Customer Reviews

On a Day Like This

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A 40-something year old man has been living a relatively pointless existence consisting of teaching classes that no one cares about, watching trashy movies, and having meaningless affairs with various women. One day he develops some medical problems, worries that he might be dying of cancer, and fears that his life will come to an end without ever having meant anything. He drops everything in his current life and returns to his hometown to seek out a lost love from childhood (with another freshly acquired woman in tow). By the end of the book, it is not clear if he has really grown at all, but at least maybe he can get a new start.

I found the book to be kind of depressing, especially the sad outcome of his eventual meeting with his lost love. We can probably all sympathize (at least in general) with his regrets about what might have been, but aside from that I didn't really identify with the protagonist that much and just wanted to yell at him to grow up.

I read this book in the original (I have been reading a pile of random German books for language practice). Its simple and terse prose style made it pretty easy reading.

Andreas, the main character, is too passive for the story to work. Reminds me of Oakley Hall's rule of making the hero active. The hero has to want something badly enough to risk something important. Andreas doesn't want anything, and that is what the book is about, his passivity and his lack of connection to other people.

BTW, the author is Peter Stamm. Michael Hoffman was the translator. (SPOILER ALERT)

When you get to the end, it all doesn't amount to anything. He resolves his longing for his adolescent crush, Fabienne, and he once again finds his new girlfriend, Delphine, but who cares? I don't know why he bothers to drive clear across France to find Delphine. He has dumped her twice. I don't know why she is glad to see him. She must have very low self-esteem.

Andreas may or may not be dying of lung cancer, but we don't find out. Neither does he. He keeps saying it doesn't matter, but of course it does matter.

Overall, I'd say the novel is very unsatisfying. The writing is good, line by line, and I enjoyed much of it. But I think this book is shallow. I don't have any desire to read another Peter Stamm book. It's ultimately disappointing to read about a person who doesn't care about anything or anyone. Caring is what makes us human, I think.

Andreas, the anti-hero of this dismal novel, is a lonely and alone man suffering from middle-age angst provoked by what may be a diagnosis of lung cancer. He has no family, an uninspiring job, and a few casual love, I mean "sex," affairs. As the story progresses Andreas drifts ever further into ennui and meaninglessness. During an aimless journey by car he attempts to recapture his Swiss past. Nothing much more seems to develop.

What is the point of it all? It eluded me. I suppose this is some sort of existential novel and there is talk of freedom, but mostly it is simply banal and boring. Granted most of our lives are like this, but why spend our precious few free hours reading this drivel? I do not need to be reminded how pointless life can be.

Stamm's writing style is clear, simple, and direct. It reminded me of Hemingway. Stamm may be a "wannabe" Hemingway, but he's got a long way to go.

I read this in the original German so I cannot comment on the translation.