The Beginner's Goodbye, Capital and The Accidental Tourist

The Beginner's Goodbye is the first time I have read anything by Anne Tyler and it wont be the last. It was fairly lightweight novel in terms of the story and the length. But it had an interesting central character, Aaron, and a portrait of his life before and after the death of his wife Dorothy. So a little domestic drama with a fairly implausible happy ending. But I found it warm and appealing.

The publicity about Capital by John Lanchester refers to it being about the residents of Pepys Road, in an affluent district of London. But the only residents we hear about inhabit just four of the houses in the street. The four stories (and one about an immigrant traffic warden) are hardly linked as the occupants do not really meet. The book alternates fairly rapidly between the four stories, and in retrospect each is pretty lightweight. Maybe what would have worked a whole lot better is if the author had chosen instead to write five novellas instead. In fact that is what we have. Five novellas which are broken down into short alternating sections. That is not to say there is nothing to be enjoyed here. There are some engaging and interestingly flawed characters. But at times, their clever portrayals are interrupted by the writer trying hard to cram in everything he can about modern London. And the device that is supposed to link the stories is eventually pretty silly. However, I think I'm glad I read it. It's content does have a certain familiarity of our wonderful capital.

Having read my first Anne Tyler (see above), I thought I would start to catch up on some of her earlier novels. The Accidental Tourist seemed to be one of her best, certainly one of her most famous books, and the early chapters were very good. But somehow I began to get bored with what seemed a repetitious story that never delivered. I did enjoy the writing, and her dialogue is exceptional. I just got a bit muddled at the end when a couch is delivered and thought I had picked up Capital by mistake where the same thing happened.