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Foreign Affairs
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
Virginia Miner, a fifty-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children’s folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.
Also in London is Vinnie’s colleague Fred Turner, a handsome, flat broke, newly separated, and thoroughly miserable young man trying to focus on his own research. Instead, he is distracted by a beautiful and unpredictable English actress and the world she belongs to.
Both American, both abroad, and both achingly lonely, Vinnie and Fred play out their confused alienation and dizzying romantic liaisons in Alison Lurie’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Smartly written, poignant, and witty, Foreign Affairs remains an enduring comic masterpiece.
Virginia Miner, a fifty-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children’s folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.
Also in London is Vinnie’s colleague Fred Turner, a handsome, flat broke, newly separated, and thoroughly miserable young man trying to focus on his own research. Instead, he is distracted by a beautiful and unpredictable English actress and the world she belongs to.
Both American, both abroad, and both achingly lonely, Vinnie and Fred play out their confused alienation and dizzying romantic liaisons in Alison Lurie’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Smartly written, poignant, and witty, Foreign Affairs remains an enduring comic masterpiece.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Alison Lurie
62 books206 followersAlison Stewart Lurie was an American novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs. Although better known as a novelist, she wrote many non-fiction books and articles, particularly on children's literature and the semiotics of dress.
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July 14, 2019
”In this culture, where energy and egotism are rewarded in the young and good-looking, plain aging women are supposed to be self-effacing, uncomplaining--to take up as little space and breathe as little air as possible.”
Cupid as Link Boy by Joshua Reynolds
Vinnie Miner is 54 years old. She has never been what has been deemed attractive. She went through all the obligatory attempts to improve her appearance as she marched through her twenties, thirties, and forties. None of them worked. ”Indeed it would be kinder to draw a veil over some of Vinnie’s later attempts at stylishness: her bony forty-year-old legs in an orange leather miniskirt; her narrow mouse’s face peering from behind teased hair and an oversized pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses.” When she reached her fifties, almost with a sense of relief, she discovered that she had aged better than expected. She certainly didn’t suffer from the tragedy of a faded beauty. She decided that if she couldn’t be attractive at least she could look the part of a lady.
She is an anglophile and has more than a little desire to seduce an Englishman, really any one of them would do, but a literary genius is preferred. She has received a grant for six months to go to London and research children’s rhymes for her next book. A dream come true.
On the plane she finds herself sitting next to this large, florid faced man in a western cut suit. He is from Tulsa. He was in sanitation work (there is always good money doing what other people don’t want to do). He is chatty. A nightmare! Here she is trying to be as English as possible and here is this American buffoon reminding her every time he opens his mouth that she isn’t in England yet. In an act of pure desperation she throws a copy of Little Lord Fauntleroy to him. Shockingly, he settles into his seat and calmy reads the whole book leaving her in peace to read the third part of the trilogy by J. G. Farrell.
She isn’t done with Chuck Mumpson, not by a long shot. Like a lost puppy he just keeps turning up on her doorstep.
Meanwhile her colleague Fred Turner is in London as well to research the poems of John Gay. It isn’t going so well for him because he has hooked up with an actress named Lady Rosemary. Even when he isn’t with her he is thinking about her. Her lavish lifestyle is pressing well past what a young professor can afford.
Fred and Vinnie mostly want to avoid each other.
”Fred Turner knows, of course, that he is a handsome, athletic-looking young man, the type that directors employ to battle carnivorous vegetables. It would be going too far to say that he has never derived any satisfaction from this face, but he has often wished that his appearance was less striking. He has the features, and the physique, of an Edwardian hero: classically sculpted, over-finished, liked the men in Charles Dana Gibson’s drawings. If he had lived before World War II, he might have been more grateful for his looks; but since then it has not been fashionable for Anglo-Saxon men to be handsome in this style unless they are homosexual.”
A Charles Dana Gibson male.
Now despite her unfortunate lack of charming features Vinnie has racked up a list of lovers over the years. She even got married once for a short period of time. ”In her youth Vinnie made the painful error of allowing herself to care seriously for some of these people. Against her better judgement, she even married one of them who was on the tearful rebound from a particularly aggravating beauty and, like a waterlogged tennis ball, had rolled into the nearest hole.”
Yes...ouch...yes, I know you laughed... nervously. I winced and laughed. Vinnie has this self-deprecating manner that is brutal. She even has an invisible dog she has named Fido who shows up when her self-pity becomes all consuming.
”She saw her first erect penis; in spite of all she now knew, her first thought was that it looked infected: sore, red, puffy. Though she has tried to suppress them, these ideas are never far from Vinnie’s consciousness. She has never got used to the way sex looks.”
Now Vinnie distrusts sexual desire especially when it is expressed towards her. Although with this vision of a penis in her mind I’m amazed she doesn’t have a cleaver ready to hand whenever one raises it’s ugly head in her direction. She is shocked and surprised when the docile, clumsy puppy from Tulsa decides that he wants to make love to her.
” When she is with Chuck she feels more than usually small, intellectual, and timid.”
This isn’t supposed to happen. She is supposed to be making love to ”Daniel Aaron, M.H. Abrams, John Cheever, Robert Lowell, Arthur Mizener, Walker Percy, Mark Schorer, Wallace Stegner, Peter Taylor, Lionel Trilling, Robert Penn Warren or Richard Wilbur.”
How could things go this wrong? But:
”Why does London look so marvelously well today? And why does she feel for the first time that she’s not only seeing it, but is part of it? Something has changed, she thinks. She isn’t the same person she was: she has loved and been loved.”
I do believe that any place from the penthouse apartment to the squalors of ghettos is improved by being in love. Everything has more vibrancy whether it is the shimmer of an apricot evening dress or the coarse fiber of a potato sack dress. Knobby knees or shapely calves or lush lips or crooked teeth all are beautiful because they belong to the person you love.
Most of the book I just wanted to pick Vinnie up off the ground and envelop her in a big hug. I wanted to chuck her under the chin every time her lips started to quiver. I wanted to rebuff each and every one of her self-denigrating comments with a bouquet of assurances. This book reminds me of an interview with Dustin Hoffman when he talks about how dressing as a woman in Tootsie had him thinking about all the interesting women he has never known because they didn’t fulfill the physical demands that men are brought up to admire. Check out the clip where he actually gets emotional trying to explain it. http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/07/dusti...
Alison Lurie has a lot to say about getting older, never being pretty, being too attractive, being too successful, never quite fulfilling your expectations for yourself, all of which can be deemed assets or deficits depending on what your evolving priorities look like. This book is witty, truthful (sometimes painful so), intelligent, warm, humorous, and ultimately a rewarding read whose characters will become a part of the narrative of your life. Highly recommended! 4.25 stars!
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Cupid as Link Boy by Joshua Reynolds
Vinnie Miner is 54 years old. She has never been what has been deemed attractive. She went through all the obligatory attempts to improve her appearance as she marched through her twenties, thirties, and forties. None of them worked. ”Indeed it would be kinder to draw a veil over some of Vinnie’s later attempts at stylishness: her bony forty-year-old legs in an orange leather miniskirt; her narrow mouse’s face peering from behind teased hair and an oversized pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses.” When she reached her fifties, almost with a sense of relief, she discovered that she had aged better than expected. She certainly didn’t suffer from the tragedy of a faded beauty. She decided that if she couldn’t be attractive at least she could look the part of a lady.
She is an anglophile and has more than a little desire to seduce an Englishman, really any one of them would do, but a literary genius is preferred. She has received a grant for six months to go to London and research children’s rhymes for her next book. A dream come true.
On the plane she finds herself sitting next to this large, florid faced man in a western cut suit. He is from Tulsa. He was in sanitation work (there is always good money doing what other people don’t want to do). He is chatty. A nightmare! Here she is trying to be as English as possible and here is this American buffoon reminding her every time he opens his mouth that she isn’t in England yet. In an act of pure desperation she throws a copy of Little Lord Fauntleroy to him. Shockingly, he settles into his seat and calmy reads the whole book leaving her in peace to read the third part of the trilogy by J. G. Farrell.
She isn’t done with Chuck Mumpson, not by a long shot. Like a lost puppy he just keeps turning up on her doorstep.
Meanwhile her colleague Fred Turner is in London as well to research the poems of John Gay. It isn’t going so well for him because he has hooked up with an actress named Lady Rosemary. Even when he isn’t with her he is thinking about her. Her lavish lifestyle is pressing well past what a young professor can afford.
Fred and Vinnie mostly want to avoid each other.
”Fred Turner knows, of course, that he is a handsome, athletic-looking young man, the type that directors employ to battle carnivorous vegetables. It would be going too far to say that he has never derived any satisfaction from this face, but he has often wished that his appearance was less striking. He has the features, and the physique, of an Edwardian hero: classically sculpted, over-finished, liked the men in Charles Dana Gibson’s drawings. If he had lived before World War II, he might have been more grateful for his looks; but since then it has not been fashionable for Anglo-Saxon men to be handsome in this style unless they are homosexual.”
A Charles Dana Gibson male.
Now despite her unfortunate lack of charming features Vinnie has racked up a list of lovers over the years. She even got married once for a short period of time. ”In her youth Vinnie made the painful error of allowing herself to care seriously for some of these people. Against her better judgement, she even married one of them who was on the tearful rebound from a particularly aggravating beauty and, like a waterlogged tennis ball, had rolled into the nearest hole.”
Yes...ouch...yes, I know you laughed... nervously. I winced and laughed. Vinnie has this self-deprecating manner that is brutal. She even has an invisible dog she has named Fido who shows up when her self-pity becomes all consuming.
”She saw her first erect penis; in spite of all she now knew, her first thought was that it looked infected: sore, red, puffy. Though she has tried to suppress them, these ideas are never far from Vinnie’s consciousness. She has never got used to the way sex looks.”
Now Vinnie distrusts sexual desire especially when it is expressed towards her. Although with this vision of a penis in her mind I’m amazed she doesn’t have a cleaver ready to hand whenever one raises it’s ugly head in her direction. She is shocked and surprised when the docile, clumsy puppy from Tulsa decides that he wants to make love to her.
” When she is with Chuck she feels more than usually small, intellectual, and timid.”
This isn’t supposed to happen. She is supposed to be making love to ”Daniel Aaron, M.H. Abrams, John Cheever, Robert Lowell, Arthur Mizener, Walker Percy, Mark Schorer, Wallace Stegner, Peter Taylor, Lionel Trilling, Robert Penn Warren or Richard Wilbur.”
How could things go this wrong? But:
”Why does London look so marvelously well today? And why does she feel for the first time that she’s not only seeing it, but is part of it? Something has changed, she thinks. She isn’t the same person she was: she has loved and been loved.”
I do believe that any place from the penthouse apartment to the squalors of ghettos is improved by being in love. Everything has more vibrancy whether it is the shimmer of an apricot evening dress or the coarse fiber of a potato sack dress. Knobby knees or shapely calves or lush lips or crooked teeth all are beautiful because they belong to the person you love.
Most of the book I just wanted to pick Vinnie up off the ground and envelop her in a big hug. I wanted to chuck her under the chin every time her lips started to quiver. I wanted to rebuff each and every one of her self-denigrating comments with a bouquet of assurances. This book reminds me of an interview with Dustin Hoffman when he talks about how dressing as a woman in Tootsie had him thinking about all the interesting women he has never known because they didn’t fulfill the physical demands that men are brought up to admire. Check out the clip where he actually gets emotional trying to explain it. http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/07/dusti...
Alison Lurie has a lot to say about getting older, never being pretty, being too attractive, being too successful, never quite fulfilling your expectations for yourself, all of which can be deemed assets or deficits depending on what your evolving priorities look like. This book is witty, truthful (sometimes painful so), intelligent, warm, humorous, and ultimately a rewarding read whose characters will become a part of the narrative of your life. Highly recommended! 4.25 stars!
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
January 17, 2022
“… the self, whatever its age, is subject to the usual laws of optics. However peripheral we may be in the lives of others, each of us is always a central point round which the entire world whirls in radiating perspective.”
When you choose a novel, do you need to admire one or all of the characters found within its pages, no matter the caliber of the prose, the finesse of the dialogue? In other words, does character quality rather than richness in describing said character matter to you above all else? If so, then stop right here and move on to the next book in line, because Alison Lurie’s characters are flawed and selfish… and all too real. They are utterly compelling – and I loved every minute I spent with their often self-centered, frequently miserable company!
The heart of this story probes the inner lives of two American professors of literature – one female and seasoned, the other male and still green. Both have gone to England to do research on their respective specialty areas of study. Vinnie is now middle-aged, unmarried, judgmental, and wholly in love with England. In fact, she feels more at home in that country than she does on her own soil. Fred is in his twenties and has crossed the Atlantic alone, despite his original plan to do so with his wife, Roo. They’ve had a falling out and he’s not too happy at the moment. He is very attractive to women, but hardly recognizes nor takes full advantage of that fact. His arrival in England is the opposite of Vinnie’s – he’s disillusioned and gloomy and feels that the London atmosphere reflects his emotions perfectly.
“She sinks into her English life as into a large warm bath agitated only by the gentle ripples she herself makes and by the popping of bubbles of foam as some small scandal swells up and breaks, spraying the air with the delightful soapy spume of gossip.”
Both are deeply lonely, but their interactions with others are often comical. As readers, we “hear” their selfish thoughts and get a whiff of their arrogance. Vinnie meets Chuck, a tourist on the plane ride over, and immediately pegs him as a country bumpkin sort of fellow, devoid of manners and intelligence.
“For a moment she speculates as to what sort of man would embark on a transatlantic flight without reading materials, categorizing him as philistine and as improvident.”
I have to say that I do agree with Vinnie there – I can’t wait ten minutes in the parking lot for someone without having something to read, just in case! But Chuck Mumpson has his own story to tell, and I loved this big ole’ bull in the china shop guy.
For his part, Fred too makes an association, but of an entirely different nature. London practically redresses herself once he sees the glamorous side through one of its most well-known actresses.
“A month ago all of London for him was like the empty county fairgrounds outside his home town on some cold evening… Now… it has been transformed into a kind of circus of light; and Fred, as if he were a small child again, stands wide-eyed just within the entrance of the main tent, wondering how he came there and what to do with the sparkling pink spindle of cotton candy he holds in his hand.”
I won’t say more about the plot, but Alison Lurie covers some fun ground in this one. Besides the nuances of human behavior and relationships, she also has a lot to say about writing, literary criticism, and the politics of the university teaching world. The profession of acting is examined, as well as what it means to be a tourist rather than fully immersed in a place. She throws in a couple of unexpected surprises, too. In my opinion, it was compulsive reading material and I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the new year than with this book. I urge anyone that adores character-driven novels full of sharp dialogue to please consider this one!
“Well, if he’s learned one thing this year, it’s that everyone is vulnerable, no matter how strong and independent they look.”
When you choose a novel, do you need to admire one or all of the characters found within its pages, no matter the caliber of the prose, the finesse of the dialogue? In other words, does character quality rather than richness in describing said character matter to you above all else? If so, then stop right here and move on to the next book in line, because Alison Lurie’s characters are flawed and selfish… and all too real. They are utterly compelling – and I loved every minute I spent with their often self-centered, frequently miserable company!
The heart of this story probes the inner lives of two American professors of literature – one female and seasoned, the other male and still green. Both have gone to England to do research on their respective specialty areas of study. Vinnie is now middle-aged, unmarried, judgmental, and wholly in love with England. In fact, she feels more at home in that country than she does on her own soil. Fred is in his twenties and has crossed the Atlantic alone, despite his original plan to do so with his wife, Roo. They’ve had a falling out and he’s not too happy at the moment. He is very attractive to women, but hardly recognizes nor takes full advantage of that fact. His arrival in England is the opposite of Vinnie’s – he’s disillusioned and gloomy and feels that the London atmosphere reflects his emotions perfectly.
“She sinks into her English life as into a large warm bath agitated only by the gentle ripples she herself makes and by the popping of bubbles of foam as some small scandal swells up and breaks, spraying the air with the delightful soapy spume of gossip.”
Both are deeply lonely, but their interactions with others are often comical. As readers, we “hear” their selfish thoughts and get a whiff of their arrogance. Vinnie meets Chuck, a tourist on the plane ride over, and immediately pegs him as a country bumpkin sort of fellow, devoid of manners and intelligence.
“For a moment she speculates as to what sort of man would embark on a transatlantic flight without reading materials, categorizing him as philistine and as improvident.”
I have to say that I do agree with Vinnie there – I can’t wait ten minutes in the parking lot for someone without having something to read, just in case! But Chuck Mumpson has his own story to tell, and I loved this big ole’ bull in the china shop guy.
For his part, Fred too makes an association, but of an entirely different nature. London practically redresses herself once he sees the glamorous side through one of its most well-known actresses.
“A month ago all of London for him was like the empty county fairgrounds outside his home town on some cold evening… Now… it has been transformed into a kind of circus of light; and Fred, as if he were a small child again, stands wide-eyed just within the entrance of the main tent, wondering how he came there and what to do with the sparkling pink spindle of cotton candy he holds in his hand.”
I won’t say more about the plot, but Alison Lurie covers some fun ground in this one. Besides the nuances of human behavior and relationships, she also has a lot to say about writing, literary criticism, and the politics of the university teaching world. The profession of acting is examined, as well as what it means to be a tourist rather than fully immersed in a place. She throws in a couple of unexpected surprises, too. In my opinion, it was compulsive reading material and I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the new year than with this book. I urge anyone that adores character-driven novels full of sharp dialogue to please consider this one!
“Well, if he’s learned one thing this year, it’s that everyone is vulnerable, no matter how strong and independent they look.”
July 10, 2017
In my quest to read through the Pulitzer Prize winners, I was alerted to Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie, the 1985 winner. An academic who specializes in children's literature, Lurie's award winning novel is gleaned from her real life experiences. Featuring characters with strong, distinct personalities, Lurie writes of finding romance in the least likely of places while making distinctions between American and British society.
Virginia "Vinnie" Miner is a fifty four year old spinster professor specializing in differences in nursery rhymes in the United States and Britain. Granted a six month leave from her college for research, Miner travels to London and a society where she has always felt more comfortable than that of her native soil. Divorced for over twenty years and used to living alone, Miner does not view herself as lovable material. That is until sits next to Oklahoman Chuck Mumpson on the plane ride overseas, and various, conflicting emotions tug at both their heartstrings. Used to failure in love, however, Vinnie resides herself with the fact that she will most likely never see Mumpson again.
Meanwhile, Miner's much younger colleague Fred Turner has also come to London to research 18th century literature. On a trial separation from his feminist wife, Turner has a new found independence in life and love. While attending a party as Miner's guest, Turner encounters famous television actress Rosemary Rooney and becomes enamored with her. They begin a relationship, much to the chagrin of Rooney's cultured, British friends, who attempt to use Miner as an intermediary to ward him off. What ensues is the least likely of relationships and the emotional baggage that comes with them.
Lurie's novel points at stark differences in American and British culture, with each group mocking fun at the other. This was especially the case with both illicit couples, but each peripheral character poked fun at their counterpart group as well. Perhaps, this facet of the book is a little dated, as it takes place pre-internet with few if any opportunities for various cultures to mingle. One can see this pointed out as characters send letters or telegrams home, frustrated with the time it takes for mail to arrive overseas. A novel written in the internet age would perhaps not stress cultures as markedly different as the world has gotten smaller, and there is more interaction with people in other parts of the world.
Distinction between cultures is not what inevitably downgraded the book for me. As someone who is happily married with children, I found it tough to relate to a middle aged woman who is happily single and detests children. Of all the characters in the novel, I liked Virginia Miner least while I liked Chuck Mumpson, a proud American, best. I found his dialogue humorous, diffusing the depressing vibe I felt with Miner. Meanwhile I gave Fred Turner credit for staying in London despite the economic obstacles he faced there, while I found his relationship with an actress to be unrealistic at best.
Lurie's writing is worthy of a Pulitzer, and I did appreciate her portrayal of Miner still needing affection as she moves toward older age. Yet, not all of the characters in this novel work for me, so I can not list Foreign Affairs as one of my favorite Pulitzers. Still, I can say that I have read another Pulitzer winner, one that tackles ageism, feminism, and cultural stereotypes all rolled into one. Weighing the story with the writing, I rate Foreign Affairs between 3.5-3.75 stars.
Virginia "Vinnie" Miner is a fifty four year old spinster professor specializing in differences in nursery rhymes in the United States and Britain. Granted a six month leave from her college for research, Miner travels to London and a society where she has always felt more comfortable than that of her native soil. Divorced for over twenty years and used to living alone, Miner does not view herself as lovable material. That is until sits next to Oklahoman Chuck Mumpson on the plane ride overseas, and various, conflicting emotions tug at both their heartstrings. Used to failure in love, however, Vinnie resides herself with the fact that she will most likely never see Mumpson again.
Meanwhile, Miner's much younger colleague Fred Turner has also come to London to research 18th century literature. On a trial separation from his feminist wife, Turner has a new found independence in life and love. While attending a party as Miner's guest, Turner encounters famous television actress Rosemary Rooney and becomes enamored with her. They begin a relationship, much to the chagrin of Rooney's cultured, British friends, who attempt to use Miner as an intermediary to ward him off. What ensues is the least likely of relationships and the emotional baggage that comes with them.
Lurie's novel points at stark differences in American and British culture, with each group mocking fun at the other. This was especially the case with both illicit couples, but each peripheral character poked fun at their counterpart group as well. Perhaps, this facet of the book is a little dated, as it takes place pre-internet with few if any opportunities for various cultures to mingle. One can see this pointed out as characters send letters or telegrams home, frustrated with the time it takes for mail to arrive overseas. A novel written in the internet age would perhaps not stress cultures as markedly different as the world has gotten smaller, and there is more interaction with people in other parts of the world.
Distinction between cultures is not what inevitably downgraded the book for me. As someone who is happily married with children, I found it tough to relate to a middle aged woman who is happily single and detests children. Of all the characters in the novel, I liked Virginia Miner least while I liked Chuck Mumpson, a proud American, best. I found his dialogue humorous, diffusing the depressing vibe I felt with Miner. Meanwhile I gave Fred Turner credit for staying in London despite the economic obstacles he faced there, while I found his relationship with an actress to be unrealistic at best.
Lurie's writing is worthy of a Pulitzer, and I did appreciate her portrayal of Miner still needing affection as she moves toward older age. Yet, not all of the characters in this novel work for me, so I can not list Foreign Affairs as one of my favorite Pulitzers. Still, I can say that I have read another Pulitzer winner, one that tackles ageism, feminism, and cultural stereotypes all rolled into one. Weighing the story with the writing, I rate Foreign Affairs between 3.5-3.75 stars.
November 20, 2019
I enjoyed this book as far as the story goes, but felt a little cheated in the end. Vinnie, the 54-year old, somewhat frumpy protagonist, does her best to stave off her emotions to the point of objectifying her self-pity as an invisible dog, Fido. She meets Chuck Mumpson, a big, clumsy tourist from Oklahoma, on her plane to London where she has a residency to work on a book of research into nursery rhymes for her upstate NY university in Corinth. Also in London for his work on John Gay, the English poet and dramatist, is Fred Turner from Vinnie's same department who is estranged from his wife Roo. Vinnie eventually has an affair with Chuck (no, not a spoiler as it is ineluctable from the title of the book), but still can't manage to get past her inhibitors. Fred, meanwhile, falls for a gorgeous aristocratic actress Rosemary while Chuck delves into his English ancestors amd falls deeply for Vinnie. The story revolves primarily around these two parallel narratives as they each play out and to the entourage of Vinnie which includes the actress and some of her intimate friends. There are moments of comedy and sadness, but I had a hard time sympathizing for Vinne and Fred (feeling more pained actually by Chuck and Rosemary) as neither of them really comes to much of a catharsis or significant learning from their respective foreign affairs. Maybe, it is the deep down romantic in me that hoped for at least one of them to surpass their ingrained hardness to express their vulnerability to their lovers, but as this doesn't happen, it left this reader frustrated. As for winning the Pulitzer, perhaps I'd have to read that year's other finalists, I Wish This War Were Over by Diana O'Hahier or Leaving the Land by Douglas Unger to see how deserved it was. I would say that as gifted a writer than Allison Lurie is, Foreign Affairs does not have the same depth to its adulterous characters as, say, John Updike, or the same folksy lyricism as Richard Russo, both of whom are - to me - similar writers. I did appreciate the various origins of children's stories that we learn from Vinnie and apparently this reflects the author's own research. Was she projecting herself onto Vinnie perhaps?
September 15, 2016
Really great portrayal of a middle aged academic and her sojourn in London. Also a young American colleague of hers in London for research at the same time.
I really enjoyed both their perceptions of London in the eighties and how tourists feel when visiting a city. Vinnie is an Anglophile and an intellectual snob and tries to resist the allures of a brash American tourist. Fred gets involved with a 'luvvie' actress..
Their time in London will not be forgotten. They may have been brief interludes outside the box of their 'normal ' lives, but their experiences during this trip will certainly stay with them.
This was well written and highly perceptive. As a single woman of a certain age myself, I found many of the observations in this book made me squirm a little, even as I enjoyed them and even when they made me laugh, because they were so 'spot on'.
I really liked metaphorical dog character who accompanies Vinnie through the book and her life..
Very good read. Recommended.
I really enjoyed both their perceptions of London in the eighties and how tourists feel when visiting a city. Vinnie is an Anglophile and an intellectual snob and tries to resist the allures of a brash American tourist. Fred gets involved with a 'luvvie' actress..
Their time in London will not be forgotten. They may have been brief interludes outside the box of their 'normal ' lives, but their experiences during this trip will certainly stay with them.
This was well written and highly perceptive. As a single woman of a certain age myself, I found many of the observations in this book made me squirm a little, even as I enjoyed them and even when they made me laugh, because they were so 'spot on'.
I really liked metaphorical dog character who accompanies Vinnie through the book and her life..
Very good read. Recommended.
August 19, 2025
آلیسون لوری در سوم سپتامبر ۱۹۲۶ در شیکاگو به دنیا آمد. یک گوشش به علت آسیبی که موقع تولد دید، ناشنوا شد. پدرش جامعه شناس کلیمی سرشناسی بود که گرچه اعتقادات محکمی نداشت ولی در جنبش ضد صهیونیست فعال بود، و مادرش در روزنامهها مقاله و نقد و معرفی کتاب مینوشت. آلیسون خودش دوست داشت نقاش بشود اما پدر و مادرش او را به نویسندگی ترغیب میکردند. در دبیرستان بود که او خود به نویسندگی علاقهمند شد. ... خمیرمایهی اغلب داستانهای لوری طنز اجتماعی است. او از همان ابتدا روابط و مراودات فضای دانشگاهی را در قالب طنز به نقد میکشید، طنزی که، بیشتر از همه، دانشگاهیان و نویسندگان و هنرمندانی را هدف میگیرد که از رتبهی اجتماعی بالایی برخوردارند و شخصیتهای پیچیدهای دارند. انزوا و اصالت خانوادگی و فرهیختگی شخصیتهای داستانی او، عوض آنکه به رستگاریشان منجر شود، معمولاً به فاجعه میانجامد. ... لوری همواره از حرکتهای انتقادی و پیشرو حمایت میکند، چنانکه در جریان اعتراض به روابط دانشگاه کورنل با رژیم سابق نژادپرست افریقای جنوبی دستگیر میشود. او از سیاستهای جاری آمریکا انتقاد میکند و علناً با حمایت دولت از ثروتمندان و بیتوجهیاش به فقرا مخالف است. در جریان جنگ عراق در نقد عملکرد دولت گفته بود: «درحالی که کتابخانهها چپاول و بیمارستانها خراب شده بودند، سربازان داشتند از چاههای نفت محافظت میکردند». یادداشت مترجم. صفحات ۷-۸ کتاب
۱۴۰۴/۰۵/۲۸
۱۴۰۴/۰۵/۲۸
March 20, 2017
Charming, perceptive and told with discreet humour, Foreign Affairs is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel about two American academics on six months study leave in Britain. Vinnie (Virginia) is a single 54yo professor from Corinth, an admitted Anglophile in Britain to collect notes on nursery folklore and looking forward to seeing her academic and theatrical British friends. Fred is a very handsome 28yo lecturer from Vinnie's department and in Britain to write a book on the eighteenth century poet John Gay but his marriage has broken up on the eve of his departure and he's lonely and depressed.
The two paramours in this tale are polar opposites: Vinnie's guy is from Oklahoma, a big man who dresses like a cowboy and Fred's lover is a titled British actress with many sides to her character. Vinnie's a bit of a snob; at first she strives to keep her American lover apart from her British friends. She finds he has awakened in her a desire and passion she thought she would not experience again so keeping him outside her British life becomes a struggle . Normally used to having women throw themselves at him, Fred struggles constantly to claim his new lover's full attention and heart. She constantly stymies Fred, withholds her affections and appears to have many other suitors. The situations which arise for Vinnie and Fred are surprising, emotive, sometimes wryly comical but always thought provoking. As the story progresses, the lives of these four characters begin to cross at the soirees and parties of their British friends and associates.
Alison Lurie resonates beautifully the many facets of relationships, passion and love while mostly alluding to the sexual. She also gives a glimpse of the private lives of the British upper class and theatrical world. Mostly, this novel is about the complex nature of relationships rather than one of romance. It also showcases how we often find not what we want but, in fact, what we need. The totally unexpected ending of this novel both surprised and satisfied me as a reader. Foreign Affairs will give pause for thought but will also deliver wonderfully subtle humour. This is fine literary fiction; it is elegant, insightful and ever entertaining. Highly recommended for everyone. 4★
The two paramours in this tale are polar opposites: Vinnie's guy is from Oklahoma, a big man who dresses like a cowboy and Fred's lover is a titled British actress with many sides to her character. Vinnie's a bit of a snob; at first she strives to keep her American lover apart from her British friends. She finds he has awakened in her a desire and passion she thought she would not experience again so keeping him outside her British life becomes a struggle . Normally used to having women throw themselves at him, Fred struggles constantly to claim his new lover's full attention and heart. She constantly stymies Fred, withholds her affections and appears to have many other suitors. The situations which arise for Vinnie and Fred are surprising, emotive, sometimes wryly comical but always thought provoking. As the story progresses, the lives of these four characters begin to cross at the soirees and parties of their British friends and associates.
Alison Lurie resonates beautifully the many facets of relationships, passion and love while mostly alluding to the sexual. She also gives a glimpse of the private lives of the British upper class and theatrical world. Mostly, this novel is about the complex nature of relationships rather than one of romance. It also showcases how we often find not what we want but, in fact, what we need. The totally unexpected ending of this novel both surprised and satisfied me as a reader. Foreign Affairs will give pause for thought but will also deliver wonderfully subtle humour. This is fine literary fiction; it is elegant, insightful and ever entertaining. Highly recommended for everyone. 4★
December 3, 2022
کتابی که از خوندنش واقعا لذت بردم، داستان از شخصیتهایی که ما را به عمق تنهایی و انزوای افراد میبرند، روابط و فروپاشی و حتی شکلگیری اونها در قالب داستان فوقالعاده بود.
برنده جایزه پولیتزر سال 1985
نامزد جایزه دایره منتقدین کتاب ملی سال 1984
برنده جایزه کتاب ملی سال 1984
برنده جایزه پولیتزر سال 1985
نامزد جایزه دایره منتقدین کتاب ملی سال 1984
برنده جایزه کتاب ملی سال 1984
April 25, 2020
اگر جوشی به صورتت هست یا لَکی به لباست، محضِ رضای خدا، بِهش اشاره نکن. در بهترین حالت، چیزِ ناپسندی را در موردِ خودت به یادِ مردم آورده ای، وَ دربدترین حالت، حواسِ کسانی را بِهش جلب کرده ای که ممکن بود هیچ وقت متوجهش نشوند. ص19
اولا
از شوخی هایِ متقابلِ بریتانیائی ها و آمریکائی ها با لهجه یِ یکدیگر -"بریتیش" و "اَمِریکَن"-، نمونه هایِ بسیار در آثارِ سینمائی، مطبوعاتی و ادبیات سراغ داریم. ماجرایِ مشترکِ شخصیت های این رُمانِ، در بستری از جنسِ همین تعارضِ انگلیسی-آمریکائی، حینِ سفرِ مطالعاتیِ جداگانه اما همزمانِ دو استادِ دانشگاهِ آمریکائی به لندن رُخ می دهد
یکی"وینی" 54 ساله و آن دیگری هَم، "فِرِد" 28 ساله
وینی، از دید رُفقایَش، "زنِ جدی یِ معاشقه گُریزِ ازدواج پرهیزی" ست که شیفته یِ فرهنگِ اصیل و ادبیاتِ عامه یِ انگلستان است. افکار وینی طوری ست که خود را شخصیتِ فرعی یِ زندگیِ اَش می داند. از دیدِگاهِ او، دوری از خانه در طیِ این سفر، نوعی پاکدامنی و یک جور آسایش خاطر بوده، گونه ای مرخصی از رابطه یِ خصوصی
در صفحه 115 کتاب، حسِ درونیِ "وینی"، چنین واگویه می شود
می خواهد تا از کمدی هایِ مسخره و تراژدی هایِ هوس آلودِ پیرانه سَر، بگذرد و به دریایِ آرامِ دمِ غروبِ پرهیزکاری برسد، جایی که آب هایِ ولرم، هرگز از گرمای سوزان و سرمای سخت، از موج های کَف آلود و تلاطمِ احساساتِ جُلبک گرفته، آشفته نمی شود
دوم
شخصیت دیگر داستان -"فِرِد"-، با یک هنرپیشه یِ روان پریشِ اشرافیِ بریتانیائی، نَردِ عشق می بازد. گرچه "رُزماری" یِ زیبارو، دَه سالی از فِرد بزرگترست اما ترکیبِ جدیتِ فِرِد و بازی گوشیِ رُزماری نمی گذارد اختلاف سنِ شان به چشم بیاید. داستانِ دلداگی آن ها، به نوعی تاریخ انگلستان-آمریکا را دوباره زنده کرده است. در این باب، در صفحه 313 می خوانیم
رُزماری شاید او را دوست داشته، ولی ذهنیتی استعماری دارد. او هر کاری برای فِرد می کند جز آنکه به او استقلال اعطا کند. زمانی که فِرد آن را مطالبه کرد، جنگ دَرگرفت
سوم
برخلافِ آنچه در پشت جلد آمده، "روابط خارجی" اساساََ شبیه یک شاهکارِ طنزآمیز نبود، یا حداقل در نگاهی به ذائقه یِ مخاطبِ ایرانی-و بعنوان نمونه خودِ من-، در چنین دسته ای جا نمی گیرد. طنزِ اجتماعی بیشترِ داستان هایِ "آلیسون لوری"، متوجه دانشگاهیان، نویسندگان و هنرمندان است. قلمِ وی، خلوت این چهره ها را می کاوَد تا بگوید که فرهیختگی و منزلتِ خانوادگی یِ این نخبگان، نَه فقط باعثِ رستاگاری شان نمی شود که اغلب به فاجعه ای تمام عیار می انجامد
جالب توجه آنکه، این رمان، برنده جایزه یِ پولیتزر در سال 1363 شمسی شده است
چهارم
دقت در صفحه آرایی، طراحی جلدِ خاص و ترجمه یِ روان، مشخصه هائی ست که نشر جوانِ "همان" بِدان ها مشهورست
اولا
از شوخی هایِ متقابلِ بریتانیائی ها و آمریکائی ها با لهجه یِ یکدیگر -"بریتیش" و "اَمِریکَن"-، نمونه هایِ بسیار در آثارِ سینمائی، مطبوعاتی و ادبیات سراغ داریم. ماجرایِ مشترکِ شخصیت های این رُمانِ، در بستری از جنسِ همین تعارضِ انگلیسی-آمریکائی، حینِ سفرِ مطالعاتیِ جداگانه اما همزمانِ دو استادِ دانشگاهِ آمریکائی به لندن رُخ می دهد
یکی"وینی" 54 ساله و آن دیگری هَم، "فِرِد" 28 ساله
وینی، از دید رُفقایَش، "زنِ جدی یِ معاشقه گُریزِ ازدواج پرهیزی" ست که شیفته یِ فرهنگِ اصیل و ادبیاتِ عامه یِ انگلستان است. افکار وینی طوری ست که خود را شخصیتِ فرعی یِ زندگیِ اَش می داند. از دیدِگاهِ او، دوری از خانه در طیِ این سفر، نوعی پاکدامنی و یک جور آسایش خاطر بوده، گونه ای مرخصی از رابطه یِ خصوصی
در صفحه 115 کتاب، حسِ درونیِ "وینی"، چنین واگویه می شود
می خواهد تا از کمدی هایِ مسخره و تراژدی هایِ هوس آلودِ پیرانه سَر، بگذرد و به دریایِ آرامِ دمِ غروبِ پرهیزکاری برسد، جایی که آب هایِ ولرم، هرگز از گرمای سوزان و سرمای سخت، از موج های کَف آلود و تلاطمِ احساساتِ جُلبک گرفته، آشفته نمی شود
دوم
شخصیت دیگر داستان -"فِرِد"-، با یک هنرپیشه یِ روان پریشِ اشرافیِ بریتانیائی، نَردِ عشق می بازد. گرچه "رُزماری" یِ زیبارو، دَه سالی از فِرد بزرگترست اما ترکیبِ جدیتِ فِرِد و بازی گوشیِ رُزماری نمی گذارد اختلاف سنِ شان به چشم بیاید. داستانِ دلداگی آن ها، به نوعی تاریخ انگلستان-آمریکا را دوباره زنده کرده است. در این باب، در صفحه 313 می خوانیم
رُزماری شاید او را دوست داشته، ولی ذهنیتی استعماری دارد. او هر کاری برای فِرد می کند جز آنکه به او استقلال اعطا کند. زمانی که فِرد آن را مطالبه کرد، جنگ دَرگرفت
سوم
برخلافِ آنچه در پشت جلد آمده، "روابط خارجی" اساساََ شبیه یک شاهکارِ طنزآمیز نبود، یا حداقل در نگاهی به ذائقه یِ مخاطبِ ایرانی-و بعنوان نمونه خودِ من-، در چنین دسته ای جا نمی گیرد. طنزِ اجتماعی بیشترِ داستان هایِ "آلیسون لوری"، متوجه دانشگاهیان، نویسندگان و هنرمندان است. قلمِ وی، خلوت این چهره ها را می کاوَد تا بگوید که فرهیختگی و منزلتِ خانوادگی یِ این نخبگان، نَه فقط باعثِ رستاگاری شان نمی شود که اغلب به فاجعه ای تمام عیار می انجامد
جالب توجه آنکه، این رمان، برنده جایزه یِ پولیتزر در سال 1363 شمسی شده است
چهارم
دقت در صفحه آرایی، طراحی جلدِ خاص و ترجمه یِ روان، مشخصه هائی ست که نشر جوانِ "همان" بِدان ها مشهورست
February 12, 2016
Two American university colleagues doing research in London get involved in very different affairs in Alison Lurie's charming, impeccably written comedy of manners.
A tad lightweight for a Pulitzer Prize-winner (it took the prize in 1985), the highly readable novel offers up wise truths about etiquette, aging and the mysteries of love.
There are some hilarious sections, especially involving a complaining couple named the Vogelers and their demanding baby. And the London setting is evocative (I timed the reading of the book to coincide with my recent first trip there).
But Lurie also has profound things to say about the art of fiction, and near the end, there are some scenes of raw emotion and beauty.
A tad lightweight for a Pulitzer Prize-winner (it took the prize in 1985), the highly readable novel offers up wise truths about etiquette, aging and the mysteries of love.
There are some hilarious sections, especially involving a complaining couple named the Vogelers and their demanding baby. And the London setting is evocative (I timed the reading of the book to coincide with my recent first trip there).
But Lurie also has profound things to say about the art of fiction, and near the end, there are some scenes of raw emotion and beauty.
December 18, 2014
I loved this book, although there was a bitterness to it that stayed after the fun was over. Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie is the story of two American academics visiting England for research, and not just of the literary kind. Vinnie Miner is, by her own description, a plain, unmarried professor of children's rhymes in her mid-fifties who considers herself more English than American. Fred Turner is a young adjunct professor, also American, in England to do research on 18th century playwright, John Gay. Both are surprised by the romantic partners they find.
Lurie's prose is witty and intelligent, just like her "heroine" Vinnie. The book offers a wry commentary on who we perceive ourselves as being and the sometimes jarring reality of who we are and how much we are constructed by other people's perceptions of us.
This is a book I would like to read again.
Lurie's prose is witty and intelligent, just like her "heroine" Vinnie. The book offers a wry commentary on who we perceive ourselves as being and the sometimes jarring reality of who we are and how much we are constructed by other people's perceptions of us.
This is a book I would like to read again.
January 1, 2012
How this won a Pulitzer is beyond me. Just a Romance novel with some cynicism thrown in.
August 21, 2020
A novel about 2 American academics visiting Britain, falling in love and the consequences which follow. This novel is full of stereotypes that Academic Brits have about Americans and vice versa. This serves a clever purpose and moral by the end of the novel but my enjoyment of the book was diminished due to these exaggerated stereotypes which cut too close to the bone since I come from a family rife with British and American academics. Lurie knows her topic well and nails it.
This is a well written book that was difficult for me to enjoy at times, but most people inclined to read this book would probably find this an interesting, moving, and enjoyable read.
This is a well written book that was difficult for me to enjoy at times, but most people inclined to read this book would probably find this an interesting, moving, and enjoyable read.
August 8, 2015
In the first few pages, I was amused to find one of the two primary characters reading The Singapore Grip - the novel I had finished just prior to starting this. Vinnie Miner is an English professor who specializes in children's literature. She is headed to London for 6 months on a research grant. The other primary character is Fred Turner, an assistant professor at the same University, who is also in London on a research grant. The alternating chapters are headed by first a children's rhyme (Vinnie's interest) and second by an excerpt from one of John Gay's poetry (Fred's interest).
All of the characterizations are good, but the characterization of Vinnie is far better than just good. Perhaps that is my reaction because I can relate better to a woman past 50 than to a man not quite 30. These are real people even if I cannot relate to college professors and the opportunity to do research at the British Museum.
While thinking what I might say about the prose, I thought of Elizabeth Strout, one of my favorite authors. As Lurie came first, I wonder how much Strout has been influenced by her. The story is presented without any huge drama, although there are a couple of short dramatic scenes. How much more quiet can it get with Vinnie sitting on a bench at the London Zoo watching the polar bears? It is what Vinnie thinks as she sits there that moves the story. For those who need big action, perhaps this is too quiet, but it is exactly the sort of story that I've found especially appeals to me.
Here is another author I want to explore more fully. I hope my life expectancy lives up to the promise of my ancestors, as I keep adding and adding to the list of books I hope are in my future!
All of the characterizations are good, but the characterization of Vinnie is far better than just good. Perhaps that is my reaction because I can relate better to a woman past 50 than to a man not quite 30. These are real people even if I cannot relate to college professors and the opportunity to do research at the British Museum.
While thinking what I might say about the prose, I thought of Elizabeth Strout, one of my favorite authors. As Lurie came first, I wonder how much Strout has been influenced by her. The story is presented without any huge drama, although there are a couple of short dramatic scenes. How much more quiet can it get with Vinnie sitting on a bench at the London Zoo watching the polar bears? It is what Vinnie thinks as she sits there that moves the story. For those who need big action, perhaps this is too quiet, but it is exactly the sort of story that I've found especially appeals to me.
Here is another author I want to explore more fully. I hope my life expectancy lives up to the promise of my ancestors, as I keep adding and adding to the list of books I hope are in my future!
January 15, 2010
As the heroine of "Foreign Affairs" complains, there is no grand romance in our culture for the middle-aged, only for the young and beautiful. This book is a delightful counter to that truism, the story of what happens to an unmarried and acerbic professor of English literature when grand passion strikes her at fifty-five. The book follows two threads - Fred, a young academic, and Vinnie, the spinster professor, both of whom have come to London in search of scholarly research. Instead, separately, they find love: disastrously for Fred, who is stranded between his ultra-feminist American wife and ultra-feminine English mistress; and more happily for Vinnie who to her own horror finds herself embroiled with a cowboy named Chuck. Fred is amusing, but it is Vinnie who catches our hearts. Middle-aged, over-educated, and snobbish, she dismisses the drawling Chuck on sight as "a person with no inner resources who splits infinitives." But Chuck wins her over, and their unlikely romance is tender and telling. The ending is poignant but perfect. A lovely read.
May 12, 2019
From the first sentence, I was sucked into this story of Vinnie Minor, a 54-year-old children’s literature professor with a lot of fixed ideas about other people and herself. She is a loner and likes it . . . until she allows herself to soften and change, and yet still be a loner.
This is a quiet story about truth and phoniness and relationships. The cover blurbs call it a comedy, which I found perplexing. I didn’t laugh once. But that didn’t matter. I was invested in and identified with Vinnie and the other characters, and enjoyed their ride immensely.
This is a quiet story about truth and phoniness and relationships. The cover blurbs call it a comedy, which I found perplexing. I didn’t laugh once. But that didn’t matter. I was invested in and identified with Vinnie and the other characters, and enjoyed their ride immensely.
December 21, 2017
I loved the idea of this story, and there is much in it I would normally like: An American in England, a middle-aged love story, a dog mascot, gossip, lots of tea drinking. Maybe if I’d pulled it randomly off the library shelf I would have enjoyed it more. But that “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize” at the top sets the expectations pretty high, and this just didn’t live up to them.
The plot was okay, and the story moved along well enough, but the writing style was disappointing. It’s so much harder to write a bad review than a good one! I’m struggling with how best to say this, so I’ll just be brief. There was more telling than showing, too many overdone stereotypes, and it just wasn’t that funny.
2.5 stars, rounding up because I clearly missed something.
So now I’m on the lookout for a story like this, but better. Post-fifty characters falling in love, an English setting, preferably with a dog running around, but with the cliché’s left at home. Ideas anyone?
The plot was okay, and the story moved along well enough, but the writing style was disappointing. It’s so much harder to write a bad review than a good one! I’m struggling with how best to say this, so I’ll just be brief. There was more telling than showing, too many overdone stereotypes, and it just wasn’t that funny.
2.5 stars, rounding up because I clearly missed something.
So now I’m on the lookout for a story like this, but better. Post-fifty characters falling in love, an English setting, preferably with a dog running around, but with the cliché’s left at home. Ideas anyone?
November 27, 2010
good to read b/c afterwards you'll feel like you too could write a pulitzer prize winning novel.
May 5, 2019
برام جذاب بود که نشون میداد روابط عاشقانه چطور معیارهای سفت و سخت دو تا استاد ادبیات انگلیسی رو به هم میریخت و باعث میشد از برج عاجشون بیان یه کم پایینتر.
June 2, 2023
Az emberek azon piciny csoportjához tartozom, akikre ösztönzőleg hat, ha a fülszövegben felbukkan Henry James neve. Persze a fülszövegek – mint köztudott – előszeretettel hazudnak, olyanok, mint a facebook-falunkra posztolt képek az igazi élethez képest. De jelentem, ez valóban egy mélyen Henry James-i ihletésű regény, az író sem csinál titkot belőle, a szövegben legalább háromszor megemlíti az elődöt.
No de milyen is egy Henry James-regény? Nos, elegáns. Mondhatnók, társasági irodalom, amelyben a szereplők közti kapcsolat két rétegből áll: egyrészt a felszínből (ezek a konvenciók), másrészt pedig a „mélyáramokból”, a valódi viszonyulásokból, amelyeket a szerző finoman, érzéssel ír a látható mögé. Ugyanakkor a Henry James-i próza ezen felül lágyan pszichologizáló is (naná, ha egyszer mélyáramok vannak benne), és vastagon ironikus. Az a fajta irodalom, ami ott áll a koktélpartin egy pohár fehérborral a sarokban, mindentudó mosoly az ajkán, és csak nézi, nézi ahogy a high society bohócot csinál saját magából. Közben meg azt se felejtsük el, hogy ez az irodalom bejáratos az efféle koktélpartikra, különben is: már csillogó mandzsettagombjai jelzik, maga is a high society tagja, ami ad egy árnyalatnyi ambivalenciát az egésznek, melyet csak és kizárólag az egészséges önirónia tud fogyaszthatóvá tenni.
Miután így jól elbeszélgettem saját magammal Henry Jamesről, erről a regényről is pár szót. Kezdjük azzal hogy tulajdonképpen két regény, amelyeket laza szálak és a két főszereplő alaphelyzete köt össze: mindketten egyetemi emberek, akik Amerikából Londonba teszik át ideiglenesen székhelyüket. Az egyikük Vinnie, aki lassan elér abba a korba, ahol Dickens csöppet sem polkorrekten vénkisasszonynak nevezné. Vérbeli anglománként neki ajándék a ködös Albion, kivirul, akár egy párás, hűvös éghajlathoz szokott növény. A felettébb jóképű Fred viszont egy elcseszett házasság elől menekül az óceán túlpartjára, ő nehezebben rázódik bele a szigetországi életbe. Ők aztán találkoznak emberekkel (egymással is), szerelmesek lesznek (nem egymásba), ami bizonyos átrendeződéseket okoz társadalmi kapcsolataikban és persze életükben... jó, aláírom, cselekménynek mindez nem túl bombasztikus, de a Henry James-i prózát nem is a cselekmény miatt szokás olvasni, inkább azoknak ajánlható, akik szeretnek kifinomult, remek arányérzékkel megírt szövegekben megmártózni.
No de milyen is egy Henry James-regény? Nos, elegáns. Mondhatnók, társasági irodalom, amelyben a szereplők közti kapcsolat két rétegből áll: egyrészt a felszínből (ezek a konvenciók), másrészt pedig a „mélyáramokból”, a valódi viszonyulásokból, amelyeket a szerző finoman, érzéssel ír a látható mögé. Ugyanakkor a Henry James-i próza ezen felül lágyan pszichologizáló is (naná, ha egyszer mélyáramok vannak benne), és vastagon ironikus. Az a fajta irodalom, ami ott áll a koktélpartin egy pohár fehérborral a sarokban, mindentudó mosoly az ajkán, és csak nézi, nézi ahogy a high society bohócot csinál saját magából. Közben meg azt se felejtsük el, hogy ez az irodalom bejáratos az efféle koktélpartikra, különben is: már csillogó mandzsettagombjai jelzik, maga is a high society tagja, ami ad egy árnyalatnyi ambivalenciát az egésznek, melyet csak és kizárólag az egészséges önirónia tud fogyaszthatóvá tenni.
Miután így jól elbeszélgettem saját magammal Henry Jamesről, erről a regényről is pár szót. Kezdjük azzal hogy tulajdonképpen két regény, amelyeket laza szálak és a két főszereplő alaphelyzete köt össze: mindketten egyetemi emberek, akik Amerikából Londonba teszik át ideiglenesen székhelyüket. Az egyikük Vinnie, aki lassan elér abba a korba, ahol Dickens csöppet sem polkorrekten vénkisasszonynak nevezné. Vérbeli anglománként neki ajándék a ködös Albion, kivirul, akár egy párás, hűvös éghajlathoz szokott növény. A felettébb jóképű Fred viszont egy elcseszett házasság elől menekül az óceán túlpartjára, ő nehezebben rázódik bele a szigetországi életbe. Ők aztán találkoznak emberekkel (egymással is), szerelmesek lesznek (nem egymásba), ami bizonyos átrendeződéseket okoz társadalmi kapcsolataikban és persze életükben... jó, aláírom, cselekménynek mindez nem túl bombasztikus, de a Henry James-i prózát nem is a cselekmény miatt szokás olvasni, inkább azoknak ajánlható, akik szeretnek kifinomult, remek arányérzékkel megírt szövegekben megmártózni.
February 20, 2015
I'm astounded that this book won the Pulitzer Prize. I can only think that the prize was given more for the author's body of work rather than this particular novel.
I don't understand why, but I've been stuck with a rash of books where the characters are completely unlikeable, and this one is no different. The story revolves around two American Professors who go to London for research for just less than a year. The story follows them through their friendships and affairs and absolute lack of any sort of University involvement at all. Even the people they come into contact with are horrid people.
This book went back and forth between chic-lit and serious fiction. Pick one.
I don't understand why, but I've been stuck with a rash of books where the characters are completely unlikeable, and this one is no different. The story revolves around two American Professors who go to London for research for just less than a year. The story follows them through their friendships and affairs and absolute lack of any sort of University involvement at all. Even the people they come into contact with are horrid people.
This book went back and forth between chic-lit and serious fiction. Pick one.
April 6, 2017
An uninteresting story about unlikable characters, and way too long. I have no idea how it won a Pulitzer.
November 5, 2016
It was a breath of fresh air to read a story that didn't involve young couples with or without children. And the main character, a 54 year old woman, is a college professor with an established reputation in children's literature. Sounds like a person I'd like. She has her own demons, including self-pity, but she recognizes her demons and gives them form in a mutt, mainly Welsh terrier, whom she has named Fido. Thus, the reader can recognize her mental state whenever Fido is trailing at her heels.
Without actually going to London, I can feel like I'm there, accompanying this familiar lady whom I've never met (and never will). When I reached the end of the book, I wouldn't have minded starting to read it again. Of the Pulitzer prize winners that I've read, this is one of my favorites.
Without actually going to London, I can feel like I'm there, accompanying this familiar lady whom I've never met (and never will). When I reached the end of the book, I wouldn't have minded starting to read it again. Of the Pulitzer prize winners that I've read, this is one of my favorites.
March 2, 2011
The Pulitzer is a funny thing. This book made me look up what other books had won the prize, because the feeling of Foreign Affairs is mostly sort of a light romp, and my vague feeling about the Pulitzer was that it was generally for a heavier type of book. But really there is a range - everything from The Road in 2007 (could it GET any heavier?) to the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay in 2001. But still, it seems an odd choice somehow.
That being said, Foreign Affairs has some exceptional character development and writing. The story is essentially of two American academics who are in London for six months to do research. Two VERY different Americans, who end up having very different romantic experiences. These two are some of the best portrayed, three-dimensional fictional characters I can recall. I only hold back that one star because the story, for me, is so light that I know I won't end up remembering it for long. Does it belong on the Pulitzer list along side To Kill A Mockingbird and Angle Of Repose? I'm not sure. But then again, I'm not sure about Lonesome Dove being there either, so go figure. The bottom line is, this is a very enjoyable book.
That being said, Foreign Affairs has some exceptional character development and writing. The story is essentially of two American academics who are in London for six months to do research. Two VERY different Americans, who end up having very different romantic experiences. These two are some of the best portrayed, three-dimensional fictional characters I can recall. I only hold back that one star because the story, for me, is so light that I know I won't end up remembering it for long. Does it belong on the Pulitzer list along side To Kill A Mockingbird and Angle Of Repose? I'm not sure. But then again, I'm not sure about Lonesome Dove being there either, so go figure. The bottom line is, this is a very enjoyable book.
August 16, 2024
This was really fun and quite masterfully done. Very tongue-in-cheek, lots of nods and elbows to odd culture and human things. I think it was perhaps a little overwritten, for its content, but I love a writer who has fun with language.
October 20, 2024
This character-driven novel examines the lives of two American professors. The first is fifty-four-year-old Vinnie Miner, professor of literature, writer of children’s books, and lover of life in England. She feels more at home in England than in the US. On the plane, Vinnie meets Chuck Mumpson, who does not make a good first impression and comes across as an uncouth American “cowboy.” The second is twenty-something Fred Turner, who has traveled to England to further research his specialty. He is estranged from his wife and is initially disappointed with what he encounters abroad, but when he meets a glamorous actress, he is smitten.
This is a story of flawed and realistic characters. Their inner dialogue comes across as occasionally arrogant but often comical. There are many opportunities to poke fun at the differences between England and the US. It contains numerous literary references, along with comments on writing and criticism. Despite very little plot, it kept my interest throughout, and there are a few surprises along the way. If you are looking for a slew of likeable characters, this probably won’t be the book for you. But if you enjoy high quality writing with dry humor and characters who make a lasting impression, then you may enjoy this book as much as I did.
This is a story of flawed and realistic characters. Their inner dialogue comes across as occasionally arrogant but often comical. There are many opportunities to poke fun at the differences between England and the US. It contains numerous literary references, along with comments on writing and criticism. Despite very little plot, it kept my interest throughout, and there are a few surprises along the way. If you are looking for a slew of likeable characters, this probably won’t be the book for you. But if you enjoy high quality writing with dry humor and characters who make a lasting impression, then you may enjoy this book as much as I did.
December 24, 2014
This book could have been a snoozer. It begins with a self-pitying professor in her 50s traveling to England to do research. Not really a great "hook." But Lurie awards the patient. When she gets going, she really gets going. The premise of this book may sound overdone or stale. But there is nothing stale, boring, or trite about Foreign Affairs.
Lurie doesn't only just delve into the lives of two ordinary academics traveling to London-- stereotypes whose destination is banal, unexotic. They are ordinary, yes, but they are the lens through which Lurie explores, among other topics, Anglophilia's charms and dangers, the literary heroine, the idea of the "dumb" American, how the glamour of travel has a tendency to wear off, elitism, sincerity vs. mere politeness vs. people who literally play a part, and the inflexible world of academia.
Lurie's ability to unmask "romantic" pursuits--research abroad, fitting in with the English, genealogical research, having a fling with a television actress--is refreshing. She digs deep into the collective psyche to identify what society has hyped and bought into as markers of adventure or success and shows their lurid or undesirable side.
Lurie's writing is smoothly precise, multi-faceted, and buoyant with insight.
Lurie doesn't only just delve into the lives of two ordinary academics traveling to London-- stereotypes whose destination is banal, unexotic. They are ordinary, yes, but they are the lens through which Lurie explores, among other topics, Anglophilia's charms and dangers, the literary heroine, the idea of the "dumb" American, how the glamour of travel has a tendency to wear off, elitism, sincerity vs. mere politeness vs. people who literally play a part, and the inflexible world of academia.
Lurie's ability to unmask "romantic" pursuits--research abroad, fitting in with the English, genealogical research, having a fling with a television actress--is refreshing. She digs deep into the collective psyche to identify what society has hyped and bought into as markers of adventure or success and shows their lurid or undesirable side.
Lurie's writing is smoothly precise, multi-faceted, and buoyant with insight.
May 30, 2021
Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie is the story of two American academics living and studying in the UK. Virgina (called Vinnie) is a middle aged single woman who specializes in American and British nursery rhymes. She is an admitted Anglophile and looking forward to six months on the island. Fred is a 28 year old lecturer. Very handsome and recently separated from his wife, he is lonely and depressed. Both find love interests: a big cowboy from Oklahoma for Vinnie and a titled and entitled actress for Fred.
This is the story of struggle. Vinnie wants to hide her lover from her British friends. She is embarrassed by him, but finds her desire growing. And Fred wants more attention from his lover, because he is used to women throwing themselves at him. Both find themselves in sweet, funny, new situations that surprise them and help them grow. Lurie does a good job showing all the complexities of relationships, but this is not a romance novel. It is an exploration of much more: how do we define ourselves, how do we grow and change, and how do we work together with others to have valuable, rewarding relationships.
The ending was unexpected, and for me that is always a good thing. I like books best when they do not go with what is predictable.
This is the story of struggle. Vinnie wants to hide her lover from her British friends. She is embarrassed by him, but finds her desire growing. And Fred wants more attention from his lover, because he is used to women throwing themselves at him. Both find themselves in sweet, funny, new situations that surprise them and help them grow. Lurie does a good job showing all the complexities of relationships, but this is not a romance novel. It is an exploration of much more: how do we define ourselves, how do we grow and change, and how do we work together with others to have valuable, rewarding relationships.
The ending was unexpected, and for me that is always a good thing. I like books best when they do not go with what is predictable.
January 14, 2019
Comedy of manners, full of trenchant observations on human nature that made me laugh out loud. I was particularly fond of Vinnie's imaginary dog named Self-Pity.
February 24, 2023
This Pulitzer Prize winner came as a surprise to me for a couple of reasons: first, I’d picked up an old copy in a used book store and didn’t even know I had a prizewinner until looking at the Pulitzer list later on; second, it was much more amusing and timelier than I’d have thought. I’d glanced briefly at the synopsis on the cover and had it in my memory as somehow political but it’s actually a story of social mores and the somewhat snobbish way that the Americans and British look at each other.
A fifty-something female English professor flies from the USA to London to do research in her narrow field of interest and in the first pages we learn that she is unmarried, an Anglophile, an experienced traveler (with lots of tricks to make her travels more to her taste) and despite her apparently frumpy appearance, fairly active sexually. (She remarks how people look at her and thinks it’s all over for her but that’s not the case.) Somehow, despite all her wiles she is seated with a businessman from Oklahoma who is the antithesis of all she values socially and the perfect example of what she looks down on in the States, unpolished and direct, nothing like the mannered British social class she admires and envies. As a reader, you know where this is going to end up but it’s fun just the same.
Separately from her, a handsome and strait-laced innocent younger colleague is also flying to London to do his own research, still stinging from the apparent demise of his marriage. He hates London and meets up with some friends, a married couple with a child, who hate London as well. All of this changes when he meets an English actress at a party, though.
The way these relationships unfold is painted in a humorous fashion but not so broadly; there are a lot of subtleties here as well as some shots at British academics, pseudo-academics, and the British class system. The two American academics have a mind-set but when they get closer to what they despise, the view changes. (Maybe like many of us who dislike someone or some things until we get to know them better. It’s timely because nothing has really changed in this regard but this book will probably be unjustifiably overlooked by many because they either haven’t heard of it or just thing it’s outdated, based on preconceptions. However, reading it, they may find that their opinions can change, just like the characters changed theirs.
A fifty-something female English professor flies from the USA to London to do research in her narrow field of interest and in the first pages we learn that she is unmarried, an Anglophile, an experienced traveler (with lots of tricks to make her travels more to her taste) and despite her apparently frumpy appearance, fairly active sexually. (She remarks how people look at her and thinks it’s all over for her but that’s not the case.) Somehow, despite all her wiles she is seated with a businessman from Oklahoma who is the antithesis of all she values socially and the perfect example of what she looks down on in the States, unpolished and direct, nothing like the mannered British social class she admires and envies. As a reader, you know where this is going to end up but it’s fun just the same.
Separately from her, a handsome and strait-laced innocent younger colleague is also flying to London to do his own research, still stinging from the apparent demise of his marriage. He hates London and meets up with some friends, a married couple with a child, who hate London as well. All of this changes when he meets an English actress at a party, though.
The way these relationships unfold is painted in a humorous fashion but not so broadly; there are a lot of subtleties here as well as some shots at British academics, pseudo-academics, and the British class system. The two American academics have a mind-set but when they get closer to what they despise, the view changes. (Maybe like many of us who dislike someone or some things until we get to know them better. It’s timely because nothing has really changed in this regard but this book will probably be unjustifiably overlooked by many because they either haven’t heard of it or just thing it’s outdated, based on preconceptions. However, reading it, they may find that their opinions can change, just like the characters changed theirs.
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