Here I am! This discussion is
not yet over.
. Surely you didn't think I would absent myself without concluding thoughts and a proper send-off Ha!
Thank you for your posts. I regret not having been able to reply sooner to those that require answering.
First my conclusions.
This was a difficult book to
read. Its emphatic concentration on
one narrator and - to a minor extent - on the characters in his life, seemed claustrophobic at times. The "format" is
unusual - to say the least - and that may have ben a turn-off for some readers. Interestingly enough, at his reading in Sandwich, Mass., on August 15th, the author read long segments
only from Part One (!) They did not provide a clear-cut picture of what the book is
really about.
The
discussion was lively and I have tremendously enjoyed it, the probing, and the feedback.
The book's publication caused a stir; after all, the author is a Pulitzer Prize winner (!). I read all the reviews I could put my hands on. Most had similar "takes"on the book; some surmised it might be
autobiographical; all commented on the horrible
parents; a few saw
humor, even hilarity. All reviewers mentioned
midlife crisis.
As I said allready, I saw no humor, no hilarity, only serio-comic aspects. The last chapter is a bit rushed IMHO and not quite in "sync" with the rest of the book. I also was not thrilled with the language, especially the (professional
) "lingo", and grammatical inconsistencies (which an editor should have caught). The pooping seagull makes too many comebacks, and the repeated reference to a personalized "Al Fresco" was tedious.
I believe The book is about
family and
marriage, the blush and eagerness of
first love (Laura), and the (perhaps inevitable) lessening of desire as time goes by. A
personal story painted on a small tableau, based on introspection, which not everybody likes. But we have certainly given this book our all.
Ginny, thank you for your post.
Yes, Griffin was
plumb in the end, there was a re-connect, welcomed by both Joy and Griffin without hard feelings.
At the beginning of Chapter 11 Griffin has another dream: He is in his car with Harve in the back on the Sagamore Bridge. Harve is teaching him how to drive, despite Griffin's protestations that he already knows how. Then Harve has him execute a maneuver to test Griffin's reflexes. That causes an accident during which both urns spring open and the a shes commingle. Mercifully, Griffin wakes up.
We have been told that our dreams reflect things we wrestle with, fear, or are concerned about. That may well have been true for Griffin, who was preoccupied with scattering the ashes the next day. It is finally accomplished with Marguerite's help, after she questioned him extensively about his parents.
That's the ostensible reason for introducing yet
another flashback = Griffin's tearful reminiscences about Christmases past and the search for he proper Christmas tree.
The decisive, crucial point of the story was in the tearful telling of the Christmases past and some kind of
release with the realization that he did NOT have a "pathological hatred" for his parents but
loved them. It is a true epiphany (and he tells that to Joy on the phone, and she says she knew it all along), ven though the "evolution" is not completely convincing for this reader.
Griffin did not call Joy
deliberately after the accident. Both cars, Griffin's and the young man's, were damaged. Returning to his car, Griffin
"saw that the holder for the cell phone was empty. He finally located the phone on the floor under the back seat, its screen black, and when he pressed the space bar it stayed black. He pressed several other keys and was about to give up when the screen suddenly leapt to life with a message, 'Calling Joy'"
About Marguerite - and Harold.
After the successful scattering and at at her request, she and Griffin had a celebratory dinner, coincidentally in the same B&B where he had been with Joy the year before). Marguerite got dressed up for the occasion. Midway in conversation, she said
she would miss him. It mystified him because they were scheduled to fly back to L.A. in the morning.
Marguerite had intuited what Griffin had not, that their time together was over. He simply could not bring himself to tell her "I love you" because he was still in love with Joy. She even had a wager with Tommy (!!!) that Griffin would ask her to fly off to Vegas and marry her (pg. 254).
She also got in touch with Harold. And he was there the next morning. Griffin and Marg. parted, not unhappily.
There are several discernible themes: most important, perhaps, the focus on bad parenting; the sometimes tenuous relations of family members; who takes the first step(s) after a separation; openness; reasonableness versus using fists first; the need for compromise and for saying "sorry".
I'll post a few more answers after supper.
