Changing Places

Rating:
Summary: wish I never read it
Review: Most of the book was very, very good, which is why I gave it 1 star. If it had a bad ending, I would've given 2 or 3 stars. But what we have here is no ending. As a reader, I feel cheated. Since I now wish I never wasted my time reading this, I can honestly say it doesn't deserve more than 1 star, and I think I'm being generous.

Rating:
Summary: Hysterical -- but a bit dated
Review: This book is hysterical; however, it is a bit dated. Nevertheless, it must be read in order to fully appreciate the sequel -- Small World -- which is much funnier and has held up better over the years.

Rating:
Summary: A Tale of Two Campuses
Review: This review will not include a synopis of the book -

I decided to re-read Changing Places before starting David Lodge's newest novel Author, Author. I must confess that David Lodge is one of my favorite comtempory novelists - his work makes me laugh out loud. His style is easy while communicating a good sense of character and story. His parody of english academia is spot on. There is a "Rashomon" style to the way that information is given to the reader in the portion of the book that consists of the two couples correspondence - which takes the reader on a great ride. Anyone who reads and enjoys this book should rush out to find their friends who they can play the game called Humiliation with. Be careful that in your attempt to win the game that you do not cost yourself your tenure.

Rating:
Summary: A quick, fun read
Review: Unlike a fine wine, age has not matured this novel. Written some 25 years ago (but set in the sixties), much of the style has now been superceded with millenium-friendly methods. That's not to say that Changing Places does not have its strengths. It has. For one think it made me laugh. In fact, in one or two places I even laughed aloud (something I seldom do when reading - unless I've drunk a bucket of Old Speckled Hen first). Perhaps what I found distracting was the fact that there are four very cear and very distinct styles - almost like the author was experimenting. First there is the usual mixture of narrative and dialog, then there is a section where letters are exchanged between the parties, then comes a section where the story is progressed by means of newspaper articles and the like, and finally a section that reads like a film scenario.

The narrative and dialog were excellent. Lodge picks up the nuances of the spoken language beautifully. The exchange of letters was passable but would have been better if spread through the story and not used to tell a whole section. The newspaper articles failed. I felt that the author was using this as a way to get through large chunks of story in short time. And finally the film scenario was a disaster, particularly right at the end of the book. Again, I felt robbed, like the author just wanted to get it all over with.

All that said, Changing Places still made me laugh, and that alone is worth three stars. The fourth star is because much of the narrative and dialog is splendidly turned out and helps to make up for the books other weaknesses. The story is amusing (and almost believable), and the characterizations of the two main characters is adequate. Despite its shortcomings, Changing Places is still a pleasurable read and you shouldn't be put off by what appears to be my overall negativity.

Rating:
Summary: A witty look at academia
Review: Wow. I absolutely loved this book. In fact, I devoured it in one day. His look at academia and its inner workings is incredibly accurate, but everything is made more naughty by the description of the characters' sex lives, which is so much fun. David Lodge is an interesting writer, who captures the world of the English system of education as opposed to the more liberal academic and social environment in what I take to be San Francisco in the 60's. But I must say I hate the ending. It does leave too much to the imagination. But the rest of the book demonstrates unity; everything ties in, perhaps too neatly. Anyhow I loved the book. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Clever and funny look at American vs. British academia
Review: _Changing Places_ is David Lodge's 1975 novel about two professors, one from a fictional university in America, and one from a fictional university in England, who each take each the other's position for half a year. The English professor is Philip Swallow, from the University of Rummidge. (A red brick university, presumably based to some extent on the University of Birmingham, where Lodge was a professor for a long time.) The American is Morris Zapp, from the State University of Euphoria. This is rather transparently Cal Berkeley: it's on the "Esseph Bay", which features a famous bridge called the "Silver Span", and more importantly, it's 1969 and the students are restless.

Philip is a somewhat ineffectual man, married with 3 children, but rather tired of his marriage, who has never specialized and never really finished much in the way of publications. He is stuck in his position, unwilling to put the energy into either his career or to political maneuvering which would get him promotions. Morris is much more aggressive. He is a leading Jane Austen scholar, twice married with one child by his first wife and twins by his second wife. His second wife has told him she wants a divorce, and his trip to England is in part a cooling off device.

Lodge has a good deal of fun, some of it routine, some quite clever, with the culture clash of the brash American at the provincial British university and the shy Briton at the high profile American university. But he is more deeply interested in the mid-life crises of the two men. These are resolved (to some extent) with some perhaps predictable but still very neatly done plot manipulations, as the two men manage to bump into each others' wives, and also manage to involve themselves fairly successfully (in some sense) in the politics of the two universities. Lodge also has a good deal of fun with narrative form: telling part of the story in epistolary form, and some more of it with news stories and personal ads extracted from the papers. His conclusion is also a bit experimental, and pretty sensible. It's a very funny book, very enjoyable -- Lodge is rapidly establishing himself as a favorite of mine.