Reviews

• Are you game?

  本書は The 10 books of 2018 (by the editors of The Times Book Review) に入っていた。 第1章 Folly は、とある公園のベンチにかけていた Alice（25歳、編集者のアシスタントで作家をめざしている）に、Ezra Blazer（著名な老作家、部分的には Philip Roth がモデルらしい）が ”What are you reading?" と声をかける場面から始まる。 何度か同じ場所で会った彼らは何気ない会話をかわすうちに、Ezra は Alice に "Are you game?" と問いかけるのだ。そして二人はしばしば時間を共有し、時に愛し合い、本のことや音楽、野球に至るまで様々なことを語り合い、互いにかけがえのない存在となっていく････。 第2章 Madness は、一転して、ある29歳のイラク系アメリカ人 Amar が、ロス・アンジェルスからロンドン経由でクルジスタンに住む兄を訪ねて行こうとする旅の途中、ヒースロー空港で長時間にわたり拘束され、尋問される場面から始まる。所持していたアメリカとイラクの二つのパスポート、旅の目的、彼の生い立ち、次から次へと入れ替わり尋問は果てしなく続き、長時間待たされ、ついには医師の診察まで受けることになり～。 合間に、彼は両親が70年代にアメリカに移民し、アメリカで育った自身の過去を、振り返るのだ。家族や友人や恋人のことなど。そして、政情不安なイラクの状況、内戦など、中東の悲惨な混沌、狂気が語られる。経済学を習得し、求職中であり、様々な思索にふけり、Joseph Rotblat（ポーランドの物理学者・ノーベル平和賞受賞）の思想に感銘を受ける場面など印象的だ。また唯一無二の友人や愛してやまない兄のことなども～。 そして第3章では、再び第1章の Ezra が登場。2011年、今や数々の賞を受賞し世界的に有名になった彼が、ＢＢＣのラジオ番組のインタビューに応じている。様々な質問に長時間にわたり率直に応えていく Ezra、彼の人生が詳細に明らかになると同時に、全く関連のないと思われた第1章と第2章の関連にも気づかされ感嘆した。女性インタビュアーに Ezra が最後に発した言葉は、"Are you game?" 本書は著者の初めての作品ということだが、その構成もさることながら、その内容には現代社会の諸矛盾や人間関係、芸術性など多くの示唆に富む深まりがあり、秀逸だった。もう一度読み返してみたいという部分も多かった。

• Over-rated book by Pseudo Literary Star

  Like her real life, the author wants to be a serious writer. Instead of writing a genuine book with genuine experience, she heads for writing an over-literary book. It reads like a book written by a 10th year graduate student with no real life experience.

• Pure genius - the entire book. The book is divided into three parts, 2 novellas that appear to be unconnected, and a coda that links them. The styles are completely different, but all three draw you in. There is so much in this book to ponder, in terms of general life philosophy, riffs on sports and and the modern geopolitical situation (the second novella is truly Kafkaesque) I feel I must reread it, maybe more than once. What is even more extraordinary is that it is the author's first novel. A MAJOR new talent. Read it.

• Why should I buy a book? Specially, what makes me to buy this book? Why have I involved much time with this book? I have been pondering over all these questions which baffles me and tends to believe with a quote “Life is all accidents even what doesn’t appear to be an accident is an accident. Certainly this is anything but precise and pure. While engaging this book it has loaded with information of folly, madness and imbalances of modern life which is wildly commendable as well as enjoyable. Asymmetry reassures its subjects and perhaps above all that its objects are sound and pure. This book divides into three parts which encapsulates with surprise, delight at its confidence, its exquisite calibration and searing wit. It is a very special fiction, not a subtle and ultimately triumphant tribute to our lives. Lisa Halliday displays Ezra Blazer, an author who witnesses his life by imbuing it with a sense of resolution and serenity simultaneously, he experiences with intransigence, difficulty and contradiction. Certainly his piece of work encompasses such a marvelous, buoyant and triumphant masterpiece which evokes a person to read it with an indelible impression.

• This is a remarkable debut novel. Both sad and funny, brimming with life and love and bittersweet regret, profound and yet subtle, wise and written with a unique style that seems to have emerged fully-formed. The first section, "Folly", is the story of Alice, a twenty-five year-old editorial assistant who embarks upon an affair with a famous novelist, Ezra Blazer, who is four decades her senior. The asymmetry is obvious: he's world-renowned while she's completely unknown; he's lavishly wealthy while she's just about getting by. He tells her what to wear, where to buy it, and gives her the money to do so. He tells her what to read. She sees him when he wants her, and he sings "The Party's Over..........." when he wants her to go home. However, what could, especially in the welcome and long-overdue era of #MeToo, have come across as a dirty old man exploiting a naive and vulnerable girl is, in fact, nothing of the kind. A genuine and mutual tenderness develops between them: as Ezra's multiple ailments, neuroticisms and age take their toll, he becomes increasingly dependent upon Alice and the asymmetry begins to right itself to the point of reversal. In a hospital ward, where he had been rushed by ambulance, Alice has a vision of herself as Ezra's future full-time carer, and knows this isn't what she wants. The second story, "Madness", is the tale of Amar Jaafari, an Iraqi-American detained at Heathrow Airport on a stopover between Los Angeles and Istanbul. It is 2008, British and American troops are in Iraq, and Amar arouses suspicion. Though he's not accused of anything and treated with courtesy and sympathy, the nervousness of the authorities is as understandable as Amar's frustrations. While detained, he reflects upon his life, his family, his nationality (being Iraqi and American, he's simultaneously both and neither, if that makes sense) and the war and its consequences. As Amar reflects upon the American occupation, many new perspectives which were, I must admit, new to me reveal themselves and make it clear that Halliday has done her research diligently: putting herself inside the thoughts and feelings of Iraqi Muslims is a daring undertaking for a white American, and Halliday has obviously given it a great deal of thought. Whether she's pulled it off....... well, I'm not qualified to judge, but I will say that, to me, it rings true. But what does any of this have to do with Ezra Blazer and his young lover, Alice Dodge? Nothing whatsoever. Or does it? The third and final section is a transcript of Ezra Blazer's appearance on "Desert Island Discs" from 2011. Though the "interviewer" is not named, listeners will know that Kirsty Young presented the programme then, as now, and Halliday captures her voice and its inflections perfectly. I can't - it would be far too much of a spoiler, and horribly crass and irresponsible - reveal too much about what is said, beyond relating that the link between the first and second stories is made clear. Oh, and the brilliance of how it's done is quite jaw-dropping. I'd guessed, and guessed correctly, but was by no means sure I was right until it was confirmed. This is what I really like about Lisa Halliday: she doesn't spoonfeed her readers, a certain amount of knowledge, of reading, of thought and empathy, is required to fully benefit from all this novel has to offer. As is, I can say with something approaching certainty, a re-reading: to find the clues, the threads, the allusions I know I've missed, and to relish again the quality of the writing. I'll finish with a little background information. When I learned that Ezra Blazer was based on Philip Roth, and that Halliday had had a relationship with him in her twenties (from SueKich's review, which was the first one posted and convinced me to buy the book), it became important to me to find out - as Roth has been a favourite writer for my entire adult life - what Roth himself thought of it. I can report that not only have Roth and Halliday remained friends, but also that he has read the novel and wholeheartedly approves, and this pleases me immensely. At 41, Halliday is a relative latecomer to writing novels, but she arrives as if to the manner born. My brief research also revealed she's already working on her second, and I can't wait to read it. She's the real deal.

• Deeply insightful. Linguistically rich. Brilliantly constructed. Warm. Smart. Personal. Adventurous. A dazzling, captivating, beautiful novel. One of the best I've ever read.

• Unique type of narrative flow Mysteriously engaging Musical use of structure, rhythm, form, discourse flow and sound Accurate in every detail Intriguingly personable This book touches all the hot issues of our society, yet never sides with predictable ideological / cultural stereotypes. Lisa Halliday is a giant!

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