Ratings1
Average rating3
Brookner is good but I can never quite find her to be great. I keep waiting for one her books to really grab me. When I got to the end of this one, I couldn't understand why it had started the way it did, with “Dr. Weiss, at forty ....” I'm sure it would've made more sense if I'd read EugМ©nie Grandet or at least been more familiar with Balzac than I am (which is not at all). One of the things I liked most about this book was the emphasis on the daily need for food: the weight of being the person responsible for buying groceries and preparing food, the neediness of those who can't cook for themselves, the importance of food in relationships (seeking out an extramarital relationship purely for the comfort of feeding someone else or of being well fed). The eternal slog of having to keep oneself fueled! That was the main thing I got out of this book and somehow that doesn't seem right.