When I heard that Apollo were launching a series of 8 novels under the banner of “the best books you’ve never read” I was most excited about this title. A weighty tome from 1940 this was the fifth novel of an Australian born writer who used her upbringing placed into an American setting. I was in the mood for a lengthy family “comic masterpiece” and was further enchanted by the lovely cover illustration, a detail from Norman Rockwell’s “Coming And Going”. All this led me into thinking this could be the great under-rated American novel.
There is no doubt that it is impressively well written and carried out with great style- but did I enjoy it? Not really. The problem is with the main adult characters, the parents. The titular “man who loved children” Sam Pollit is perhaps one of the most irritating fictional characters I’ve encountered. He is the biggest child amongst his six offspring. He torments, bullies and judges in what he considers his “good-natured way”. He often talks in invented infantile language and has umpteen nicknames for his children. He is full on from morning to night and the end result for me was neither funny nor endearing. At one point he goes abroad on an expedition and I breathed a sigh of relief but that only brought wife Henny into sharper focus. The two rarely speak other than to bicker, using the children against each other. She is morose, melodramatic, threatens to hurt or kill her children at regular intervals, steals money off her thrifty young son and is especially vile to her stepdaughter. I think humour has changed significantly since 1940.
Stepdaughter Louie, the eldest, aged 11 at the start of the novel embodies many of the author’s experiences. An unsurprisingly sullen child who is put on by everyone and teased and barracked by her parents she comes alive when she develops a crush on her schoolteacher, the only woman to show her any real kindness and it was moments like these which kept me reading.
If you are expecting (as I was) a nostalgic wallow in the lives of a cash-strapped family living near Washington this might not be for you and I think reading groups would find that many would give up because of Sam’s exhausting, continual banter and disturbing philosophies. If you are looking for something dark and dysfunctional where the humour (still can’t see it myself) is decidedly black then you might join authors such as Jonathan Franzen who praise it highly and others who see comparisons to Mark Twain and Tolstoy, but because of the bitterness which runs throughout I remain unconvinced.
The Man Who Loved Children was published by Apollo in 2016
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This came up as one of the titles that Amazon e-mailed to me in the category of ‘books you may like’. I took a ‘look inside’ and decided it wasn’t for me. Good review.
Have started reading the NB that came yesterday, a friend popped in and picked it up, she has not seen this before, I pointed out your piece in the front and told her proudly, I know this man. It’s OK. She knows me well. Terrific magazine and loved your piece, haven’t got very far with it yet as we’re painting the kitchen, though from the state of my arms you wouldn’t believe it.
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Thanks for spreading the word about nb! There is a printing error which I need to point out as it changes the meaning. In the section “Confessions Of A Book Hugger” which features the photo of yours truly it says I have lots of “unwanted” books when what I submitted was “unread” books. I don’t have any unwanted books -that’s why my bookshelves are groaning! It’s correct on the Nudge site so nobody knows what happened – but don’t be asking me for my unwanted books, because there aren’t any! Hope you are enjoying the painting!!!!
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I was going to message Karl to see if you’re OK when I read “unwanted”. No panic, just a printing error. Lol. Had a bit of a clear out and sent some books to the charity shop, so I suppose they were “unwanted”. I’m enjoying nb, finished the painting for now, just got to get the paint off my arms and then have a neck and shoulder massage. How you both well.
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I couldn’t help but notice in the photo of you, right above your head, you have a collection of Peter Robinson. Have you managed to get through them all? One of my favourite police procedurals. Although, Mark Billinghams Tom Thorne is quite good and James Patterson Alex Cross series takes some beating, though not strictly a police procedural. And I have just discovered Frances Brody, who writes about a lady private investigator and a policeman in the 1920’s. So many books, so little time.
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There’s a lot of Peter Robinson waiting to be read. I think I’ve read two of them. Karl had a mad rush on them a couple of years ago and read one after another. I can’t read like that, I have to have more variety, so they are just sitting there waiting for me to get round to them, which hopefully I will but I might have to live to 523 in order to do so!
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