Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
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Anne Tyler
Vintage 1991
I’m afraid I’ve given up on two Anne Tyler novels in a row. I only got a few pages into Morgan’s Passing before I realised that the central character (wacky? mad?) who insists on pretending to be other people (a doctor, the owner of a hardware store) at random would be too annoying to tolerate. I got a bit further with this one – the story of a tomboy who becomes “handyman” for an old lady and then gets involved with her numerous, chaotic, children – but less than halfway through again threw in the towel. I think the problem with early Tyler (this originally appeared in 1972) is that at that time she didn’t seem to think that ordinary life was enough. Her characters come from ordinary backgrounds, but they are all extraordinary in some way – and, regrettably, unconvincing. I just couldn’t get interested in any of the characters here – such a contrast from her later novels where she finds drama and humour in ordinary people in believable situations. She is a very funny writer I think, highlighting the ludicrous in the day-to-day in a quiet manner sometimes for me reminiscent of Jane Austen. In the early novels, however, the humour is much less subtle, and much less successful. Some might enjoy The Clock Winder but it was not for me.
11th November 2009
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/atyler.htm
See also: Digging to America; Noah's Compass; Earthly Possessions
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