Customer Reviews

The Rules of Engagement

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

 

 

The Rules of Engagement is a fabulous novel. Catherine Bush has given us a terrific story that will make you think about the nature of love and war, of bravery, cowardice and risk. Arcadia Hearne is a Toronto native living in self-imposed exile in London. As the novel unfolds, we learn, little by little, about why seh left, and what she has done in London. She left because two of her lovers had a duel over her. The pain of the consequences of the duel was too overwhelming for her, so she fled, escaping to London. Her story, and how she finally addresses her past and deals with issues in the present, is fascinating and well-told. Bush tells the story, plaing concepts of love and war against one another. It's wonderful food for thought. There is a revelation towards the end of the novel--almost blink and you've missed it--that you won't get out of your head. I highly recommend this one. Enjoy.

In "The Rules of Engagement", Catherine Bush creates a near
flawless meditation of the nature of war and the nature of
love. Arcadia Hearne, the main character, flees from Canada (and two
lovers), then emigrates to England, where she excels at hiding from
the past, allowing only her sister and parents sporadic contact.

Over
the course of this novel, Arcadia has to come to terms with acts of
agression in both her personal life (a duel is fought over her) and in
her professional life (Arcadia works for the Centre for War
Studies). She also comes in to contact with a group which facilitates
escapes for African refugees. As she aids in facilitating these
refugees' flight, Arcadia is compelled to face her demons, and return
to Canada for the first time since her departure a decade
previously.

Bush is a masterful writer, with insights and meditations
of both love and war which are reminiscent of Milan Kundera's
"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and
"Immortality." While the correlation between war and love is
present, Bush is skillful in not abusing the power of the metaphor
through overuse or heavy-handedness. Overall, the writing is fresh and
intelligent. The story is utterly believable, and Arcadia Hearne is an
incredible character. Through Arcadia's quirks, and the idiosyncracies
of the people in her life, these people come to life in their own
unique way.

This is an incredibly intelligent novel, and a highly
enjoyable read. If you like Milan Kundera's early novels, you will
definitely enjoy "The Rules of Engagement."

The Rules of Engagement is a fine novel, written in icily beautiful language, precise in its observations and the psychological development of its narrator, Arcadia Hearne. It's also a lot of fun to read.

Bush's use of war metaphors to develop a love story may seem a bit obvious once the set-up becomes clear, but at the same time it's all odd enough to stay consistently interesting, and none of the conclusions hit you over the head. To the novel's credit, the information about world conflicts and War Studies (Arcadia's area of expertise) doesn't exist only to be a metaphor -- it has tremendous significance in the narrative itself, and lends the everyday events of the story a global perspective. This is a tremendously worldly book, a book which expects an intelligent and aware reader, but which is never oblique or obtuse.

The story of Arcadia's past is handled deftly and woven into the present-day events with great skill. As the past and present converge, the novel becomes truly exciting -- it's fun to try to second-guess Bush and figure out where everything is leading, as in a mystery story. But here, the mystery and suspense lies not so much in the plot as in the character, for by the end we have come to care about Arcadia and her fate.

Rules of Engagement by Catherine Bush is a skillfully written, splendid novel, wchich a reader won't easily forget. At the heart of this literary thriller is a pistol duel, fought in Toronto between two students who may of may not be contending for the love of Arcadia Hearne. The duel would seem to be the ultimate in romantic gesture, but Catherine Bush's style is so subtle that the reader doesn't know exactly why the students are duelling. The consequences for Arcadia -who watches the duel- are the centra thematic preoccupation of the Rules of Engagement. After the duel she flees to London and there she has to cope with her traumatic past. In fact Rules of Engagement isn't a literary thriller, but a psychological novel which contains thriller-like elements. In an abstract way violence and risk are the novel's structural co-ordinates. The Rules of Engagement is a page-turner, beautifully written. I felt really involved in this book, because it deeply speaks to the major questions in life.

Peter van Beek M.A. Literary reviewer, HN-Magazine, The Netherlands

The events of this book resonated personally, making the story quite a satisfying one to read. Like Arcadia, I have an interest in war studies (being one of the slightly maligned 'peace and conflict' students she mentions). I also fled to a new city (Toronto, ironically) to escape personal pain and with the intention of reinventing myself. I think the book becomes even more compelling as Catherine Bush gradually and often elegantly reveals how Arcadia's constant questions about war and internvention are really manifestations of past psychological pain, as well as means of understaning the meaning of events she yas yet to reconcile. The idea of facing up to one's demons isn't terribly original; however, if you prefer that these stories have an intellectual bent along with a dash of local colour, then this book is worth reading.

This is a fantastic and unusual book. It is a gripping and sexy narrative that keeps the reader turning the pages to uncover the secrets at the heart of the story. Yet, at the same time, it is also a deeply thoughtful and intellectual novel which poses questions about war, displacement, risk and identity that most readers will grapple with long after they finish the last page.

In particular, book groups will find that this novel sparks meaty conversations about love and relationships in the larger context of our duties to each other and the larger world around us.

This novel has several flaws (it made me want to grab a great big red pen and get to work). The "duel" scene wasn't worth dragging up to - it shouldn't have been in the last pages. The relationship with the father didn't further the plot in any way and tag-lined somewhere on the edge of the story (To make the book longer? What was the point of this? It added nothing to the main character). Several times in the novel the main character is off on her own doing some task that inevitably fails (finding Basra, finding Evan, etc) and after awhile I wished she would stop bringing us all along with her. The relationship with Amir is left hanging in the middle of the novel after we have spent the first have of the novel meeting him (Why, WHY, does she stay in Toronto??? Why did we meet Amir at all???). My worst pet peeve: Several times in the story Arcadia "bumps" into people in huge, bustling cities. The first time this happens, I can deal with it. The second time it happens, the author points it out; it's not believable, but I give her the benefit of the doubt. However, Catherine Bush does it a THIRD TIME later in the novel with Evan . . . c'mon now. It's no longer a coincidence. It's just contrived. I did enjoy the revelation in the end. . . if only it were better handled and I didn't have to suffer the whole book to get to it.

its dullness is only surpassed by its pretentiousness. what a waste. i just finished eggers' "heartbreaking work of staggering genius" before reading ROE. it really drove home how lame this book was in comparison. maybe if i'd tried reading some other dreck it would have looked better.

reading the author's distinguished education on the back cover is also rather dismaying. all that larnin' and that's the best she can do? shudder.