[This review appeared in Commonweal, Dec. 1, 1989]
Chritics’ Choices for Christmas
Robert H. Bell
Two of my favorite writers who deserve more attention than they have yet received, published fiction in 1989. The first is David Lodge, author of such hilarious and clever hooks as Changing Places (Penguin, $4.95, 251pp., paper) and Small World (Macmillan. $15.95, 339 pp.). Though Lodge is a distinguished literary critic whose fictions depict university life, his novels transcend the genre of academic comedy. This year's offering, Nice Work (Viking. $18.95. 277 pp.), is perhaps his richest achievement so far. The story juxtaposes and brings together a young, post-structuralist, feminist literature professor and a middle-aged, conventional, put-upon businessman in a Birmingham-like English city. The characters are treated with pointed but tender irony, so that they learn from each other and we can learn from them. Among other things, Nice Work is a wry romance, a fine short course in contemporary literary theory, and a detailed evocation of an industrial plant. It's very funny, deeply touching, and thoroughly engaging. If you like it enough to try Lodge's earlier novels, Small World stands separately but is a sequel to Changing Places.
A second fiction writer whose work has long
been admired by critics and a growing band of devotees is Francine Prose. A new
collection of her stories, Women and Children First (Ivy. $3.95, 179
pp., paper) makes available splendid short works which have brought pleasure to
readers of the New Yorker,
Whatever world Prose imagines, she renders with impeccable precision and telling detail. Her first novel, when she was barely out of college, was the furthest thing imaginable from the usual autobiographical first work: she invented a new Hasidic tale, funny, suspenseful, and breathtakingly beautiful, called Judah the Pious (G. K Hall. $5.95, 279 pp., paper). A second novel, Household Saints (G. K. Hall. temporarily out of print), depicts Italian working-class New Yorkers in the early 1950s, and moves seamlessly from broad comedy to genuine revelation. In my home, Francine Prose is considered something of a household saint. Two other Prose novels I have enjoyed are Hungry Hearts (Pantheon. $12.95. 224 pp.) and Bigfoot Dreams (Penguin, $6.95, 256 pp.. paper).
I also read lots of Roald Dahl to my children. The author of several canny and randy stories for grownups, Dahl has a fantastic Dickensian vision. Probably his best-known children's story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Bantam, $2.75. 176 pp., paper) was made into a serviceable film, starring Gene Wilder as Willie Wonka. Two others we love are The Witches (Puffin. $3.95.208 pp., paper) and Dahl's latest, Matilda (Penguin, $14.95. 224 pp.). The story of a gifted, emotionally-abused child saved by her teacher, Matilda, illustrates Dahl's genius for creating larger-than-life, wicked characters and bringing about believable fairy-tale transformations.
Some readers, it should be said, find Dahl's grotesque characters and biting satire too acerbic and frightening. Michele Landsberg, in her generally reliable Reading for the Lore of It: Best Books for Young Readers (Prentice Hall Press. $10.95. 325 pp., paper) deplores Dahl's "sadism and black humor," which seems to me a wild misreading. Dahl's wicked and foolish characters are perfect for the grown-up reader to impersonate and spoof. More important, Dahl's world is never unrelievedly cruel : there are often deeply touching relationships between adults and children, such as between Charlie and his grandfather, Matilda and her teacher, the hero of The Witches and his grandmother: allies oppose the dangerous villains and enable goodness. If you have a taste for Dahl, you'll also want to read his excellent autobiography. Boy: Tales of Childhood [Penguin, 56.95. 176 pp., paper), which was as fascinating to my daughter Kaitlin as to her dad. Most of Dahl's books come with plentiful illustrations by Quentin Blake.