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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
To be a calligrapher, one must "make a deal with the Devil.", December 13, 2003
Jasper Jackson is a young calligrapher in London, commissioned to transcribe and illuminate the love poetry of John Donne (1572 - 1631) for an American media baron, and he soon finds himself living the poems he is transcribing. An energetic and inconstant lover, Jasper has an affinity with Donne, a "serial philanderer" whose poems reflect his changing attitudes toward love and sex as he ages, from his early celebration of variety in lovers, to a later, more mature discovery of the new world which opens when one finds and/or loses "true love." Jasper invites us into his life from the opening paragraphs, creating interest and suspense by telling us in an intimately casual way that "atrocities" had occurred while he was touring the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. In a farce worthy of Monty Python, a gallery-clearing fire alarm allows him to exchange of e-mail addresses with a potential new lover. Some days later, a second, even more slapstick burlesque occurs as Jasper tries to prevent Lucy, his lover of one year, from entering his apartment and discovering his "Tate Modern flirtation" in his bedroom. The humor throughout is broad, bold, and masculine, and the succession of wild scenes is easy to visualize, though female readers may cringe at Jasper's casual duplicity as he lures gullible women into his bed. Eventually, however, Jasper begins to reflect the signs of true love which Donne has described in his poems, a love that may turn out to be his "deal with the Devil." Jasper's casually vulgar speech and his willingness to share his inner life with the reader are an effective counterbalance to the formality of Donne's poetry, which begins each chapter. The author creates and sustains suspense throughout the novel, leading to an exciting story of relationships, with the end result always in doubt. Docx's descriptions add immeasurably to the pleasure of the action, and his wry commentary on people and places is irresistible--i.e., "talentless men and women" at a club engage in a "ceaseless search for the dwindling plankton of each other's personalities." In view of the cleverness with which Docx reveals Jasper's relationships, the ending of the novel is disappointing, however--contrived, unrealistic, and full of coincidences. The subtlety with which Donne's poetry has provided the intellectual underpinnings of the novel vanishes in a wild, plot-driven grand finale, which feels artificial within the context of this study of Jasper's emotional "growth." Still, the novel is great fun--full of broad humor, sharply observed social commentary, and the vagaries of love and sex across the ages, a stunning debut for a very talented new author. Mary Whipple
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This guy can write!, July 8, 2004
Sometimes when I finish a book that has been particularly engrossing and rewarding, I feel a deep void. I don't want it to end, ever. I could roll along, lost in the wit and harmony of the writing, the plot, the thinking going on. The Calligrapher was just such a book: witty, elegant in its description of the thoughtful outsider who poses as a trendy insider, archaic yet modern, the man/woman obsessed with sex who falls in love, the ambiguity of love, sex, the possibility of a developing relationship. I keep thinking about the characters. I laughed, sometimes out loud, I empathized, I felt a kindred soul in the mix even though I'm a female. Jasper, a man, was the narrator but I connected--I like to cook, choose fine wines, look at great art, travel, enjoy my friends, and learn about life, too--and it's all much more fun when infused with good company and great sex. John Donne knew all about these things and wrote about them, eloquently. But life is a puzzle. So is Donne's poetry. And The Calligrapher falls right in line. Things haven't changed much in the intervening centuries. The basics are still the same and able to turn, upside-down, inside-out, on a dime, depending on the perspective. A page turner, The Calligrapher is extremely well written with very funny observations about the way we live today and think about love, art and relationships. I was reminded of Nick Hornsby--the writing was quick, irreverent, sociological in its focus on one quirky individual. So much of the time, the world does seem totally run by our perceptions of who and what are sexy. And such superficiality (or are these reallly deep, necessary feelings?)can often get turned inside out in a hurry. Great reflection, indeed illustration, of the multiple levels of Donne's insights, poetry and the complexity of life itself. I loved this book. Docx can write! I can't wait for more.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My book of the year, December 12, 2003
By A Customer
I have read a handful of books that have made me literally laugh out loud on a packed train. This ranks amongst them but, unlike the others, this novel plucks the strings of so many other emotions. Docx has packed his first work with so much passion and feeling yet, somehow squeezed in there with his dark, intense description of the earnest seductor, is the most entertaining analysis of the male's perspective of the fairer sex: the real stuff. All this is interwoven with a beautiful introduction - to those who haven't met him already - to John Donne, a love ripped British poet. The story itself is compelling and moving. A must read and a great novel to discuss with your friends. Girls, learn the real REAL side of men.
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