Talking it Over is the story of a love triangle. Stuart and Oliver are best friends. Stuart marries Gillian. Oliver falls in love with Gillian. And then, of course, things get quite complicated. The most obvious twist Barnes adds to the story is in how he chooses to tell it: he has the characters address the reader (or at least some "you") directly. Stuart, Oliver, and Gillian each tell their own story (with a few other voices also making themselves heard), each offering a different point of view, a different spin, and, occasionally, an entirely different account of what happened. It is an interesting literary device, and Barnes -- a very fine stylist -- manages a great deal with the voices he employs. Stuart is a young banker, careful, a bit unsure of himself, without a university education. Oliver is a pedantic, unfulfilled soul, a wilder, artsy type who travelled, studied, and finally wound up as teaching at the tacky Shakespeare School of English (and eventually actually even manages to get himself sacked from this institution). Gillian trained in social work for while, but then became an art restorer. "I met Stuart", Gillian states. "I fell in love. I married. What's the story ?" There is, of course, more to it than that -- including how Gillian and Stuart met ("Gill and I agreed we wouldn't tell anyone how we met", Stuart says, though he does reveal it to the reader.) And though Barnes fills in backgrounds the meat of the tale begins with Stuart and Gillian's marriage. Barnes tells the story of the three interrelated relationships -- the unlikely but lasting (at least through the beginning of the book) friendship between Stuart and Oliver, and the changing relationships between Gillian and the two men. Much of the fun is in the details: the different ways of seeing events, the different justifications or explanations for what the characters do (or don't do), though clever Oliver is perhaps too dominant (and Gillian, for much of the novel, not strong enough). It is a neatly constructed novel -- and also an obviously constructed one, which is both a strength and weakness. Barnes writes very well, and there are many fine moments, thoughts, and asides. This is not too deep a meditation on friendship, and relationships, but it does chart an interesting threesome, a shifting (and ultimately very misshapen) triangle. An odd, and not entirely satisfying novel, but an interesting one.
jueves, 11 de noviembre de 2010
TALKING IT OVER
Talking it Over is the story of a love triangle. Stuart and Oliver are best friends. Stuart marries Gillian. Oliver falls in love with Gillian. And then, of course, things get quite complicated. The most obvious twist Barnes adds to the story is in how he chooses to tell it: he has the characters address the reader (or at least some "you") directly. Stuart, Oliver, and Gillian each tell their own story (with a few other voices also making themselves heard), each offering a different point of view, a different spin, and, occasionally, an entirely different account of what happened. It is an interesting literary device, and Barnes -- a very fine stylist -- manages a great deal with the voices he employs. Stuart is a young banker, careful, a bit unsure of himself, without a university education. Oliver is a pedantic, unfulfilled soul, a wilder, artsy type who travelled, studied, and finally wound up as teaching at the tacky Shakespeare School of English (and eventually actually even manages to get himself sacked from this institution). Gillian trained in social work for while, but then became an art restorer. "I met Stuart", Gillian states. "I fell in love. I married. What's the story ?" There is, of course, more to it than that -- including how Gillian and Stuart met ("Gill and I agreed we wouldn't tell anyone how we met", Stuart says, though he does reveal it to the reader.) And though Barnes fills in backgrounds the meat of the tale begins with Stuart and Gillian's marriage. Barnes tells the story of the three interrelated relationships -- the unlikely but lasting (at least through the beginning of the book) friendship between Stuart and Oliver, and the changing relationships between Gillian and the two men. Much of the fun is in the details: the different ways of seeing events, the different justifications or explanations for what the characters do (or don't do), though clever Oliver is perhaps too dominant (and Gillian, for much of the novel, not strong enough). It is a neatly constructed novel -- and also an obviously constructed one, which is both a strength and weakness. Barnes writes very well, and there are many fine moments, thoughts, and asides. This is not too deep a meditation on friendship, and relationships, but it does chart an interesting threesome, a shifting (and ultimately very misshapen) triangle. An odd, and not entirely satisfying novel, but an interesting one.
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