Customer Reviews

About Schmidt

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book is so simply written that it just might fool you into thinking that it is a simple book. Far from it. This is a rich, layered, nuanced plot with complex characters and powerful themes of loss, anti-Semitism, aging, and generation gaps. I found myself getting so lost in the pure pleasure of reading this novel that I frequently forgot that I was reading a book that was short-listed for the National Book Critics' Circle Award - a prize usually given to novels that require effort to muscle your way through.

Begley's background as an attorney shows through clearly. He is not your typical writer. You'll find little of the literary fluff, not much symbolism, no strong attachment to any particular technique or structure. Instead, his minimalist prose allows the reader to focus on the story, on the characters, and most importantly, on the themes. Much has been said about the notion that the reader is supposed to pass judgment on Schmidt - hence the title, a legal reference implying that the author is presenting a case or a brief. But is there any doubt about who is guilty and who is innocent here? Schmidt, for all of his flaws, is clearly the hero. Yes, he feels more comfortable with people of his own kind than with outsiders, but who doesn't? His heart is in the right place, for the most part, and Begley draws a rich portrait of a daughter who becomes self-absorbed in her unjustified resentment as she distances herself from her father. Begley's exploration of this rift is beautiful for its subtlety, and for its ability to present a morally unambiguous case without sacrificing its complexity.

Who can explain, however, the bizarre adaptation for the screen that recently came out? It resembles the book in virtually no respect, and makes one wonder why the bothered to pay for the rights to the book. The book as it was would have made an excellent movie - one can only speculate as to why and how Hollywood took such an excellent book and, with much effort, turned it into such a mediocre film.

By now you've probably seen the movie, and read reviews that say movie and book are quite different. 'S true. But they are at heart the same...gently exploring a prickly yet subtle man, leading a life of quiet desperation, less tears than wistful sighs, less chest-pounding than weary acceptance. The movie pokes you a little bit more, but I guess it has to. Plot is not the deal here, nor is dialogue, even. It's all character. Schmidt is in a period of great loss, his catastrophic losses (retirement, wife's death) ill preparation for the smaller, more damaging ones (daughter patronizes him, he realizes the relationship was based on the mother and he was just an extra). This book reminded me of Updike's 'Rabbit' series, though this one is a more pleasant read. I was glad to find this author and will read more of his. Highly, highly recommended.

Having never read Begley before, I did not know what to expect. I'm happy to report that once I got used to his style (complex sentence constructions), I settled in and really enjoyed this book. Albert Schmidt, it seems, should be someone whose butt we want to kick. He's grouchy and way too stuck on himself. But he's also quite observant, and this is ultimately what made me like him. He can sniff out a phony at twenty paces and he's not afraid to challenge those who pry too deeply (witness his altercation with his son-in-law-to-be's mother, a psychiatrist who takes it upon herself to lift Schmidtie from the depression he's been in since the death of his wife. He combats her phychiatrist's offensive with his attorney's defense and it's rather humorous). Though Schmidt spends much of the book moping around and looking back on his life, he begins to let his hair down when he takes up with a feisty waitress, who gets him thinking about possibilities. Is she only doting on him to get a big tip? The passages in which Schmidt and Carrie's relationship develops are really touching. In Albert Schmidt, Begley has created a truly memorable character in less than three hundred pages. Begley's prose is elegant -- it's obvious he worked hard on this book. I wish I could say the same for Richard Ford, whose "Women with Men" I read just before this book. Compared to Begley's latest work, Ford's collection is light and airy, puff pastry crud. I recommend Ford read "About Schmidt" before he embarks on his next project

I originally bought this book almost two years ago after enjoying the movie; after attempting to start it twice, I gave up on it. Recently, I had some extra time and needed a book to read.

Why didn't I learn my lesson?

About Schmidt is the story of a recently widowed and lonely retired man with very few links left to the outside world, and who is about to lose his daughter to a Jewish man(Schmidt is mildly anti-semitic). While this could have been an interesting character study, Schmidt is fiercely unlikable character who doesn't do much and whose problems are solved in an unrealistic manner.

This lack of realism also carries over into the dialogue, with every character being able to pull these highly intellectual and rehearsed speeches out of absolutely nowhere at a moment's notice. Long-winded and hard to follow, Begley has chosen to write his dialogue without quotation marks, making things even tougher for the reader.

Begley's ego can be seen in the novel in more than just the lack of quotation marks. What begins as a rough but slightly interesting look at loneliness soon evolves into absurdity as Schmidt begins to have a relationship with a woman 40 years his junior. After the halfway point of About Schmidt, the book just turns into Schmidt being irresistible to this woman(for no apparent reason), and constant sex between the two with absolutely no tension. What little danger Schmidt could possible be in is quickly resolved, and awkwardly tied into the main story. Nothing important or interesting in About Schmidt is really resolved. Schmidt just has a lot of sex with a younger woman and he(and the book) forgets about everything else. What could have been interesting(Schmidt's 2-page visit to South America) is never explored.

I have the itching feeling that About Schmidt is just some kind of strange Louis Begley fantasy. My dislike of the author grew as I read the interview section in the back of my book; all of Begley's answers are curt and give absolutely no interesting information. Also, I just discovered that the further adventures of Schmidt can be read in the sequel to this book. Come on! Reading the synopsis of the sequel made me realize how much of an old man fantasy the Schmidt character is.

About Schmidt the movie is a wonderful and observational look at loneliness and relationships. About Schmidt the novel is garbage. Honestly, the two are not the same in even the most basic ways; you can possibly compare three IDEAS between the two works. However, don't let this book keep you from seeing the film.

Begley writes beautifully; his prose is seemingly effortless, although I'm sure it took many drafts to make it seem that way. Schmidt is a compelling protagonist, and his story is artfully told -- at least until the final fifty pages or so. The ending is far too abrupt, and the loose ends are tied up so neatly (and so much in Schmidt's favor) as to be unbelievable. It's not simply a compliment to Begley's writing style to say I wanted the book to go on longer; the story itself demanded to be longer. A more

About Schmidt is an absolutely mesmerizing read. I had previously read Mistler's Exit and eagerly looked forward to reading this book. It did not disappoint.

The character of Schmidt is not a likeable one but fascinating none the less. Still coming to terms with the death of his wife he doesn't know quite how to react to his daughters love for a partner in his old firm. The fact that the boyfriend is jewish does not help matters. He manages to maintain a distant relationship with her but realizes that she is repudiating her past in order to become part of his family and after marriage she will convert to Judaism.

The emotional turmoil that pervades this book is as heartrending as it is self inflicted. The moral if there is one is that one must come to terms with ones past. With the death of his wife and the loss of his daughter Schmidt's journey to self awareness and acceptance is compelling reading. If you seek a story about the soul of a man then this book is for you, warts and all.

Begley's novel tells the story of a rather small-minded retired New York attorney, Albert Schmidt, as he copes with sudden widowerhood and retirement. Actually, most to the point is that Schmidt himself tells the story; in the case "about Schmidt," Albert's persistent, solipsistic whining serves to convict him as guilty as charged.

Another reader mentioned Ishiguro's "Remains of the Day" and that novel does indeed come to mind, not to the advantage of Begley's book, however. There is a certain interest in watching Schmidt's efforts to deal with his new life, but, unlike Ishiguro who never resorts to sensationalism in his exacting revelation of his narrator's faults, Begley introduces an implausible love affair and a malignant antagonist, a character who may work well on a symbolic level as a foil to Schmidt, but whose entrance into the novel introduces a highly implausible plot turn that is resolved in an even more implausible way.

Begley is a terrific prose stylist, however, and the book is well worth reading. Subsidiary characters such as Schmidt's daughter and mother-in-law to be come to life in Begley's capable hands. Too bad he didn't trust his material and work out Schmidt's efforts to learn how to live an ever more constricting life in the same realistic vein in which he began the story.

I found that the main flaw with this book was that it tried to tackle too many themes and situations..none of them satisfactorily or conclusively. For example, we have Schmidt's flawed relationship with his daughter and prospective son in law. Then his anti-semitism. Then his infidelities while married. Then his friend and his passion for a younger woman. And finally, Schmidt's preposterous relationship with a 20 year old waitress. Mix in all the dynamics of an upper crust lawfirm and the problems with retirement. Any one of these themes developed adequately in 275 pages would have been great..none were.

I read this novel when I became saturated with suspense thrillers and mysteries. I was pleasantly surprised. It almost came up to the standard of the review in the New Times Book Review which prompted me to read it.You will enjoy the prose once you get used to the writing style which uses no quotations - you must pay attention to wehther or not the characters are speaking or just thinking.

Nicholson's version of Scmidt would indicate that Jack never read the book, nor did the producer or director who optioned it. The book's title, the title character and the underlying theme are all of the book that survived the transition. The Hamptons' Albert Schmidt would have spilled his entrails before ever buying a motor home. The cinematic Alfred had no life beyond his job and wife (and daughter) but the print version has a Hollywood/college friend, acquaintances from his law firm and his protege/son-in-law...and Carrie.
In print, Albert comes alive, human in all that term implies..Where the film slogged along, the book has life, sometimes tragic, sometimes giddy, but always dynamic, despite the odd cadence of run-on sentences and lack of quotation marks. I'm in the midst of the sequel now.