Deaf Sentence: A Novel (edition 2008)

Although there are aspects of the plot that I could have done without (is it just me or is there a surfeit of novels out there in which ruefully ageing men are pursued by obscurely vindictive, sexually aggressive young women?), I always enjoy Lodge's novels and this one displays not only his characteristic cleverness (the riffs on deaf/death, as in "o deaf, where is thy sting?" are beautifully Lodge-ian), but a poignance and tenderness well beyond what I'm used to in his work. ( )

Initially I felt a little unsettled as the novel read much more as an autobiography than a work of fiction having lots of seemingly inconsequential detail and many factual references to linguistics and deafness. Later, when sixty something Desmond becomes mildly embroiled with young Alex Loom it felt as if the fictitious part had begun more in earnest with the creation of this unlikely, nubile woman who stuffs her knickers into his pocket on his first visit to her flat to discuss her thesis and then emails him to say she needed to be punished for using a highlighter on a library book and making arrangements for him to smack her bare bottom. I found this a little sad coming from the pen of someone of Lodge’s age although I suppose this bit of plot and suspense are what gives an otherwise rather wandering piece of writing some direction for the reader – will Desmond succumb to her nefarious advances?

On the other hand I found myself in tune with much of what comes out of Desmond’s mind from the tiresomeness of Christmas to the awfulness of four wheel drives, especially those with ‘Baby on Board’. He put voice to many of my gripes about modern society which made me wonder if it’s generational but I think not. It’s more just the way an unsentimental approach to life tends to find the same things uplifting or depressing. The cover suggests it’s a ‘gloriously funny’ novel and from what I remember of other David Lodge novels that I’ve read, I was expecting to find this one amusing but I thought it more a lively response to being retired in a first world country at this time in history. And of course Desmond’s visit to Auschwitz is a particularly sombre part of the book, another part that seems more autobiographical than fictitious.

It’s a curious book, then, offering a cornucopia of interesting factual detail (like the origin of ‘scot’ in ‘scot-free’) dressed up in a work of fiction and combines this with fantasy alongside wry observations about modern society. ( )

Desmond, the protagonist, was a professor of linguistics before taking early retirement at a time of departmental reorganisation, partly because of increasing difficulties with his hearing. Hearing problems make his social interactions difficult, he has an elderly father to worry about, and his (younger) wife is busy with her successful business. It's his hearing problems that lead him to be courted as a potential dissertation supervisor by a young American PhD student, which gives the book some semi-dramatic turns.

David Lodge is supposed to be funny (or so I've heard—I don't think I've read anything of his except the non-fiction The Art of Fiction), but I didn't find this book particularly amusing. I found the character of Alex totally unconvincing and felt that the plot turns that she provided seemed to be belong to a different novel. I don't think there's anything fun in hearing loss (my mother started using a hearing aid in her 40s so I don't need fiction to describe to me what it's like), and Desmond's worries about his elderly and increasingly forgetful father were nothing but sad and depressing. ( )

One of those books in which just about every phrase from the reviews quoted in the paperback copy rings true. 'Enjoyable, though-provoking' ... 'deeply melancholic' ... 'funny, humane' ... 'extremely readable.' All true, and much more besides.

'Deaf Sentence' is the story of Desmond Bates, a retired English academic who has been losing his hearing for some time and is still struggling with the consequences. Hearing aids that don't always function, conversations at social functions in echoing rooms where it is necessary to guess almost all of the other party's words and meaning. Desmond's (second) wife has become a successful businesswoman in later life; they each have one ageing parent left, though Desmond's is coping less well with his age and will come to play a more significant part in the plot. That plot also involves Desmond being drawn back into the fringes of academic life in his university and elsewhere.

Lodge is a master at combining humour and pathos effortlessly and you can feel for his characters whilst laughing with them and at them. He explores many themes, including favourites such as religion, death, sex and language and others including the Holocaust, step-families, suicide and inter-generational ties. As is often the case he also plays with the form, in this case by switching the narrative regularly from the third person to the first person. This is done by a natural device; it is sometimes signalled explicitly and sometimes noted after the change, but never intrudes on what is an effortless read.

Lodge has previously referred to the difficulties faced by translators of fiction within his novels; in this one, he notes in the dedication that this book will present them with particular difficulties from the title onwards. This is in part because the narrator is frequently trying to translate poorly-heard spoken English into something meaningful. Much of the humour, and some of the plot, is contingent on these mishearings and partial hearings.

A perfect novel in every way, and one that's as good an introduction to his work as any other. ( )

David Lodge is one of those names in literature you can trust. Whatever subject he chooses (almost always against the backdrop of a university English department) he does it with insight and humour. Here it’s deafness , its trials, exasperations and sheer invisibleness. The experiences of the narrator, retired professor Desmond, as he loses hearing aids down the back of the car seat, attends lip reading classes etc are funny, but they also ring very true. There is the full range of humour here, from farce upwards. I particularly liked the subtle ways in which the professor can’t help behaving like a professor when surrounded by old ladies at the lip reading class.

There are moments when the author seizes upon some aspect of linguistics thrown up by the plot and goes off on one. I learned quite a few new words that way, not ones I suspect I will ever use. As the book progresses its subject matter widens to take in such subjects as bed-bathing elderly people and a visit to Auschwitz. I was never quite sure what was coming next. A book that was good company from start to finish. ( )