Customer Reviews

Breathing Lessons: A Novel

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

After reading the perfectly depressing "Amateur Marriage" I re-opened this novel, which I had read nearly two decades ago. In an instant, I was transported into the sad yet zany and hopeful world of Maggie: she meddles and fumbles, but has a good heart and never really messes anything up seriously. All of these lives are displayed with an arresting charm, through illusions, lost hopes, and the real value that there can be in a marriage that lasts in spite of all its frustrations and even its mediocrity. At least for me, this is very very moving and nakedly realistic, even wise. It is also charming in Tyler's hands and often comic without ever traducing the realism. Indeed, this novel has all of the virtues that "Amateur" lacked and I think it is a far better performance that addresses many of the same realities - just with characters that are more likable, more interesting, more fun.

Warmly recommended as a masterpiece of the mundane. Tyler makes Baltimore - of all places! - immortal. I loved it.

Breathing Lessons is a novel that celebrates ordinary people. Anne Tyler places us in one day of the lives of Maggie and Ira Moran. Maggie and Ira have been married for 25 years; they have raised two children and have a grandchild. By most accounts, they are very ordinary people.

The ordinariness is what brings this novel to life. The reader is often granted a glimpse of Ira and Maggie's past memories that have been triggered by the days current events. The memories illuminate what circumstances influenced both of these people and shaped them to who they are today.

Maggie is scatterbrained and seeks to manipulate almost all situations, in ways that suit her. Ira, is very strong willed and sensible, haunted by a family that he cannot escape. Breathing Lessons asks the question, what holds this marriage together. Ira and Maggie are completely different, both seem somewhat unhappy. Throughout the course of the novel, we begin to understand the relationship and unravel the strengths amidst the weaknesses.

Overall, a great novel, once again Tyler does not disappoint. If you are looking for something fast-paced and dramatic, this novel is not for you. To fully appreciate Breathing Lessons, one must understand the flavor of this novel, ordinary. I am currently on a journey through all of Tyler's work; she is truly a master of her craft.

Here's a good litmus test to show how good a book like "Breathing Lessons" is--nothing extraordinary happens and yet I did not want to put the book down. There are no conspiracies to rule the world or cover up some dark secret. There are no car chases, explosions, sex scenes (barely even any kissing), or exotic locations. No one changes or has an epiphany. Almost NOTHING happens--Maggie and Ira go to a funeral and when they come back they try to reunite their son and former daughter-in-law but nothing changes at all. To the average reader this book probably would seem really dull. Heck, if someone told me the plot of this book I'd think it was really dull too, but I didn't want to put it down.

The reason is that Maggie and Ira are so well-drawn and so familiar to me that they seem like people I know or COULD know. I think I could go to the supermarket and run into Maggie and Ira, that's how real they seemed to me. I suppose ther reason is that Tyler allows me as the reader to know just about everything regarding these two characters and their two personalities just come through so transparently in the story that they don't seem like CHARACTERS acting their parts; they seem like real people.

Because of this, even though very little happens to Maggie or Ira and even though neither of them changes by the end of the book, I cared so much about them that I wanted to keep reading right through the end so I breezed through the novel in a few days. In all honesty, what I really appreciate about this book is that it seemingly disproves almost everything I've ever read about how to write a book. This is purely a character-driven novel with very little "plot" except for the death of Maggie's friend's husband that gets the ball rolling. Everything else seems to happen so naturally as an extension of Maggie's personality more than any artificially-generated plot twists.

It's hard for me to find any real faults with this book, except for the lengthy flashback near the end that perhaps goes on too long. Some people may call this boring or dull, but I would call it purely exceptional. I LOVED this book and highly recommend it.

As I was reading others' reactions to this novel, I found that many complained about Maggie's annoying character and how her scatterbrainedness seemed to detract from the story. Although I have to agree that this character enraged me at points in the story, I would also like to inform these critics that IF AN AUTHOR CAN CHARACTERIZE A PERSON IN THE STORY SO WELL THAT A READER IS REPULSED BY HER, SHE CERTAINLY DESERVES RECOGNITION, and this is the conclusion I have come to in my process of assessing this novel for my English class. Yes, it went slow; yes, the characters were sometimes aggravating. But Tyler's books are some of the most skillfully written which I have ever had the experience of reading. She reinforces the sacred institution that marriage is, gives us a model in Ira's patience, and shows us how important a person at whom you can, as Serena told Maggie, steal a glance when others are bothering you and you can't complain out loud. Rather than complaining because this book isn't the shallow, exciting "story" that typical readers expect, let's praise Anne Tyler for her skill.

I am surprised by the lack of enthusiasm other customer reviewers have felt toward this book. Breathing Lessons is my absolute favorite book by Anne Tyler. I even have a copy in Italian (Lezioni di Respiro)! Anne Tyler is the only author I have read who can capture everyday small things and give them personality and power. Just read the first paragraph when Maggie is walking down the street pulling up her stockings--how accurate and cute. Capturing the whole family in a story that lasts from sun up till sun down reflects the same technique the Greeks used in their plays. Anne Tyler is a genius here--giving meaning to the lives of these simple people. Breathing Lessons is a testimony of faith toward very common everyday folks. More so than any of her books, one can identify with the characters in this book. In fact, we can see them in our own lives.

Several years ago I attempted to read Breathing Lessons but just gave it up because the characters were just too one-dimensional, boring, and unbelievable. After recently reading several other of Tyler's books (Ladder of Years, Patchwork Planet, Homesick Restaurant) and really enjoying them, I decided to try again. Sorry, but this book is a stinker! How it won a Pulitzer is beyond me. Unlike her other books, this one has no real hook for the reader, that is, nothing to keep him turning the pages. I finally (again) became so disgusted with the main characters that I (again) gave up. If you want to start reading Anne Tyler, don't start on this one because you may never read another. Perhaps this book was written as an example of a certain kind of writing for some esoteric literature class, but not for the general reader.

Anne Tyler's book Breathing Lessons uses countless motifs to convey her message that no human being is perfect, nor is any relationship ideal. It tells the story of Maggie and Ira Moran, involved in a relationship that has gone stale after 28 years of marriage. Maggie, depicted with the repeated "frizz" motif, is characterized by her ditsy, scatterbrained personality. She tries in vain throughout the whole novel to selflessly mend everyone's problems, mainly in efforts to save her son's marriage. Ira, her pessimistic, chiding husband simply engrosses himself in negative views about the "wasteful" human race and avoids Maggie if possible, otherwise remains quietly tolerant of her extremely obnoxious chatter. Even Maggie describes him as "one of those people who are born competent" (Tyler, 234.) The basic plot includes the couple's trip to an old friend's funeral, their insignificant adventures along the way, and a flashback to earlier years during their marriage. Although the flashback section tends to get tedious and wordy, it includes some of life's most meaningful lessons. It depicts the Moran's son Jesse's devotion to his wife and child after living a contrasting rebellious teenage life (continually symbolized by a "black" motif). Mainly, the book is packed full of the contrasting views of Maggie, the idealist who sees everyone with good intentions and pure hearts, and Ira, the realist who sadly often sees things in the sad state they truly are in. The motifs "hot" and "sticky" are used to foreshadow arguments betweeen the two. Their optimistic/pessimistic views are the main spark for their arguments, though it is also what keeps their marriage alive. The book ends with the quote, "Then she slipped free and moved to her side of the bed, because tomorrow they had a long car trip to make and she knew she would need a good night's sleep before they started" (Tyler, 338). This statement symbolizes their journey in the future as a married couple, and leads the reader to believe that their marriage will survive. The book follows a loosely structured plot and focuses on comical situations between two fairly unhappily married people who succeed in the end. A reader who enjoys psychological, yet easy to read love stories about the flaws of human nature would definitely enjoy this book.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Maggie and Ira Moran are a 50ish couple, married back in the 1950's. Like all couples, they had their hopes and dreams, and many of them have come true, though not exactly as they had envisioned. Marriage is not a Doris Day movie, but the Morans are often as polarized as Doris and Rock ever were. She is a still a dreamer subject to pulling the wool over her own eyes, while he is a dyed in the wool pragmatist without an ounce of whimsy. Typically middle class, they have their 2 children, own a little house, and go of to their ordinary jobs each day. They bicker, hold their tongues, sleep in the same bed, cope with the outrageous demands of their extended families, and grapple with the potholes and rocks that life throws in their path. Like road rage. And being caught in flagrante (or in outrageous lies.) As the reader becomes engrossed in the 18 hour microcosm of their lives, it is easy to dismiss this couple as dysfunctional. But what they are, really, is functional. Not wildly successful, not always happy, far from perfect, but together, and reliably there for each other. Are they going to change? Not likely. But they are in this for the long hall, and that's what I believe this book is all about.

I am a huge Anne Tyler fan - I want to read her entire collection. Because this novel won a Pulitzer, I was concerned it would not live up to the hype. My concerns were unwarranted. Tyler is a highly skilled writer who is able to take ordinary people and make them both unique and interesting. She has a very important message to give readers about love, marriage, and life. The main characters are at a stage in their lives where they are looking back and trying to figure out how they got to be where they are, and where to go now.

I know many dislike Maggie Moran, but I didn't. I felt an incredible amount of empathy for her. She is a good person who only wants to give the people she loves hope. She sees the best in people and wants them to live up to the potential she knows they have. She is the eternal wide- eyed optimist. Clearly, Maggie is feeling lost at the thought of having an empty nest. If she doesn't someone to take care of, she doesn't know who she is or how to live. She's lost at the thought of facing middle age. Ira is also a great character. He's Maggie's opposite. He's a pragmatic, grounded, realist. They both have regrets about their past choices, and they need to find a way to let those go and keep moving, so that the rest of their lives can have meaning.

I loved the use of flashbacks in the novel. Tyler really showed the different perspectives of the characters, and she enlightened the reader as to how they came to be the people they are. I couldn't imagine Maggie or Ira turning out any differently, given their families of origin. I didn't like how Ira treated his son, Jesse, but I could understand it, because Tyler gives me enough background about Ira's youth to make it fit. I could feel the love and connection between Maggie and Ira, even when they were at their most frustrated with each other. There's a wonderful line in a Reader's Digest essay on love I once read that sums up Maggie and Ira's marriage: "We sometimes could have killed each other, but we never could have left each other." Maggie and Ira need each other's different perspectives.

There were a few things missing from the novel. I did wish at times that we could've had more information about what really happened between Jesse and his ex-wife. I still don't quite understand why they broke up, and I was intrigued by those characters enough that I want to know, even though I realized that this is Maggie and Ira's story. I also wanted to know more about Daisy. What was her place in the family? How did she interact with her mother? This is one of the few novels I've read that actually could have been longer.

As Maggie and Ira Moran drive to and from an old friend's funeral, readers get insight into their entire 28-year relationship. The type of woman who tells grocery store clerks her entire life story, Maggie is now determined to take a detour by her former daughter-in-law's hometown, where she will attempt to cajole Fiona into reuniting with the Morans' son Jesse. Ira - Maggie's polar opposite - firmly believes in letting the past remain the past, and not meddling in others' business.

As the story of Fiona and Jesse further unravels, it becomes apparent that the two had the deck stacked against them from the start. Pregnant with daughter Leroy at 17, Fiona was coaxed into marrying Jesse and moving in with the Morans, despite her reservations. Yet even after the marriage fell apart, Maggie is dead set on getting her family back to the way she thinks it should have been.

Like most Tyler novels, there are no easy fairy tale endings here. In fact, when the story ends, I found it difficult to say whether the protagonists had learned anything from their experiences...or whether everything had stayed exactly the same as it was before the drive to the funeral.