Book 8: A spot of bother (Mark Haddon).Fiction, and hilarious. Now, I had to borrow this book, because I was too timid to buy it. My reasoning was this: Haddon's first book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was so good, and its unique quality (autistic boy tries to solve a dog's murder) made me think that anything else would be a complete departure and therefore a disappointment. Not so.
Haddon seems to be good at getting into the minds of all sorts of people. Here he does so with George Hall, who is having a crisis. In fact, George thinks he's going crazy but is properly English enough to know that this is a terribly bad time for it, what with his daughter's [second] wedding on the horizon and his wife apparently having an affair with a friend of his. Not good at all.
The book continues in this vein, but somehow (I know you were thinking it) avoids becoming a farce. No, really, I assure you. Funny in a genuine and loving way. Pretty much everyone in this family is given a turn to do something incredibly stupid and then realize that things can still turn out all right. Now, this very evenhandedness could almost be a mark against--it made me realize that this was a carefully constructed work. Then I hit the part where George begins experimenting with Valium and I didn't care about literary criticism.
Comforting and entertaining at the same time, this story. Carrying around this book for subway reading is like carrying around a really witty and wild [albeit English] friend. I still like Curious Incident better, but this book was welcoming and homelike in a way that Curious Incident was not.
I want to quote one part before I sign off, because it shows the combination of insight and humor that Haddon does very well. This part's about Kate's soon-to-be husband as told by her brother:
How did Ray do it? One moment he was dominating a room the way a lorry
would. Next minute he was down a hole and asking you for help. Why couldn't he
suffer in a way they could all enjoy from a safe distance?
nd this is a key thing about family in trying times. You really wish you could avoid being involved...but often, with a sigh, you can't help but jump in.
