Customer Reviews

The Fundamentals of Play: A Novel

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'm still trying to make up my mind about this book, but it fascinated me to the point that I'll certainly read it again. The book covers the post -college years of the set depicted in Whit Stillman's movie "Metropolitan," and like that movie it seems to be a deliberate anachronism. My impression is that it consciously attempts to depict a world that doesn't really exist any more--or, in Stillman's words, "not so very long ago." (But what do I really know? I'm from the Left Coast and went to public schools.)

The book examines the apparently fascinating Kate and four men who care about her, each in their own way. I say "apparently" because it seems that Ms. Macy intends to make Kate's attraction difficult for outsiders to understand. Her allure is inexplicable to those who--unlike the narrator and his three potential rivals--are not captivated by her.

"The Great Gatsby" is the overarching influence here: the rich girl, the upstart, the poor man from a good family, the effete snob--all these could come straight from Gatsby, but to Ms. Macy's credit, she largely succeeds in making these characters her own.

As is mentioned by an earlier reviewer, there are some jarring aspects to the book that one thinks a better editor would have weeded out, particularly the dim social view of Catholicism. The narrator is vicious not only in his description of the the working-class lobsterman's daughter, but even the aspiring middle class Harry, and I think this weakens the book. Still, the scene in which Harry "confesses" to George that he was admitted to Dartmouth on brains alone relies on this implicit bias, and is perhaps the more telling because of it.

If you liked "Brideshead Revisited," "Metropolitan," "The Secret History," and, of course, "Gatsby," I think you will be intrigued by this book.

Finally, if you buy "Fundamentals," be sure to pick up some limes, tonic, and Mount Gay rum. The book's vivid depiction of cocktail parties is sure to leave you craving a drink.

Okay...I'm not a product of east coast prep schools, country clubs, or sailing. However, I knew some of these types, in college and high school (midwest prep school). Perhaps, like Harry Lombardi, I find myself fascinated by a group that I've never been a part of. While I never had the desire to break into the group, I'm fascinated, like George, by their innerworkings. I make it a practice to read as many first novels as possible. I find their strength and beauty to be wonderful. The Fundamentals of Play is a triumph. Is the finest book I've ever read??...No, but is engrossing. The characters are well drawn...Chat? Chat Whethers is grand. The situations are great. This novel, set in the just pre-internet world of 1993/94 (or so I've guessed) tells the story of a fading way of life. Not only does Macy comment, through George (she writes men well) on the oddities of Whit Stillman's Metropolitan Kids (the recent touchstone of this set)...but puts her own spin on it. I won't even compare this to Gatsby...why? Macy tells her own story. Most of all, it captures the spirit of young people, fighting against the march of time, clinging to the past and its idols. It is about a univeral desire for acceptance and finding a place in the world. Kate...well her attraction is almost mystical...we all knew a Kate. While the sitatuions might be a million miles away to you, the feelings are something that reside in your heart. Cheers, Ms. Macy!

I bought this book thinking it might remind me of a certain segment of my circle of friends. It was, however, more than reminiscent - it was a dead-on depiction of the ugly underside that lurks behind the glimmering veneers and patinas that are polished so carefully by Manhattan's young "money and brains" circle. Uncannily and eerily accurate, many of the descriptions, conversations, locales and events in the novel were unbelievably and hauntingly real to me, and as I read the book I began to wonder if Macy had stolen the journals and diaries of some of my friends and acquaintances. In terms of style and subject matter, the comparisons to Fitzgerald's Gatsby are warranted, but this, while excellent for a first novel, is not in the same league as Gatsby and could not be considered a masterpiece. I'll be watching for Macy's next novel, though, because I think she clearly has a major literary work inside of her! Best of luck to her and hats off for writing an engaging, realistic and wonderfully horrific account of the "snotty college" set. Warning, however - those readers who have not interacted with this demographic group will probably find the novel irritating, unrealistic and perhaps farcical in its portrait. Believe me when I tell you that it is all too real. Eerie.

Fundamentals of Play is a fantastic book. It is the perefect combination of wit, play, engaging story and social commentary. Macy's insights about New York culture and her obvious kinship with the city, its architecture and atmosphere make this a true city novel in the best sense. Those who critique Macy for writing about the wealthy miss the point. The wealthy, or those apsiring to be so, are fit and fascinating subjects for novels, or so Austen, Fitzgerald, Fielding rightly demonstrated. The human condition is compelling no matter what someone's net worth.

The "lower classes looking in on the rich" theme is a well-travelled road, producing novels as disparate as Great Expectations, Brideshead Revisited and the Great Gatsby. Macy's novel plays with the conventions of these earlier works, trying to recreate late 20th C. upscale NY, a world apparently peopled by conservative 20somethings with a late 1940s sensibility and old conflicts like old money v. social climbers.

What makes the work seem fresh despite its familiar subject matter is the way in which Ms. Macy renders the key dilemma of her protagonist, George, a headmaster's son educated among the rich but never one of them.

As is common in this type of novel, George has his nose pressed very hard against the shiny plate glass window of the Wealthy Life. What makes him distinctive is that his longing for a prototypical Rich Girl is impeded not only by a difference in social class, but also by any similar emotion on the part of the woman he fancies. Macy does a good job of illustrating the power of purposeless longing, the way in which longing can induce a sort of myopia.

The ending is a bit disappointing, but overall the work maintains a light, even tone even when the plot is no longer light.

This is a worthwhile read--no so much a new road as a nice journey down an established trail.

I found "The Fundamentals of Play" to be a wonderfully exciting book. I had heard tremendous praise and good word about this new novel and had great hopes in reading it. I was very pleased with all aspects of it. I found the characters relatable and interesting, the plot thoughtful and easy to follow, but still interesting and fun to read. The friendships and life experience of the cast of characters keeps this book moving and never dull. I see great promise in Caitlin Macy's work and look forward to more from her in the future.

Fundamentals of Play is a fascinating glimpse of a particular slice of our culture that I didn't know much about, and the bonus is, it's told in flowing prose. Reading it on July 4th got me to thinking about the wonderful variety of people and worlds existing and flourishing in this great country.

I also just read a first novel giving a similarly fascinating glimpse of young people living an entirely different but no less fascinating lifestyle here on the West Coast: "Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf" by Asher Brauner, and I recommend both these books for your summer reading pleasure.

Caitlin Macy has written a novel that captures a very small, very interesting clique in New York. It also captures the feeding frenzy of the early 90s and to this end deserves to be applauded. It is frustrating that so many readers have found the novel "elitist": the narrator is poor, after all, an outsider looking into this world rather than an insider looking out. I think Macy has also captured the mindset of the endangered and beleaguered male preppie better than any writer I can think of in the last decade or so. The book is charming, insightful and intelligent. One almost feels protective of it after finishing it. A shame it has to be offered for public consumption, as it will most likely be too subtle for some palates...

Perhaps I am not wonderful at picking up nuances. I saw parallels to Gatsby as well as other readers. I loved the fluidity of Macy's prose, the ease of her rich descriptions. The characters, however, took a while to get the hang of, and I thought I was intelligent. Dialogue was at times cryptic to me - I couldn't understand some of the implications of what was said. Kate seemed boorish and not at all engaging. It was as though the other boys wanted her simply because Nick had at one time had her. I never felt as though I wholly understood a character's motivation, other than if I knew George I most certainly wouldn't have wanted to befriend him, as disillusioned and cynical as he seemed at such a young age - 23 and too worried to have sex! That doesn't sound like any 23 year old I knew - Ivy Leaguer or no! Growing up in the Yale area - though not attending - and knowing many of the locations of which Macy described warmed me to the book more than the story itself. I kept waiting, and waiting, for something to happen. When it did, I felt rewarded for having read thus far along, but the way the climactic point was handled was sadly disappointing and downright trite. It then felt as though Macy wrote the book to show off her vocabulary, not her imagination. I was taken by the book, could relate entirely to the situations, and hope Macy's next effort is a bit better. I will look for it and read it.

Take "The Great Gatsby", throw in "For Kings and Planets" and Whit Stillman's movie "Metropolitan", a tiny bit of "Mysteries of Pittsburgh", darken with a dash of "A Season in Purgatory" and you have "The Fundamentals of Play". But if that sounds dismissive, it isn't. The review in Salon.com was so good that I broke my own rule and ordered it in hardback. Beautifully written and fascinating description of the old American aristocracy. [If prep school memoirs make you retch, you may want to skip this, though] Couldn't get a fix on the appeal of Kate, the object of the narrator's adoration, but that is probably the point. Some really nicely-drawn characters and memorable scenes and settings make this a good read.