You What?

I was distracted from William Boyd by a copy of David Lodge’s Deaf Sentence very kindly given to me by my husband.  It’s very enjoyable and amusing, in an educational way (I was trying to forget about phonetics).  Part way through reading it, I read an interview David Lodge gave on a website and he offered a very clear glimpse of the book’s construction, which rather spoiled it for me.  I prefer not to see the structure through the plot, as is possible here.  I was also a bit put off by the way he levered in an expeditious trip to Auschwitz; it seemed an odd tool to use to bring threads together.  It felt out of place, and the very speed with which he despatched the visit made me a little uncomfortable.  None of the reviews I’ve read have mentioned similar feelings, so it may just be personal.  I enjoyed his curmudgeonly Desmond, who felt at odds with modern life.  Desmond’s  ire was fanned by a student writing in a library book with a turquoise marker pen, but then he goes on to list other irritants:

“Phenomena like Big Brother, four-letter words in the Guardian, vibrating penis-rings on sale in Boots, binge-drinkers puking in the city centre on Saturday nights and chemotherapy for dogs and cats”.

I can identify with these on the whole (although I can’t say I’ve ever been down that aisle in Boots, and I’m more bothered by sputum than vomit, but that’s a whole nother blog) so I must be heading into curmudgeonhood myself.   However, credibility is strained by the idea that anyone would call their baby Desmond, as his daughter does, and the winding up of the last chapter reminded me of those TV serials where all the plot points are dealt with in the last five minutes and everyone is happy again. OK then.