Tuesday, August 11, 2009
WHA?!
Ok I've had a lot of extra time on my hands the last couple of days (in case you haven't noticed) so I've been plowing through this book pretty fast (well, for me anyway). I can't remember what chapter it was, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. The chapter where Lydia goes on a little trip to Houston. That's all I'm gonna say. Other than, whoa... where the hell did THAT come from? Not that I'm offended or anything, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. So far this had been a book that seemed like it could go on a teenage girl reading list. No more. Why do you think this was thrown in? Do you think the author got bored? Maybe she wanted to make sure everyone was still awake? Like I said, I don't necessarily mind that sort of thing in books... I'm not one of those people that shuns swears, sex and violence, but somehow this time it just felt like it came out of left field. Like it was an afterthought. Made me think the author was trying too hard. Am I way off on this?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You know...now that you mention it, that scene WAS a little weird. I was mostly relieved to discover that the two of them weren't asexual. I thought his absence/their apparent lack of a sexual contact would have factored more heavily into their marital distress. This scene might have made more sense and been less jarring if we knew anything else at all about their sex life.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right on about the afterthought-- in the interview with the author at the end of the book, she says the Houston trip was the last scene she wrote. She said that she'd intended for the trip to H to be a positive experience, but that her editor thought that things needed to get suckier at that point in the novel. So I think she wrote that scene thinking it would be the beginning of a nice weekend retreat, and then got attached to its "edginess" and kept it anyway, even though it didn't really fit. The classic writing advice-- "Kill your darlings"-- might apply here.
You know what's sad? I've read a quite a large number of novels with explicit sex scenes (including romance novels, which are generally disappointing, I'd say)... so that, I barely even notice them, it seems! Now that I think about it, that scene does seem anomalous. But at the time, it didn't even register. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteBut, as far as Lydia's relationship with her husband goes--I just kept thinking, it sounds so LONELY. I can't even remotely imagine feeling so disconnected from my husband, can't imagine just "drifting" into not being friends anymore. Am I alone in finding that uber strange?
And... Is that another toll that parenting takes? Do parents end up getting so engrossed in their kids that they forget each other?
--H.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. I think the "sex scene" seemed odd because there was no other mention of Lydia & Jamie's sexual relationship. At all. I don't think there was even a hug and kiss before this.
I don't think I'd call the scene "edgy." Maybe it was edgy for this writer, but there's plenty of stuff like that in main stream media/books. You can't rely on one scene of sexual content to make the book interesting. There has to be at least 5 scenes. With lots of details. Wait, what were we talking about?
Heidi, we were already aware that you're addicted to porn, no need to flaunt it. ;) I think Lydia's lonely situation is actually pretty common. It's very easy to just devote all your time and attention to your children or job and ignore the husband/wife relationship. That husband/wife relationship can take a nosedive into the crapper pretty fast if you're not careful and really consciously work at it.
H - I also find it difficult to imagine drifting away from my spouse that easily-- and without really expending any effort to fix it. But I think that the three of us are unusual in that our relationships with our husbands are very comfortable, open, and friendly. I think some people feel more formal with their spouses and less apt to discuss their problems. I know my in-laws are that way....
ReplyDeleteH and K - I think you guys are being too hard on Lydia and forgetting that Jamie has also lost himself to other interests-- ie, WORKING ALL THE TIME. Lydia never sees her husband and therefore pours all of her emotional energy into her kids. It's ridiculous, really, that he's been devoting his whole life to these random corporations with civil suits on their hands while remaining completely uninvolved with the people who are the most important to him.
I came across as being hard on Lydia? I didn't mean to. I thought it seemed sad that she didn't have, it seemed, a "life" of her own, and so was overinvested in her kids' lives, but I'm not sure that I blamed her... and, her marriage felt really lonely to me in a way I'm not very familiar with, but I certainly didn't have a sense that that was Lydia's fault. So--I meant to convey, that her focus in life seems unbalanced, and her marriage lonely. But I wasn't feeling--although I can see how it sounded like it--a blaming vibe about it.
ReplyDeleteYou know, to be honest--I feel like I don't relate to her very much. As in--she doesn't seem "wrong" to me, so much as unfamiliar.
Jamie, though! Eh. I might be inclined to judge him. But there, too--it's so hard for me to imagine making his choices, that his busy, career-obsessed life seems more surprising to me than anything.
I also have to admit (and, I've finished the book)--I think I chose a book that had interesting situations, but, that didn't create a world I could completely immerse myself in. Sadly. I ALWAYS "root" for every book I read to grab me, and I always try hard not to hold myself "apart" from the inner reality of the story. I try to give myself over, totally. But sometimes I'm just not able to stay "hooked."
I hope that admission doesn't decrease anyone else's enjoyment of the story! Like I wrote in my very first letter about Book Clubbing--I'm not a big fan of being "critical" of books. I try to let the experience of reading challenge and broaden me.
I'm annoyed to find myself finding fault with the very first book (and one that I chose!!) :D
Oops, I forgot to add--I THOUGHT I was being discreet, but, apparently, my sex addiction was showing. Thanks a lot for "outing" me, Karen!
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I'm just going to ditto exactly what you just said. Couldn't have said it better myself. Except for the sex addiction.
ReplyDelete