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Lionel Shriver's 2012
novel, The New Republic, is actually a problematic manuscript with
a checkered history. Originally penned in the late 1990s, this psychological
novel about terrorism was dismissed by American publishers as too
jejune for American readers. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001,
and the proceeding years of earnest introspection (at least among literary
circles) an ironic take on terrorism and journalism continued to frighten off
publishers, until recently. Apparently the social and political climate of 2012
was ripe for an unabashed satire on media sensationalism and terrorism. In the
meticulous Shriver style, there are no psychological tables left unflipped and
no sociological surfaces left unswiped. Having recently finished Shriver's
Orange-Prize winning novel We Need to Talk About Kevin, and loving
it, I desperately wanted to love this novel as well. Alas, I didn't. But it's
not all bad.
The New Republic is set in the
fictional state of Barba, a drab, beard-like (Barba... get it?) appendage of
land that extends into the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal 's southern coast. Barba
has recently become a European hotbed of terrorism under the guise of a
paramilitary group known as the SOB – a radical terrorist cell fighting for
Barban autonomy from Portugal
and claiming responsibility for a seemingly random series of violent
international attacks. Due to the rash of attention, foreign correspondents
from the world's major media sources have descended on this European backwater
previously known only for its unceasing gale-force winds, its tacky souvenir
production industry and the hairy pear, a local fruit that is every bit as
unappetizing as it sounds.
The foreign correspondents
form a Greek chorus of media personalities (or lack thereof. Shriver's
two-dimensional take on the members of the foreign press is rife with meaning),
producing tired examinations, reasonings and rationales for the violence in
lieu of any hard reporting on the ground. Joining this murder of squawking
crows is Edgar Kellogg. Kellogg is a greenhorn journalist sent to Barba to
replace Barrington Saddler, a larger-than-life personality who has gone missing
and who may or may not have a lot more to do with the SOB than simply writing
about them.
But the entire point
of The New Republic isn't the narrative so much as the
themes it illustrates, sometimes in bold relief. Shriver, obviously, takes aim
at the notion of modern terrorism and the manner in which it is reported to
illogical extremes but this novel is really about charisma. Why some people
have it and others don't and what drives people who don't have charisma to
emulate and ultimately turn on those who do have it. In this vein, Shriver is disappointingly
predictable.
Kellogg recounts the story of why he has quit his Manhattan law firm to become a journalist. He
is determined to follow in the footsteps of his charismatic prep school friend
with whom he hasn't spoken in decades. Turns out that his friend has grown up
to become a milquetoast sycophant for the Daily Record newspaper
and possesses none of the self-assurance that he possessed in school. This was
like discovering the butler killed Lady Butterbum in the conservatory on page
12 of a 400 page book. You'd think Edgar would learn his lesson right there
before shipping off to a european hellhole, but apparently Edgar isn't that
bright. Diligently, Shriver trudges on and, lo and behold, exactly what she
says will happen in the beginning actually happens at the end.
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Lionel Shriver |
While I understand
that Shriver is attempting an examination of charisma and needed a character
that was indeed lacking in it, but Kellogg is so relentlessly devoid of any
emotions ascribed to charisma that he almost ceases to exist in any sort of
reality understood by the reader. How does someone like Kellogg even ingratiate
themselves enough with anyone to discover their lack of charisma? I wouldn't
give Edgar 15 minutes before standing up and walking out on him.
By way of explanation,
Edgar was once a morbidly obese kid and, though he lost the weight, he never
lost the inferiority complex. Fair enough, I suppose. Consequently, Edgar has
awkwardly shifted into adulthood with an acute sense of both entitlement and
disdain for those around him. Why shouldn't he have what others have? He
deserves it more than they do, anyway. In that respect he had transferred his
personal self-loathing onto everyone else. That's some serious pop psychology
right there.
In literary terms,
this makes Edgar not so much a character but a caricature. He is, like the
blathering idiot reporters at the local Barban watering hole, a predictable
cartoon cut-out of what would happen if someone had zero charisma superimposed
on a novel along side the world's most charismatic correspondent. This
makes The New Republic a wolf in sheep's clothing. It is less
novel and more a psychological and sociological diatribe.
Which is why the
novel, as a whole, fails to impress. Don't get me wrong, Lionel Shriver's acute
understanding of her subject matter is apparent, especially on the subject of
terrorism and the media and the elements that would be used with such effect
in We Need to Talk About Kevin are manifest throughout.
Furthermore, the writing is, at times, sublime and, at points, this novel can
be scathingly funny. But it lacks in any real movement, drags on so
unnecessarily through the middle and leaves the reader with a rather cop out
ending. Unfortunately, the strong qualities of this novel only made this reader
feel cheated out of what could have been an extremely poignant book.
As it stands, it
simply feels like a novel that should have remained right where Lionel Shriver
left it in 1998... taking up a few megabytes of space on an out-dated hard
drive. Perhaps the publishers were right the first time. Perhaps we didn't
really need The New Republic.
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About the Reviewer: Ryan is a Canadian citizen lost somewhere in Asia , which is a terrible place to be lost if you like reading English books. He gets by via second hand book stores and his Kindle. If given the choice (though he rarely is) he prefers literary fiction and non-fiction. Oh yeah... and zombies. Ryan has been an avid reader of zombie lore for over 20 years. That's either awesome or utterly sad. You can choose. And if you want to see what else Ryan has been reading, you can visit his personal blog, Reading in Taiwan.
That's a shame this one didn't work. The predictability in the plot would annoy me.
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