Today I read a book called "Me before You" by Jojo Moyes. It was very good, not demanding, and pretty obvious where it was going - a Cinderella story on the whole - but still quite grabbing. Definitely a page-turner. There were some disappointments (I would have liked to know more about the mothers) - but having finished it and been impressed by it, I find there's a sort of emptiness about it. I am not still thinking about it - it's over. Whereas I am still wondering why Anna K becomes so paranoid and petulant at the end of the book - and really enjoying the moment Levin gets his religious epiphany from a peasant's casual comment. Perhaps Anna K is just a badly written character - perhaps she shows the shortcomings of Tolstoy's literary abilities. We love Levin because Levin is Tolstoy... so all his weaknesses are endearing. And of course Kitty loves Levin because T couldn't allow his alter-ego not to have a loving wife - what other women would find exasperating she finds endearing.
But to return to Jojo Moyes - it's a good book, but is it memorable? I suppose having a quadriplegic hero is "brave" and "memorable" - but I think she should have perhaps gone into the sex thing a bit more - they kiss and she sees stars, but nothing more happens. On the other hand, I thought it put across the view of a severely disabled person well - or a possible view. The character Will had lived a full and busy life - and couldn't bear not having it - whereas other people can be content with less. But I didn't like the fact that his "busy" life seemed to be quite related to class - i.e. he'd been rich and successful - couldn't trade down - implication that those who could live relatively contented lives as quadriplegis somehow were lesser people, low-achievers etc. I'd say it was a matter of temperament rather than class... but as it was a Cinderella story obviously the hero had to be rich and powerful... so that couldn't have been flexed. But maybe I will have a wounded character in Conscience... in the post-war part of the story - to make the point about life what one can put up with, how much one's identity is tied up with the body, one's physical capacity... but that's another issue.
