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Subtle Bodies Norman Rush 9781400042500 Books

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Subtle Bodies Norman Rush 9781400042500 Books

Ned narrates this very internal story of a group of once close, early middle age friends who gather for the funeral of one of their group. Ned is an optimistic anti-war activist with a sensible no BS wife, Nina, who joins him at the friend's estate. Nina & Ned are crazy for each other in a realistic way - not mush romance but like 2 real people moving on with life, genuine partners and genuinely in love.

Almost all of the book takes place at this estate populated by the group of friends, the widow, her troubled son & various other notables and press (only vaguely described/mentioned). The deceased enthralled the group with what they saw as his originality, but slowly the story reveals that his apparently successful life was not so great.

A reflection on how we mythologize the "heroes" of our youth ... How time and maturity impacts your perspectives and viewpoints ... How what seemed special in our youth loses its appeal compared to what is truly important - children, marriage, friendship, fighting for a cause you believe in.

It took me some time to get into it but eventually the story, Ned & Nina captivated me and kept me reading. It ends on an uplifting note that is somewhat tragic to the reader who knows the "future".


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Subtle Bodies Norman Rush 9781400042500 Books Reviews

I enjoyed meeting the former college friends who have been notified that another college friend in their close-knit group has died. They all go to his home for the funeral. All of the different personalities are interesting in the role they are to portray at the funeral.
"Subtle Bodies" is the third novel by Norman Rush to arrive in some 20 years. His earlier works of fiction, all set in southern Africa, are celebrated literary achievements. The first "Mating" won a National Book Award for fiction. Previously, I reviewed the 2nd novel called "Mortals," which was a very satisfying follow-up. Given his age, which is about 75, I believe, and his rate of production, it seems quite possible that this could be the last major work of fiction from this distinguished American literary lion. The appearance of the novel was also the occasion for a long and flattering piece on Rush published recently in the NY Times Sunday Magazine. Fans of his earlier work will definitely want to check out his latest book.

"Subtle Bodies" departs from the earlier novels by being set in the US, but Rush's characteristic writing style and literary sensitivity are still very much in evidence. Much less dense than either of its predecessors, the book may also seem slight by comparison. It is lighter, much shorter, more of a novella than a full length novel, and more obviously laced with humor than even "Mating." As in "Mating," Rush again succeeds in fashioning a fully 3-dimensional portrait of a post-feminist female protagonist who is both highly intelligent and sexually charged. (She is a handful, but, IMHO, the male protagonist is still a very lucky guy!)

The book has its flaws, of course, in too many places, Rush delivers non sequiturs like the following

"He was succeeding in being confused by his thoughts and feeling strongly about them at the same time."

a sentence that this Reader, at least, lingers over in vain to try to pin any concrete meaning or significance to. Oh, well. My advice is to ignore these flights of excessive irony and keep plugging away it...

The book also has many redeeming strengths, some of which are - befitting the title - subtle. The narrative arc of "Subtle Bodies" is also subtle. It is not a voyage of discovery in the conventional sense, but it is about a very accomplished middle aged man and his re-discovery and re-evaluation of his formative relationship to his old college roommates on the sudden, accidental death of the charismatic (and autocratic) leader of the original group. (And how his charming mate aids and abets that rediscovery.)

It is also quite funny in places, particularly, a scene where the wife of the main character delivers an impromptu lecture on the proper use of toilet facilities when they are shared across genders. She is naturally vexed that one of the boys failed to restore the seat of the toilet bowl to its required, horizontal position, but is also apparently an unwitting witness to bad aim. Whoa, she lets them have it with both barrels.

While not quite the triumph that "Mating" is, "Subtle Bodies" is still worth reading on own its terms. I enjoyed it, and look forward to more stimulating fiction from Mr. Rush in the future.
This book about a small group of intellectualized men who knew each other well in college and for a few years afterwards came together 25 years later for a long weekend when one of them suddenly died. The meat of the book revolves around the inner and outer dialogue between one couple; a few sundry other people add further variety. At least 80% of the book was interesting and involving enough emotionally for me to become involved in the lives and thoughts of the persons in this story that I wanted to continue reading. However, off and on I became slightly tired of reading the sometimes overly intellectual dialogue that occurred at times, due to the nature of the characters. Mind you, these people were extremely bright and couldn't help themselves. It was also interesting to hear how they spoke, even to themselves - especially how Nina, the wife, spoke to herself debating whether to say particular things out loud to her husband, or wondering about the timing of them. You know, the kind of thoughts we often have but rarely hear someone else ponder them, and particularly hear them parsed so clearly. I enjoyed some of that.

My favorite parts were the novel's highlighting the interactions of the couple, and touching on the what it was like friends of old to come together at a funeral, and how much their values and tastes had changed, and watching & hearing the couple handled a variety of situations. Several of the characters are nicely distinguished and feel very real, without the author going into lots of external details. This was often done with describing some physical & personal characteristics, and letting the reader "hear" the dialogue. By the end, though, I was glad to finish the book, happy that it was relatively short.
Ned narrates this very internal story of a group of once close, early middle age friends who gather for the funeral of one of their group. Ned is an optimistic anti-war activist with a sensible no BS wife, Nina, who joins him at the friend's estate. Nina & Ned are crazy for each other in a realistic way - not mush romance but like 2 real people moving on with life, genuine partners and genuinely in love.

Almost all of the book takes place at this estate populated by the group of friends, the widow, her troubled son & various other notables and press (only vaguely described/mentioned). The deceased enthralled the group with what they saw as his originality, but slowly the story reveals that his apparently successful life was not so great.

A reflection on how we mythologize the "heroes" of our youth ... How time and maturity impacts your perspectives and viewpoints ... How what seemed special in our youth loses its appeal compared to what is truly important - children, marriage, friendship, fighting for a cause you believe in.

It took me some time to get into it but eventually the story, Ned & Nina captivated me and kept me reading. It ends on an uplifting note that is somewhat tragic to the reader who knows the "future".