Customer Reviews

It's All Right Now: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Charles Chadwick's It's All Right Now is simply a lovely novel, a beautiful read that I was sorry to see end. The narrator, Tom Ripple, begins writing down his thoughts on his life in the early 1970s, essentially so he can look a little more busy at his dull job. He seems to be about thirty at this point and is frankly not a very likeable protagonist. He is married with two children and eventually his wife leaves him. At the start of the novel, his main pasttime seems to be watching television. He keeps writing, however, and as his life progresses, he grows into a likeable, thoughtful man, a good friend, a loving father. There really isn't much of a plot in the novel, no one thing other than Ripple's character development as he searches for meaning in his life, in any life. But with the way Chadwick writes, for some reason, I found I didn't miss the plot. Ripple is a remarkable character and I found myself truly enjoying this novel. It is a rich, highly satisfying work, one that I believe will stay with me for quite some time. Enjoy.

Ever grow sick of hearing about the next great writer, usually young, usually an enfant terrible?
Then you may be plesasntly delighted to find the book which (I'll admit) takes some time to grow on you....but oh, the rewards are great!
Written by a British civil servant, Charles Chadwick, this book took 28 years to complete(!) and the result is a finely nuanced plot that unfolds slowly, not in the brief snippets of sound bites that we've gotten so used to in real life. This is a book to savor, as Chadwick unfurls the life of Tom Ripple, a man who simply records his perceptions about life.

Let me start by saying it is 100 degrees around here, my air conditioning is broken, and I am sweating like Patrick Ewing.
Yet I am still going to give this book the VERY RARE 5 Stars. I love the glacial pacing of the character development, the deliberate advancing of the plot, and the way Chadwick does sadness. It will make you ache.

Perhaps those who don't care for this book prefer the leaden dialogue and Must See TV pacing of foul crap like "Angels and Demons." Who knows? Put on some Ahmad Jamal, pour a glass or ten of wine, and get lost in the world of Tom Ripple.

Charles Chadwick's sprawling (682 page) novel is an amazing feat. It takes a mighty story to glue a reader's eyes to a tome of this size and that is why this is such an odd victory: there really is no 'story' per se, just the private musings of a man who describes himself as a gray being - "I've noted before, I think, that the impression I seem to give is one of neutrality. I feel pretty neutral about that." Language of this sort becomes not that of ennui but of profound introspection on a perceived common life.

Tom Ripple is a loner, avoiding contact with other humans whenever possible, a man who goes to extremes to just be anonymous. His main driver appears to being convinced that he - and the rest of the world's inhabitants - are simply 'all right'. He avoids interaction with neighbors (even a disarmingly acute need to confront a pederast) and with troubled people in general. His aloof stance creates a safety cocoon for him: "A friendship loomed, making me feel decidedly unfriendly. I accepted of course." Though events occur (in abundance) around him, Ripple skirts them or at best denies any interest in intervention.

Yet despite the continuing pages of interior dialogue by a man removed from the world while walking the turf of that world, there is something about Tom Ripple that creates an indelible character, one of those literary creatures that become part of our vocabulary. Think 'Rabbit Run', 'Catcher in the Rye' and at the same time remember this is the first novel by a 72-year-old author! Quite an achievement. Let's hope there are more books from this Charles Chadwick. Grady Harp, August 05

I agree with the previous reviewer. This starts slowly. In fact, at about 120 pages I still wasn't sure I was even enjoying what I was reading. (This is partly affected by the blurb inside the front cover which gives away some plot points, so you are waiting for them to happen as you are reading.) But then, I got sucked in. The book is nothing but the typed thoughts of the main character, but as he gets older, you know more and more about him and his family, and he became a friend I felt I was listening to. The plot of the book could probably be summed up in 5 sentences, so don't read it for plot. Read it if you find you like the author's voice. I found myself genuinely sad at the end of the book.

Like one of the earlier reviewers, I was sorry to see Charles Chadwick's It's All Right Now end. The story is a first-person narrative told by Tom Ripple (the everyman who makes "ripples" rather than waves with his life and work), and Mr. Ripple is engaging enough that you miss hearing his story when the 700 plus pages are done.

That said, I am a patient reader, but I thought Mr. Chadwick's editors did him a great disservice letting this book go on so long. There are large portions of the book that are quite tedious and should simply have been cut. Way too much description of setting and characters' looks, which wears on a reader when the book is already so long and so without conventional plot. The most interesting parts of the book are about Ripple's family (we see the family and Ripple develop over about 30 years' time) and his philosophical ruminations on finding meaning in life in the face of the fact that we are all going to die.

Still, as I said above, I was sorry when Chadwick's book ended. Ripple is a bit morose in his musings, but he's smart enough and real enough that I miss hearing from him. This book will stay with me for a long time.

Quite simply the most engrossing, moving, funny, intelligent book I've come across this century. To simply draw parallels, as some have done, between Tom Ripley and Harry Angstrom, of "Rabbit..." and allude to this book as the British equivalent thereof would be a grave error and fall far short of the mark. This guy's writing is sharp as a tack, witty as hell, and each and every sentence simply will not let you go...hence my Dickens reference, and, believe me, I don't reference our greatest novelist lightly! There were times while reading this one that I was so touched, so affected, that i had to put it down and ruminate for a spell before i was ready to pick it up again. Do yourself a favor and remember why you love reading so much.

I agree with the other reviews except I thought it was totally involving throughout. As my days went by there was always a background of Tom Ripple that drew me to continued reading. Hard to shake off his philosophy and world view.

Also, I dont find anyone talking about the humor which starts on page one. True, he does evolve, but his basic goodness and acceptance of life is apparent from the start. The punning is clever and often hilarious; particularly the reactions of the other characters to his broad based humor. I loved it when he interacts with Fogarty whom he recognizes as his match. There are so many gems to savor.

I would like to read his unpublished novels.

This is a must read book.

Because of the length of the book, you know you're in it for the long hall. But it is very well written and very, very funny. It is actually dense with humor, and sometimes you must re-read sentences in order to follow the train of thought, because the author, literally, does not let up. The character is fascinating: pathetic, winning, selfish, charming, lost, hilarious all at the same time. I had just finished reading the very powerful and very dark, Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates, and I very much needed some humor. Some of the same issues, regarding marriage, work, life, exist in both books, but It's All Right Now made me feel able to "meet the day" again with laughter, and a more gentle irony.

This is decidedly not a book you can't put down. It's more a book you keep putting down and returning to later. Written as a fictional memoir, it is comprised of a large number of vignettes along the fictional author's life. As such, it would have been an excellent novel for serializing. There isn't enough action or drive to keep you reading hour after hour, but there is enough charm to keep you coming back. So this is best as a book to work through in pieces when you are between other books or just want a short stretch of light reading.

At heart it is the reflections of an undistinguished man with a sense of humor about all the people around him, and about the life he leads but is largely detached from. It is filled with excellent character studies, but that only adds to the episodic nature of the journey. It is a book worth reading, but only on its own terms. Don't expect to be sucked in and swept away.