The Slacker Hero

Hopefully, nobody will mind my jumping in late in the week as well.  I read the previous posts with interest because out of all the books I've read for the LBC so far, I think Television is my favorite.  The posts this week have been great, and they've touched on some elements of the book that hadn't occurred to me, providing much food for thought.   But we haven't yet discussed our narrator and protagonist beyond Sam's comments that, like other Toussaint heroes he is "detached, emotionally muted, static."

To me though, the hero of Television was this and much more.  As I read the book I slotted it away in my mental library alongside several books that share comic heroes who are more than a little pathetic.  Our hero reminded me most of Jim Dixon from Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim, but I also saw in him Tommy Wilhelm from Saul Bellow's Seize the Day, and even in his more brooding moments, Binx Bolling from Walker Percy's The Moviegoer.  To be honest, I saw the narrator's decision to quit watching television as a smoke screen to distract us and himself from his lack of ambition.  Of course, as books like Television and Lucky Jim show, to those of us stuck in a work- and results-obsessed culture, a novel about a charmingly inept hero who manages to skate by in life with little effort is pure escapism and a delight to read.

What was most interesting to me, when comparing Television to other books in the hapless male protagonist genre, is the lack of consequences for this book's hero.  I chalked it up to a European thing - the Continent in particular since Lucky Jim shows us how uptight Jolly Old England is.  If I may generalize, were this same narrator stuck in an American book his actions would be fraught with consequences and people passing judgement.  Tommy Wilhelm elicits disgust from his father, while Jim Dixon strives mightily to avoid the disapproval of his colleagues and students, but for our hero, these concerns barely enter his mind, and his loving Delon never chides him for his slacking.

I don't know what we as readers are supposed to make of this man who, though ostensibly under pressure to complete his study of Titan Vecellio, leads such a blissful, meandering life.  The copy on the back of the book described him as an anti-hero, but in his ability to not get wrapped up in the expectations placed on him, he was my hero.

Comments

[Sam]

I agree, Max - and to build on that, one of the things that's interesting about Toussaint's heroes is that, despite their indolence, they have rather enviable positions (art historian in Television, executive in Monsieur), travel to exotic locations (Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai), and generally have access to all the material pleasures of the upper middle class.

(I'm reminded of an article I read about the popularity of "The Great Gatsby" among high-school students. One student provided this unnerving explanation: "I like how rich everyone is.")

[Scott]

Sam, Max,

I think you two have touched on something I really liked about the book--the lack of consequences. No one ever really passes judgment on the hero and, despite his indolence, his life is pretty good. He's what we Americans might call "happy-go-lucky." Max is right that we tend to pass judgments on that kind of person, but that in :Television" this doesn't happen.

Perhaps its just my American work ethic in full rebellion, but I found something incredibly refreshing about the narrator. This guy completely wandered through life, and I should have been really bothered by that, but for some reason I really liked the narrator. Maybe if I had spent another 200 pages with him things would have changed, but maybe not. He was just so insular and unflappable that he inspired a strange sort of confidence.

[derik]

It's interesting you compare the hero to The Moviegoer. I really tried to like Percy's novel, but something about it just didn't take hold with me.

The slacker hero does remind me a lot of Valentin Bru in Queneau's The Sunday of Life. Valentin, among other things, spends time trying to... oh damn... watch time pass or notice time passing... something like that (lousy memory). Also Queneau's Pierrot of Pierrot Mon Ami who never really does anything, but wander around, stumble upon strange events and get fired.

[Inversiones en petroleo]

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