Two books this week, both about men who do things they either haven’t thought through, or that they should maybe stop thinking about. altogether.
Before She Met Me (Julian Barnes) ***
Graham is an academic and teaches history at university. He’s left his shrewish wife Barbara for Ann, a former b-list actress, and he is very happy with her until the day when he accidentally sees his wife in a dumb b-movie. In it, Ann is seen in bed with another actor. Graham’s mind latches onto this and he spends his days looking for clues about his wife’s past; her sexual history, in particular. He doesn’t blame Ann, exactly, but at the same time he cannot let go of the thought that Ann has slept with other men, and so he obsesses over it to a degree where it begins to impact every aspect of his life.
I’m not sure what to make of this one. I don’t think I liked it very much. It’s funny; not laugh out loud funny, but funny nonetheless. I could picture Ann’s exasperation at the thought of having to deal with Graham’s pathetic behaviour. Graham is aware that his behaviour is unhealthy and illogical, but he is a history professor and history is important to him. He is unable to stop himself from obsessing. Ann’s exasperation is palpable and understandable.
The problem, for me, was just how annoying Graham is as a character. First off: why are all men in books like these history/literature/art professors? Presumably it’s because the authors use what they know, but it makes the entire scene a bit tedious (the novel’s other major male character is an author, so no help there). Secondly, though it’s a short volume it feels repetitive. Such is the nature of obsession, I suppose, but it doesn’t make for a great read. There’s little to no development until the ending kicks in, and the ending didn’t feel like a logical conclusion for me.
The book is older than I thought it was (it was published in 1982) and so it predates the metoo-era. It felt relatively fresh in the sense that Ann isn’t blamed for having a sexual history before Graham, but the other main female characters are resigned to the realm of shrill harpies, women whose only function in life depends on men. I suppose it did, to some degree, for women who married in the late sixties and early seventies, but the character of Barbara is woefully underdeveloped.
It’s a short novel and it has its moments, but I was glad when I finished it.
10 Things That Never Happened (Alexis Hall) ****
The second book I read this week is a very different one: a gay romance, fun but undemanding. In this novel, Sam Becker works as the general manager of the Sheffield Branch of a bed and bath store. He’s not doing a great job, and he is summoned to the London head office by Jonathan Forest, his arsehole boss. Things go awry fairly soon, one thing leads to another, Sam has a collision with a shower unit and ends up in hospital with a concussion. Due to a misunderstanding, the doctor and Jonathan think Sam has amnesia. Jonathan reluctantly offers to let Sam stay with him for the duration of his recovery and Sam accepts, hoping to find a way to get himself and his staff out of trouble. But one thing leads to another and soon, Sam begins to see a softer side to Jonathan.
I’m not usually a romance reader, but this one sounded like fun and it came highly recommended by a bunch of other cannonballers and Kobo had it on sale for a few bucks, so I decided to try it. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought.
Sam is a likeable protagonist; though he’s more than a little glib at times, he’s a good guy at heart. He’s right that he’s not a great manager; he likes his team (mostly but his heart’s not in it. Jonathan, for me, was a little less formed. Perhaps it’s because we see the story through Sam’s eyes, but Jonathan seems a little uneven, though when he does begin to thaw he’s quite enjoyable as a character.
The central love story is well done; it takes a bit before the enemies become lovers and as always, it doesn’t exactly go without a hitch. Jonathan’s family, though, are straight out of the Love Actually Book Of Meddlesome Families. I’m all for whacky family dynamics but this was a bit much, all things considered. And Sam’s employee Brian, world’s largest klutz, was also a bit much on the wacky antics front.
Other than that, though, it’s a sweet novel. It requires some major suspension of disbelief, but the ending was sweet and within the enemies to lovers-trope, it’s a solid effort.