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Tedious, Superficial and Frightening
I am exploring best sellers and fear I will take some 'heat' for this review.
This novel is largely an internal monologue of a an incredible boring and superficial man. I including 'frightening' in my title to reflect the thought of his operating on me. At his age, and given his profession, his thoughts seemed incredibly immature. You reach a stage when you accept the unpredictability of life, the insanity of war etc. especially if day in and out you hold the lives of others in your hands. I think the book would have been far more interesting told say from Baxter's point of view...someone who is more of an outsider.
Rather than a neurosurgeon HP sounded to me more like a recent grad from Tom Wolfe's fictional Dupont University ( a line I used in reviewing AMSTERDAM). I thought of reading SATURDAY as a parody of a largely plastic family, in a plastic life with contrived thoughts. There is nothing larger than life here.
Others have mentioned the Squash game...wow was that ever interesting. The treatment of the alzeimer's mother struck me as inhuman given HP's resources. I compared it to of all things, Woody Allan's EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU with grandpa treated humorously and lovingly as one of the family, and integral part. I did find the ending entertaining, with its twist. Other than the author's having the right (politically correct) views, I see no reason for the praise. In the two books I have read of his, he seems to appeal to a college level view of life.
I have to go dig out my dog eared copy of WAR AND PEACE to remind myself of a real novel. I guess a review is a very subjective thing.
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