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A review by citizen_noir
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
4.0
At some point during this year I must have heard (or read) the buzz about Lisa Halliday's debut novel, ASYMMETRY, and reserved it at the library. It came through a week or so ago and, since it's in such high demand at the library, I moved it to the top of my TBR pile.
I liked the book (quite a lot, in fact), but I'm a little surprised by the rave reviews of the critics. Just tonight I was listening to the NYT's Book Review podcast with its Top Ten Books for 2018, and this was the book that had the reviewers gushing the most. The podcast revealed something I didn't know about Halliday - and that may be one of the reasons why this book is such a hit with the lit-fic folks.... I'll save that reveal for a bit later.
ASYMMETRY is a book in three parts - and the parts don't seem closely related at all. In part 1, "Folly," we follow Alice, a young literary editor working in New York City who randomly meets the world famous author, Ezra Blazer, in Central Park and embarks on a love affair with him, even though he's 40-some years her senior. The affair is handled well by Halliday, who manages to make it seem tender and friendly, without the ickiness that one might expect from such a disproportion in age and power (money, fame). In part 2, "Madness," we meet Amar, a Brooklyn-raised economist who is detained in Heathrow Airport while trying to visit a brother in Kurdistan. Most of this section is told in flashback to Amar's travels to Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, as society crumbles around him and his family. In part 3, "Ezra Blazer's Desert Island Discs," we listen to a radio interview between Ezra and a BBC interviewer who is keen to uncover the author's all-time favorite records, while at the same time uncovering tantalizing tidbits about his life, love, and legacy. Three distinct and separate sections, seemingly unconnected. Or, are they?
At some point in the NYT's podcast, I shuddered when a reviewer referred to the book as a "work of literary metafiction." I looked up the word metafiction just to make sure I understood what it means, and especially how it relates to this book. I'm cutting and pasting here from Google Dictionary:
Fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques.
Yes, I'd say this book is metafiction. There's no real plot to it, just vignettes about a moment in time. I'd guess this is where the title ASYMMETRY comes about. Yet, as you read the book, you do begin to find parallels, connections, and themes between the various stories that may (or may not) be intentional.
One thing is for certain, Halliday can write. Her prose from line to line is a pure delight to read. Her characters are believable, and the places they go (often just in their remembrances) are interesting. This is not a difficult book to get through, which is what I would have expected from a (shudder) "work of literary metafiction."
I am happy that I listened to the podcast because they revealed something I didn't know about Halliday: she had an affair with the world famous author Philip Roth. Knowing that, the symmetry of ASYMMETRY becomes only more interesting. As the NYT's reviewers noted, the interest in the book (Halliday's first) was mostly due to this fact about her past, and how it resonated with Alice and Ezra Black. The reviewers even mentioned that they were expecting the book to be a flop, but then became utterly enchanted with it. I agree, it's a very good book - certainly among the top five best works of fiction I've read this year - but I also have to say that I prefer my books with a little less meta, and a bit more traditional fiction.
I liked the book (quite a lot, in fact), but I'm a little surprised by the rave reviews of the critics. Just tonight I was listening to the NYT's Book Review podcast with its Top Ten Books for 2018, and this was the book that had the reviewers gushing the most. The podcast revealed something I didn't know about Halliday - and that may be one of the reasons why this book is such a hit with the lit-fic folks.... I'll save that reveal for a bit later.
ASYMMETRY is a book in three parts - and the parts don't seem closely related at all. In part 1, "Folly," we follow Alice, a young literary editor working in New York City who randomly meets the world famous author, Ezra Blazer, in Central Park and embarks on a love affair with him, even though he's 40-some years her senior. The affair is handled well by Halliday, who manages to make it seem tender and friendly, without the ickiness that one might expect from such a disproportion in age and power (money, fame). In part 2, "Madness," we meet Amar, a Brooklyn-raised economist who is detained in Heathrow Airport while trying to visit a brother in Kurdistan. Most of this section is told in flashback to Amar's travels to Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, as society crumbles around him and his family. In part 3, "Ezra Blazer's Desert Island Discs," we listen to a radio interview between Ezra and a BBC interviewer who is keen to uncover the author's all-time favorite records, while at the same time uncovering tantalizing tidbits about his life, love, and legacy. Three distinct and separate sections, seemingly unconnected. Or, are they?
At some point in the NYT's podcast, I shuddered when a reviewer referred to the book as a "work of literary metafiction." I looked up the word metafiction just to make sure I understood what it means, and especially how it relates to this book. I'm cutting and pasting here from Google Dictionary:
Fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques.
Yes, I'd say this book is metafiction. There's no real plot to it, just vignettes about a moment in time. I'd guess this is where the title ASYMMETRY comes about. Yet, as you read the book, you do begin to find parallels, connections, and themes between the various stories that may (or may not) be intentional.
One thing is for certain, Halliday can write. Her prose from line to line is a pure delight to read. Her characters are believable, and the places they go (often just in their remembrances) are interesting. This is not a difficult book to get through, which is what I would have expected from a (shudder) "work of literary metafiction."
I am happy that I listened to the podcast because they revealed something I didn't know about Halliday: she had an affair with the world famous author Philip Roth. Knowing that, the symmetry of ASYMMETRY becomes only more interesting. As the NYT's reviewers noted, the interest in the book (Halliday's first) was mostly due to this fact about her past, and how it resonated with Alice and Ezra Black. The reviewers even mentioned that they were expecting the book to be a flop, but then became utterly enchanted with it. I agree, it's a very good book - certainly among the top five best works of fiction I've read this year - but I also have to say that I prefer my books with a little less meta, and a bit more traditional fiction.