Changing Places (1975)

Very light, very dated, and very clever story of campus life in the 1960's -- with a transatlantic twist. See my full review at:

http://livritome.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/two-by-david-lodge-changing-places-and...

Ralph Messenger est un homme qui sait - et obtient généralement - ce qu'il veut. A l'approche de son 50e anniversaire, il a toutes les raisons d'être satisfait de lui-même. Directeur du prestigieux Institut des Sciences cognitives à l'Université de Gloucester, une mythique université 'aux champs' , il est l'une des personnalités les plus en vue dans le domaine de l'intelligence artificielle et de la conscience humaine, 'la dernière frontière de l'exploration scientifique'. Séduisant et cavaleur, collectionnant les conquêtes, il a été surnommé le 'vit des médias'. Helen Reed, pour sa part, est une veuve encore inconsolée et relativement jeune, venue pour un semestre assurer un cours de création littéraire à l'université de Gloucester. Très vite, elle rencontre Ralph Messenger et ne tarde pas à tomber sous son charme, mais elle a des scrupules à se lancer dans une aventure avec lui, d'autant qu'elle s'est liée d'amitié avec sa femme, Carrie.

תכנית חילופין אקדמית מביאה פרופסור אורח מברקלי לאי​זו אוניברסיטה נידחת באנגליה ומנגד מישהו מאנגליה לב​רגלי והשניים מוצאים דרכם גם למיטות של בנות הזוג המ​תאימות. ספרות שנות השישים אופינית על רקע מהומות הס​טודנטים בברקלי והמהפיכה המינית. כתוב נחמד ומצליח ל​הישמר מהרבה קלישאות - גם אם לא מכולן.​ ( )

David Lodge was recommended to me by a retired English professor; "Be sure to start with 'Changing Places.'" So of course, I did. I usually don't like humorous novels, even ones with serious underlying themes, but "Changing Places" turned out to be an exception. I thoroughly enjoyed it -- on a variety of levels. For example, Philip Swallow is assigned to teach a course called Writing the Novel, about which he knows absolutely nothing. He remembers that he owns a book called "Let's Write a Novel," which he asks his wife Hilary to find in his office and send to him. She goes to his office, where she meets Morris Zapp, the professor with whom Philip has changed places, but she can't find the book. Morris soon finds it and brings it to Hilary's house, hoping for a home-cooked meal. In a chapter called Corresponding,comprised of letters -- yes, back when people actually wrote them -- between the spouses Hilary writes to Philip, "Do you still want me to send on 'Let's Write a Novel?' What a funny little book it is. There's a whole chapter on writing an epistoary novel, but surely no one has done that since the eighteenth century?" But of course, someone has written at least part of a novel in epiosotary form, our very own David Lodge. At times the book had me laughing out loud, although much of it deals with issues that are decidedly not funny, unplanned pregnancy, protests and bombings, women's liberation, adultery, and more.

First published in 1975 and set in 1969, the book is definitely of its time. I was not an adult yet but growing up in Southern California and only visiting the Bay Area, I remember how exotic and extreme Berkeley seemed at the time. In the early seventies I worked with some married men who felt the same way that Philip does about the "sexual revolution" and how disappointed they were that he was missing out on it. Well, now that Philip is in Berkeley, that doesn't last long.

The book was not quite as satisfying as I was expecting but I loved the milieu. The late 1960s. Academia. Berkeley. England. I also loved the way Lodge played with style, including the above-mentioned epistolary chapter and the final chapter, which is written as a screenplay. Even before I got to that chapter, the book was reminding me of a movie from the same time period, "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice," released in 1969.

I did not especially like any of the character in "Changing Places," which now that I reflect upon it usually kills a book for me. But Lodge is such an excellent writer and the book is so thought-provoking. And then there's the game that Philip invented called "Humiliaton." You win by humiliating yourself. It takes awhile for the Berkeley faculty to get the hang of it... ( )

So, two English professors change places through a professorial exchange program in the 70s. The British prof ends up at a thinly disguised Berkeley and the American prof ends up at what I've been told is a thinly disguised Birmingham. I wouldn't know.

Of course, they end up emeshed with each other's wives and department politics.

I appreceiated the way the story was told in different styles. Sometimes straight on prose, a chapter told in newspaper clippings, a chapter told in correspondance, a chapter told in script form.

Some interesting insights to the culture at the time. The book was written in the 70s, so it does date itself. But all in all was excellent.

see all my reviews at www.jenrothschild.com ( )