Customer Reviews

Harry, Revised: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only reason I read Mark Sarvas's debut novel, Harry, Revised, was because I enjoy his literary blog, The Elegant Variation. I found it to be a fairly good novel, but it seemed easy to discern that it was his first. Though I doubt my ability to judge fairly because of the circumstances under which I became aware of it, I nevertheless found it to be enjoyable.

Harry Rent is a recent widower who is smitten by a young waitress. He attempts to win her by manipulating her life as well as others, all the while trying to deal (or rather not to deal) with the death of his wife. The plot suffers from being a bit too earnest, and though I am glad Sarvas didn't cheat the ending, I never really doubted where Harry would end up in the end.

Someone dies, and the survivor goes through the stages of grief throughout the story. He denies his feelings, he is angry with himself, feels guilty about his anger, etc. It's a worn trope. So what does Sarvas bring to the table to compensate?

The book is pretty funny, both with regards to narration and the absurd situations in which Harry finds himself. The characterization makes all the prominent characters well drawn, save Harry's in-laws who seem to be stereotypes. And at times I was personally affected by the Harry's dilemma. Though I haven't had the analogous situation in my own life, much of the emotion rendered carried a sense of verisimilitude that made empathizing come rater easily, at least for me.

Though humorous, the narrative is a little clunky, especially at first. As to whether I adapted as I went on or it got better, I am unsure. And word choice was at times quite perplexing. Why use a five-syllable word that will send readers to a dictionary when a more common word would do? The point of view is third person limited, through Harry, and as he is described, one wouldn't expect to hear such words out of Harry.

I would be remiss not to mention the Marxist overtones. Harry is a fairly successful doctor, but his wife is from `old money.' His inability to fit into that world make up a lot of the plot, while he drives a Jaguar up to the crappy little restaurant/diner where he interacts with the object of his affection and another waitress. This other waitress is very poor, behind on all her bills, and has a son `in the system.' Though the idea of class runs throughout the novel, Sarvas never really makes any lasting comment on society. Almost as if it just worked as a device for his plot and he never really gave it a second thought.

Despite its flaws, I found Harry, Revised to be an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, which all in all was the real reason I picked up the book. I'll be interested to see where Sarvas goes in the future.

I've always been a fan of Mark Sarvas-- I have his blog bookmarked-- so I knew he could write. But I wasn't prepared for the fantastic energy, detail and characterizations in his debut novel. It's psychological astute, surprising and ultimately very moving. I anxiously await his next novel.

Mark Sarvas the critic had every reason to be frightened of the reception that might greet Harry, Revised. Seriously. The dude's got balls. I can't help but think of Peter Bogdanovich, who, like Sarvas was known to level his share of withering criticism before ever stepping into the ring. But like Bogdanovich, Sarvas has stepped up and delivered with his debut. What's more, in Harry, Revised, Sarvas has deftly dealt with subject matter that in lesser hands, might well have walked a banal line-- American male mid-life crisis and all its attending pitfalls. Where Sarvas shines is in the details. And the humor. And the depth. In short, in all the right places. Harry Rent, in all his flawed, disquieting, awkward sub-glory, is achingly alive, and very memorable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever had the wheels fall of their cart.

At first, I just wanted to slap the narrator. But the dry humor that pervades every page of this book slowly infuses itself into the plot, and before I knew it, I couldn't wait to see what he would do next.
A surprisingly funny, and sad, book about marriage, and sense of self.

I had just finished reading Harry Revised and I must say, it is definitely as 'witty, erudite, and outrageous as Waugh' as quoted by Andrew Sean Greer (author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli).

Reminds me a little of Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim as well.

(By the way Nat Waugh - you should get Alex to read this book).

I picked up Mark Sarvas's debut novel, "Harry, Revised," ages ago, but it has languished on my shelf unread and unloved. However, there is just something exciting about a debut novel and the possibility of discovering a piece of writing that is truly wonderful. Not to mention, I am perpetually in envy of Sarvas and his job. In case you don't know him, Sarvas is a premier literary blogger and book critic - that's what he does for a living. So when the reviewer decided to put his own work out there, my interest was piqued.

This novel follows Harry Rent, the soft around the edges with a weak chin type, who undergoes a kind of personality crisis after the sudden death of his wife. The pliable husband, ever unsure of his worthiness in marriage, becomes a renegade widower modeling himself after the hero of "The Count of Monte Cristo," Edmond Dantes. In an effort to win the affections of a waitress half his age, Harry becomes a master manipulator, wondering both at what point he will stop and whether he can truly rewrite his character. As the hero of his own tale, Harry is pitiable even while his actions can be revolting. Sarvas succeeds in that I empathized with Harry and wanted to see him succeed to become a true hero of his own story.

One thing that I found inherently charming about this novel was in its construction. The chapter titles set the stage for the action about to unfold in a way that is forthcoming yet elusive. For example, chapter one follows, "In which our hero orders a sandwich and is late for an appointment." I still cannot put my finger on why I liked this feature so much, but needless to say it drew me in. If I could fault Sarvas anywhere, it is with the women he creates; I found their behaviors and actions often unbelievable or unnatural. The women themselves are such stereotypes - attractive waitress with suggestive tattoo, fat waitress limiting social interaction through bad attitude, waspy wife with a penchant for cycling - they felt more like tools for drawing out Harry's character than real characters themselves.

Generally, I enjoyed this book and it is clear that Sarvas has taken some of his own review notes and applied them here. I look forward to seeing what may be coming next and will pick up his future writing endeavors with high expectations.

I picked up Mark Sarvas's debut novel, "Harry, Revised," ages ago, but it has languished on my shelf unread and unloved. However, there is just something exciting about a debut novel and the possibility of discovering a piece of writing that is truly wonderful. This novel follows Harry Rent, the soft around the edges with a weak chin type, who undergoes a kind of personality crisis after the sudden death of his wife. The pliable husband, ever unsure of his worthiness in marriage, becomes a renegade widower modeling himself after the hero of "The Count of Monte Cristo," Edmond Dantes. In an effort to win the affections of a waitress half his age, Harry becomes a master manipulator, wondering both at what point he will stop and whether he can truly rewrite his character. As the hero of his own tale, Harry is pitiable even while his actions can be revolting. Sarvas succeeds in that I empathized with Harry and wanted to see him succeed to become a true hero of his own story.

One thing that I found inherently charming about this novel was in its construction. The chapter titles set the stage for the action about to unfold in a way that is forthcoming yet elusive. For example, chapter one follows, "In which our hero orders a sandwich and is late for an appointment." I still cannot put my finger on why I liked this feature so much, but needless to say it drew me in. If I could fault Sarvas anywhere, it is with the women he creates; I found their behaviors and actions often unbelievable or unnatural. The women themselves are such stereotypes - attractive waitress with suggestive tattoo, fat waitress limiting social interaction through bad attitude, waspy wife with a penchant for cycling - they felt more like tools for drawing out Harry's character than real characters themselves. Generally, I enjoyed this book and it is clear that Sarvas has taken some of his own review notes and applied them here. I look forward to seeing what may be coming next and will pick up his future writing endeavors with high expectations.

I'd read this last year and now adding this book to my book reviews. I was going to read it as soon as the revised version came out but, so many books to read and review at the time.

Through M Sarvas' literary blog in January 2007, I'd eventually got to know of the author's childhood interest in the Tintin series, which he mentioned was a life long hobby.

Part of my review on the UK Amazon website: Coll's Reviews
'I had just finished reading Harry Revised and I must say, it is definitely as 'witty, erudite, and outrageous as Waugh' as quoted by Andrew Sean Greer (author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli).

Reminds me a little of Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim as well.

(By the way Nat Waugh - you should get Alex to read this book).'
----------------------

Now a widower, Harry twists the empty space on his wedding finger with a different purpose in mind, but

`in true Harry-style, he muffs it' (Ch.1), while he studies married couples at a distance and envisages frequenting cafes and restaurants and forming a habit that he feels comfortable with.

The humour in the first chapter is his frequenting a cafe, his wanting to ask the waitress/undergraduate more than just what's on the menu and instead muff's it and goes for a dish he pictures himself ordering the next time and then after, the Monte Cristo, deep-fied and sweet sees Harry dreaming of future return visits, dates and eventual honeymoon and child, but only to be snapped out of his reverie and back to the reality of him being late for his wife's funeral.

Claire, Harry's sister-in-law makes him think it's his fault her sister, Anna died and her inference to him in driving her to want to the point of irrreversible despair in seeking solace in undergoing plastic surgery, just to please him. To add to Harry's troubles, Claire threatens him with legal action if there is evidence to support her belief that he is to blame for her sister's death

We see Harry after the death of his wife, his pursuit of Molly and his wacky attempts at plying her away from her harley biker boyfriend, Bruce, and into his arms, only to be publicly humiliated by the pursuant as she confronts Harry in the cafe, about his paying off her friend/colleague's (Lucille) bills, which she finds creepy.

Harry the Benevolent `customer' gets berated for his act of good intent and his plan of action with unexpected results and which comes after his escapade from his `peeping tom' window view of Lucille and the bedroom action. So a stalking Harry gets urinated on and comes into the cafe to a frosty reception by both for helping Lucille with her bills and in sorting out a chiropodist's bill.

Still, Harry the ever gallant pursuer tries to deal with Molly's boyfriend in his own, fistful way, when Lucille reveals how badly Bruce has been treating her with comical repercussions when he seeks his friend Max's help in practising some punches which lands Harry smack, flat, on the grass, his nose, bloodied.

The remainng review to follow.

As a regular reader of Mark Sarvas's litblog, I snapped this up as soon as it came out but was afraid to let me expectations rise too much. A first novel can be a tricky thing, and reading someone's voice in fiction for the first time is nothing like reading his essays.

But by the end of the first chapter, I was very optimistic--though still a bit cautious. Harry, a forty-something widower lusting after a young waitress, was perfectly drawn to be just the right combination of pathetic and dirty-minded, charming and neurotic, and relatable. The third-person narrator has access to much of Harry's internal monologue, which is smart, funny, and somewhat depressing--a microcosm of the novel as a whole, really.

In less talented hands, the characters could easily have become unbearable. A young, sexy, full-of-herself grad student/waitress with a bad boyfriend could have ruined a story single-handedly, with no help from an exercise-addicted, über-motivated career woman (the dead wife), but instead we completely understand why Harry loves these women and accept him with all his flaws. Too often I am left wondering in vain at the inexplicable actions of a character who has "grown" emotionally in the course of a novel, but the changes Harry goes through felt genuine and understandable. His resolution, though as imperfect and open-ended as reality demands, was still comprehensible and satisfying.

I have not been this excited about a book by an author not previously known as "safe" since I can remember, and I can only hope that Mr. Sarvas has more of the same waiting in the wings.