How Far Can You Go? [Paperback]

David Lodge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 1981

Polly, Dennis, Angela, Adrian and their peers were bound to lose their spiritual innocence as well as their virginities on the way from the 1950s to the '70s. On the one hand there was the traditional Catholic Church, on the other the siren call of the permissive society - the appearance of the pill, the disappearance of Hell and the advent of COC (Catholics for an Open Church). It was inevitable that things would change radically. But how far could it go? How far could they go? And where would it all end? Find out in this razor-sharp novel of satiric insight and comic despair.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Lodge has written many bestselling novels, including THINKS and NICE WORK. His books have sold well over a million copies in Penguin. Formerly Professor of English at Birmingham University, he now writes full-time. He continues to live in Birmingham.

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (September 24, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140057463
• ISBN-13: 978-0140057461
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perceptive case studies Catholics born circa 1940, March 19, 2004

By 

Trevor Kettlewell "trevsbookreviews" (Nowra, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Far Can You Go? (Paperback)

Lodge is always worth reading. He is a very honest writer, a handy thing when so much of his stuff is quasi-autobiographical. These are real people, or as real as Lodge understands them, and he's not without insight.

I don't relish Lodge as others would, because I've taken a different direction to him (and, perhaps, because he's more of my parents' generation). He can't help but favour characters more in line with his own value system, and this is particularly going to rub against me in a novel such as this one which has religion as its central concern. That being said, he's not overwhelmingly judgemental, and often is describing more than prescribing.

He commonly uses sex as the climax of his novels (Out from the Shelter; Small World, Paradise News, Therapy - although in this latter it's more the resolution), and this is no exception. He's more matter of fact about it than overly voyeuristic, and I suspect he'd contend that it was just part of his honesty; sex is such big issue to us, and he's giving it a proportionally justifiable position.

The title of the book relates to several areas though, not just the obvious sexual one. The one I found most cogent is more the Roman Catholic issue of how far can you break away from the traditional teaching of the church and still be a Roman Catholic - or, indeed, be anything at all? This issue, of course, has been felt deeply in Protestant circles as well. But, right or wrong (and thankfully he has the good grace not to tell us), for example, hell disappeared somewhere during the 60s. And if you don't believe in that - as in practise myriad Catholics stopped doing - a lot of things start drifting.

The major issue he relates this to is the Catholic stance on birth control. It's no co-incidence that the decade of the pill was also the decade of a massive turn away from the church. You finally could have your cake and eat it too. No sex outside marriage was not such a huge sticking point for people staying with the church before contraception: everyone unavoidably had the Catholic stance on birth control. People now think they can have sex without responsibility; before they knew they couldn't. And the churches both Protestant and Catholic can still seem to convey that as long as you're not sleeping around you're a good Christian. In some ways this has been a bit of a favour for the church: nominalism is not the problem it used to be. Liberalism, however, is rampant.

I must confess, too, I think the Catholic stance on birth control is more consistent with a theology which values sex as highly as the bible does. It makes sense that this act is seen as always profound - profound enough to begin life. This does not have to cancel the pleasure, but it sure as hell adds the appropriate sense of responsibility.

I agreed with the way he concluded the novel by setting up sound bites of different Catholics at a festival (playing with the form as he likes to do, this time switching from narrative to a video transcript). He highlights the massively contradictory nature of these beliefs. He leans towards agnosticism in the light of all this, but isn't utterly dismissive of alternatives (just of their blindness to the contradictions).

He traces the lives of a dozen or so individuals all sharing a mass one morning, with each section dealing with unities:
"How it was" - something of the innocence and differing motivations of the 50s
"How they lost their virginities" - well, this is a David Lodge book, after all..
"How things began to change"
"How they lost their fear of hell'
`How they broke out, away, down, up, through etc.' - by the end all are massively changed, and this is partly the result of the times (eg. Around Vatican II and the pill), not necessarily a transcendent life stage thing.

I'd thought particularly about how some people I know of that generation had their world and world view changed. Yet others weathered it: I believe what was essential about their faith was not caught up in the changing values of society. Just as it should be, Christians should always been at odds with the general culture, and always value the fruit of the spirit - which are timeless - above mores.

Another pleasure of the book is the way he toys with `how far can you go' inserting the author himself into the text, and maintaining the genre of novel as opposed to essay. At some point do we stop believing in the characters because the author is now and then popping in to explain exactly why he's choosing this name or that action?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Souls and Bodies, April 8, 2000

By 

A. D. Myers - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Far Can You Go? (Hardcover)

Astoundingly good book, follows the progress of a handful of young Catholics as they age, marry, have children, go through the 60's and 70's, etc etc etc. Exceedingly funny, masterful use of metafictional techniques, with a serious pulse beating 'neath the outer skin of whimsy.

Published in the US as _Souls and Bodies_.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and depressing at times, March 7, 2002

By 

Lisa (Stockholm Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Far Can You Go? (Hardcover)

Having picked up this title at a used bookstore I forgot about it for quite some time, but now I found it and finnished it in what? three days. It was quite the read for a convert to the catholic faith...
The author's style is light, and his story and characters full of insight. However, I found myself getting frustrated and annoyed at some of the "truths" delivered by a cynical and disillusioned narrator.
For example: The doctor, Edward has come across a theory stating that maybe the "safe" method (i e only having marital relations on infertile days) may be the cause of birth defects. The author tells this at some length, but later when all the catholic couples "come to their senses" and go on the pill - there are no complications whatsoever mentioned, and there should have been, considering the pill back in the 60s and 70s had quite high levels of hormones. But that's just details...
What I miss is the genuinely religious person who actually lives and believes, even though the rest don't. But in the world of David Lodge, this doesn't seem to be the case. Faith is just another ornament, but catholicism heavier than most, pulling the catholics down with guilt and hypocracy. And this is not the faith I know, nor the church I live in.
But still, I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to understand, maybe not the catholic mind and catholics of the 50s, 60s and 70s but how they are viewed by someone who was probably there when it was all happening. This is not a complete picture of catholics in England...or anywhere.