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Executive Times |
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2006 Book Reviews |
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The
Suitors by Ben Ehrenreich |
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Rating: |
** |
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(Mildly Recommended) |
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Click on
title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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Updating Ben Ehrenreich’s debut novel, The
Suitors, updates the tale of Ulysses, and presents it as a modern
romance. Having read and reviewed Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad just two months ago, I find myself having
to rate this debut versus the work of a virtuoso. While Atwood presented the
story from Penelope’s perspective, Ehrenreich tackles
the broader issues of love and loss. His use of language becomes torturous at
times, as he displays his skills and talents, not always in ways that makes The
Suitors a better work. Readers who are willing to give debut novels a chance,
and who enjoy literary fiction, are likely to find much to enjoy here. Here’s
an excerpt, from the beginning of Chapter 3, “In the Palace or The Gory
Depths or Jumping Forward, Leaning Back, pp. 21-24: Who are
they?” Penny asks, sitting cross-legged on the bedspread, shaking the
bottle’s last drop into her glass. Her mate does not respond. He lies on his
back and does not move, but his breath is uneven still, and not yet slow, so
Penny knows he’s not asleep. She pulls his eyemask
from his eyes, lets the elastic snap back in his face. Payne sits up fast,
tears off the mask, grabs Penny’s wrist, then lets
her go. He does not even bother to curse her. “What?” he
demands. “You weren’t
sleeping,” Penny says, swirling the ice in her drink. Payne just stares. Penny takes a sip.
“Don’t ignore me,” she says. Payne pulls the mask
back on and lies down again, on his side this time and with his face to the
wall. “I asked you who they
are,” says Penny “Who who are?” answers Payne. “You know, them. The only ones out there. I’ve seen them in the
hills, hiding behind rocks, flitting about like scared little birds. They run
away at the slightest sound. I see them out the window, watching you.” “And?” “I want to know who
they are, how they live.” “And you think I
know?” “You’re out there all
day” “Working.” “That’s what you call
it, I know.” Penny yawns and empties her drink. Her eyes catch on the
gnarled wood of the headboard beside her, and the corners of her mouth drop
in annoyance. She slips four fingers through the unbuttoned fly of Payne’s
flannel pajamas. “Sweetheart,” she coos, conjuring perhaps a pint more sugar
into her voice than the moment requires, “Honey bear, do me a favor, will
you? Run downstairs and open me a bottle.” Payne slaps her hand
away. “You’re drunk enough,” he says. “No. Not yet I’m not. Not nearly”
Spurned, Penny’s hand retreats to the bedside table and
again lifts her glass to her lips. She sucks on what little ice
remains at the bottom. She gnaws a cuticle. “Don’t you care who they are?
Aren’t you even curious?” Payne
rolls over and slides his mask up on his brow, which pushes his hair into a
sudden pompadour. Penny laughs. He pries the glass from her fingers and sets
it atop a coaster on the bedside table. “No, not curious,” he says. “They’re
little animals. Rodents. They fuck behind rocks and sleep all day They hide
in the hills and scatter when they see me. Mice are more useful. Cleaner too.
What’s to know?” Penny hugs
herself and twists her lips into a smile. “You’re a pig, my love,” she whispers.
“Your heart is a pine nut and your mind is a tomb. Now be a dear and go downstairs
for me.” But Payne
does not go. Instead he pulls his knees to his chest and yanks the covers up
over his head. Penny stands on the mattress and kicks him where she thinks
his ass might be. Not hard, but hard enough to make her point. Still, he
doesn’t stir. Something in her knees begins to give, but she recovers and
steps, wobble-legged, to the floor. With shaking hands she strikes a match
and lights a cigarette. She heads for the stairs but pauses in the doorway
“One day I’ll leave you, Payne,” says Penny blowing smoke into the bedroom.
“I’ll join them out there. You’ll see me fucking in the fields, sleeping my
days away, skipping through the hills like a deer. And when you come calling,
and you will come calling, I’ll just float away” And with
that, Penny closes the door before Payne’s silence can seep out into the
hallway, invade her lungs, and soak the aching caverns of her heart. I’m looking
ahead to what Ehrenreich will write next. In the
meantime, there’s much to enjoy in The
Suitors. Steve Hopkins,
July 26, 2006 |
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The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the August 2006
issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The
Suitors.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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