You Say You Want A Revolution

In 1971 or maybe '72, Rosalie Hayes wore a pair of red, white, and blue pants to school. On an older girl, they might have been called hip-huggers, but Rosalie was a good ten years away from that. She wore these pants on a Wednesday. This was a bold fashion choice. Prior to this, the girls of our school were only allowed to wear pants on Fridays (an early incarnation of what grew up to be Casual Friday). The rest of us played it safe with double-knits while she veered dangerously close to denim.

On the lower side of Venus Avenue, Mary Alexander declared herself a hippie. She was older and more sophisticated, and I wasn't about to ask her to define terms. I drew a few conclusions: hippies had long hair, wore purple pants and silver POW/MIA bracelets, and spent a lot of time with motorcycles. Surrounding us was the war and Richard Nixon (my grandmother was firmly opposed to the man -- he was, apparently, a lousy tipper). I was still trying to comprehend that someone had walked on the moon.

My mother divorced my father. This act, actually, wasn't nearly as traumatic as the fact that I was the only kid I knew who didn't have the two-parent thing happening. It was probably the only time in my life that I was ahead of the curve. For my mother, it was like someone had nullified a contract right after she'd fulfilled all of her obligations. She had been raised to get married and have kids. She had the kids, but the rest of the scene was gone.

These are the things I carried with me as I read Mutual Life & Casualty, which begins in the early 1970s. It was a strange time to be a girl, and I can only imagine how incomprehensible it was to be a woman. My mother, and the mothers of my friends, was part of the last generation of females for whom marriage and family was considered the only career path. Right behind them was an entire generation who understood that there are choices in life. Despite the fact that vestiges of this era remain in our world (just for fun, try being childless by choice), many of my peers simply don't understand the world of this novel.

The novel, more or less, revolves around three females: Hannah, the bright child; Carolyn, the lost child; and Naomi, their mother, the one who will never be happy. Other women filter in and out of the story, all caught off balance by this new world: a teacher who has only the classroom filling her life; the newly divorced woman who can't put her world into perspective; the women scouring Loehmann's for bargains. As I read the book, I wanted to shout, "Get a life, lady!" Then I realized these were women for whom the very notion of life was shifting. There were choices, there are always choices, and I won't suggest that men had it easier when it came to staying with their families or leaving, but I think the burden rested with the women. I know the burden rested with the women. I saw it happen.

Mutual Life & Casualty (truly a brilliant title) covers the lives of the Kahn family from the early 70s to the mid-1990s. The three major characters stumble through their lives, and it is painful to see how one parent's perspective influences the attitudes of his or her children. You can really warp a young mind if you are not careful. The war between Naomi and Daniel, the Kahn patriarch, isn't as much about their incompatibility as it Naomi's desire to win. She never realizes the depth of the wounds she inflicts on the casualties.

She is also one of the most flawed characters I've read in a while. Naomi doesn't possess the selflessness necessary to be a mother. She uses her children to further her own ill-defined agenda. She's constantly searching for fulfillment, but wouldn't realize she'd reached her goal if she fell over it. The surface carries more meaning for her than the interior. When she decides to do battle, she takes everyone down with her.

Women weren't the only ones changing. The father in this story is doing what he was raised to do. He works at this job, makes good money, and interacts with his family in his own way. His world is becoming different; one suspects there are women working in his office, women who are starting to influence the business -- and he wasn't given a manual for the new world either.

 

Elizabeth Poliner employs the novel-in-stories approach, and this is not always successful. It rarely is in novels. Character arcs must often be inferred and some characters are left hanging (most notably the teacher) or underdeveloped. The work doesn't have a real protagonist, though early on, one feels guided toward Hannah. By the end, we understand that it's Caroline who undergoes the most profound growth. I was hoping Carolyn's character would complete the circle -- she'd been poisoned against her father by Naomi -- by reconciling with Daniel, but I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Wendi Kauffman described this title as a quiet book. I'd describe it more as a desperate book. Characters are trapped in worlds they didn't necessarily choose, and they don't possess the skills to find the hidden key. I think many readers will apply modern mores to the alien culture inhabited by these readers. The early seventies haven't really been explored in literature, not from the perspective of women, and if we remember the day Rosalie wore her insanely bold-patterned pants, Mutual Life & Casualty resonates long after you finish reading it.

• Mutual Life & Casualty at Powell's

Comments

[David Thayer]

Kassia,
You touch on some critical issues for writers and readers in your post. One is the novel in stories approach, a device that offers literary novels a freedom genre novels are denied, but compromises the reader's ability to derive emotional satisfaction from the work. If a novel feels desperate, or quiet, then the reader is asked to do too much, and turn away from the work. Overly structured work leaves the reader with too little to do, except to flip pages. Literary novels are moving away from structure and genre novels are being pushed toward it. By pushed I mean the editorial push away from complexity in genre and emotional engagement in literature.

[derikb]

David, I fail to see where the literary/genre divide has any relation to novels in stories? How do literary novels gain "freedom" with this type of structure?

I'm in disagreement about structure in works. Structure can in itself be a guiding principle of discovery in a novel, providing ample value for a ready who does more than "flip pages".

[derikb]

Kassia, you focus much on the thematic relevance of the novel your own experience, which would explain your interest in the novel. For those of us who don't have that thematic interest (not women of a certain time/place, I imagine) the work is rather lacking in other pulls to read.

What drove me away from the novel (book of stories) is the writing. I found it so... overdone and painful that I had to stop reading. I might have been able to overlook that if I were more interested in the subject matter.

[Kassia]

You're right that I have a particular interest in this theme -- though I will confess that I have a strong bias toward female protagonists in general. It's my way of rebelling against a childhood of boys in fiction.

Your comment about not being a woman of a certain time and place is most interesting to me. I'm sure you caught wind of the study last year relating to men/boys and reading books about female characters. I didn't fully agree with the conclusions the researchers drew, but often think that we are not taught to read about women's perspectives in the same way we're taught to read about men's. Many times, I've heard the argument that women's fiction (however you wish to define it) is very domestic, and I'd say that's a fair assessment. This was a domestic book at its heart.

For me, of course, this is a plus. I am fascinated by the ways family members impact each other. This is a topic I could discuss for many bytes -- maybe I'll squeeze another post on this theme in this week.

If ever proof of the subjectiveness of reading was required, it comes in our reactions to Poliner's writing style. For me, her voice was very comfortable, though I did have some difficulty differentiating the voices of the various characters. When I thought back on this, it was less troublesome for me in this work than others. I'm not sure why.

[Kassia]

I had a writing teacher who was very big on structure, and will admit, until I took her class, I didn't consider structure seriously. I am since reformed. I think that the lack of structure is what causes many novel-in-stories books to fail. They often feel like good ideas without a fully set middle (trying to go for a baking analogy -- shall we just assume I was clever enough to work it out?).

I do think David's right about genre novels being guided toward strict structural adherence. Structure should be viewed as a foundation, but the execution of the story should be wide open. As long as it won't fall to pieces (still no baking thing, but again, it would be an excellent analogy here). There is a strong push in genre fiction to color within the lines. Success should be replicated early and often -- yet the real successes are those books that don't feel like the book that came before.

Literary fiction is often defined by the notion that it doesn't adhere to the conventions of genre (I think this is more the structure David means, though if I'm wrong, he'll correct me). Mystery novelists cannot explore the concept of novels-in-stories, and though I'm not seeing how it could be executed, it would be an interesting experiment. Maybe, though, science fiction authors can expand their boundaries. It seems this has happened, though my brain is clearly far too feeble to recall a specific title.

[the happy booker]

Kassia, I do hope you post again. I would love to hear your thoughts on domestic fiction and family interaction. (Frankly, I would read your discourse on cereal box packaging, since I'm a big fan of your posting style.) As for the novel-in-stories format, stick around-- Poliner will be here later in the week to share her thoughts on novel structure & and the world of "women's lit." Wendi

[Kassia]

I'm looking forward to her comments. And playing with a post on domestic fiction and family interaction. See, the thing was, Rosalie was wearing her sister's pants that day (I believe this is true). Can you imagine her surprise if she googles herself?

As for the cereal box, well, I just inked a deal with Capt'n Crunch... They read that I started my reading career at the breakfast table.

[David Thayer]

Capt'n Crunch has excellent structure. I understand the desire to explore unconventional ways to tell a story, Elizabeth Crane comes to mind, I enjoy her work. Bel Canto was a wonderful novel that fooled the genre border guards.
I hadn't realized there had been a study of men and boys reading a female perspective, but I accept your point that domestic stories might not appeal to men and women the same way. And, yes, I was referring to coloring within the lines, one of the great tribulations of my early school days. If I hadn't been sitting next to Sandy Mussolino I'd still be there, forced to take those damned naps.

[Kassia]

There is, by the way, a lot of fun with coloring within the lines. I learned this from my mother. She is, hands down, the best colorer I've ever met. Amazing with crayons and never strays beyond the lines. But her work is completely different from anything I've ever seen -- I've tried to color like my mother (my career as a visual artist ended about the time I figured out that stick figures were beyond my skill level), and cannot come close.

This is why I do not fear or disdain structure. No two artists will achieve the same result and sometimes one will take your breath away.

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