What can you say about a twenty-five year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.The introduction to the 50th anniversary addition is written by Francesca Segal, daughter of Erich Segal. She succinctly describes the book as
... a simple love affair between Harvard hockey star Oliver Barrett IV and the wise-cracking working-class music scholar Jenny Cavilleri.In the introduction (oddly enough not in my book copy but available on the Amazon Look inside⤵︎ feature) Francesca Segal goes on to explain an aspect I had not truly appreciated from seeing the movie many years ago.
Part of its enduring appeal, half a century later, is that it is really two love stories – the first between a man and a woman, the second, no less poignant, between a man and his son.I also learned from that introduction that at the time he wrote Love Story, Erich Segal was a young professor at Yale and had just learned that a former student of his from Harvard has lost his wife to cancer at age twenty-five.
I immensely enjoyed the banter throughout between Oliver and Jennifer. Here is a sample from their first meeting.
"You look stupid and rich, " she said, removing her glasses.
"You're wrong," I protested. "I'm actually smart and poor."
She was staring straight at me. Her eyes were brown. Okay maybe I look rich, but I wouldn't let some 'Cliffie – even one with pretty eyes – call me dumb.
"What the hell makes you so smart?" I asked.
"I wouldn't go for coffee with you", she answered.
"Listen – I wouldn't ask you."
"That," she replied, "is what makes you stupid."
This book made me laugh and yes, it made me cry. Some books do deserve a re-read, especially when your stage in life has changed and, along with it, your perspective. Now I am going to re-watch the movie and probably cry again. Per the Wikipedia article on Love Story
The novel was an instant commercial success despite scathing reviews. It was nominated for a National Book Award, but withdrawn when the judges threatened to resign. William Styron, the head judge for fiction that year, called it "a banal book which simply doesn't qualify as literature" and suggested that even by being nominated it would have "demeaned" all the other novels under consideration.
Talk about snobbery! I believe Love Story by Erich Segal is an oldie but goodie, worthy of five stars.
I added this to my reading list, too. Seems like it's a quick read.
ReplyDeleteYou need to start a Books Read in 2020 page on your blog to track all of your books this year!
I added the Books Read in 2020 page. Glad to hear someone values it!
DeleteI just finished this book. I generously gave it two stars. Perhaps part of the reason that I pretty much thought it was awful and you liked it so much is due to nostalgia and a generation gap. Did you identify with the time period in which the story was set and the East Coast/Boston setting? Honestly, I absolutely hated the narrator. The book was demeaning to women, chauvinistic, racist in parts, and, well, IMHO, bland and not creative. It was a tried and true story and yes, banal - definitely not deserving of nomination for the National Book Award. The book was easy and quick to read and I guess it was interesting (and appalling) to read about gender relations in the 60s. I can't think of anything I really gained from reading the book, though. The only emotion it invoked in me was disgust in the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI know that there are many (many!) books that I've recommended that you've read that you really did not like (even after trying very hard to get through them and like them). I've read a few books that you've recommended that I thought were mediocre, but I think that this is the first one that I really had a completely opposite review of. I still don't think we're even, though - I think you've read more books recommended by me that you didn't like. :-P
Next up for me is a book called Lilac Girls. Luckily, I got it from the library before all the closures!
Sorry you did not like it. I'll admit it is rather dated in the attitudes but this was a time when children of rich parents were beginning to shun things in favor of relationships – as Oliver rejected his Dad' prejudices. Yes, Oliver the narrator did have a chauvinistic demeanor but that began to fade in the light of the responses, resistance, feminine strengths, and yes, love of Jennifer. One of his roommates even commented that he was not with a different girl each night...free love and all that... but only with one. If you think of this as a historic novel, reflecting the themes of the times it is not so distasteful. I think Oliver evolved and it was not all for naught. Rewriting history to reflect more modern ideologies that have advanced is not fair. I did also relate to the Boston setting, that is true. Thanks for your frank assessment. Maybe I could be convinced that it is a four rather than five stars but it is however a classic. Many a classic is out there that I thought was just awful despite all the praises it may have garnered. Hearing other people's opposing opinions is thought provoking. I will check out Lilac Girls. Our library is closed too but there is often electronic versions to borrow and, if cheap enough, there is Amazon Kindle version. Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
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