I read in succession two books that start off with the sudden death of a middle aged man, and writing this review some time (too long) after reading the book, I find myself getting confused between this book and J. R. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy (reviewed here). Both are set in England, both have unlikeable characters and treacherous families, and neither shows off the author’s skills to best effect.
George is a 61 year old retiree who would certainly qualify for the Dull Men’s Club. The secret of contentment, he thinks, lies in ignoring many things completely. Things like his wife’s affair with his ex-colleague or the wisdom of his daughter marrying a man who seems to be nearly as dull as George is. But when George discovers a lesion on his hip, he is convinced that it is cancer and spirals off into his own whirlpool of paranoia, planning to kill himself or, literally, to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, his wife Jean is recapturing her lost youth with George’s business partner David, an affair that she sees as something romantic and beautiful, but which, when George discovers them having sex, is unattractive and embarrassing between two “old people”. When George and Jean learn that their daughter Kate is going to marry Ray, a tradesman with a strong northern accent, they both disapprove, as does Kate’s gay brother Jamie. Somehow weddings often seem to bring out the worst in families. Jean’s meddling, Jamie’s huffiness over whether his boyfriend Tony should be invited and how he will be received, and tension and uncertainties between Kate and Ray make this whole wedding seem a disaster in waiting. The whole thing teeters into farce, which undermines somewhat the rather acute and poignant observations that Haddon had made along the way.
The story is told from the varying perspectives of the characters, each of them rationalizing their stance, as we all do. What Haddon does well is butt these perspectives up against each other, challenging the veracity of the various points of view. Jean, for instance, sees herself as a vibrant and attractive older woman, where George sees her as a slightly repellent, plump, aging woman with witch-like hair. George sees himself as a slightly ironic, logical older man, where Jean sees him as a rather pathetic, lost retiree looking for relevance. Kate values Ray for how good he is with her young son Jacob; Ray is bemused by how angry Kate is all the time.
This book had none of the endearing charm of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and it felt as if it could have been written by any number of middle-ranking English authors. The ending was just ridiculous, and I finished the too-lengthy book – and its unlikeable characters- feeling as if I was glad to leave them all behind.
My rating: 6/10
Sourced from: ex- CAE Bookgroups stock
Read because: my ex-CAE Ladies Who Say Oooh Bookgroup chose it from the dregs of the books left over now that CAE has closed.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 