Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

This book damned near broke my heart. It's amazing.



I saw the film, it was great. Kate and Leo Dio were wonderful and I really do appreciate the fact that their being reunited on screen could finally halt the terrible rumours that They Don't Like Each Other, and Hated Each Other While Filming Titanic - because their combined gloriousness in the film of this book is undeniable. Cheers guys.




But Richard Yates' original novel from 1961 is on a whole other level. At this stage I'll confess that I did read this book because it was set for the uni course I'm tutoring in. And if any of my students ever read this and use my blatant expressions of love for Revolutionary Road to write essays I'll agree with, I say good on ya and just remember to cite this blog correctly :)

I hate to say that I think Revolutionary Road was ahead of it's time, but it was impossible to shake that feeling whilst reading it. We're now used to existential critiques of Modern Suburban Living in the 50s and movies/ tv/ books about the terrible alienating plight of the Housewife but Yates' novel is so insightful and clear and tragic it really is amazing to think it was only published in 61, before it got groovy with capital F feminism and before postmodernity made everyone pop culture nihilists. The 50s and early 60s in most art and literature were still the celebration of the lone-wolf white guys but Yates, with an wonderfully gentle and non-judgemental touch turns his eyes towards the looming specture of suburbia in the US and a young married couple fighting it's dehumanising influence.



Most of Revolutionary Road focuses on Frank Wheeler, with illuminating interjections from a few other characters thoughts and feelings, and tellingly it is not until the devastating conclusion of the novel that the reader is given any direct insight into April Wheeler's mind. The Wheelers are very human and are drawn so perfectly that though I went through many different types of feeling about them, practically feeling all the feelings that there are, I always felt FOR them most strongly of all. And Yates keeps his characters thoughts ambiguous and their behaviour troubling, we're supposed to have a bit of distance as readers. We're supposed to feel part of the same alienation from each other and from this occasionally disappointing world as Frank and April do.

As ever I am conscious of spoilers so I won't delve further into details of the plot. There are a few very interesting and important changes between the film and the novel so don't miss out on reading it even if you've seen the excellent version on the silver screen. You should definitely read this book, whoever you are. But I guess especially if you're one of my students. Yates is a revelation to me as an American author, he's so wry, brutal where he needs to be, and has an unfailing honest and wonderful empathetic style. I wish all stories could be told this way.

*****/***** (5 stars)

Arthur & George - Julian Barnes

In my own mind this particular review has been too long anticipated. Mostly because I've taken way too long to read it - I read every single other book I've blogged about here since starting Arthur & George, (except The Life of Charlotte Bronte which I read while I was waiting for Mum was finish the Barnes book early this year). The other reason is that I've been talking about this book to any and everyone with ears since reading the first sentence. I've been a big fan of Julian Barnes' since I read A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters a couple of years ago and fell in love with his writing. Then I found England, England and a book of short stories The Lemon Table, while only a fraction of Barnes' very substantial literary output which fully I intend to read through one day, further solidified my barnacle-like attachment to his way of storytelling.



This book is going to receive my first five-star rating on this blog. Since we try and rate as fairly as possible, some of you may stop reading this review at this point and skip below to the Robert Downey Jr pictures. As long as you understand how great Arthur & George is and use the time saved by exiting at this early point to go out and find/read/love this book I will be satisfied. For those of you either harder to convince or who are so enamoured of my blogging that you hang on Every Word I Type, let's break this claim of extreme excellence down -

Arthur & George is based on the true story of the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I was sold on this book as soon as I realised that HE was the Arthur of the title) and a man called George Edalji. Sir Arthur is plagued by his most successful creation - Sherlock Holmes - and the fame the great detective has brought him.



George is a country solicitor who struggles to gain the respect of his colleagues and to gain an audience for his book about railway law. He's also been receiving some hate mail and the police don't like him very much. The two men's paths cross when George is arrested for a really horrible crime and Arthur decides to play the part of detective for real. It really was a landmark event for the English justice system as George's case, called the 'Great Wryly Outrages', became a catalyst for the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal in England. There's a lot more going on than a law case in Arthur & George, though that's what brings the titular characters together and changes both their lives. I loved the illumination of Arthur's growing interest in Spiritualism and George's struggle with his own Christian faith and the many other paralells and divergences of character between them - but I especially love the gentle touch of the writing that reveals without judgment the social experience of two men who were, for very different reasons, seen as different and seperate from those around them.

It's hard to convey without the same gifts for writing, the subtlety and humour of Barnes' language and the way he way he builds his extraordinary story - which feels more like looking through a wormhole in time that Being John Malkovich style puts you inside the character's brains than the result of really good scholarship. I don't want to say any more because Arthur & George is a a mysterious, cloudy jem of a book and I don't want to give any more of it away. I love this book. You should all read it. NOW.

*****/***** (5 of 5!)

Here's another picture of RDJ as Sherlock Holmes and his buddy Watson, played by Jude Law - just because I can. What a fine film it was.