Customer Reviews

Adultery

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Adultery" is readable, but fails to captivate or possess even a fraction of the beauty of "Clara Callen". While Wright's studies of small town Canadians are wonderful, the main character is stilted and Wright fails to capture the essence of a man shamed or even saddened by his actions. It's as though he is sleepwalking through the sparse happenings in this book.

I couldn't help but speculate what a masterpiece John Updike could have created with essentially the same material.

I'm a bit surprised by the responses here; while the book is different in approach from 'Clara Callan,' the quality of the writing craft is just as strong as the previous book, and the subject matter is certainly worthwhile. Perhaps some of the negative reaction might come from broken expectations: the murder and adultery that begin the book are a bit misleading, and Wright doesn't seeem to be at all interested in suspense or any plot outside of his protagonist's existence. (Actually, the way the crime and the events leading up to it are presented seems to be deliberately subdued). As a playing out of the situation and a look at personal guilt, however, the quiet and uneventful narrative works. There is a bit of meandering that goes on, but I took these portions to be a reflection the central character's mind. It isn't as if the writing has gotten away from Wright; in fact, the prose is quite controlled.

This book starts off interesting enough, but soon seems to lose its direction. The author seems a bit self-indulgent, including stuff that doesn't really drive the plot, like the water-shortage information in the book that the protaganist is reviewing or the colour of someone's hair who isn't part of the story or that the steward is gay. An OK read, but not stellar. Although the book investigates the interesting territory of how a casual affair affects more than the two players directly involved, it doesn't really seem to have a point.

The story is unrealistic; the characters unsympathetic.
The author is obviously exploring unfamiliar territory.
The events are purportedly headline-worthy - in reality, they would go unremarked and underground where they belong.
Silly and narcissistic. The stuff of a male mid-life crisis fantasy. Silly.

Well, I'm not sure what the point is here. That it's sad when someone dies? That adultery is bad? That's it's really inconvenient when your lover is murdered and you then have to deal with your family and the media? I would have guessed all this without having to wade through 200+ pages of mostly prosaic writing. Would recommend reading Clara Callan, instead.

I don't see what all the fuss is about. I was not entertained by this book. The story line was uninspired, the characters not memorable, and the writing seemed to lack any particular merit. (...)

After hearing about this book on the CBC, I thought the premise was very interesting. Unfornutately it turned out to be a big let down. The main character and, for that matter, all the characters are a most uninteresting bunch. I got the impression the author was trying to fill pages with completely mundane and unnecessary detail which made for a long drawn ordeal, in fact when I'd had enough, I jumped forward to the last page to put an end to it!

I followed the fanfare of this book and bought it the minute it came out. How unfortunate I did not wait for the reviews. This book was a terrible disappointment, especially after indulging in the brilliance of Clara Callan. Adultry is a book that chooses its challenge bravely - to not focus on the tantilizing affair itself but rather its messy aftermath. The topic is loaded but Wright can't pull the trigger to keep your interest. The protagonist is boring, self absorbed and self important. Wouldn't want to know him and definately don't want to read about him.

Although by the end of the book I felt a bit unsatisfied, it was an entertaining read and I'm glad I picked it up. Although the title is "Adultery", the subject of death is given equal weight. An interesting combination of themes that I found intriguing. But repetition and a two-dimensional protagonist really bring this story down. With a bit more time and care this could have been a great book. Despite all that I still enjoyed it.

Richard B. Wright is a fine writer. Sadly, this is not a good book.

Quite possibly, "Adultery" could have been written in such a way that the reader might side with its protagonist, might feel that Daniel Fielding is being unfairly maligned and misunderstood by his family, colleagues, and the media. Instead, the author apparently seeks to convince his readers that extramarital affairs simply happen to the best of us, and that after a given amount of time, one's spouse and loved ones ought to come around, to forgive and forget. Feed me another porky-pie! Throughout this book, I kept wondering, where is the Giller Prize winning author who wrote "Clara Callan"? Is this the same Richard B. Wright? Unfortunately, it is.

Not content to be at the top of his career and his industry, Daniel Fielding one day decides to escort a junior colleague - a bit of a young floozy at that - to a romantic beachside resort in England. Not just any resort, but the one he happens to visit on special occasions with his doting wife. He and his mistress have dirty backseat sex, and then she is brutally murdered while he enjoys hours of carefree slumber. Fortunately the killer - an appropriately angry-faced and long-haired parolee - is quickly apprehended before the story can enjoy any benefit of a whodunit element. This allows for a much less interesting tale to lumber agonizingly through the pages that follow.

The reader is left to focus - to hope, presumably - that Fielding will win back the tattered hearts of his dear wife, his teenaged daughter, and even the family of the murdered girl. Please! One expects literary fiction to focus more on character development than on plot, but this book fails miserably in attempting to redeem a man who seems overwhelmingly undeserving of redemption, despite his many tedious yet inadequate acts of remorse. Fielding is a good man, Wright wants us to believe. So why the affair? Fielding's problem is not, as the jacket copy suggests, anything at all like having a child stolen away in a brief moment of inattentiveness or losing all to a chance house fire. A weekend of illicit sex doesn't merely occur when one is not watching. The only sympathy I was able to feel at any point was for those harmed by Fielding's actions. Too bad this does not appear to be the book's objective. I am an American, but having lived in Toronto for five years in the late seventies, I still enjoy good Canadian fiction - which this in most certainly not. Hopefully Wright has gotten something off his chest, and can return to writing great books.