Back in 1974 six teenagers met at summer camp and did all those things which you get to do when your parents are not around to stop you. They smoked pot, drank vodka and Tangs - and talked way into the night about anything and everything. Plays were put on, animations were perfected, but most importantly, friendships were made that would last for years - for some, it would be a lifetime. Back in 1974, as Nixon left the White House under a particularly heavy cloud, 'The Interestings', as one of their number called them, knew that they could achieve anything they set their minds to. For three summers they returned to Spirit-in-the-Woods and then they faced the real world.
| The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer | |
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| Category: Literary Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Friendships made in the seventies are tested as six people develop in different ways. It's not an uplifting read, but it is thought-provoking. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 480 | Date: August 2013 |
| Publisher: Chatto & Windus | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0701188276 | |
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As with any group, some will sustain and achieve their ambitions, others will change course through will or necessity and there will be those who stumble and fail. The centre of the group was Ash Wolf, beautiful, indomitable and kind, who was at camp with her brother, the quirky, self-centred Goodman. It was Ash, from a wealthy family, who brought Jules Jacobson (or Julie as she then was) into the group, befriending the girl from an ordinary suburb who'd just lost her father. Ethan was drawn to Jules, although it didn't work in reverse - he would be the one whose talent survived the years. Cathy would give up her dancing and Jonah would swop his guitar for engineering.
I enjoyed Meg Wolitzer's The Uncoupling and it was the insightful writing in that book that tempted me to pick up The Interestings, but this is more ambitious than anything Wolitzer has written before. It could be that this is the book which lifts her from the ambiguous women's fiction/possibly general fiction genre to literary fiction, because this isn't just a story about what happens to six people.
The heroine, Jules Jacobson, isn't entirely likeable. When her ambition to become a comic actress bites the dust she takes another career path. She marries a man who might be epitomised as ordinary and whilst they have their problems (you know someone who doesn't?) they do OK. But Jules is envious. She sees the six friends as starting from the same place, being the same material, but she's insidiously envious of the wealth and opportunities of Ash and Ethan. She's a good friend in the sense of being there when needed, of giving support, but that resentment never quite goes away. Jules values her friendships - particularly with Ash - but I was left wondering whether the friendship actually improved the quality of her life. Without it, would she have been happy with her career, her husband? Did the material benefits from the friendship balance the unseen and largely unacknowledged negative aspects? And ultimately, I wondered how you could define success.
The book isn't uplifting, but it is thought-provoking and engaging, with characters who stay in your mind long after you turn the final page. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If this book appeals then you might enjoy Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson. For teens, we can recommend Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer at Amazon.com.
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