Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club discussion
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Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie, chapters 6 to the end
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George
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Jan 02, 2020 04:50AM
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I have said this before, I struggle with literary humor. This was supposed to be funny, but I missed most of it. I think, in large part, it was because I did not share enough of the world view and experiences of the characters. This type of humor is only funny if you understand the presumptions of the cultural setting. There were obviously stereotypes about liberal arts academics, about middle aged insecurities, about Americans in England, none of which I understood. There were places where I thought the simile was clever and humorous, but for the most part, I went for pages and pages with no idea what I was supposed to laugh at. I finished this yesterday. I had not heard of this author before. It is not going to be an author I will seek out in the future.
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I found this novel to be a well written, enjoyable, entertaining, thought provoking and somewhat amusing. The author’s characters are well developed and the two story lines are eventful. There are interesting and amusing comments of the differences between American and English cultures, children's literature and having a partner versus being alone.
Here are some examples of the author’s writing style that I particularly liked:
‘Of course some people say it is her own fault that she’s alone: that she is impossibly romantic, asks too much (or too little) of men, is unreasonably jealous, egotistical/ a doormat; sexually insatiable / frigid; and so on - the usual things people say of any unmarried woman, as Vinnie well knows.’
‘As I walked my myself And talked to myself, Myself said unto me, Look to thyself, Take care of thyself, For nobody cares for thee.’
'In this culture, where energy and egotism are rewarded in the young and good-looking, plain ageing women are supposed to be self-effacing, uncomplaining - to take up as little space and breathe as little air as possible.'
I am looking forward to next month's book, 'Song of Solomon'. I read 'Jazz' last year and 'The Bluest Eye' the year before and loved both books.
I am glad you enjoyed this. It is obviously well written or it would have not won the Pulitzer. It is just me. I usually have this problem with literary humor. Even reading the quotes you highlighted, they still did not make me laugh or spark some great insight. However, that said, I do agree with her assessment of how society perceives the unmarried middle aged woman.
I read Song of Solomon a couple of years ago. It is excellent, as are all of Morrison's books. I won't be rereading it next month. it deserves a second read, but my TBR pile is threatening to collapse and bury me. I really need to work on some of my unread titles.
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