Pulitzer Project: Foreign Affairs

Alison Lurie's Foreign Affairs won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1985. It doesn't quite live up to some of the cover hype -- it is not wildly comedic -- but it is gently amusing. One biography of Lurie described her writing as "social satire," which is probably accurate. It's also probably the reason I wouldn't describe the book as comedic. Comedic novels are laugh out loud funny. Foreign Affairs elicit some smiles, but you don't have to worry about spraying coffee across the room.

The novel as a whole is satirical with its jabs at English upper class society, academic culture, and tourism, but it doesn't feel quite right on the level of individual characters. Satire involves making fun of people, laughing at them, and Lurie's characters are too sympathetic. It's hard to laugh at people you like. If anything, you find yourself wincing in sympathy as young Fred Turner misreads English social cues in his romantic pursuit of an actress, and you hope nothing horrible happens to Vinnie Miner when she's doing research in a questionable neighborhood.

The plot of Foreign Affairs follows two American university professors who are both in London for six months for research purposes. Virginia ("Vinnie") Miner is tenured faculty, a full professor in the English Department at a New England university. Her area of expertise is children's literature; her personal focus is traditional rhymes and their origins in historic events. A petite, quiet person, she's in her 50's and fits the classic image of a spinster English professor. Fred Turner, in contrast, is young. His academic career is just beginning; he's still at the stage of having to worry about tenure and the need to publish or perish. He's in London to work on a book about John Gay, the 18th century author of "The Beggar's Opera."

Turner and Miner teach at the same school but scarcely know each other other. Miner's opinion of Turner is probably higher than his is of her. Miner knows that Turner is regarded favorably in the department, but of course will never tell him that. Young assistant professors are supposed to stress about tenure. Turner, on the other hand, tends to be a bit dismissive of Miner. She's part of the old guard, the dinosaurs in the department. Neither had anticipated seeing the other in England, but as it turns out, their paths do cross occasionally. They're both using resources at the British Museum, and they also see each other at parties hosted by mutual friends.

As a divorcee whose marriage ended in bitter disappointment, Miner has no illusions about romance. She is resigned to being alone. She is not looking for a lover when she arrives in London, although she admits to enjoying sex so would not object to a brief liaison with a fellow scholar. She does find love, but in a most unexpected place.

Turner is married but quarreled nastily with his wife just before leaving on his sabbatical. He is sure he will be divorced soon, the marriage is irreparably damaged. He spends his first few weeks in London sulking, sunk into a morose mood, and neglecting his research. Then he meets an English actress, a classic English beauty who is also a member of the aristocracy, and he's instantly smitten. He pursues the actress and succeeds, although he never does realize that the two of them are speaking different languages.

Both affairs end, Miner's through a cruel twist of fate and Turner's when he tells the actress he has to go back to the States because he's obligated to teach summer classes. Her ensuing melt-down makes Turner recognize that he never really knew her. When was she acting and when was the relationship real? He doesn't know. He'll never know, but suddenly his estranged wife is looking really sane and remarkably attractive.

As usual, after I finished the book I did some Googling. I kept thinking it read a lot like a Hugh Grant film. I can see where as a film there could be some obvious humor, even slapstick, that the book lacks. It was a made-for-television movie in 1993 starring Joanne Woodward and Brian Dennehy as (I assume) Vinnie Miner and her improbable love interest. I probably won't go looking for it. I liked the book but not so much that I want to see a film treatment, too.

Would I recommend this book to other readers? Yes. Lurie can write. It's was also nice to read a book that was essentially fluff. No serious issues, no inside glimpses of the life of a down--and-out alcoholic (Ironweed) or the mental weirdness of a skeezy middle-aged car salesmen's dick (Rabbit is Rich). On my usual scale with 10 being the best, I'd stick Foreign Affairs over on the high side. It's not quite a 10, maybe not even a 9, but for sure an 8+.

Next up: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. I was surprised I had to do this as an Interlibrary Loan request. It was so popular when it came out I was sure the L'Anse library would have it. Nope. The librarian was surprised too. We speculated that one of two things happened: The copy they had wore out and wasn't replaced or, more likely, someone checked it out and kept it. (We have Lonesome Dove on VHS, but I guess it would be cheating to go see if the tv with the built-in tape player still works.)