My copy of Seven Types of Ambiguity, by Elliot Perlman, has another one of those stories behind it, though this time not in the way I acquired it, but rather in the way that it caused me to lose something else.
So, in the spirit of good and long stories, I shall start at the very beginning.
I have a thing for Borders, and most bookstores for that matter, and so this is where it begins - Borders. I was trowling though the literature section, not really looking for anything in particular (The Keats biography I was searching for being unavailable), when I came across this book. It's title really got me, as I'm a sucker for a good title, so I decided to read the first page.
Tangent: I have this theory that you should (mostly this is about me) be able to tell if you'll like a book from the first page. This theory has countless holes in it, but I find that if I like the writing style of the first page, I'll like it for the rest of the book, and therefore, most probably like the whole book. Don't take my word on this though. I could just have really good judgement, or really good luck.
So I really liked the first page, and decided to buy it for my trip to melbourne. On the plane back to Sydney, I read part of it got upto the climax, stopped and put it in the seat-pouch. Mistake one. I, being so absent-minded, left it on the plane. Good one, eh?
I called up the company, they had my book, and I had to pick it up. So, on the hottest day of the year so far (Mind you, it was only the 2nd of January, but it was still very hot), I got in my rickety old car, also known as Betty, and set off to the airport to get it. Mistake two.
I got the book. I couldn't let it go because I hadn't finished it and it was getting really good, but on the way home my car died. On a main road, middle lane, in front of a mall on a saturday. Terrible, terrible time and place to break down.
And thse was smoke coming out of the bonnet, the car wouldn't start, and I had to be pushed into the car-park to wait for the NRMA. Meanwhile, it started pouring with rain (Oh, summer storms), my dress went see-through, and Betty was written off. All for this book.
It's an okay book, written in seven parts, from seven different points of view. It was clever how all of the characters interelated in some way, and each character is clearly different from the others.
The title, Seven Types of Ambiguity comes from an influential literary critisism of the 1930's by William Empson, who explores the different types of ambiguities found in poetry.
Empson is mentioned in the book as Simon's (as main a character you will find in this book) idol.
It is basically about a man, Simon, and his long distance love affair with his ex-girlfriend, Anna from 10 years ago. Anna is married and has a son. Simon kidnaps her son and takes him to his house where his girlfriend finds them and calls the police. It gets even more complicated, so you really have to read it to get the whoile idea. It's a great story and very well written, but to be honest, the female characters are a little flat. When you read the female character's sections you can see the male behind the words. They don't have the depth that female characters should have, and seem to have a masculine obsession with appearances and suuperficialites, eg. the repetition of 'pancake-flat stomach'. I hate to be scathing, but I doubt there are alot of middle-aged women with children who constantly reassure themselves that everything is okay because they retain that 'pancake-flat stomach' of their youth. I think it's the lack of insecurity, that is so prevalent in the male characters, that falls short in the female. I will say that it is not the case in part seven, where Rachael has both certainty and direction as well as insecurity and emotion. Part seven is probably the strongest and most enjoyable part of the book.
It's a fascinating book, a little arrogant, but eloquent and quick. The story is smooth and it makes to inspect the nature of relationships. It's name is well suiting, and quite intelligent. It has touches of the thriller genre, but don't look out for an open thriller-esque style. It is in the subleties and what is witheld that you find touches of suspense. It is complex and you'll find a little of everything in it.
Try it on for size.
So there we have it, a complex story surrounding a complex story.
Until we meet again, go make some trouble.
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