Customer Reviews

Private Life

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In "Private Life," Jane Smiley has presented readers with another beautifully crafted novel. The tone of the book is reminiscent of Sinclair Lewis' works; its texture and atmosphere are solidly middle-American. "Private Life" is the story of a marriage and the resulting disillusionment experienced when the wife sees her husband for what he really is. What she thought was a private life is, in reality, a life of quiet desperation in which she has subordinated herself to the myopic vision her husband espouses. The author draws back the curtain on everyday characters' lives to reveal deeper truths about those individuals and, as a result, the reader may be prodded into reexamining his/her own life choices.

Both the prologue and epilogue are set in 1942, but the majority of the novel's action occurs during the period between 1883 and that date. In order to appreciate the plot, one must keep in mind the status of women during those years. Margaret Mayfield, the daughter of a doctor who committed suicide, is his oldest surviving child; her two sisters are more beautiful and considered more marriageable than she. Margaret is a bookish, but not brilliant; personable, but lacking a dynamic personality. Lavinia Mayfield, Margaret's mother, daughter of John Gentry a Missouri farmer, is ever mindful of the advantages of a "good marriage." Dr. Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early, a Navy Captain and PhD, and Montgomery County's (MO) most famous son fits the bill. Margaret, conforming to the dictates of societal norms, accepts his marriage proposal. Following their marriage, the two move to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California where Captain Early is in charge of a small observatory.

Without giving too much detail and spoiling "Private Life" for the reader, suffice it to say Andrew Early proves to be a spoiled, pompous, know-it-all who expects Margaret's unquestioning support. His private life involved professional and personal secrets which, had Margaret known of them, would have affected her decision to marry. Margaret's private life is not so much private as a life of quiet desperation; she has no focus other than her husband and his theories of the universe. She questions whether his world view is somehow an argument against education - whether he might have been happier with smaller thoughts. During a time when Margaret begins purchasing prints from a Japanese artist, she sees depicted in one of the pictures that there is a moment just before the recipient of the gift realizes the evil intentions of the sender. This highlights Margaret's awakening and her realization that Andrew is not all he seemed to be; she has been drawn into his world and is expected to orbit around him. Through letters Margaret discovers in Andrew's office, she learns that what she thought was a private life has been orchestrated by others who know more about Andrew than she does. At one point, Margaret's friend Dora tells her that thinking of Margaret always made her give thanks for soundness and stability; that somewhere in the world things were going on as they always do. Margaret replies that Dora talks like a woman who never married.

"Private Life" is an emotionally charged, sometimes disturbing portrait of a woman trapped by society's expectations and her own acquiescence to her husband's demands. Her life is subsumed into his. These complex characters are finely drawn; each is distinct and adds to the overall theme and the plot of the novel. Each individual plays an important role in Margaret's subordinating herself to her husband or in her awakening to the truth of her life and of her marriage. I was unable to put the book down once I started it and recommend you read this when life's demands will allow you to do so in one sitting. Jane Smiley has written another American classic; it is intelligent, engrossing, and speaks volumes about the danger of a life so private that it is no life at all.

At first, after the prologue, I felt like the narrative was a bit draggy and fussy, as if somebody's grandmother were telling the story--then I got it: it is supposed to be as if someone of the time (who that is becomes clear at the very end) is telling the story. The reminiscence-like digressions and extreme attention to things like domestic details started to make sense--and then the story drew me in. This is the anti-Jane Austen--that, as a quotation suggests, in real life, things don't stop after you snag a wealthy husband. Captain Early is not so much Mr. Darcy as Mr. Rochester in demeanor, and the story feels very true-to-life, unlike the has-a-madwoman-in-the-attic-but-just-needs-the-love-of-a-good-woman stories promulgated for a good two hundred years, now. In fact, Margaret, our heroine, is a "good woman"--the sort of long-suffering wife usually relegated to the periphery. Auden said it well in Musee des Beaux Arts: suffering takes place on the edges while everyone else is living his life--his private life. We see Margaret's private life--and an interesting person she is, too.

We have here a very accurate, insightful portrait of what it must have been like to be a smart, but otherwise traditional woman in middle America at the turn of the last century--not a superstar--just smart enough, but not unusually assertive for her time--just a typically socialized example. She marries a mad, abrasive, pompous fool of a professor who many of us will recognize--the sort of flawed genius who burns bridges and offends wherever he goes. It is a delicious pleasure for the modern reader to see both how nutty he was, and how prescient. Smiley knows her academic whack jobs, for sure! Other perfectly historically accurate references are made, such as to the medicinal properties of hemp, that we will smirk at today.

Jane Smiley has given a voice to the overlooked, mousey "sainted wife." Brava!

Private Life

"Private" refers to that which belongs to one's self; something that is not expressed openly but is recognized by the person. This book was less about private life and more about repressed memories, hopes, anger and the dynamics that foster denial. Margaret attempted to move beyond the traditions and expectations of her family and society but lacked the confidence or the support to make much headway. The reader has far more understanding of Margaret's inner life than she does, revealed in her response to Alexander's death, the family of coots, the process of learning to drive, her appreciation of Japanese art, the demands of her increasingly obsessive husband and the absence of a socially acceptable means of making sense of the world. Smiley's theme of women struggling to escape the trap of social convention is reminiscent of Kate Chopin's writing (one of the historical characters appearing in this novel) but while she addresses a similar feminist theme, Chopin's work is far more satisfying. The bleak wordiness of the book creates a sense of suffocating tedium and simmering bitterness, as well as making it rather tiresome. Not an exciting page turner, not enjoyable, but adequately thought provoking.

Jane Smiley is an amazing author, but the narrator of this audiobook pretty much dulls all of her prose with such a lack of expression that it drags interminably!

This is the only novel of which I am aware that tries to illuminate the experience of a non-technical woman married to a high-IQ pinhead. In other words, fantastic preparatory reading for a modern woman contemplating marriage to an engineer or scientist. Initially Margaret can't evaluate how wrong about most things her quick-minded husband is, but of course after many years of marriage she can't help seeing him clearly.

The novel moves at a stately pace and requires some effort to get into but proves rewarding.

As a Smiley fan, I really tried to get through this book, but have finally given up. The writing is excellent as I've come to expect from Smiley, and very dense with facts about events in the time period, but it is also as stiff as the main character and for me, far from engaging. The tone does a good job of reinforcing Margaret's sober and stifled life. She lacks any sort of connection with her distracted husband who is more interested in himself and his theories than her.

Margaret is a rather wooden person who is out of touch with herself and her surroundings. She even knows this and wonders about others who seem to have a more interesting way of interacting with the world. Her perceptions of what happens around her are filled with a vacant acceptance and rather distant observations because she is so out of touch. It's as though she is watching her own life from afar rather than living it.

I grew bored with her lifelessness and just didn't care what happened next--she didn't seem to either. I kept reading, but eventually felt my time would be better spent with various other books on my shelf. I hate to abandon a well-written book, but this one was too slow for my taste.

I always admire Smiley's ability to fashion a believable story that is complex and multilayered--and this is no exception as I'm sure many women of that era felt caught between a liberating life and a more traditional one and were consumed with discomfort over how to cope. Still, this makes for tedious reading--about as lively as watching paint dry--and eventually I set the book aside. The ending may have held a big payoff and tied everything up nicely, but I fear I will never know.

I finished this book a few weeks ago and decided that it was one of those things I better let simmer on the back burner for a while. On the one hand the book is quite good, being well-written, set in an enticing time period (from 1883-1942) and featuring captivating personal drama(s). On the other hand it is one of the most frustrating books I have read in years. The primary character in this book and the overall tone of the novel make reading it an endeavor. The lead character of the piece, Margaret, lives in exciting times, in (for the most part) interesting places and is surrounded by eccentric characters. She lives an examined life in that she closely observes people, events and places and forms opinions about these things. However, Margaret chooses to live her life in a disengaged manner. She is pushed into relationships, she is pulled into controversies, she is at the center of great personal tragedies and time and time again she fails to affirmatively act. At times when others are in peril she will makes half-hearted gestures but withdraws if any sort of concerted effort is required to save them. She is emotionally withdrawn to the point of being mute. What is more, she does not learn from experience. By the end of the piece it is clear that she is aware of how others have manipulated her for their own ends and the devastating impact this has had on her life. So, what does she feel? Do? Not much. Rarely have I finished reading something and been filled with such impotent anger.

This is a well-written book that in tone is almost identical to the lead character - emotionally flat. I appreciate the effort that went into writing this piece, but cannot recommend anyone but the greatest fans of this author put themselves through the effort of reading it.

Do not recommend.

I have read most all of Jane Smiley's books. They range from phenomenally wonderful (1,000 Acres and Moo) to boring and tedious (Greenlanders). This book falls closer to the tedious type of book Smiley sometimes writes.

The book is primarily about Margaret, a women who at 27 in late nineteenth century Missouri is close to being considered a spinster. She is the daughter of Dr. and Lavinia Mayfield. Margaret's father took his own life when Margaret was a young child, following the death of his two sons. Margaret and her two sisters are brought up by Lavinia with separate skills, each to please a man. One sister sews, another plays the piano, and Margaret reads. At 27, Margaret meets Alexander Early, a controversial, rigid and obsessive scientist, who she marries. It is a joyless marriage, one that would not likely survive in this century.

The book is divided up by years. It starts out in 1942 with Margaret visiting the Kimuras, Japanese friends of hers who have been interred and are living in a horse stall. The book goes from 1883 to 1942 and examines the roles of women during these years, interests and friendships that Margaret develop and Margaret's family. I never felt like I had a clue as to what made Margaret tick.

The characters are distant and emotionally inaccessible. True, the title of the book is 'Private Life' but 'private' should not be synonymous with unknown. I could not bring myself to care about the characters even though on some level the book had some interesting themes. The writing was droll and tedious and despite what could have been interesting, I found myself just not caring.

Other reviewers have summarized plot and theme. I just want to respond to a review in today's New York Times calling this book dull. If it's dull, why have I stayed up past my bed time the last two nights reading it?

Margaret, the main character, is probably like many women of her time, and even today. She's passive, she doesn't expect much from life, she doesn't question the expectations she grew up with. All of this leads her to marry the one man who chooses her, rather than be a small town spinster. (The adventurous professional life of her friend Dora is not a realistic alternative for Margaret or for most women of the early 20th century.) Her life with her egotistical, increasingly obsessed husband is not a happy one; she endures. So do many people. An unexciting life does not mean an uninteresting book. Through Margaret's life and marriage, Jane Smiley gives us a moving although oblique comment on the institution of marriage, the life of an ordinary woman, and some glimpses of historic events. I'd recommend this book.

Here are 3 things I wish authors would not use in their novels:

Long descriptions of paintings

Long descriptions of dreams

Long descriptions of the origins of the universe

If one or more of these concern you, skip this book.