DSL February Read: Mary's Pick
The Feast of Love by Charles BaxterBaxter has described this book as kind of a modern retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It involves a bunch of love-struck characters, some of whom are paired up with the right people, some with the wrong people. None of the characters should fit together (a couple of punk rock kids, a bland, but good-natured coffee shop manager, a philosophy professor, a mean-hearted lawyer, etc.), but they do anyway. It's a beautifully written book, very sad and very romantic.
This is one of my favorites, though I haven't read it in awhile. I thought it might be a good one for Valentine's Day. Enjoy!
posted by mary_m @ 10:08 AM
5 Comments:
Having read this book a few times over the years, I've become keenly aware of its shortcomings. For the most part, it's not any particular conceit or character, or plot point that bugs me - usually it's just one of Baxter's turns of phrase that doesn't sit well with me.
That said, I've never liked the introduction. But don't worry. It doesn't really interfere with the rest of the book.
As you get further into it, which characters are you liking? First read, I loved Chloe, but now, the professor breaks my heart in all the right places.
Also, there are two scenes I particularly love. The first is the scene in the Humane Society, the second is the one where Chloe goes to see the psychic - I won't say any more about that one for now.
Glad it's picking up for you!
I love the book so far. I really like musings on memory and the way different people can remember the exact same event so differently--partly this is because my mom, grandma, and I can all witness the same thing, and if you later ask us about it we'll all remember it totally differently and be CONVINCED we're right. So meditations on the instability and unreliability of memories are fascinating to me.
I like Chloe and Oscar the least, actually--I find them annoying and in love with how special they think they are. And I know that's exactly the point, so I guess it's done really well. I don't necessarily always buy the words Baxter gives Chloe--I'm not sure she'd express herself in such a polished way.
I like Bradley (the man) and the Jewish couple so far.
Ok, I finished it. And the scene at the psychic was a turning point for me--after that, I found Chloe's story line much less irritating and actually started to like her. I esp. like the made-up words she uses (i.e., "calamatizing me with his evil"). I dunno, in the second half of the book she just went from being this self-indulgent hippie kid to being sort of the heart of the book. That I did not expect.
And The Bat is super creepy.
Good pick, Mary.
As for myself, I prefer Bradley the dog to Bradley the human, although they're pretty well matched as dog/human couples go.
And this is a great line: "because at least with pets, and for all I know, people too, intelligence and quick-wittedness have nothing to do with a talent for being loved, or being kind, nothing at all, less than nothing."
I didn't find Bradley the man annoying (except in just a couple of places), I liked him. I agree with you--he was the character who was actually treated like crap in the love arena, and yet finally found something good in the end. I was happy for him when things finally worked out.
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