The Interestings

I took a break from Shogun to read The Interestings.  It was this month's book club pick.  I was excited because I had seen the recognizable cover at bookstores and libraries over the last two years.  

It has a rainbow cover, it has to be good!

I was not a fan.  Well, I wasn't, and then I was, and then I wasn't again.  

The Interestings follows a group of teenagers who connect at a summer camp.  It tracks their lives, success and failures, loves and hates, until they are in their fifties.  While some are able to make their fortune in their creative pursuits, others give up their dreams and find a more economically feasible way to make a living.  

At first, I wasn't a fan because it reminded me of The Secret History but sloppier.  A group of kids unites and forms a bond that transcends time.  But these kids were so self absorbed.  The dialogue wasn't particularly well done--they either seemed vapid or would say things that were wise beyond their years.  

The shining part of this novel is the discussion on art.  It looks at the way kids are raised to believe they are talented and creative.  And the truth is, not everyone is, and very few can build a career around the arts.  I enjoyed thinking through the idea of the force of culture and age on one's art.  Is art only about our passion or is it also dependent on what other people need?  How does money change art and one's relationship to art?  

As the characters age, the dialogue continues to feel forced.  I often looked up from the book feeling disconnected from the characters but understanding a message Wolitzer was trying to send me.  It was as though many personal essays were twisted and forced into the novel format.  

Here's an example:

"'When you have a child,' she'd recently said to Jules, "it's like right away there's this grandiose fantasy about who he'll become.  And then time goes on and a funnel appears.  And the child gets pushed through that funnel, and shaped by it, and narrowed a little bit.  So now you know he's not going to be an athlete.  And now you know he's not going to be a painter.  Now you know he's not going to be a linguist.  All these different possibilities fall away.  But with Mo, I've seen a lot of things fall away, really fast.  Maybe they'll be replaced by other things I can't even imagine now; I really don't know.  But I met this mother recently who said that she'd become so grateful that her child is high functioning.  She said she'd become proud of the term high functioning, as if it was the same as National Merit Scholar.'"

I can see what Wolitzer is saying about parenting and I don't disagree with it.  But, it doesn't feel like part of a conversation.  It feels like a monologue and a little more insightful than most chats with friends.  

Wolitzer jumps around between subjects and characters and at times it felt disjointed and hard to follow.  The plot was thin and it was more of a character study in characters who weren't really likable.  And, the ending seemed abrupt.  I don't need neat and tidy endings but the trajectory of these people's lives included so little joy it was depressing.  The main character never seemed satisfied in her marriage or career and even compared her daughter to her friends' daughter. 

Wolitzer's descriptions are good and I may try another one of her novels at some point in the future to give her another chance.   But now, I'm heading back into Shogun.