A superb satirist of academic life on both sides of the Atlantic (Small World, 1985; Nice Work, 1989, etc.), Lodge here turns to a subject much hashed over in American fiction: male midlife crisis and the countless trendy therapies it's engendered. Laurence ``Tubby'' Passmore, bald and rotund in his 50s, suffers from a free-floating sense of dread. To all appearances, his life is going rather well: A successful television writer with two grown children, he enjoys a vigorous sex life with his university prof wife, Sally, to whom he's remained loyal for some 30 years. But a nagging unhappiness first manifests itself in a troubling knee injury that even surgery can't cure. This ``Internal Derangement of the Knee'' (a doctor's way of saying ``I Don't Know'') begins to dominate Tubby's consciousness, setting off his obsessive fears of impotence, his zombie-like behavior at home, and a strange identification with Kierkegaard's life and philosophy. With his long-running TV series in jeopardy, Tubby also provokes his wife into a separation. When things take this considerable turn for the worse, Lodge begins to let loose. Tubby's jealous rage, his fumbling sexual adventures, his pathetic effort to develop a new series on his favorite Danish philosopher—all make for hilarious set pieces. Tubby's various therapies also provide some good fun: his acupuncture, his aroma therapy, his physiotherapy, his cognitive behaviorist, as well as his formerly ``Platonic mistress,'' Amy, a brassy divorcÇe who confirms her own dislike of sex. Finally, Tubby finds peace by delving deep into his past; he tries to atone for his poor behavior toward his first love, an Irish Catholic beauty named Maureen. Tracking her down in the present, he joins her on a religious pilgrimage in Spain: a spiritual journey that crystallizes his own sense of religion as understood from—who else?—Kierkegaard. The decidedly untrendy ending—personal healing through a leap of faith—redeems an otherwise commonplace novel, one more reminiscent of Lodge's earlier fiction about Catholicism and the sexual revolution.
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-670-86358-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
IN THE NEWS
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
