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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “"In Haddam, summer floats over tree-softened streets like a sweet lotion balm from a careless, languorous god, and the world falls in tune with its own mysterious anthems." So begins Richard Fords award-winning sequel to The Sportswriter. Frank Bascombe, a divorced real estate agent, is doing...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Humourous in parts but overall, tedious” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“ I've heard about this book through the years, since it's been listed by various critics as one of the great contemporary novels by one of the great contemporary novelists.
David G wrote this review Tuesday, September 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Since it's a series of novels, I decided to start with The Sportswriter, the first in the series. My God, I thought, how could anyone think this book was worthy of being published, much less be rated as one of the great books of our time? If great books are woven from the most tedious, detailed nothings collected like stacks of yellowed newspaper from everyday life, then I'll clean out my garage and send it to the New York Review of Books for bronzing.
Nothing ever happens, and what little does happen is negligible in the extreme. A real writer takes the most riveting stuff of life and heightens it; Ford does the opposite, taking the most boring stuff of life and depressing it.
I guess that's what some critics--and clearly, there are critics who object--who value Ford's writing highly. They must think he's a kind of modern-day Proust, generating twelve pages of prose for every inconsequential thing that happens--a line of dialogue, a turn of the head, a fart. They must think that Ford captures the poignant inner monologue of some clueless suburban guy, which they elevate by calling him "contemporary man."
No. Don Delillo did that in White Noise, and with humor and poignant turns of phrase. Joan Didion did that in various works of fiction, and with more irony and complex eloquence. Ford doesn't even know how to stitch together a sentence in a cleverly pleasing way.
If you're thinking that this is all a matter of writing that's so far above the rest of our knowledge base, you're mistaken. Having made my living as a professional writer for years, I can tell you that the technical aspects of Ford's writing is sorely lacking, as well. He often uses a semicolon when he should be using a colon. He uses lower case when he should be capitalizing. This is not high-level writing.
After finishing The Sportswriter and being bored silly, I decided that maybe Independence Day would be better, having earned a Pulitzer and PEN/Faulkner award. But who wants to know as much as Ford imparts about what it takes to be a successful real-estate agent? If I'd wanted to read about mortgages and "neighborhood context," I'd have had a glass of warm hemlock close at hand.
A hundred pages in, all we've seen is the boring real-estate agent protagonist leading a Vermont couple through a home that they aren't going to buy. Man, that's a riveting prospect. By page 108, I said to myself, "Do you want to spend countless more hours slogging through this mud?" My answer can be seen on my dining room table, where Independence Day sits, waiting to be taken into storage.
I gave it a valiant try. I wasted a few weeks on his first book. I refuse to waste any more on his second or third.
”“brilliantly written concerning the conflicts of the divorced male. frank bascombe appears in his others novels. the protagonist is a new jersey guy living life with a shadow of a cloud lingering above.”
david s wrote this review Tuesday, October 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This was good, but it goes on forever.”
Casper G wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This was good.”
Riordan A wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This was a great book.”
Mark I wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is not the one about the aliens with Will Smith. This is the one that won the Pulitzer Prize.
Bobby B wrote this review Sunday, June 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It's 451 pages long, but the story only takes place over the course of a weekend. Frank Bascombe is a realtor who is driving around Jersey trying to sell houses - to connect people to their proper places. He's trying not to complain about life because he is where he is because he got himself there - though some terrible life circumstances occur that he can't be blamed for, but which he takes a dharma kind of 'merely a minor obstacle in the path' approach to. He is a philosopher, a psychologist, a humorist. He weaves countless anecdotes and observations and philosophizing into a prose style that is among the notable showings in the 20th century. Pullitzer Prize. I laughed my butt off at times. I was knocked out by some of the heavy thoughts he dropped - and it really left impressions on me and changed me.”“Humourous in parts but overall, tedious”
Peter H wrote this review Wednesday, March 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No2 of 2 members found this review helpful“"In Haddam, summer floats over tree-softened streets like a sweet lotion balm from a careless, languorous god, and the world falls in tune with its own mysterious anthems." So begins Richard Fords award-winning sequel to The Sportswriter. Frank Bascombe, a divorced real estate agent, is doing the best he can to come to grips with the realities of his life and find a little peace and happiness. He deals with difficult clients, his ex-wife, his son and daughter, and his lover like the mensch he is. The action of the novel covers a long 4th of July weekend, and while plenty happens in the outside world, Frank's interior world plays just as big a role. I found the writing to be thoughtful, and the characters to be nicely developed. I was sorry to see the book end. It seems like this book might sit happily on the shelf next to some of Updike's Rabbit books.
sthurner wrote this review Sunday, December 21 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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0 of 1 members found this review helpful“This book kicks ass. Will Smith's character is so much better developed within the pages of this piece than during the film that it will blow your mind. ”
patch406 wrote this review Saturday, December 1 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
