To: ALL Date: 02/02
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 8:53 AM
TONY AND SUSAN by Austin Wright
I know I said we would start discussing this book the second
week of February, but I finished it several days ago and
didn't want to forget what I was going to say. This is a
very fast read. It plops you down in the middle of a life
and urges you to keep reading--fast, especially the
beginning. I know you will all be fascinated with the
premise: a woman's ex-husband sends her a manuscript of his
novel to read. Their divorce was facilitated by his wanting
to become a writer, instead of a lawyer, making the woman
wonder just why he is sending her the mss. We get to read
his book along with her, see her reactions, learn a little
more about her as we go along. I got caught up in the book
within the book much more than in the reader's life. I want
you all to read it (I won't give any plot spoiler
information just yet). It's an easy, fast read, it's
compelling, there are numerous questions we could mull over.
One of them is: can you use a book as a weapon?
I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the ending. I want all of
you to tell me why.
Paging Sarah Hart. I know you read this. Get online.
Sherry
=============== Reply 1 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/02
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 10:55 AM
Sherry: I haven't been able to read anything but tea-leaves
in weeks, but this book sounds interesting. It also raises
an issue I've previously considered: can a person be too
polite to be a writer? Whenever I think about writing
something longer than an Ashleigh Brillant quotoid, I
realize that I will have to reveal my inner-most thoughts
about the characters in my story -- all of whom are taken,
whole-cloth, kicking and screaming, from real life. Since
some of my private musings about friends and family are not
entirely flattering (to them or me) I always thought such a
writing project would place unfortunate, and possibly fatal,
burdens on relationships that I treasure (no matter how
flawed the participants). Can you be an honest and good
writer and still have a family and friends? I mean, I don't
think I'd confide in Pat Conroy anymore, if I was an old
high school buddy, just to name one example.
Dick in Alaska, feeling a bit like he's writing to Miss
Manners
=============== Reply 2 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/02
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 12:14 PM
Dear Dick,
It shouldn't take you very long to read this, and I think
there will be some interesting questions to talk over. We've
missed you. This novel within a novel is not obviously a
weapon, but it gives the reader (both the the fictional
reader and us out here) edgy feelings. I think you're right
about writing a novel and keeping all your friends and
family speaking to you. Maybe a pseudonym could work. "The
Story of D in A". Hmmmm.
Sherry
=============== Reply 3 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/02
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 1:14 PM
Dick, I've mulled over the same question. My poetry all
comes from real life and there are poems I would die if my
mother ever saw, yet they are written out of my love and
concern for her. I've also done short stories that are so
true to events that they'll never see the light of day. How
do writers reconcile their love and affection for friends
and family with the things that pop into their work,
consciously or unconsciously?
Ruth, who's hoping you're back to stay
=============== Reply 4 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/02
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 3:28 PM
Sherry,
I've decided to keep reading thru TONY & SUSAN, even
though I was "spooked" by it in the beginning. I don't like
to read it at night, because, as you say, it gives one an
"edgy feeling." So that's slowing me down. I hope I finish
it soon because I want to follow the discussion here, but
don't want the discussion to spoil the story for me. You
said, we'd be discussing it the second week in February".
That sounds about right.
-Joy, "hooked" by TONY & SUSAN
=============== Reply 5 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/02
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 11:55 PM
PROGRESS REPORT. I'm almost half way thru T &S. This one's
a page-turner, folks. I won't finish it tonight, but it
won't be for lack of trying. And you're right, Joy, it's
scary. First time in a long time I've had to look up from a
book and take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm safe
in my living room, reading.
Ruth
=============== Reply 6 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/03
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 9:28 AM
greetings SIR RICHARD OF ALASKA..
i finished a book titled YO by julia alvarez..the premise is
that YO is a writer and wrote what she was told to
write...about her life and those around her... she did and
the repercussions in this poignant book makes for some
fascinating and wondeful writing....but those poor people
who felt they were exposed...they were angry!!
gail..hp..a passionate reader who started reading TONY AND
SUSAN and realized my group may find this book
interesting...but the concept of book within a book is old
already just as the shopworn scenerios of the lonely..poor
down trodden ..abused child...is punctuated in so much of
our literature today... i ascribe it to plain old social
commentary..
=============== Reply 7 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/03
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 9:24 PM
Ruth,
I finished reading TONY & SUSAN today. The pages turn
faster & faster as you go on! Now I've got Eddie reading
it!
I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's comments.
Imagine all the "hidden meanings" that'll be brought
forward.
-Joy, finally relaxing after the suspense is over
=============== Reply 8 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/03
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:51 PM
Sherry, Joy, Ruth, gail, and all,
I nominated this books for the list because I wanted someone
to discuss it with me. At the very beginning
*************SPOILER ALERT*****************
when Tony is stopped on the interstate, he just can't
believe that something that awful could happen to him. He
is expecting those men to drive away after they have
sufficiently harrassed him and his family. I think that
this is the way most civilized people react to terror. We
all expect others to be nice to us, and when they aren't we
are very surprized. I also think that I would be like Tony
after he is dropped off in the woods, and he keeps imagining
that he will find his wife and daughter at the police
station. Other possibilities are too horrendous for him to
comprehend. I was interested in his way of grieving as
well. Did you think this was realistic? Tony felt that
people were tired of him and that his situation had gone on
long enough. I am reading the book for the second time, and
I found that although I remembered Tony's story vividly, I
didn't recall Susan's at all. Jane who has too little time
to ponder tonight.
=============== Reply 9 of Note 22 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/03
From: KFBC86B JEAN MILLER BELL Time: 10:38 PM
I tried to read TONY AND SUSAN a couple of weeks ago but
could not get into it. I would have liked to find out
about the cop who tortures the suspect and ends up hating
the original victim more, but the book did not hold my
interest enough to keep going. I admit I read only to the
part where Susan finishes the first chapter, but the story
was odd and I couldn't get interested in the characters.
Jean--who is having no trouble getting into THE SHINING
SHINING PATH
=============== Reply 10 of Note 22 =================
To: KFBC86B JEAN MILLER BELL Date: 02/04
From: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Time: 3:17 PM
Tony and Susan was a gripping story, it was hard for me to
put it down because I wanted to know where it was going and
what it was in Edward's novel that Susan felt was intended
for her personally. Sorting it out afterwards I was
inclined to not try to read too much into it but rather
compared it to my own experience of reading certain novels
at a time when my own life has been troublesome and trying
to relate personally with the characters. Susan seemed to
be looking for answers in the writing that would shed light
on the turn her life had taken. In this way the book would
seem to be how our reading lives and actual lives interact.
If there was some lesson in Tony's story that was directed
to Susan it seemed to be more about what they didn't do or
couldn't do about their situations rather than about
anything else. Still I'm waiting to see what riches the
CR's will plumb from this fascinating book.
Barb Hill
=============== Reply 11 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/04
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 5:56 PM
-- A few questions for all who have finished TONY & SUSAN:
(1) What was the source of Susan's feelings of dread and
uneasiness as she was reading the book?
(2) What do you think was the something missing that Edward
asked her about?
(3) Do you think Tony was portrayed realistically? How
would YOU have reacted when the toughs wanted to trade cars?
(4) Why do you think Susan wanted Arnold to read the book at
the end? To show him that she had made a mistake in marrying
him?
(5) Do you think Edward was writing this novel as a kind of
punishment of Susan? And if so, why was it a punishment? Was
it just a book and Susan was reading more into it?
(6) We didn't get to see much of Edward, but why do you
think he wanted Susan to read the book and then not show up
to discuss it with her?
Really, folks, I'm not trying to play the part of teacher.
These are questions I have myself, and I would love to have
some of your insights.
Sherry on a day that looked like it was brought to you by
the Letter Y for Yucky
=============== Reply 12 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/04
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 6:17 PM
I finished this book this morning, under the dryer at the
hairdressers. It was quite a contrast to the inane chitchat
going on around me. Like others here, I found myself more
interested in the Tony story than the Susan story. Small
wonder, it's a story of action and suspense, whereas Susan's
story is mostly introspection.
I do think that the key to the relationship between the two
stories is in what exactly is missing from Tony story. It's
mentioned at least 2 or 3 times so we know the author felt
it was important. But as of now, I haven't a clue what it
is.
Ruth, waiting to hear from all of you
=============== Reply 13 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 7:42 PM
Jane, (SPOILER ALERT)
Yes, I kept saying to myself, if Tony had only known
what was going to happen to his wife & daughter, he might
have behaved differently when the harassing began. But when
I try to play it out, I think that no matter what he would
have done, it wouldn't have helped in the end. He was
outnumbered & his car was disabled. What if they had just
stayed in the car with the doors locked?
But playing the woulda/shoulda/coulda game with the
knowledge of hindsight is a kind of torture all its own.
No, he could never have imagined what those guys were up
to. They were playing word games with him, confusing him,
making him feel foolish. I still feel sorry for him.
As far as Tony's grieving, it just hurts me to think
about it. Give me some time. -Joy
=============== Reply 14 of Note 22 =================
To: KFBC86B JEAN MILLER BELL Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 7:42 PM
Jean, (SMALL SPOILER ALERT-last two lines below)
I had trouble getting into TONY & SUSAN too. I quit
for a few days. But I so wanted to follow this discussion,
that I forced myself to plod on, a few pages at a time. And
then...it took off all by itself & I couldn't stop reading.
I think it was the dialogue that caught me up, especially
when the policeman/detective takes Ray back to the scenes
of the crime with Tony. I was on the edge of my chair.
-Joy
=============== Reply 15 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 7:42 PM
Barb, (SPOILER ALERT)
You made a good point about the parallel of helplessness
both in Susan's life & Tony's. I hadn't quite thought of
that yet. I've been thinking of the sentence on p.332,
"...it made her think of the precariousness of her
sheltered life." Perhaps there's an answer there. All our
lives are precarious in a way.
I'm still trying to see the parallel between the
"blinding" Susan (Edward said she made him feel blind with
her criticisms) & the "blinded" Tony.
I'm sure someone here will come up with something.
-Joy
=============== Reply 16 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 7:42 PM
Sherry,
Great questions. Give me some time to digest them. I'll
be back, if only as a lurker. I'm tired already.
Joy
=============== Reply 17 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/04
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:21 PM
Joy and all,
I think that one reason that I found this book so chilling
is that I had a similiar experience when I was 21 but with a
happy ending. I had just returned from France, and my
brother and his wife came to New York to pick me up. We
drove from New York to Cincinnati in my VW that I had bought
in Europe, and on the Ohio turnpike we had a flat tire on a
hill. It was about 11pm and the jack would not hold up the
car because the side of the road was very soft. Let me
mention that my brother and his wife were in their mid 20's
and both looked like movie stars at that time. They were
the type of couple that made heads turn when they walked
into a room. I was an average looking 21 year-old. Anyway,
after about an hour a logging truck stopped, and four rough
looking men stepped out. My brother said, "Oh, My God!
They are going to kill me and rape the two of you!" They
laughed a lot and swore so we were scared to death, and then
they cut off the end of a log, put the VW on it, changed the
tire, and left. When I read TONY AND SUSAN the first time,
I thought that something similar would happen to him. Then
when Laura and Helen died, I thought, "There but for the
grace of God go I." I haven't quite finished my second
reading, but I will post more later. Jane who has lived 29
years since that incident.
=============== Reply 18 of Note 22 =================
To: KFBC86B JEAN MILLER BELL Date: 02/04
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 10:01 PM
greetings to all in our SLO MO BOOK GROUP..
i too..like JEAN..couldn't get into this book...i dashed
into the book..DRUNK WITH ENTHUSIASM....but it
didn'twork...decided to bring it up for my group
selection...and if they are interested....i will definitely
give it another go!!!! please understand..i am a very
moody reader...and at a later date it may roll...
gail..hp..a passionate reader starting COUSIN BETTE by
BALZAC...
=============== Reply 19 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 10:18 PM
Jane,
What a scare! You were lucky indeed! Bells must have
started ringing when you started reading TONY & SUSAN.
Joy, still thinking about Sherry's questions
=============== Reply 20 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/04
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 10:18 PM
Sherry,
Re Quest. #1 (about the source of Susan's uneasiness):
Was Susan feeling guilty about her unfaithfulness to Edward
& her failure to support his desire to be a writer? Was
this the source of her uneasiness, coupled with her worry
about the faithfulness of her present husband Arnold? Was
Susan feeling as helpless as Tony, (as Barbara Hill
suggested)?
Joy, waiting to read other people's answers to this question
& all the others.
=============== Reply 21 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/04
From: KFBC86B JEAN MILLER BELL Time: 10:57 PM
It is possible I will give it a try again in the future.
I still look forward to reading the notes on T&S.
Jean
=============== Reply 22 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/05
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 8:48 AM
Dear Joy,
I think your answer to Question #1 is very likely. If I
remember correctly, Arnold tended to make fun of Edward's
writing attempts--probably as a way to justify his and
Susan's infidelity. Now that Edward seems to have a decent
book on his hands, it would be hard to keep that up. They
would be faced with the reality of what they did--on its own
merits. Susan is neglecting (on purpose) to see problems in
her present marriage. This book forces her to look at her
life and make her think hard about the decisions she made--a
prospect that she finds chilling.
Now what do you all think is "left out"? I'm still stumped
by that one.
Sherry in frozen slush Milwaukee
=============== Reply 23 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/05
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 12:34 PM
Yes, Sherry. I'd like to know what people thought was "left
out" of Edward's book. As I said before, I think it may be
the key to the whole interrelationship between the 2 books.
It was obviously important to the author.
Ruth, clueless
=============== Reply 24 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/05
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 3:22 PM
Sherry & all,
Perhaps the part of the novel that Edward feels is
lacking is the final summation, the "police report" on the
entire episode. Perhaps Edward is trying to get Susan to
see that there needs to be a final summation of what really
happened in their lives. What would the police report say?
Who was guilty of what? The detective would have to "fudge"
the report. Would Susan be able to "fudge" a summation of
her own marital history? Where was the guilt to be laid? On
Edward for being so selfish in his search for fulfillment?
Or on Susan for being resentful & distrustful of Edward's
goals? As for "aggressive" policework, does the end >>>
justify the means? Tony knew it didn't, but in the end, he
gave his life because he shot Ray without just cause. Where
does that leave Susan? With a dead marriage because she too
didn't have just cause for what she did? Is that what
Edward is trying to imply with his novel?
Joy
=============== Reply 25 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/05
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 7:14 PM
Joy,
You have some very interesting possibilities for the
"missing link." I'll think some more about this.
Sherry
=============== Reply 26 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/05
From: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Time: 7:34 PM
But did Edward know that Susan's marriage was troubled?
They hadn't heard from each other for years. I think your
question #6 and #2 are related in a way. I think it was
important to Edward that Susan read his book (he wanted to
prove he had it in him) but not important to him to discuss
it with her. Thinking she would have to she would read it
more carefully. Also thinking there was something missing
she would read it more carefully.
Barbara Hill
=============== Reply 27 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/05
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 11:51 PM
Barbara and all,
I have been thinking about question 1 as well. I think
Susan's feeling of dread was that she might learn that she
made a mistake when she left Edward for Arnold. Edward
might prove through his book that he really was the writer
and dreamer that he said he was as a young man. Susan
seemed very unhappy with Arnold because he hadn't lived up
to her expectations either. Susan seems to be a "grass is
always greener" person. Susan also hadn't reached her own
dream of becoming a writer, and Edward beat her to it. Just
a quick thought. Jane is Colorado where it is supposed to
snow tonight.
=============== Reply 28 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/06
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 9:06 AM
Dear Barbara,
I hadn't thought that he might be using the question as a
kind of excuse to get her to read the book. Hmm.... I can
see how that might be a very human thing to do. Here, read
this, see if it needs anything. You may very well be right,
and we may be over-analyzing.
Sherry
=============== Reply 29 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/06
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 10:02 AM
Barbara,
When I said "dead marriage", I was referring to the
marriage of Susan & Edward.
You have a good point when you say "she would read it
more carefully" if she thought there was something missing.
I also thought it was possible, as you said, "he wanted
to prove he had it in him." Perhaps that's all Wright had
in mind when he wrote the story. Sometimes we read more
into things than are really there. I guess we'll never
know & that's what makes it interesting. -Joy
=============== Reply 30 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/06
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 10:02 AM
Jane,
I think you're right. Susan did express some doubts
about how she had handled her life. Yes, I do remember
reading the part where she wondered if her marriage to
Edward would have worked out as well or as bad as her
marriage to Arnold. I can't remember the exact words. Wish
I could.
I wonder how many of us are "grass is always greener"
persons, if the truth be told.
-Joy, who tries to be an "I'm counting my blessings"
person, but while I'm counting, I'm looking over at the
other side of the fence.
=============== Reply 31 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/06
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 10:02 AM
Sherry,
I know this is reading too much into the story, but if
we really want to think of Edward as a revengeful person,
then, accepting the idea that Tony is analagous to Susan,
perhaps Arnold blinded Tony the way he (Edward) was blinded
by Susan. The question is: Is Edward being revengeful or
not when he sends the story to Susan, or is he just saying,
"I told you so."
By the way, I thought Susan's letter to Edward at the
end was a perfect solution. She just didn't want to rock
the boat anymore & said the least she could possible say.
-Joy, just trying to pull lose ends together.
=============== Reply 32 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/06
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 12:45 PM
All, now that we're well into hashing out the complicated
relationships and motivations between the main characters of
this book, I'd like to switch the focus 180 degrees. What
about the author? Why do you suppose he used this
book-within-a-book format? What did it accomplish? Surely
he must have been aware that the Tony story, at least on the
surface of it, was the one that was going to grab center
stage. So why did he encase it within a slow-moving, might
I say constipated, chunk of retro- intro- spection?
Ruth, wondering if the Tony story was written first and then
the author decided what was missing from it could be
attained by encasing it in the Susan story. Just a thought.
=============== Reply 33 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/06
From: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Time: 4:02 PM
Ruth, I can't answer your question but one of the quoted
critics on the back of my paperback edition said: "A
thriller, a critique of violence, and an inquisition of our
reading lives: such versatility is no surprise to the fans
of Austin Wright's fiction ( and his literary theory), but
now he has transcended these separable notions and created,
as in our national emblem, From Many One. A truly
scandalous achievement-remembering that a scandal is a
stumbling block, the event that stops you in your tracks."
It's that inquisition of our reading lives that I think
might be pertinent.
B. Hill
=============== Reply 34 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/06
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 9:12 PM
Ruth,
I wish we could ask the Austin Wright all these
questions. Surely this can't be just a story of a man who
wrote a book & merely wants his ex-wife to read it & help
polish it up. There are so many parallels between the story
& the story-within-the story. This can't be just a
coincidence. Is Wright just playing word games with his
readers, teasing them, more or less? Just like Ray played
word games with Tony? Is this just a story being read
by a paranoiac wife? Hey, this story is even making ME
paranoiac! LOL!
I'm starting to feel sorry for Susan. She's had no luck
with two marriages. The first guy seems to neglect her, &
he's not too hot a lover. The second guy is a hot lover,
but he cheats on her. How much can one girl take? Now her
ex sends her this frightening novel after all these years.
Let's have a moment of silence for Susan. -Joy
=============== Reply 35 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/06
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 9:12 PM
Inquisition, indeed!
If Austin Wright thinks he's going to get me involved in
another night of figuring this thing out, he's crazy. I'm
not missing Seinfeld for anything! -Joy
=============== Reply 36 of Note 22 =================
To: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Date: 02/06
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:13 PM
Barbara,
I think you make a good point about questioning our reading
lives, because at one point, Susan notices that her children
have been glued to the TV for several hours without moving.
She considers telling them to turn off the TV, but then she
thinks that she has been sitting on the couch with her nose
stuck in a book for the same amount of time. She wonders
what the difference is. I would like to hear everyone's
answer to that question. Some people say that readers are
experiencing life vicariously. Reading is such a large part
of all of CR's lives that we would not want to give it up.
Jane who is enjoying this discussion.
=============== Reply 39 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/07
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 2:35 AM
Random Thoughts on 'Tony and Susan' --
1. What could have been 'left out' -- how about the passion?
Aren't Tony and Susan both bloodless, careful people, unable
to confront even incipient disaster in their respective
lives? Why doesn't Susan hit the Doctor's bimbo with a vase?
Why doesn't Tony drill the peckerwood murderer? My vote is:
they're only partly alive.
2. Tony's blinding/Edward's blinding seem too parallel to be
accidental. Obviously, Edward still has a thing (probably
sick and negative) about Susan. Who in their right mind
would believe that a person they had known virtually as a
child (early 20's) and had had no contact with for 25 years,
would still be a sufficient soul-mate to read their
unpublished novel, and commune on it? I think Edward blamed
Susan for leaving him (he was kind of an asexual little
twirp, according to her), and robbing him of his creative
'sight'. The book may or may not have have been an
intentional slap at her, but at a minimum it reflects his
obsession.
3. Susan is as shallow as a day-care wading pool. Here is a
woman who opts for big guys with big bucks; her primary
concern on contemplating her husband's departure with the
bimbo is keeping the retirement accounts in her name. She is
so self-absorbed, her family's activities largely elude her,
and she can very easily make a mental bargain with herself
to forget her husband's philandering in exchange for the
house and social station. Two hours of housework is
described as "having worked all day". This is not a deep or
sympathetic character folks.
4. Why didn't Edward show up for dinner? Maybe he killed
himself? Again notice Susan's complete self-absorbtion --
not a SINGLE thought about what could possibly have detained
this ex-husband, the author who has so disturbed her
thoughts. It's all about her, and humiliating her, etc. In
the end it doesn't matter whether it ditched her on purpose,
forgot about the time, or dangled himself in the hotel
shower -- she wasn't really interested in him or his book.
She was interested in Susan.
Frankly, this was all a little confusing to me. What about
DNA evidence? The women were raped; 'the cold war is over'
some character announces; so we're in modern times,
forensically speaking. Even some down-home bunch of crackers
and rubes could get a conviction on this, unless of course
it was OJ, but that's another story.
I guess in the end I wasn't very impressed by this book.
It's sort of Brian Garfield ('Death Wish') meets Don DeLillo
('White Noise'). Problem is, I prefer both my mayhem and my
wierdness straight-up. This one was kind of an experimental
cocktail.
Dick in Alaska, where you have to be CRAZY to flip off
another driver
=============== Reply 40 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/07
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 2:57 AM
Great remarks, Dick. Susan was a royal pain in the ass. I
felt sorry for Tony, not all men feel up to punching big
weird Als. What I found totally unconvincing though, was
Bobby Andes uncoply behavior. Right from the gitgo.
Ruth, who almost lost her windshield after flipping someone
off (for the last time, may I add) on the Hollywood Freeway
=============== Reply 41 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/07
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 11:03 AM
Richard,
"Partly alive", "shallow", passionless, "self-absorbed",
practical (about the retirement accounts)...Susan may or
may not be all these things, but I still feel sorry for
her. We are all interested in ourselves & our own fate to a
certain extent.
Joy
=============== Reply 42 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/07
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 12:47 PM
Ruth: After some more thought it seems to me that many of
the 'flaws' in the inner novel were probably intentional;
this wasn't meant be a great book. It was an unedited
manuscript by a an unpublished writer. You would expect
signficant flaws and it has them -- the evidence problems I
mentioned, Andes lack of motivation and depth, the girls at
the end who show up as if they got a call from Novelist
Equity, are all examples. Frankly, I kept expecting Andes to
announce he was in cahoots with the kidnappers, and right up
until Ray confessed, I was waiting for this to turn into
some kind of weird dream sequence where Tony had actually
killed his wife or daughter, and these poor backwoods guys
were getting framed. I guess I let my imagination run away
with me.
I guess we should make a list: Edward gets abandoned by
Susan, blinding him creatively; Tony is abandoned first by
the kidnappers, then again by Helen and the daughter, when
they end up dead; Susan's kids are abandoned while Susan
reads books and wallows in introspection; Susan is abandoned
by Arnold when he goes to the convention and/or the
girlfriend's house; Susan is about to be abandoned, big time
and for real, when Arnold moves to Washington D.C. with the
bimbo. Is the book about abandonment, or is this all just
coincidence? Anyway, if Susan's sense of forboding is about
abandonment, she may be on the right track.
Dick in Alaska, on a slow start morning
=============== Reply 43 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/08
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 10:11 PM
Dick,
I read your two notes last night, and I had to think about
them before I could answer. I don't agree that Susan was
"half-alive". I think that she got stuck in a life that she
didn't like. She was a stay-at-home mother (not that there
is anything wrong with that) when she didn't want to be.
She wanted to be a writer and Tony beat her to it. She had
rejected Tony because she thought he was using her to "find
himself" which was a great 60's activity. I would resent
that too, if I were working and my spouse was letting me
support him/her.
I liked this book because it made me wonder about myself.
Most of us are so civilized that we don't realize when
something awful is happening until it is too late. The best
example of this is the Jews in WWII. They were kind and
gentle people who could not comprehend that anyone would
wish them evil. Jane who feels a certain kinship to Tony.
=============== Reply 44 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/08
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 10:29 PM
Jane: Ah, now this is interesting. You and Joy both seem to
empathize with Susan. Whereas, I see her as a pure,
gold-plated user. She wanted Edward, despite his rather
glaring faults and weaknesses, until he decided to move off
the fast-track and not become a lawyer. Bye-bye bucks and
status, hello grinding poverty. So she dumps him and signs
on for the doctor. And she's a definitely happy camper with
this life -- there certainly doesn't appear to be anything
in her world that prevented her, over a period of 25 years,
from becoming a writer. In fact, it never even seemed to
cross her mind till she hears from Edward, the erstwhile
failure, who suddenly seems to present her with a case of
seller's regrets. This is particularly true since the
arrival of his ms. coincides with the arrival of potentially
bad news about her comfortable financial arrangement with
the doctor. Then and only then (if my memory serves) does
she begin to grumble that she, too, could have been a writer
and anyway Edward wasn't so hot in the first place.
I admit all this is not without some ambiguity, but it seems
to me that Wright didn't think much of Susan at all -- and
that there's a strong case to be made that this book was
intended to hang her (or someone very much like her (who, I
wonder?) out to dry. Dick in Alaska, swimming upstream on
this one apparently, but at least in the water
=============== Reply 45 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/09
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:20 PM
Sir Richard,
I am certainly glad to hear your practical, male point of
view of this book. I think that the arrival of Edward's ms.
pushed Susan into a mid-life crisis, and it made her
question everything she had done comfortably for the past 25
years. When she tells about her day of cleaning and doing
laundry and dropping off the kids, doesn't it sound empty to
you? I wish some of the others would jump in here. Am I
crazy to argue with a lawyer? I think so, but I liked the
book because it made me think about lots of things. Jane,
feeling a tiny bit intimidated but fighting back .
=============== Reply 46 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/09
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 10:00 PM
Jane: My gosh. We are not arguing. We are discussing a mere
difference of opinion. There's a huge difference. Western
civilization has an entire history devoted to this
distinction, with the one branch (argument) ending up on
various battefields and the other branch (discussion) ending
up in classrooms and courtrooms. So, to continue the
discussion....
You're quite right. Her day with the laundry did sound
pretty empty, particulary when she notes it all took only
two hours and she accomplished nothing else all day -- I'm
sorry, but this woman can't qualify for oppressed status.
She's got money, status and oodles of spare time. If her
life is empty, all she has do is pick up a shovel and start
filling it in, which is something that I don't recall her
doing, ever.
And, Jane. Shame on you. A "practical, male" viewpoint here
in the tag-end of the 90's? I assure, there's not a
practical bone in my body.
Dick in Alaska, after yet another day at the office
=============== Reply 47 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/10
From: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Time: 10:38 AM
I've been DYING to dig into this thread, but held off until
I finished TONY & SUSAN -- which I did yesterday on the
plane. Like Joy and Ruth, I was extremely alarmed at the
beginning. This thing should have some sort of "don't read
before bedtime" disclaimer on it; this sort of fiction
is far more terrifying than anything Stephen King dreams up.
Sherry: You have all the same questions I do. The only one
I feel comfortable answering is #4. I think Susan wanted
Arnold to read the book, not because she made a mistake
marrying him, but because he seems to be a little too
comfortable in his marriage and career. Though how a guy
who was married to someone like Selena can get comfortable
in a marriage is a bit of a stretch.
Peggy
=============== Reply 48 of Note 22 =================
To: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Date: 02/10
From: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Time: 10:38 AM
Joy
I'm really enjoying your comments, but my take on Susan's
letter at the end was completely different than yours. I
saw it as sort of a return volley -- sort of a
table-turning -- because now he has to wonder what she
thought. Only if he blinks and calls her will he see her
reaction to his "I told you so."
Peggy
=============== Reply 49 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/10
From: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Time: 10:38 AM
Dick
Good call on the "novel within the novel!" I hadn't
thought of that, but it does contain some obvious mistakes
typical of an amateur novelist (speaking as some one who
knows!). I never did figure out what to make of those two
women at the end -- I kept trying to make them into some
parallel for Laura and Helen, and that they were part of
Andes plot all along, but all those threads unraveled. All
the careful prose and plotting vanished as Edward neared
the end. To me, writing is something along the lines of
plate spinning; first one, then several, then a bunch, and
you really have to work to keep them from all crashing to
the ground.
Peggy, still chuckling over "Novelist Equity."
=============== Reply 50 of Note 22 =================
To: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Date: 02/10
From: XJKD19F JOY HUOTT Time: 4:50 PM
Peggy - I went back & reread the last page of TONY & SUSAN
& can see why you feel that Susan's letter to Edward was a
"return volley". She thinks of all her frustrations at this
point, rips up her original critique, & writes the short
reply to Edward instead. However, it says twice, she did it
"without thought", the writing & the mailing. That's what
threw me. However, I see that it then says, "She wanted to
punish Arnold too." That tells us she wanted to punish
Edward in some way.
It seems to me that when I do something "without thought",
it's usually because I'm dying to get it over with. Come to
think of it, I'm dying to get this book over with. -Joy
=============== Reply 51 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/10
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:36 PM
Dick,
Where I come from, arguing is good, because it means
discussing with passion. (One must do everything with
passion, n'est-ce pas?) When arguing turns to fighting, you
better run for cover. Gosh, right back at ya', I didn't
mean to sound sexist with that "male" remark. Maybe, I
should have said "your lawerly point of view." I felt that
you had taken a book that I really liked and torn it apart
which is OK. But, you made so much sense that everyone
stopped discussing the book for a day or two. I had the
feeling that everyone thought it wasn't worth discussing so
the thread came to a screeching halt.
Back to Susan. Maybe she didn't realize how empty her life
was until she read Edward's novel. Like Joy, I feel sorry
for her. People get so caught up in their lives that they
are afraid to change anything. Lack of change means
security. So Susan had gotten so comfortable in her niche
that she was unaware of what she was missing. It took old
Edward to shake her up. Selena certainly shook both Susan
and Arnold up in their younger days. Keep those
"Discussions" coming. Jane who is reading Tony Hillerman's
latest and has found some major flaws therein.
=============== Reply 52 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/10
From: BUYS59A BARBARA HILL Time: 10:59 PM
When Susan was still married to Edward she asked him one
time why he wrote. Writing is like seeing, he said, not to
write was blindness. Another time he said "The only way to
show you why I write is to show you what I write, which I'm
not ready for." So after 25 years he showed her. So if
someone can tell me why he wrote maybe we will have the
answer to everything!
B. Hill
=============== Reply 53 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/11
From: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Time: 9:32 PM
Jane,
The discussion of this book has been so interesting that I
am sorry I didn't read it. I started, but realized from the
first chapter that this one would give me bad dreams.
Cowardly Ann, all too susceptible to the power of suggestion
=============== Reply 54 of Note 22 =================
To: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Date: 02/11
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 10:35 PM
Dear Cowardly Ann, rest assured, if you make it through the
first chapter, you can unlock the doors and relax.
Ruth, in gray and chilly California
=============== Reply 55 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/11
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 10:41 PM
Jane: Well, as long as I'm 'lawyerly' and not overbearing
and male, I'll settle for that. But you're right -- there
was kind of a loud silence after I posted my thoughts. Come
on guys and 'ettes, just because somebody says it firmly
doesn't make it right. And I know that even in the silence
of cyberspace, you can hear my keyboard scream, but that's
no excuse. Sometimes, I wish I could be a little more
gentile, but I'm afraid polite is as far in that direction
as I can get . But you know what I really think is
interesting here, is that much more than the book, I tore
into the character of Susan -- and that's what seemed to put
people off. The female reviewers (except Ruth -- where ARE
you Ruth? I'm out here on this limb all by self...)
expressed this sympathy for Susan that I just couldn't
understand. And your most recent comment follows in that
vein, as you mention the possibility that Edward's novel
brought Susan to a realization of the emptiness of her life.
I think that's true -- but what about the novel did that?
Was it the quality of the writing, or the fact that it was
(nearly) darned good made her jealous? Was it subjective
realizations of the parallels between her character flaws
and Tony's, or was it bitter regret that she'd traded off
this intelligent man (the writer) and her own hopes and
dreams, for a philandering schmuck of a doctor husband?
Was it all of that? I do think getting down to the
motivations here will help sort out what we're talking
about. And, while I didn't think it was a great book, I'd
never waste this many electrons discussing a book I didn't
care about, either. And as for you, Ruth, you cowardess, get
in here and correct me on some of this, or I'm sending for a
card-carrying member of ursinus skilletus to visit you in
your otherwise calm suburban abode.
Dick in Alaska where he almost settled the case today, but
failed
=============== Reply 56 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/12
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 2:06 AM
Here I am, Dick, just readin' along with you. The truth is,
Susan is already beginning to fade in my mind. I couldn't
see what she saw in Arnold to begin with, other than that
oversized dill pickle and a good meal ticket. Even though I
went through a midlife crisis myself, and traded husbands
too, I just couldn't whip up sympathy for Susan. More self
absorbed than Narcissus himself, I thought. Now, Tony, I
could feel for. There's lots of men who are more wimply
than tradition says they oughta be. No wonder he was
carrying around that gibralter of guilt.
Ruth, mostly polite, always gentile, sometimes gentle
=============== Reply 57 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/12
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 12:21 PM
Dear Sherry and all T&S readers:
I am belatedly with you, although I finished the novel
soon after Sherry left Phoenix (a few weeks ago), so it's
not as fresh in my mind as I'd like. I had a few minutes
this morning, so read through about half of the notes, and
hope to finish reading them tomorrow.
Quick comments: Jane, I truly enjoyed this book. I
raced through it, and had trouble convincing myself not to
stay up late finishing it several nights! The questions you
raise, Sherry, are exactly those I wondered about while
reading, especially "what's missing" and Susan's feeling of
dread. She kept asking herself if she were the basis of >>
Tony's character: I think in part, but I'll have to ponder
it and try to remember exactly which parts. The main
similarity I saw between the two is that Susan seemed to
have Tony's propensity to "go with the flow," to arrange her
life and actions based on what came up for her instead of
being more active in decisions. She sort of "fell into" her
relationship with Arnold, and seems to have sort of followed
him ever since. Tony is equally as passive, expecting
things will happen in the way that they "should." When they
don't, he is forced to change in order to deal with them.
He says (somewhere) that he doesn't feel like himself any
more after they die. I'm not sure Susan knows who she >>
feels like.
Jane, I'm very glad you suggested this, as I had never
heard of Austin Wright and more than likely would never have
read this book without you. That's my favorite kind of
recommendation.
Sorry if I'm repeating things already said; I haven't
finished reading all your notes.
Sarah
=============== Reply 58 of Note 22 =================
To: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Date: 02/12
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 4:44 PM
Sara,
I think you are exactly right about the "go with the
flow" theory. Tony and Susan's dominant characteristic is a
kind of mundane passivity. In men it manifests itself as
what our culture maintains is wimp. In women it manifests
itself as what can seem to be manipulation. But what is it
really? Is it a lack of basic strength of character? Is it
fear of the unknown? Is it lack of vision? I think it can be
all those things. I know many women, especially my age or
older, who have an almost evolutionary imperative to marry
the man who has the best potential for taking care of a
family. They are not even attracted to anyone who is at all
"dangerous." When Edward decided to be a writer and not a
lawyer he became dangerous to Susan. Her foundation
cracked. Everything that she based her future on was being
withdrawn. Her affair with Arnold was cowardly, but based
on self-preservation for herself and her future family. I
think the women on the board feel a kind of sympathy for
Susan because her situation is a very familiar one in our
culture. We are sorry for her weakness, wish she could have
been more forthright with Edward (she does give women a bad
name), and found somebody new on her own without resorting
to cheating; but some people aren't that strong. I think the
men on the board (or Richard in Alaska to be more exact)
dislike Susan so much because they think she is a user. And
from one point of view she is. But I think she is sad
because she is weak, even spawning weak children. And
sadder still because that leap she made, that leap she
thought would improve her chances in life, ended up making
her barren in spirit, if not barren in purse.
Have any of you thought that what is missing might be
in the book, and not in the book-within-a-book. Tony fought
his way out of the woods and was forced to take some charge
of his life. Absolutely dragged kicking and screaming into
activity. Susan is still lost in the woods. What may be
missing is that unfortunate act of fate to drag her
screaming into consciousness and activity. Maybe the
book-within-a-book is what's missing. Maybe Edward's
manuscript will have the same apocalyptic result in her life
as Tony's fateful drive that night.
Sherry
=============== Reply 59 of Note 22 =================
To: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Date: 02/12
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 5:24 PM
Sherry: I think you have reached that critical point in the
CR book review process that I call the "CR synthesis".
That's the point at which somebody finally puts together the
disparate elements that have been nagging at us and posts a
unified theory of the book that makes sense. In any event,
your comment certainly makes sense of several elements that
have bothered me and that weren't reconciled in my mind
previously. One other thing I have thought about and haven't
really reached a conclusion on: the author as an 'active
doer' and the reader as a 'passive person to whom things
happen' seems to be a kind of an ongoing theme in this book.
Much is made, repeatedly, about Susan's love of reading. And
she clearly uses her reading of the novel to escape from the
perils of real life. However, I'm not sure how that fits in
comfortably anywhere in the story; perhaps Wright is simply
making a more general point. Something about your post kind
of jangled my memory on that point, however -- let me reread
yours and think some more. More thinking is always a good
option.
Dick in Alaska, present at the birth of another synthesis,
or at least standing by during some pretty heavy
contractions
=============== Reply 60 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/12
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:53 PM
Dick,
I think that I relate more closely to Tony than to Susan. I
am the type of person who has to think something over before
I respond. Tony didn't know how to react when those three
men kidnapped his family. Sometimes, there is not time to
think things over. Jane who is off to Colorado Springs to
take a course on the French Internet. Formidable, n'est-ce
pas?
=============== Reply 61 of Note 22 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 02/12
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 10:12 PM
Jane: Run, do not walk, to the corner newstand and pickup
yesterday's New York Times -- it has a front page story on
the great French malaise, as America and the internet swamp
the fine old bureaucratic virtues of Republican France.
Fascinating article and just in time for your class!
Dick in Alaska, who believes we should subsidize France not
to change anything (ok, subsidize them MORE not to change
anything.)
P.S. I definitely have an uneasy affinity for Tony as well.
What man (male) doesn't think back through a lifetime of "If
only I'd sucker-punched the ******-*****r a half a second
earlier, the entire course of human history, not to mention
my miserable little, pathetic, impotent, drooping,
insignificant, spineless existence, would have been MUCHO
different!" Yeah, you bet it woulda been. Gimme another
beer. In fact gimme two beers, with a shot back and...
Sorry. Got carried away there. Sometimes this
cyber-testosterone is a little much; gets into my typing
glands and runs away with me.
Dick in Alaska, at the age where you have to select your
glandular disturbances carefully
=============== Reply 62 of Note 22 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 02/12
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 10:16 PM
Dick & Jane, if only Tony had had my cast-iron skillet,
things might have been different.
Ruth, in California, which ain't sunny
=============== Reply 63 of Note 22 =================
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/14
From: CUFZ01B SARAH HART Time: 2:19 PM
Okay, T&S readers and discussers (or arguers), I have
finished note 62 of 62 and have marshalled my thoughts a
little. Sherry, thanks for (not so subtly) nudging me back
into CR, which is of course where I belong--where else could
I get these comments that add so much to my reading
experience, in addition to what Dick calls the CR synthesis?
I've missed this.
At any rate, I have some responses to various comments,
some of which were made a while back--bear with me.
Dick: one of your notes mentioned that what had been
left out might have been the passion, that the characters
were only partly alive. I definitely agree with this, and
it continues my thought processes about Tony and Susan being
passive reactors in their own lives. I found a passage,
right when Susan and Arnold start their affair, that I found
interesting in how it bears on this point: She is talking
about the electricity at the dinner. "Selena the electric,
altered into Susan the electric, as if Arnold were a
transformer, thinking how easy to be free, what delicious
things could be done in Edward's absence if you were the
kind of person who did such things. Susan was not that
kind. Susan was Susan...teacher..well-organized...This
Susan had delicious wild thoughts full of mountains and
forests and floating streams, with fish on the wing and>>
birds at sea, thoughts concentric and phallic, with
penis-hunting in the mists and cave exploration in the
hermaphroditic clouds, but they were only thoughts, unacted,
the absent underside of Susan the Good."
Now, one could argue that the above passage pertains only
to Susan's (at this point) unfulfilled sexual fantasies
about Arnold, but I argue that this is the essence of Susan
that we see throughout the book. She is so unaware of
herself as a distinct entity; she sees people as
"transformers." Several times during the novel, her
dreaming is mentioned, where her "day Susan" is stifled and
the "underworld Susan" comes up through a crack in the floor
Maybe Susan would have done better to allow that other Susan
to emerge more and shape more of her life; then it might
have been other than this bland, passive existence.
Several people mentioned the correlation between Edward's
blindness and Tony's blinding. However, I think of Edward
as "impotent" in his writing ability, at least up until this
novel. So, I think that Susan didn't blind Edward in his
writing by abandoning him, as he was already blinded in that
respect. I still see the parallel, but don't see that it
has anything to do with Susan's actions.
Another thought for the underworld Susan; the book IS
called NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, perhaps another reference to this.
I'd also like to weigh in with Ruth and Dick (for the most
part) on my view of Susan. I didn't care for her much, and
although I didn't care for Tony, either, at least my not
caring for him was a more striking feeling. She was just
all mush for me. Her days *were* empty, and her choices
were so without consequence that I fail to see how her life
can be fulfilling and gratifying for her. Now, to the rest,
I *do* feel sorry for her, as I feel sorry for anyone who
has gone through much of their lives living for others
without also having "created" their own passionate reasons
for living. There's certainly nothing wrong with being a
stay-at-home mom and wife, but Susan has not expanded or
grown much in the 20-odd years that I can see. For that, I
pity her.
This note is much too long, but I was bursting with thoughts
after having read all your notes.
Sarah
|
I'm starting to feel sorry for Susan. She's had no luck
with two marriages. The first guy seems to neglect her, &
he's not too hot a lover. The second guy is a hot lover,
but he cheats on her. How much can one girl take? Now her
ex sends her this frightening novel after all these years.
Let's have a moment of silence for Susan.
Joy
Susan is as shallow as a day-care wading pool. Here is a
woman who opts for big guys with big bucks; her primary
concern on contemplating her husband's departure with the
bimbo is keeping the retirement accounts in her name. She is
so self-absorbed, her family's activities largely elude her,
and she can very easily make a mental bargain with herself
to forget her husband's philandering in exchange for the
house and social station.
Dick in Alaska
Susan's feeling of dread was that she might learn that she
made a mistake when she left Edward for Arnold. Edward
might prove through his book that he really was the writer
and dreamer that he said he was as a young man. Susan
seemed very unhappy with Arnold because he hadn't lived up
to her expectations either. Susan seems to be a "grass is
always greener" person. Susan also hadn't reached her own
dream of becoming a writer, and Edward beat her to it.
Jane
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