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A review by jesshindes
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm fairly ambivalent on campus novels - I think I over-indulged on them when I was in my late teens and about to go to uni, plus I have read enough 'English prof has an affair with a student' books to last a lifetime - but I saw Vladimir on offer in an indie bookshop, and someone I follow on Twitter had recommended it enthusiastically, so I ordered it anyway.
I ended up enjoying it. Yes, the story *does* feature a male English prof who is going through a disciplinary after five past students have reevaluated their relationships with him in the light of #metoo; but Jonas's novel benefits from taking the perspective, not of the philandering academic, but of his wife. Our unnamed protagonist is 58 and re-evaluating her relationship in light of recent developments; although this is complicated by the fact that they've had an open marriage and she both knew about and sanctioned her husband's involvements. Another complication arrives in the form of Vladimir, a new recruit to the English department, up-and-coming novelist, and hunk. It doesn't take long for our narrator to develop an all-consuming crush.
What I liked best about 'Vladimir' was its ability to surprise me. I didn't know what was going to happen - with the marriage, with Vladimir, with the protagonist's job - and on several occasions the novel turned in a direction I didn't expect. This was particularly true in the final section, which took a turn towards the thriller and which I could have done with even more of. More generally, I felt like the characters and their relationships consistently got beyond the stereotypes into which they could easily have settled, which obviously amped up my enjoyment; and finally, I really appreciated the humour. The novel doesn't take itself completely seriously (I'd probably call it black comedy?) and I liked that Jonas wasn't afraid to be either silly or bizarre.
The reservations that I had were mostly around the novel's beliefs, or thesis, or whatever you'd call that. I don't expect everything I read to be a polemic (not much fun) but I read the novel as being broadly ~about the relationship between gender and power, and how that plays out in all sorts of ways in this environment of a fairly fancy liberal arts college in the north-east of the USA. Because the narrator is an older woman, she lacks certain kinds of power (and she's obsessed by aging, its effects on her body and her desirability); her relationship to her husband has complicated implications for her own standing within the university; and the students, represented as politically engaged but somewhat naive, clamouring for social justice without maybe a full understanding of its nuances (or at least, their understanding conflicts with the narrator's) both wield and lack power in their own ways. I did appreciate that the narrator (and by implication, Jonas) made efforts not to dismiss the students' concerns around emotional safety (safe spaces, trigger warnings) even while the novel challenges some of these ideas' underpinning assumptions. I enjoyed the way that the see-saw of power tilted back and forth during the final sequence particularly; and there's some neat work whereby Jonas shows up some of the narrator's own biases, minimisations, and misconceptions around sexism, sexual assault and her own experiences in the academy. Still, I don't know that I could say with conviction what the novel's ultimate opinion on most of the issues it deals with might be, except for, 'hooboy, this is complicated'. That's legitimate, but it's not especially punchy.
Overall, there were enough things I liked about the novel that I would recommend it - especially for the narrator, who was complex and funny - but I feel like there was another darker, weirder book somewhere inside of this. It emerges in flashes towards the end of the novel, particularly; but I'd love to have seen what it looked like fully-realised.
I ended up enjoying it. Yes, the story *does* feature a male English prof who is going through a disciplinary after five past students have reevaluated their relationships with him in the light of #metoo; but Jonas's novel benefits from taking the perspective, not of the philandering academic, but of his wife. Our unnamed protagonist is 58 and re-evaluating her relationship in light of recent developments; although this is complicated by the fact that they've had an open marriage and she both knew about and sanctioned her husband's involvements. Another complication arrives in the form of Vladimir, a new recruit to the English department, up-and-coming novelist, and hunk. It doesn't take long for our narrator to develop an all-consuming crush.
What I liked best about 'Vladimir' was its ability to surprise me. I didn't know what was going to happen - with the marriage, with Vladimir, with the protagonist's job - and on several occasions the novel turned in a direction I didn't expect. This was particularly true in the final section, which took a turn towards the thriller and which I could have done with even more of. More generally, I felt like the characters and their relationships consistently got beyond the stereotypes into which they could easily have settled, which obviously amped up my enjoyment; and finally, I really appreciated the humour. The novel doesn't take itself completely seriously (I'd probably call it black comedy?) and I liked that Jonas wasn't afraid to be either silly or bizarre.
The reservations that I had were mostly around the novel's beliefs, or thesis, or whatever you'd call that. I don't expect everything I read to be a polemic (not much fun) but I read the novel as being broadly ~about the relationship between gender and power, and how that plays out in all sorts of ways in this environment of a fairly fancy liberal arts college in the north-east of the USA. Because the narrator is an older woman, she lacks certain kinds of power (and she's obsessed by aging, its effects on her body and her desirability); her relationship to her husband has complicated implications for her own standing within the university; and the students, represented as politically engaged but somewhat naive, clamouring for social justice without maybe a full understanding of its nuances (or at least, their understanding conflicts with the narrator's) both wield and lack power in their own ways. I did appreciate that the narrator (and by implication, Jonas) made efforts not to dismiss the students' concerns around emotional safety (safe spaces, trigger warnings) even while the novel challenges some of these ideas' underpinning assumptions. I enjoyed the way that the see-saw of power tilted back and forth during the final sequence particularly; and there's some neat work whereby Jonas shows up some of the narrator's own biases, minimisations, and misconceptions around sexism, sexual assault and her own experiences in the academy. Still, I don't know that I could say with conviction what the novel's ultimate opinion on most of the issues it deals with might be, except for, 'hooboy, this is complicated'. That's legitimate, but it's not especially punchy.
Overall, there were enough things I liked about the novel that I would recommend it - especially for the narrator, who was complex and funny - but I feel like there was another darker, weirder book somewhere inside of this. It emerges in flashes towards the end of the novel, particularly; but I'd love to have seen what it looked like fully-realised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault and Alcohol