To the Wedding [Paperback]

John Berger (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1St Edition edition (1995)
• ASIN: B001V6Y30U
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

More About the Author

John Berger was born in London in 1926. He is well known for his novels and stories as well as for his works of nonfiction, including several volumes of art criticism. His first novel, A Painter of Our Time, was published in 1958, and since then his books have included the novel G., which won the Booker Prize in 1972. In 1962 he left Britain permanently, and he lives in a small village in the French Alps.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a life enhancing book, March 4, 2000

By 

Robert Spencer (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To the Wedding (Paperback)

It has now been several years since I read this book, and it still haunts me with its beauty and wisdom. I have read only 1 other of his books (Pig Earth), but on the strength of those alone, I think he should get a Nobel for literature. Not because writing is a contest but because then more people would read his books. Someone earlier in these reviews said this is the great novel to end this sorry sad century on, and I agree. Many things are wonderful about this book: the way characters' lives twine in and ut of the story like a jazz piece, all coalescing at the end; the characters themselves, even minor ones, will touch your heart. The story itself is both of tragedy and joy, of searching and finding,and finally, of the redemption of love even in our battered age. The event around which the book centers is specific and modern, but also symbolizes the fragility of all our lives and the necessity to love even in the face of the absurdity of existance. And, for these people, in the great book, that's enough. It works.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A balm for all the scars of life..., March 19, 2005

By 

Monika "equestrienne_23" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To the Wedding (Paperback)

This was definitely a different reading experience for me. At first I wasn't quite sure what was going on, or what the point was, but when I got to about page 75, it suddenly all started coming together. So a word of advice to anyone having trouble "getting into" this one: Just keep going! It does make sense eventually. I can't reveal too much without spoiling the story, but after the relatively long "set up" period, the story really does start to move. Once I understood what was happening, I couldn't put the book down, and finished it in a single day. By the time I'd reached the end, I was very impressed with Berger's work.

"To the Wedding" is narrated by a blind Greek street-peddler. He sells tamata, small metal charms supposed to bring relief to those who suffer. One day, a man stops at the stall to buy a tama for his daughter. "Where is she suffering?" the peddler asks. "Everywhere," the father replies. He buys a tama and goes on his way. The street peddler never meets him, or his daughter, again. But he tells us a story about the girl, Ninon, and the preparations for her marriage to a man called Gino.

This is a love story, but it is also much more. The more I reflect upon it, the more I get out of it, and I'm sure I would gain an even deeper appreciation upon reading it a second time. It explores what it means to love someone, the relationship of sex and love, and different ways to approach life in the face of knowledge of one's own mortality. If you know you are going to die in only a few years, what do you do? How do you live your life in the time between now and then? And is love in the present dependent on the possibility of having a future, or is it unconditional, in the moment? "To the Wedding" raises so many interesting questions, and offers multiple ways to view each one.

The format of the book may be a little off-putting at first. The primary narrator is the blind street peddler, but as he peers into the lives of others, the voice shifts from his own first-person viewpoint to the perspectives of his characters, told in first-person in Ninon's case, and third-person for the others - Ninon's father, mother, and Gino. We also jump from one person's life to another very rapidly, and sometimes it is hard to tell who is speaking, and whose eyes we are seeing through. Sometimes Berger will include something that seems to be of little importance, but do not overlook them - they invariably become important later on. I actually think that this fragmented story-telling style ultimately enhances the content of the book, but it takes a little getting used to.

I strongly urge everyone to read this book. "To the Wedding" has something to offer any reader that is willing to take a little time to reflect upon the themes it presents. It is a book I will treasure for years to come, and will definitely re-read every so often. Berger's story puts life into perspective, and offers hope to anyone who suffers. A very worthwhile read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unconditional, February 23, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: To the Wedding (Paperback)

There is an event in this book that demonstrates the wonderful manner that John Berger consistently illuminates his readers, and his characters. The task in and of itself is of no great note; a small boat is guided from the shore to a small island. Gino who is taking his reluctant fiancé on the trip guides the boat. Ninon is not concerned about the trip rather Gino's insistence that they marry. The trip to the island is accomplished in several steps to allow for currents both known and unpredictable. When the crossing is accomplished and Ninon continues to question the point of the exercise, Gino explains it has nothing to do with the island as a destination, but the trip that illustrates, "how we're going to live".

The couple decides to marry but before they do human weakness steps in and irrevocably alters the future they had planed. Neither conventional wisdom nor anyone who knows either member of the couple believes the wedding should take place. The bride to be is amongst those who wish to see the union forever cancelled. Gino is the only person willing to see through what his love for this woman has become for him, a commitment without condition.

The Author surrounds this couple with all the variants of marriage. He includes the innocent moments that lead to the first shared intimacies, and he has the unions that have failed to overcome the difficulties they encountered. Throughout this process he forces the reader to make some difficult observations either personally or through a given character they may identify with. The Wedding that is supposed to take place is like a vortex drawing all the participants and observers to the main event, the core. When all the players have made their own journeys, Gino is no longer the odd man out. He has come to define an ideal; he has always known what is right and what the consequences would be.

A cynic might question Gino based upon the issue of time, however this would be an error. Time firstly is an artificial human construct, and even if used as a measure we know nothing about its allotment to each of us, not what will transpire during our portion. Gino does not suffer from the arrogance of presumption of time and its length. And the Author John Berger must understand this as well, for no one could communicate this more clearly, and with the contemporary relevance than he does, if it wasn't his own philosophy as well.