I thought I couldn't go wrong with David Lodge, and somehow I can't. All his books are enjoyable readings, full of humour, and I personally use them as a form of therapy whenever I feel down or feel the need to relax between two serious readings.( it was funny when I read ' Therapy' for therapy :) ).
Anyway, coming back to this particular book, I have to say that I was disappointed with the plot, and at some point it even made me mad. We have again this campus story and the clash between two opposite caharacters who eventually fall in a relationship. There is Helen Reed and Ralph Messenger ( nice names, isn't it :) ), and she is a novelist and a widow, and he is a cognitive scientist and a married man and a Don Juan, and the problem of consciousness.
I won't go into details, much and nothing happens than the usual. What is unusual for D Lodge is the consistency of the characters. I liked Helen Reed a lot till she started behaving like a school girl while Ralph Messenger seemed to me a pale copy of Morris Zapp. I profoundly disliked the ending, particularly what Helen does, but maybe I'm just too young to understand.
But, as I said, you can't really go wrong with David Lodge. The multiple point of views( three of them) , the pastiches, the social comedy, the absurdities and the mixed relationships all make for a good reading.
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