Trigger Warning and Spoiler Alert in effect.
I truly hated this novel. It wasn't a matter of just not enjoying it, or even of not 'really getting' the deeper themes of the novel (although that is possibly true as well). I hated it. I was so angry reading this novel that whenever I stopped reading I would realize I had been unconsciously scowling at the book and clenching it hard enough to dent the pages. I wish I hadn't read it, because every book we read becomes a part of us, which means a bit of my brain is now dark and disgusting, and I can never get rid of that. Grr. I understand that 'literature' is meant to stretch us as humans, to engage our emotions and our intellects - but I've never been so angry about a book in all my life!
My issue with this novel is that the protagonist is a misogynist who judges all women on their appearance, and has double standards on sexual assault. He is a professor, and before he (repeatedly) assaults a young student he tells her that she "ought to" sleep with him "because a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it." - which was nearly enough to make me puke all on it's own. Later, he visits his daughter and describes her as "solid", "sturdy", and "ample... letting herself go, as happens when one withdraws from the field of love". Although there is a suggestion of an absent lover, he seems to believe that a female lover is as good as none at all. When he meets one of his daughter's friends he takes an instant dislike to her because "he does not like women who make no effort to be attractive" - because a woman's value to society is wholly determined by her sexual attractiveness, amirite?! When he later finds himself sleeping with this same woman he thinks to himself, "...this is what I have come to. This is what I will have to get used to, this and even less than this." He is a truly distasteful character for this alone, but it's even worse when factoring in his attitude toward sexual assault.
In the opening pages of the novel, he stalks an escort he has been seeing before losing track of her and moving on to two other women. In the following chapter he becomes infatuated with the beautiful young student whom he subsequently assaults, prompting an inquiry at the university over what he describes as an "affair" gone wrong. He loses his position because, while he is willing to admit that theoretically it was wrong of him to 'have an affair' with a student, he maintains that resisting his 'impulses' would be as much as castrating himself and living out his life as less than a man. An entirely disgusting argument. When he is later a witness to the gang rape of another woman, he sees absolutely no connection to his own behaviour and is confused and angry that she will not report the crime. She believes there is no such thing as justice in her situation, so stoically tries to move on with her life (which, in it's own way is stupid and appalling) but he can't let it go, partly because he sees it as an insult to his manhood. He was unable to protect her from the indignity, therefore he was violated. Again, a disgusting and male-centric view.
I thought, when the rape occurred, 'here is his chance for redemption as a human being, to see the error of his ways and repent!' I kept reading on the assumption that the character's journey would bring him to a place where he was no longer a loathsome caricature of a chauvinist pig, but the only real change in his character was that he no longer saw himself as unassailable. He never changed his attitude, he never accepted that what he did or how he treated the women in his life was in any way wrong, he just seemed to accept that he was no longer impervious, that age was catching up to him. The only real kindness he shows in the entire story is when he cannot stand to see the corpses of euthanized dogs being beaten to fit into an incinerator, and so takes it upon himself to gently feed them into the machine. Not from any real love for the animals, of course, oh no! It's still an entirely selfish action - he doesn't like to see them treated that way.
It's really just an appalling novel. I was furious and frequently felt sick to my stomach while reading it. Unless you feel that you aren't reaching your Daily Recommended Value of Misogynistic Assholes (and, you're on the Internet, so I'm willing to bet that's not the case) I suggest you skip this book altogether. There are so many wonderful books in the world, it shouldn't be hard to find one more pleasant than this! As for me, I'm trying to enjoy my non-Booker mini break, listening to the audio book of Anton Strout's "Dead To Me" (very funny, only slightly sexist) and planning a reread of Harry Potter.
Because life is too damn short for shitty books.
Happy reading!
