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A review by kerensa2108
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
2.0
I’m really not sure where to start with my review! This was a book club choice, otherwise I wouldn’t even have considered picking it up. Based on the blurb and other reviews, it’s simply not my thing. A number of other members of my book club read it before I did, and didn’t have much to say about it that was positive. But I felt I really should give it a go, so I plunged in - trying to keep an open mind…
Firstly, a note on the introduction (the introduction in my copy is by Rachel Cooke in 2011). That wasn’t a good start - far too much information about the author’s husband’s sexual fetishes (completely unnecessary and rather distasteful) and his treatment of her, as well
as comments like “we have all…woken up in the bed of the wrong man with panda eyes…”. No we haven’t! Then, Sally Jay is deemed funnier than Anne Welles, Jennifer North, Isadora Wing and Carrie Bradshaw - that in itself was off-putting (I don’t know the other characters but CB is really not funny and Sex In The City made me cringe), and on reading this book I found Sally Jay not in the slightest bit funny - she’s rather sad, in a way, like Carrie Bradshaw. Anyway, on to the book itself.
Initially I really didn’t like it! Sally Jay comes across as spoiled, self-absorbed and insensitive, and more than a little bit pretentious. Sadly, she reminds me of myself at about that age - not in terms of the things she gets up to (most of which I’d never have dared to do!), but the way she expresses herself (I found my diaries from my university stint in Russia in 1993 a few months back, peppered with words in Cyrillic, just like the way Sally Jay’s narrative is peppered with French words and expressions). Cringe!
But at the same time, I began to find her situation strangely poignant and touching - the hints that her parents neglected her emotionally (hence the repeated running away) and her clear lack of understanding about the darker side of life - she’s quite a romantic, in a way, and very naive. Her self-absorption (like mine, at that age) isn’t malicious and you can tell that she just needs to grow up a bit - she’s well-intentioned at heart, and seems to be able to learn from her mistakes.
I stuck with it, despite not really liking Sally Jay at all initially, because I found myself wanting to know what happens to her (a bit like a train wreck!) But then I started to enjoy the book - I was still finding her self-absorbed, annoying and childish, but was beginning to understand her a little better and see her good points. I also liked the author’s use of language and there are some lovely descriptions of some of the characters (my favourite is the description of Sally Jay’s cousin John: “John was a real, earnest, enthusiastic, gee-whiz tail-wagging prig of an American, with the shortest crew-cut and the thickest horn-rims ever to accompany their owner through four ceaselessly interrogating years of Harvard.” Brilliant!)
The story takes us from Paris to Biarritz, back to Paris and then back to the US, at which point it starts to feel slightly rushed, as if the author was bored with Sally Jay’s shenanigans and wanted to get her settled down. I found the ending a little disappointing, and I also have unanswered questions about how Sally Jay suddenly cottoned on to what Larry was up to - maybe I missed something really subtle but it’s not clear! I’d also like to have had some more details about Judy and Jim, and how Sally Jay’s relationship with them developed after Judy’s operation (maybe it didn’t, maybe they lost touch, but it would be nice to know). I liked both Judy and Jim and would love to have known more about them as a couple. Although I guess the fact that we don’t is a reflection of Sally Jay’s level of self-absorption - it would be uncharacteristic of her to expand on that narrative.
So, I’m not sure whether to keep this book and read it again - I think I might, because having read to the end, I have a little more insight into Sally Jay’s background and character and I think that would help to understand her a bit better, earlier on. Also the title - that is explained towards the end of the book, and it would be good if it had come up earlier (and been elaborated on, a bit) as the explanation is very sketchy but does provide some insight.
Two stars as it wasn’t my favourite read but I kind-of quite enjoyed some aspects of it.
Firstly, a note on the introduction (the introduction in my copy is by Rachel Cooke in 2011). That wasn’t a good start - far too much information about the author’s husband’s sexual fetishes (completely unnecessary and rather distasteful) and his treatment of her, as well
as comments like “we have all…woken up in the bed of the wrong man with panda eyes…”. No we haven’t! Then, Sally Jay is deemed funnier than Anne Welles, Jennifer North, Isadora Wing and Carrie Bradshaw - that in itself was off-putting (I don’t know the other characters but CB is really not funny and Sex In The City made me cringe), and on reading this book I found Sally Jay not in the slightest bit funny - she’s rather sad, in a way, like Carrie Bradshaw. Anyway, on to the book itself.
Initially I really didn’t like it! Sally Jay comes across as spoiled, self-absorbed and insensitive, and more than a little bit pretentious. Sadly, she reminds me of myself at about that age - not in terms of the things she gets up to (most of which I’d never have dared to do!), but the way she expresses herself (I found my diaries from my university stint in Russia in 1993 a few months back, peppered with words in Cyrillic, just like the way Sally Jay’s narrative is peppered with French words and expressions). Cringe!
But at the same time, I began to find her situation strangely poignant and touching - the hints that her parents neglected her emotionally (hence the repeated running away) and her clear lack of understanding about the darker side of life - she’s quite a romantic, in a way, and very naive. Her self-absorption (like mine, at that age) isn’t malicious and you can tell that she just needs to grow up a bit - she’s well-intentioned at heart, and seems to be able to learn from her mistakes.
I stuck with it, despite not really liking Sally Jay at all initially, because I found myself wanting to know what happens to her (a bit like a train wreck!) But then I started to enjoy the book - I was still finding her self-absorbed, annoying and childish, but was beginning to understand her a little better and see her good points. I also liked the author’s use of language and there are some lovely descriptions of some of the characters (my favourite is the description of Sally Jay’s cousin John: “John was a real, earnest, enthusiastic, gee-whiz tail-wagging prig of an American, with the shortest crew-cut and the thickest horn-rims ever to accompany their owner through four ceaselessly interrogating years of Harvard.” Brilliant!)
The story takes us from Paris to Biarritz, back to Paris and then back to the US, at which point it starts to feel slightly rushed, as if the author was bored with Sally Jay’s shenanigans and wanted to get her settled down. I found the ending a little disappointing, and I also have unanswered questions about how Sally Jay suddenly cottoned on to what Larry was up to - maybe I missed something really subtle but it’s not clear! I’d also like to have had some more details about Judy and Jim, and how Sally Jay’s relationship with them developed after Judy’s operation (maybe it didn’t, maybe they lost touch, but it would be nice to know). I liked both Judy and Jim and would love to have known more about them as a couple. Although I guess the fact that we don’t is a reflection of Sally Jay’s level of self-absorption - it would be uncharacteristic of her to expand on that narrative.
So, I’m not sure whether to keep this book and read it again - I think I might, because having read to the end, I have a little more insight into Sally Jay’s background and character and I think that would help to understand her a bit better, earlier on. Also the title - that is explained towards the end of the book, and it would be good if it had come up earlier (and been elaborated on, a bit) as the explanation is very sketchy but does provide some insight.
Two stars as it wasn’t my favourite read but I kind-of quite enjoyed some aspects of it.