In Aristophanes' play, Lysistrata, the women of Greece refuse to engage in relations with their husbands and boyfriends until they agree to end the Peloponnesian War. As New Jersey drama teacher Fran Heller announces her decision to present Lysistrata as the annual play at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, a spell slowly weaves its way through the homes of students and teachers alike until all of the women of Stellar Plains lose interest in sex. Even popular English teachers Rob and Dory Lang, who have enjoyed what they consider to be a robust sex life throughout their marriage, suddenly find themselves at odds over intimacy. Boyfriends are frustrated by their girlfriends sudden lack of interest and even beautiful school psychologist Leanne Bannerjee, who prefers to play the field, finds herself breaking off with all of her boyfriends.
I am a fan of Wolitzer and I enjoyed The Ten Year Nap immensely, but I found The Uncoupling to be a little bit unsatisfying. I would have liked to see Wolitzer's characters explore the non-sexual aspects of their relationships more instead of settling in to what seemed like resigned, sterile versions of their previous lives. The characters were interesting, especially Fran Heller, the drama teacher, whose husband, through some mutually satisfactory agreement, lives in the midwest while Fran travels from one teacxhing job to another, always presenting Lysistrata with her students. I'm not a lover of "spells" and when I finished the novel I didn't feel that I had a good understanding of the "why" of the story. I would not NOT recommend it, but I noticed that there are some completely opposing reviews out there, so I am not the only one who is confused or conflicted over this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment