Nice Work by David Lodge (***1/2)
I started reading this book thinking I would eventually rate it 4 or even 4.5 stars. Evocative prose, an understanding of human nature and societal issues, and a good start setting the stage for the main story. Plus the fact that it was short-listed for the Booker and had good reviews from some respected papers.
But it began to flag from that terrific start (a bit like the way I tend to cycle--full speed ahead for the first ten minutes and then barely hanging on for two hours). 4.5 dropped to 4 and eventually 3.5.
I don't generally like to leave off books halfway and this one certainly wasn't bad enough to do that. But gripping and compelling it stopped being about halfway through. It was as though Lodge had started with a very good broad framework for a storyline --issues he wanted to incorporate, characters he'd created, places he wanted to write about-- and had started work with enthusiasm and energy, only to begin wondering halfway through his story what specifically to say within his framework and how to say it.
The usage of tense puzzled me too. The first few chapters use the present tense to describe the present and the past tense to bring in history, which is a common literary device and works very well at the start of this book, but most of the rest of the book shifts to the past tense for no reason in particular, and the present makes a few appearances again towards the end, making one wonder how his tense choices come about at all.
The ending is awkward and unconvincing, as though Lodge contrived a way to tie up the loose ends and fulfil his obligations to his publisher --who no doubt paid a large advance based on the first two chapters-- and thereby put himself out of his misery.
I'm beginning to suspect professional reviewers don't really read the books they review.
