Customer Reviews

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You: A Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Peter Cameron's new novel eighteen-year-old James Sveck is on the brink of adulthood and frightened silly. And why wouldn't he be? His mother at 53 has just married her third husband and left him after a few days of a honeymoon in Las Vegas when he "borrowed" her credit cards and ran up a bill by slipping away from her bed and paying to be entertained by lap dancers. His father left his mother for a younger woman who died of cancer before he could marry her. His sarcastic-riddled sister Gillian opines that to mispronounce a child's name-- as she claims her parents have always done to her-- amounts to child abuse. James is brilliant, loves Anthony Trollope, despises for the most part people his own age, has never had either a boyfriend or a girlfriend-- both his parents question his sexual orientation-- has been accepted by Brown Univerity but thinks he wants to buy real estate in the Midwest, Nebraska or maybe Kansas, and live alone. He likes essentially two people on earth John who works in his mother's art gallery, and his grandmother because he finds them both smart and funny.

Although the writing is uneven, parts of this short novel are quite funny, at other times very sad; and Mr. Cameron's paints beautifully through the eyes of James a picture of the babbittry of life in the U. S. at the beginning of the new century. By far the best part of the novel is the section when James, by writing a winning essay in high school, wins a trip to Washington, D. C., along with two other students from each state, for a week-long seminar, The American Classroom. There he rides a school bus for the first time, eats at a Red Lobster, an Olive Garden, stays in a TraveLodge and sleeps three to a room with one young man who has never heard of Tennessee Williams. He also meets a young woman on the trip who gushes that this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her, "but she was from North Dakota so it made some sense."

Mr. Cameron's satire of the pretentiousness of the art world is quite wonderful. The most important artist in James' mother's gallery is one who will neither let his name be used nor allow a catalogue for his work. "The work should speak for itself." In this instance the work consists of garbage cans "decoupaged with pages torn out of varied editions of the Bible, the Torah or the Koran (for $16,000)." All of us have been there. It reminded me for all the world of "art" I saw in a local gallery several years ago. Grocery carts had been equipped with motors so that they went pell-mell around the floor bumping into other carts. Many of the viewers oohed and aahed over the art they were belolding.

For those of us who have never seen ourselves as "sharks," like the car salesman that James and his father encounter, sometimes this young man's comments and perception come close to home: for example, his always trying to get to a table first when he will be seated with a group of strangers and have to make small talk with them or his being uncomfortable and resentful when people on a subway stand "when you are seated. It's like they are standing up just to make you feel bad." Or when he sees a group of women on the train, "a gaggle of Bronxville soccer moms," and figures out that the adult world is just as scary as the kingdom of childhood. Finally James' grandmother, his greatest supporter and ally-- but that's what grandparents are for after all-- reminds him that having bad experiences sometimes helps if you don't let them defeat you. Good advice indeed.

Both this novel and James Sveck will grow on you. One could do worse than have a child or brother or boyfriend like him.

What a wonderful coming-of-age novel in the Age of Cynicism. Cameron is in total control of his narrative and precociously cynical protagonist, with all the apt props that drive us into questioning everything.

The novel is crisply written, humorous throughout, adroitly crafted, endearing, while suitably alienated by all the phony characters who presumptively "got real and cool" and haven't.

This novel is one perfectly suited to its time and age. I wish such great stories were written 40 and 50 years ago, that could be enjoyed in high school, college, and maturity. Granted, Cameron's ability to capture the precocious cynicism only works in our present state of affairs, but no author has captured its intensity with sarcastic irony better.

One's empathy and/or identity flows with each defective character (with a mild smirk that we gay men tend to get, when others think they know us better than we already know ourselves -- until, of course, we trust experience to break those barriers). I especially enjoyed the young guy and grandmother's role in the novel's heuristics.

In a culture where everyone is born-again or in therapy for being lifeless and self-consciously dead, perhaps we'll discover it is the spirit that questions and doubts, who questions orthodoxy, rather than submits to a depraved civilization in therapy for loss of feeling and meaning, perhaps some of us are shamans -- if only for ourselves.

At least that was once, and may yet again, be the hope of youth -- to question things that jaded middle age seems content with. No idealism. Just a precocious kid with doubts about "their" way of the world.

This deceptively slim novel has no significant bells and whistles, and its plot, what there is of it, is ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. But oh how it will take your breath away. This book has the sting of truth in every sentence, and I devoured it in less than 2 days - I read it with more gusto than anything I've read in the last few years. The writing is actually dazzling, and you will remember with an ache these delightfully dysfunctional people, so carefully rendered, so beautifully observed.

Someday this pain will be useful to you is a Young Adult book that should be in both the YA and the Adult fiction sections of bookstores and libraries, so no one of any age will miss it. It's beautifully and intelligently written and 18 yr old James Sveck gripped my heart. He's a serious and sympathetic New York teen trapped in his mind and stunted by what he expects of himself and others. The way his mind wraps around the things people say and do-- the human condition: observing it and untangling it is intriguing and totally absorbing. That James is not a knee-jerk teen but rather pensive, deliberate, and literal provides insight into a world of interesting adult characters that inhabit his life: his parents--divorced and self-absorbed-- his older sister, a co-worker and his therapist (the sessions are fantastic.)An incredibly compelling read with a character I can't stop thinking about, I won't forget. I could easily reread it again and again.

James Svek doesn't really fit in. He isn't interested in the same things as other eighteen-year-old guys, doesn't even like people his age, and even keeps his family at a distance.

Nobody could blame James for being detached from his family. His father is a bit self-absorbed and seems to feel obligated to spend the little time he does with James. James' mother owns an art gallery and has just returned early from her honeymoon. Her third marriage has ended almost as quickly as it began. And James' older sister, Gillian, is enmeshed in her own life, and an affair with a married professor. Even the family dog seems to feel superior to James. The only family member James admires is his grandmother who is supportive and understanding, even if she is a bit eccentric herself. The only other person that James admires is John, who works with him at his mother's gallery.

James is a contemplative young man whose views on the world around him aren't always congruent with popular opinion. He sees the world with a mix of ironic humor and disdain. Although he isn't an "angry" teenager, James has distanced himself from the people and things that surround him.

Now James' life is getting complicated. He has been accepted to Brown University but he has decided that he doesn't want to go to college. He would rather buy an old house in the Midwest and live in obscurity. His parents have sent him to a shrink, one who annoyingly answers every question with a question. He has just ruined what friendship he had with John. And why are his parents now asking him if he's gay?

SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU is a smart, funny story about the pain that comes with growing up and becoming your own person. James is a highly likeable character whose views on the world and himself are refreshing and insightful.

This is a book that is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads it.

Reviewed by: JodiG.

I was a bit skeptical about this book at first because I found it in the "teen" section of my local public library. It was recommended to me by one of my friends who said it was probably her favorite book of the moment. So I decided to give it a shot. From the very first page, STPWBUTY had me both laughing and empathizing with James the narrator. Cameron's funny, honest and clever novel struck me as a kind of modern Catcher in the Rye. WHen I say "modern" i only mean modern in the sense that it was written recently, because like the Catcher in the Rye, STPWBUTY deals with the timeless 'coming-of-age' issues faced by many around high school or college age - fear of the next big step in life, anger and hostility at your family, alienation and loneliness, and finding someone you can relate to in a sea of people whose phoniness and pretensions are seemingly overwhelming.

Much of the meaning or "moral of the story" in STPWBUTY is revealed in the title itself. Several times the author mentions the idea that there are some experiences in life that may be terrible and unpleasant at the time but are really necessary and important. The idea that that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger is the message here, but it's not presented in an in your face kind of preachy way. I didn't feel like as I was reading I was just listening to my parents / teachers / authority remind me all over again like I was in grade school that 'everything is a learning experience." STPWBUTY is truly a fun read that has a wise message no less.

Just out of curiosity, I read the reviews of the Catcher in the Rye, and it seems like many of the low starring reviewers of both books have some of the same complaints: like Holden Caulfield, James Sveck is a snobby, insipid teenager who needs to get over himself and stop bitching. But honestly if that's all you're getting out of either The Catcher in the Rye or Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, you're completely missing the point of both. I mean, I will grant you that both Holden and James ARE a little whiny, stuck up, and unwillingly stubborn. The phrase "it's not the destination but the journey that matters" really fits. Or something along those lines. Being in high school myself I can really relate to both books and many of the sentiments expressed in each. I think when I reread these books years from now these feelings will still be relevant because they are about struggles that ultimately are nonspecific to teenagers and shared by all people, in all stages of life. I really enjoyed this book.

The sarcasm in the title sets the tone perfectly for this coming-of-age story of an intelligent but extremely cynical, moody and socially antagonistic 18 year old son of emotionally-distant, self-obsessed, divorced upper-class parents in New York City. It's the summer before James is to go away to college at Brown (which he does not want to do, primarily due to the necessary interaction with his peers this will require), and he is spending it "working" at his mother's art gallery, taking the train for frequent visits to his grandmother (the only relative he seems to be able to relate to), and seeing a therapist (his parents' idea, after he had a reported "breakdown" on a school trip to Washington DC earlier in the year.)

In almost lyrical fashion, author Cameron spins the convincing web of James' fears, dreams, compulsions, and - perhaps - unrequited passions (Although he does not identify as gay, he seems to have a need to be desired and loved by the older gay man who manages his mother's gallery). It's likely that every reader will see some part of his own coming-of-age frustrations in James, making this a surprisingly comforting as well as witty and entertaining read. Rate it five stars out of five.

Quite possibly one of the best books in this genre you will ever read! Frankly I think it should replace CITR in high-schools all over North America! This messed up young man James Sveck is brilliantly incisive, side-splittingly funny, heartbreakingly sad and totally lovable. Go and buy it NOW! Buy two copies because you will definitely want to lend it out to your best buddy, your brother, sister, nephew or niece and it's unlikely it will be returned!

I've had the unsurpassed pleasure of reading every collected story and every novel Peter Cameron has ever published, and there's not a dud in the bunch. I especially loved the wit, the gorgeous writing, and the acute psychological insight of both The Weekend and The City of Your Final Destination. And now comes Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. Another gem. If I'd had any idea post-adolescent boys could be so wistfully imaginative, so funny and sharp, I'd have tried to persuade my sister (the designated breeder in my family of origin) to keep popping those babies out until she had birthed at least one son. Surely no one, including I, would wish to be James's mom. But perhaps if I'd been "the cool aunt," my nephew would have confided in me as James does with his dear grandmother, who is as wonderful a creation as James himself. Reading this book, I fell for James, as I do for most of Cameron's flawed, yearning, achingly human characters. He's among the best I've ever read at delineating, with subtlety and precision, the scent, the texture, the very meat of the relationships we have with family, with objects of desire, and with ourselves. Bravo, Mr. Cameron. Please keep 'em coming.

Written in first-person pov. Immediately charmed with protagonist. A bit risque for tweens/younger teens. Now I want to read The Catcher in the Rye again!