Oreoluwa Ademola-Popoola
500-level Medicine & Surgery
University of Ibadan
One of the things I have done in this period, as time moves very fast and things change very slowly, is read. I have chosen these two wonderful books to be reviewed for different reasons: one of the two won the Man Booker Prize in 2003 (I’m partial to this award) and the second (or first) is a book that is as unique in style as books can be. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
1. The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion by Ford Madox Ford
There are books in which the first few pages tell you pretty much the entire story and the rest of the book simply tries to fill in ‘what happened’. The Good Soldier falls into this category, as the narrator struggles to tell the story of how it actually happened. The first sentence of the book is one of the most famous book beginnings in literature—“This is the saddest story I ever heard”—yet it becomes apparent early on that the narrator hasn’t quite ‘heard’ the story but was rather right in the middle of it, incredulously and tragically oblivious.
Set in pre-World War 1 Europe and America and told by a self-acknowledged unreliable narrator in John Dowell, the story is of two wealthy, seemingly-normal couples—one, English; the other, American, of which Dowell is one-half. It is a story with strong themes of marriage and adultery that demonstrates how fatally flawed ‘good’ people could be.
The book receives its title from the character, Edward Ashburnham, the good soldier, magistrate, wealthy landowner and serial adulterer, who ironically found fickle love interests whilst looking for permanence. The other characters are Leonora, the Irish-Catholic wife of Edward—beautiful, long-suffering and erstwhile procuress for Edward in the hope that her constancy would be acknowledged by God and rewarded with her husband’s love; Florence Dowell, wealthy heiress, adulterer; and John Dowell, husband to Florence and our perpetually oblivious and clueless narrator.
The couples meet at a spa in the German town of Nauheim. John and Florence are in a sexless marriage due to Florence’s fabricated heart condition which John accepts without question, while in fact, Florence is there with her lover. The Ashburnhams are the perfect, wealthy English couple who are anything but perfect. The relationship between the two couples incubates and births tragedy all through the book.
“If for nine years I have possessed a goodly apple that is rotten at the core and discovers its rottenness only in nine years and six months less four days, isn’t it true to say that for nine years I possessed a goodly apple?”
It is a sad quote and you cannot help but feel sympathy for the narrator. What is happiness truly? Does reality really matter? Isn’t what we perceive what is most important? If I thought it was good and it made me feel good, then it must have been good all that time, right?
The Good Soldier is a remarkable story in which no one gets what they want but everyone gets what they deserve.
P. S. This is perhaps the book that says the most about sex without actually mentioning it. For non-traditional British literature readers, the book might be difficult to grasp initially as the narrator struggles to make sense of the story, but keep at it and it will be absolutely worth it.
2. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
Vernon God Little—disarmingly funny, heart-breaking, deceptively deep and just one of the most beautiful books of the 21st century—follows the story of Vernon Gregory Little who is accused of being an accessory to the mass murder of sixteen of his classmates. Vernon, a pubertal teenager persecuted by everyone, is one of the most comical, relatable heroes in fiction. His self-reflections are commonplace yet so emotionally profound. You develop a kindred spirit with Vernon and at various points, you find yourself soliloquising alongside him: “What kind of fucken life is this?”
The story is set in Martirio, Texas, the town where “everything gets all bottled the fuck up. Just bottled the fuck up till it fucken explodes, so you spend the whole time waiting to see who’s going to pop next”. Vernon, raised by his harebrained single mother who finds it difficult to grasp concepts beyond the superficial, is being pursued by the local police after he escapes Martirio for Mexico. Vernon is failed by his mother, the legal system, the press and the people in their bloodthirsty desire to get some closure on the disaster, even if through the sacrifice of another.
It is obviously ironic that Vernon’s friend, Jesus, was responsible for the crime Vernon was condemned for. Vernon maintains his innocence and is unable to catch a break for almost the entire novel—“Like, for my money, just thinking positive doesn’t cut the ice at all. I’ve been thinking positive all year, and fucken look at me now”—a sentiment many people around the world share right about now.
The book explores several philosophical themes with funny, relatable quotes. This gem:
“There’s the learning, O Partner: that you’re cursed when you realize true things, because then you can’t act with the full confidence of dumbness anymore”.
And this:
“Once you plan to do something, and figure how long it’ll take, that’s exactly how long Fate gives you before the next thing comes along to do”
I will not write here how the book ends because that would be such a travesty! Vernon God Little is a beautiful book and will forever have a place in my heart.
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