Therapy

Rating:
Summary: Dry, dark humor-- well written
Review: David Lodge is an extremely good writer, and his book is a joy to read. The British colloquialism make this story diffrent from the usualAmerican viewpoint. His jabs at the British medical system, rail system, etc are priceless. One note: the use of a "private consultant" physician led to unnecessary surgery, which perhaps is a backhanded compliment to the socialist "tincture of time" approach after-all.

A good read by a good author.

Rating:
Summary: A book review of "Therapy" by David Lodge
Review: I would like to review of "Therapy" by David Lodge, a post-modernist writer, who is also Honorary Professor of Modern English Literature at Birmingham and a famous literary critic. "Therapy" is the first book I have read by this author and it made a deep impression on me for Lodge's excellent writing skills. My attention was immediately captured and held throughout the novel. The book is a brilliant, hilarious, first-person introspection, an exceptionally moving story that leaves the reader laughing and thinking at the same time. The main character is Tubby Passmore, a successful TV sitcom screenwriter whose creeping mid-life crisis has turned him into a therapy-addict. With the help of Kierkegaard's philosophy, which promoted the centrality of individual choice, he tries to get rid of his latent ANGST. All the other characters are so amazingly well developed that I had a clear picture of them in my mind. I think that the meeting with the pious Maureen, Tubby's first girlfriend, and the final, clarifying exchange of views with the self-assured Sally, his athletic ex-wife, are the most resolutive, turning point of his life, because they give Tubby the opportunity to reflect on his past years, on his mistakes, and push him to understand himself better and to find the key to his problems. In conformity with post-modernist techniques, Lodge uses here different styles, in which he gradually reflects the change in point of view. The language is however very simple and colloquial, although hilariously amusing. I would suggest this book to anybody who is looking for an intelligent, involving and, at the same time, funny book, because "Therapy" is a well written comic story with a strong moral teaching which captures the spirit of human subconscious.

Rating:
Summary: Standard Lodge
Review: Standard Lodge: insight, humour, alternative forms, incorporated lecture (Keirkegaard), and an adulterous resolution.

Lodge is consistent. His style reminds me a bit of Hornby (maybe I've got that backwards), the honesty I suppose. I relate particularly to his persona's reminiscences about his first girlfriend - how blithely horrible you can be. I don't think he needed to tie things up with a common technique of his (sex: cf. Out of the Shelter; Nice Work, Paradise News): it seems to be important to him to show how he's overcome his teenage Catholic morals, and he falls back on restoration bedroom farce perhaps cheaply.
 
Again he's wise to stick to areas he knows about - scenes from Television, Publishing - and from a Catholic Youth Group. He also ties in all this stuff about Keirkegaard - someone who hardly lends himself to a popular novel. He has to work hard to make it fit, but does so. I like his line about Keirkegaard being like flying through clouds: occasionally they clear and you have a moment of intense and profound clarity ... and then suddenly you're plunged back into utter obscurity.