and not what I was expecting.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I read the description of this book I really wanted to read it. Here is the blurb:

Damon and his girlfriend Amy have had enough of Los Angeles. Fitful and tired and dreaming of a simpler life, they leave the city to go work on a community farm. But they’ve scarcely arrived when their vague hopes start to come unraveled: What are they really doing here? Who are their friends? Are they truly testing themselves, or are they just chasing a fantasy that will never be fulfilled? By degrees, they realize that their dreams are not the same. For Damon, a career in the field of branding unfolds almost effortlessly, while for Amy, the menial labor of the farm leads to a satisfying but difficult new path. As the rift deepens, they are forced to evaluate fundamental questions of identity and fate, ambition and betrayal, compromise and lust. This novel is a fresh, searching story about the love of work and the work of love, and the life destinies that we sadly only recognize in retrospect.

Rain Dragon is told from the point of view of the male character, Damon but the story centers around Damon, Amy (Damon’s girlfriend) and Rain Dragon Organics. Damon and Amy live in LA but have fantasies of fleeing the corporate urban world and finding their own way in the world. This idea, this desire to eschew popular culture and every day pressures is just so damned appealing. Although the author never addresses how financially they are able to do this – what about school loans? Credit card debt? Car loans? You know, the things that hold the rest of us back. I was enlightened in graduate school and law school but due to my school loans, my choice of employment and lifestyle were pretty much dictated by how much I owe the government for my enlightenment. Anyway, Damon and Amy apparently are not so encumbered. So the story starts with the couple arriving at Rain Dragon after a long trip from southern California. Immediately it becomes obvious that the relationship is dictated by Amy’s moods and desires, Damon is riding along and taking care of Amy but also governed by her moods and desires. The relationship is not equal:

Damon thinks of Amy's obsession to leave the corporate world behind:

It wasn't the first such obsession that had gripped her.

An example of Amy's almost child like manner:

"We should probably get out and help, right?" Amy asked.
I responded, "I guess so."
"Do you know where my boots are?" She asked.
"Way in the back. Under everything." I told her.
"Ugh." Amy responded.

And Damon's dependance on Amy:

"I couldn't say I was exactly looking forward to what ever was in store, but knowing Amy was happy made everything a little better. If she was happy, I figured, then I must be happy, too."

But the organic farm escape fantasy isn't what Damon expected,

My sense of noble purpose lasted almost an hour. It was around then that my back started to ache and my knees began to hurt. .... a sudden pang of loss bloomed in my stomach. Not that my former life was so definitively behind me, I could it for all its wonderful comfort and ease.

Jon Raymond makes astute observations about the world, corporate and economic trappings, relationship issues, and relationship dynamics on the job. The beauty and interest of this book lies in those observations, "Success is a weird deal. Usually more about what it keeps out of your life than what it lets in." Or: "Who are you when everything is gone?" And this little jewel: "The small bouquet of creases at the edges of her eyes became her. The first strokes of age. Death, the artist, slowly working his magic. Love was grief's becoming, I thought. It was sad but true." But a story has to be more than just brilliant philosphical observations, doesn't it?

The book follows Damon through the problems of hi relationship with Amy, Damon’s ascension at Rain Dragon, the little company on the block (Rain Dragon’s) attempt to go big time, and a constant critique of the corporate world.

Rain Dragon held me rapt during the first 2/3 of the book, I was convinced that Jon Raymond and I were completely in sync in terms of analysis of the corporate structure. But in the end, the last 1/3 of the book lost my interest. What this book was about didn’t end happening and ultimately, it appears to be more of a compilation of observations but the plot and story does not go anywhere. Ultimately, I am not sure what the point of the book is nor what the ending means. Still, the book was an interesting journey that made me think about my life and I am glad that I read it.


*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for something with plot, Jon Raymond is not your guy. Instead, what you can expect is a story that revolves around well-conceived, realistic characters, whose experience is not much different than yours or mine. What I came to appreciate while reading his latest work, Rain Dragon, was his ability to express one’s inner-most thoughts and feelings. Early on in the novel, Damon and his girlfriend, Amy, have left Los Angeles and are in their car attempting to find their next potential workplace/settlement/new, simpler life, here in the Pacific Northwest, but at the moment, find themselves lost.

“Amy’s reflection appeared on the passenger window, black shadows carving her warped features. The longer we stayed lost, I knew, the more her mood was prone to crumble. Pretty soon it would dip down to the level where it threatened our whole day’s experience. So much depended on a right mind in this kind of situation. An old barn could be construed as charming or dilapidated. An inarticulate farm manager could be hilarious or incompetent. And because Amy’s first impressions were usually unshakable, these mood questions were not insignificant. If she was still unhappy by the time we rolled into Rain Dragon, our future there might be doomed from the start” (10).

Yes, the novel revolves around the ideas of fate, destiny, and signs, however, I find these quiet moments, stealing glances over at your partner in the car, where all you can hear are the tires over the rain-soaked pavement, extremely perceptive. All of the hard times and every tough decision ever made gets rehashed and sits there in their laps like a thousand pound weight --and you both know it’s there now with you, but don’t say anything-- and, your relationship, it’s just hanging there by a thread. That first chapter of Rain Dragon alone is spectacular.

Like I mentioned earlier, plot does not drive this book. (And I will admit that the self-help/team-building route that Rain Dragon Organics gets into isn't exactly interesting stuff.) But, I think why I find myself drawn to Raymond’s work (and, I suppose, why others do, too) is that I see some semblance of me in his characters. They’re looking for some kind of foundation in their lives but haven’t yet found it. They want to etch out some niche that’ll bring them happiness, even if it means for just the time being. And in Rain Dragon, Damon goes along with Amy’s newfound desire to live organically that they quit their jobs, move to a different region of the country, and start whole new lives together. They both realize that this --in many ways-- is the test. Make or brake. This period of their lives will determine how each proceeds, whether that be alone or together.

There’s one more passage that I’m going to include here, just because it’s so well written and beautiful that I want to always have it bookmarked. Maybe it can be your (you, reading this review) ultimate deciding factor in reading this book, too. If it’s not your cup of tea, you can surely go back to jumping into the next installment in the riveting 50 Shades of Grey series. I won’t judge. (That sounds like judgment. Whoops.)

***Spoiler***

“I stood there, taking in the sight. So this was her space. A part of me was pleased by the mess. I found, a sure sign of Amy’s fundamental inability to fend for herself in the world. Given the chance, she always slid back into this squalor. If nothing else, she needed me around to remind her to change the sheets every once in a while. But mostly I felt a sense of calm. It was almost sweet, this exile I’d fallen into. Listening to Amy downstairs, straightening the closet, so close, I could feel my love seeping back into my body. What I’d felt on the bridge was still there, still growing. It just needed a little distance to expand in.

What a trick, I thought. In her presence, the feeling had all but disappeared, replaced by petty frustration, bruised anger. And now, a few steps away, it was back again, ringing like a bell. It was like some demonic law, I thought, some inverse ratio. The greater the distance, the stronger the love. Or maybe it was even more complicated than that. It was just the right distance. Not too close and not too far. A force field. All the pieces arranged just so. Maybe I would never go home after all, I thought. Maybe I would just stand here, one floor up from Amy, for the rest of my life” (240-41).

[Kendyl Wilcox · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out alright, but as the story continued the main character became more annoying and obsessive, all while not being that interesting to begin with. I wasn't a fan of the second half of the book particularly and this 2 stars is mostly because another review pointed out the connection of hippie subculture and corporations.

TLDR; if you wanna question if you're reading about an LA boy getting recruited into a cult/pyrmid scheme/farm thing while obsessing over an ex; here you go.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pacific northwest book certainly. Good setting, dialogue, style, with beautiful descriptions and good humor involving social awkwardness and new age sensibilities (or rather insensibilities). The Spring and Summer sections were amazing, I was thinking five stars all the way, and then the Fall and the Winter did let me down some. Now that I think about it, that's exactly how the Pacific Northwest is weather wise, haha. Although I like the Fall here for the fresh cold air. In the disappointing seasons the style was still smooth, it was rather where the plot turned. I didn't really want to have an interlude into Stanbro. Although the climax encounter with the CEO was good, and I can relate to the surprise that comes in the Winter.
This book isn't so much about organic farming as much as its about a couple that's trying to make a living while being happy. It makes sense Damon gets dragged back into the corporate world even after starting a new life on an organic farm, it's just disappointing that he does. The plot's realistic while still being idealistic, and the characters: delusional while still being well intentioned. If you've ever known Portland or the northwest as I've have there's a lot of inside jokes and great visualization you get from this novel.

[Katarzyna Bartoszynska · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Started out strong but fizzled a bit towards the end. One of the most interesting things about this book is the way it fuses two things that initially seem very different, but actually fit very well together: the hippie/anarchist/organic farming culture of the Pacific Northwest and the corporate world of motivational speaking and brand identity. Raymond bridges these two worlds through the figure of our protagonist, a fairly standard, somewhat-mediocre-but-highly-likable white guy who does not quite fit in to either world, and is therefore a trustworthy entry point from which to consider both.
This isn't a plot-driven book -- that's not what Raymond does. It's more like a meandering character study. But it's a perfectly pleasant one, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Lisa Holmes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The cover and the first chapter sold me on it, so I bought it. However, once the story ends up in corporate training territory, I was no longer interested in it. How did a story that began with likeable characters on a life changing trip to begin new lives at an organic farm in Oregon end up this way? I didn't like either one by the time it was over, and I could care less about anyone else involved. While I have a serious love of my new hometown of Portland, the references to the city were overplayed and felt stuck in the story for no good reason. Sorry, but like I said, I really wanted to like this book.

[Elle-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read overall. I liked the way the story moved and I liked the characters. I even found myself a little surprised by the turn the story took but I just didn't really connect with the way that it ended. Maybe it was personal but the way the main character handled his relationship bothered me. Like when you watch a movie and you're like "Dude why would you open the door?" I kinda felt that way.. Dude.

[Abs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much. the first chapter was very captivating. However, as I continued to read... it became long winded and boring. The story jumped around and entailed a lot of incomplete storylines.

[caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting yet pretty uneventful.. the Rain Dragon farm is an idealistic reality of where I would like life to be like now and a functional society/job.

[Hellcat Maggie ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

So slow, and nothing happened. Sorry to this writer, but I was genuinely bored to tears. It was written very well, the story just didn’t come together for me in the way I hoped.

[Jon Lutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters. Manages to evoke a kind of suspense of living, and working, and doing what you’re good at as well as doing what you’re bad at. Unique writer who I will search out more of!

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an OK book, so I kept reading. But the main characters annoyed me and the ending just didn't feel at all satisfying.

[Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is about a young, vaguely generic couple living in LA (Echo Park) who decide to pack up and move north to work on an organic farm just east of Portland. Several thematic elements emerge as the couple adapts to life on the farm, and come under the increasingly influential and charismatic spell of the farm's mysterious owner. Basically, what are we looking for? Is it honesty or integrity in our work, our lifestyle? What do our choices indicate about us a moral beings? The novel is narrated in the first person by Damon, the XX chromosomes in the relationship. He is drawn along by his impulsive, and restless partner, and struggles to find his place on the farm, and equally his character lacks a strong will or decisiveness. However, Damon continues to be the center of the novel, I believe because of the reluctance to embrace the fickle passions of those around him.
Jon Raymond has written screenplays for several movies, such as Wendy and Lucy, Old Joy, Meek's Cutoff, and I guess an HBO show called Mildred Pierce, in addition to winning the Ken Kesey award for an excellent selection of short stories called "Livability", concerning Portlanders in their quest for identity in the culturally morally ambiguous whirlpool of the 21st century. I mention his work with the movies because he creates very strong and vivid characters - people that I seem to have met or seen on television or whatever. Furthermore, the novel manages to create a powerful sense of anxiety and tension between the ideals of the Rain Dragon farm and the realpolitik of the world around it. Again and again, are the characters full of shit or for real? Is purity always equated with simplicity?
In conclusion, it is a slightly messy book, with a rather bizarre and climactic final third that you will never see coming, but always manages to capture a film-like image of its characters and locations in a setting not far from home.

[Frances Dinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed Livability, so I was really disappointed by how uninteresting this novel was. It started with a good concept, organic farmers in Portland turned corporate energy management moguls, but it totally failed in execution.

I often read books in which I don't have an emotional stake in a character's life, that is not necessarily an essential element for good fiction, but not only did I not care about Damon or Amy, the writing was incredibly boring all too often and the end of the relationship, even the incident that truly ended it, could be seen coming more than 100 pages before it actually happened and it had zero emotional resonance. The confrontation was cliche to the point of being eye-roll worthy.

This could have been an interesting novella-length piece, but often it just felt like the writing was padded with unnecessary details just to increase word count. At one point, a paragraph is (I'm not exaggerating) spent describing the appearance of Damon and Peter's breakfast. It isn't even an exceptional breakfast, it was a boring hotel-lobby restaurant breakfast. I really didn't care or need to know about the "lattice" of powdered sugar on Damon's pancakes.

2 stars for being boring, all too predictable w/r/t alleged plot twists, and not spending enough time on the farm. The only thing I'll take away from this book is cursory knowledge of bee-keeping and that was taken from the first chapters.

[Karly SL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing in this world tugs at my heart strings quite like a pretty book facade. What can I say? I’m easily charmed. Jon Raymond’s Rain Dragon just has one of those covers--it sings to my inner wannabe bohemian gypsy. Conveniently, Rain Dragon is sort of about bohemian gypsies. Damon and his lady, Amy, just recently abandoned the thriving metropolis of Los Angeles in search of a way to reconnect with the land and, by extension, each other. After touring a series of sustainable farm outfits, they stumble upon Rain Dragon, a farm in Oregon best known for its organic yogurt line. Rain Dragon is chock-full of idealistic folk from all walks of life--engineers, bankers, carpenters--looking to simplify and make greater contributions to global consciousness. At the helm of this lofty idea ship is Rain Dragon’s charisma-radiating leader Peter Hawk. With Peter as their guide, Amy quickly finds her spot among the pack while Damon slowly, painfully languishes until he finally stumbles upon a unique gift.

Quiet, somewhat strange, and emotionally dense--in the “I’m not so bright when it comes to feelings” kind of dense--Rain Dragon is as wandering and curious as its characters.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Jon Raymond's perspective* a lot, and his films too, but I don't enjoy his writing quite as much as I would like to. I wonder if the same material would have worked better in third person--if we would have felt more engaged in Damon's struggles. Major props, though, for building a plot around organization development and corporate training!

*On our hometown in our teen years (the 80s): "To be in Portland was more or less to exist behind a two-way mirror, seeing out but not being seen." That really nails it.

[Liz S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, but disappointingly the description on the back of the book was much more interesting than the book itself. The main character leaves LA and his accounting job to appease his girlfriend, who we learn throughout the book is a flaky worrier who is self-indulgent and seems to care about no one but herself. When Damon spends half the novel pining for her I found it difficult to understand why, other than she must be incredibly good in bed.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice writing but the story fell flat. It starts too late in their relationship, with their love sketched insufficiently through flashbacks, so that when their crisis comes, I didn't care very much about their life together. Damon, as the narrator, is intriguing, honest, and an insightful observer of the commune, but Amy is one-dimensional, coming across as more spoiled than seeking. And the ending is tired, predictable.

[Aleks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like some of my fellow reviewers I was attracted to this book by its lovely design. That will teach me to judge a book by its cover! Although the premise of the book (a couple who drop everything to work on an organic farm in an attempt to change their lives and their relationship) appealed to me, the story some how went off on a completely different tangent. Sadly, I wasn't impressed.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I came to this book by means of Kelly Reichardt's films. The premise presented on the back cover and the first 100 pages went along with some of the same themes and feelings as her and Raymond's films. And then the book took a turn into being about corporate culture and self-realizing seminars. What a disappointment. Fiction about corporate culture has yet to be interesting or new.

[Johnnemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book, relevant to my life at the moment. A couple moves to Oregon, just outside Portland, from LA and starts work on a co-op organic yogurt farm. Filled with hilarious-but-true-to-life hippie archetypes, dreams, the spectre of selling out, sadness and the search for self.

Also, Oregon.

[Lacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mostly because it was set in Portland and I recognized the references. The story was good, nothing fancy. I'm not one to guess how to movie ends at the beginning so I was surprised at the end. Easy, quick read.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this great book, it had a Oregon feel throughout the story. At first I wasn't sure where the plot was going but it reveals itself as seemingly as the characters come into their own. I highly recommend this book for novel lovers!

[Janna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was all set to give this 4 stars but then I read the ending. Shucks! A fabulous premise with good characters and a forward moving plot. But the resolution left something to be desired at least in my mind.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super entertaining book - hit a little close to home at times.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this book on a whim at the library and was pleasantly surprised. The story was sweet and charming enough to keep me interested, and it also just seemed really relevant to life.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting idea and setting, but I found the plot elementary and rather predictable. The ending was also ultimately unsatisfying.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging story with believable and flawed characters.

[Tim McAtee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is great, then it kinda falls off a cliff. I wish the author would write the missing final third of the book.