Book Thirtythree: The Widower's Tale
8.26.2011
The Widower's Tale, Julia Glass
I have discovered my kryptonite, and it is novels about white people's problems that are set in New England. It is even doubly powerful if it features some good, hard-core house porn. Julia Glass just might be the master of this genre. Allegra Goodman is a close second. And this is also probably why I loved The Monsters of Templeton so very much.
Honestly, I can hardly remember the plot of any Julia Glass novel, but I always think of her books with the greatest fondness. I'm sure that's because she creates terrific characters and places in such a way that the plot almost become irrelevant. Here she gives us a very disparate cast: central to the story is Percival Darling, the 70-year-old titular widower, around whom the other characters orbit as their stories intersect with his. Though I might argue that the real protagonist is his historic home in Massachusetts, which is central to his identity, the story of his late wife, and the current situation that propels the plot forward (how's that for a vague plot summary?). Even though I might forget every detail of this novel tomorrow, I'm sure I won't forget how much discovering a new Julia Glass book at the bookstore makes me squeal with delight.
I have discovered my kryptonite, and it is novels about white people's problems that are set in New England. It is even doubly powerful if it features some good, hard-core house porn. Julia Glass just might be the master of this genre. Allegra Goodman is a close second. And this is also probably why I loved The Monsters of Templeton so very much.
Honestly, I can hardly remember the plot of any Julia Glass novel, but I always think of her books with the greatest fondness. I'm sure that's because she creates terrific characters and places in such a way that the plot almost become irrelevant. Here she gives us a very disparate cast: central to the story is Percival Darling, the 70-year-old titular widower, around whom the other characters orbit as their stories intersect with his. Though I might argue that the real protagonist is his historic home in Massachusetts, which is central to his identity, the story of his late wife, and the current situation that propels the plot forward (how's that for a vague plot summary?). Even though I might forget every detail of this novel tomorrow, I'm sure I won't forget how much discovering a new Julia Glass book at the bookstore makes me squeal with delight.
posted by arajane at
10:44 PM
1 Comments:
I'm doing some big-time catching up on this book blog. Big fan of Allegra Goodman. Just read Intuition. My mom actually has an autographed copy of Total Immersion, which I want to borrow sometime. She's had it for years, actually. My sister gave it to our mom on Mother's Day, the year it was published. At the time, my sister and Allegra lived in the same residence hall at their school, so I guess getting it signed was super easy to do!
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