Wednesday, September 16, 2020

THE INTERESTINGS, Meg Wolitzer

The InterestingsThe Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the first two-thirds of Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings I was filling the margins in with such insightful commentary as “Yes!” “Perfect.” and “Wolfe attempted this, again and again, but MW nails it.”

Following a gaggle of creative-type teens just one cohort ahead of me (Nixon-era, post-hippie) into a complicated adulthood was an easy sell, and Wolitzer kept me engaged by patiently teasing apart their preoccupations as they were hit with the unexpected exigencies of lived life. I was particularly grateful for Wolitzer’s focus on sexual preoccupations — surely the single-most defining and consequential preoccupation in any individual’s life. Where other authors veer toward the prurient, Wolitzer was compassionate, humane and unblinkered.

Unfortunately, at the two-thirds mark it is revealed that one of the significant characters is keeping a HUGE secret from another, and for no good reason. Wolitzer makes this choice explicable, and the subsequent fallout believable, but it remains a narrative ploy I react badly to. Works great (<- sarcasm) for television soap operas and lesser comic book series, but I cannot stress how much I hate, hate, HATE it.

I finished the book, and am impressed enough with Wolitzer’s craft that I will seek out another of her novels. And readers for whom this particular narrative trope does not trigger anaphylactic shock should find this an excellent read.

View all my reviews

No comments: