The Rules of Engagement

Rating:
Summary: Staring at the Wall
Review: Anita Brookner writes in a style that harkens back to Henry James: so much of her prose is icy, matter-of-fact and at times clinical. But Brookner makes the fatal error of adopting the Jamesian style without having his facility at storytelling and his mastery of prose writing.
Though the story of "The Rules of Engagement" takes place in London in the Swinging 1960's through the 1980's, when Brookner makes a reference to those times...discos, Art, etc, it is shocking because her story is so much of a time, and that time is the early 1900's.
Elizabeth is an old fashioned girl: one who cleaves to her husband, a much older man and to her friend Betsy with whom she shares a relationship more akin to that of a mother-daughter than one of friends. When she meets Betsy's lover, Daniel she finds him "repellent...his humming deprived him of ordinary accessibility and removed any possibility of normal exchange of the kind practiced in the circles in which I moved."
Against all normal logic, Elizabeth takes a lover, Edmund in whom she invests not only her time but her so-called emergence as a person: "a self which had been obscured by the years of careful living which I could now see for what they had been: erroneous, fallacious, and with a stifling quality I was ready to condemn unreservedly." Unfortunately, Brookner sees fit to give Edmund to Betsy and leaves Elizabeth in a lurch she seemingly recovers from without much effort: "in short he (Edmund) lent some of his own glamorous freedom from the pangs of conscience, and I took this as further proof that I have matured in a way that not hitherto been possible."
Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!
"The Rules of Engagement" is supposedly about relationships: those with our mates, our lovers and our friends but it is written in such a bloodless manner that, instead of being moved by these people, we merely snigger at their stupidity and their inability to make any real connection to each other or to us.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging & Engrossing
Review: Characters Elizabeth and Betsy are wavering, wishy-washy, confused over love and loss, and the conundrums of their personalities. One thought, one act, one look, seemingly insignificant, takes on the weight of endless meaning and ceaseless consideration. Small things leave ringing repercussions. Decisions are made, rightly or wrongly. One does not, as such, 'read' Miss Brookner, one absolutely surrenders under her spell. Delving into this novel is as dining a buffet. Brookner's words, her sentences, are so carefully crafted as to be perfect works of art. Indeed, one ought treasure her statements, her insights, as one does a rare and particularly fine jewel. Which of us never hesitates, never a false move makes, never wishes to be other than what we might be, what we have become, due to circumstances beyond our control? Thus as such, Miss Brookner plumbs marvellously the recollections and ennui of a middle age rather more tolerated than actively lived.

Rating:
Summary: MICHAEL ACUNA IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG
Review: RULES is an excellent book; Brookner an excellent writer--in fact, I find all her books except HOTEL DU LAC excellent; there is no better way to reflect on life than to read Brookner's books. If I could give RULES more stars to better its overall rating I would.

Rating:
Summary: Boring woman, boring book
Review: Talk about comtemplating one's own navel! The narrator of this book is completely self-absorbed. She has no interests, and the greatest interest to the reader is noting how many times "I" appears in each paragraph. She seems to yearn for a meaningful connection with another person, but has nothing to offer a relationship. This is definitely someone who needs to "get a life". Anita Brookner's prose has been praised to the heavens, but I noted several jarring errors in sentence structure. Her vocabulary is admirable. Although I usually set aside a book that doesn't engage my interest, I seem to be continuing with this one with a kind of horrified compulsion.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is Anita Brookner at her very best. Fascinating, introspective examination of women and aging in Brookner's unmistakable style. Universal themes, written beautifully. I just reread it, liked it even better the second time. Underlined half of the book, so much was worth going back for. Higest recommendation!