Empathy
by Sarah Schulman
On This Page
Description
A Little Sister's Classic: Sarah Schulman's beautiful, subtly transgressive novel about identity, sexual politics, and self-esteem.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
There are plenty of razor-sharp bon mots in EMPATHY -- "Of course, in some ways Freudians are a cult because they have both a reductionist vocabulary and a spiritual leader," or "If only I could perfect forgetting and being awake at the same time...I'd be happy and put the alcohol and pharmaceutical companies out of business simultaneously," -- but that's not what makes it special.
No. EMPATHY is wonderful when it is sincere and direct. "Simple words are the best," says our heroine, Anna, at one point, and Schulman proves it over and over again. I was astonished by the way that Schulman offered cleverness, analysis, and complexity only to strip all that away, down to the bare essentials.
The novel is set in 1991, in the midst of the AIDS show more epidemic, and follows two characters: Anna, a lesbian whose pursuit of straight or bisexual women has caused much heartbreak and Doc, an unlicensed shrink who uses the skills he learned from his psychotherapist parents to do counseling at $10 per hour.
Doc has suffered from a terrible heartbreak of his own, at the hands of a woman referred to only as the Woman in White Leather. At one point, thinking back on what he always wanted from her and never got, this is what he says:
There are so many moments like that one in EMPATHY, moments that are so vulnerable and familiar that if you've lived even a little you'll feel naked as you read.
At another point, Anna talks about attending the the funeral of her friend Nancy's mother. Nobody in Nancy's family knew that she was gay, and to spare Nancy further emotional anguish at a difficult moment, Anna decides to "look straight" at the funeral:
Doesn't that last line just rip your heart out? And EMPATHY is just one deeply moving, trenchant passage after another. It has a sort of twist to it which I should have seen coming; at one point, Doc pretty much announces what the twist is. But I didn't figure it out until almost three-quarters of the way through the book, and when I did I felt so stupid. I wondered how I could have missed something so obvious, and I felt like a real jerk.
EMPATHY is short and every word counts. It's almost insanely quotable, if my review hasn't already driven that home -- every page, every line has something amazing about it. "There is a way that people tell their secrets. If they make it into a big production, its no secret. Only shame is the true indication of authentic camouflage" is the quote that made me buy the book. The first paragraph is a marvel: "Her passion was like sweat without the sweat. It had no idea. No idea of what clarity is. It was like two holes burned in the sheet. It was one long neck from lip to chest, as long as a highway. Hot black tar, even at night."
I can't recommend EMPATHY highly enough. It's smart and true and a pleasure to read. Beautifully written, funny at times, memorable. A phenomenal book. show less
No. EMPATHY is wonderful when it is sincere and direct. "Simple words are the best," says our heroine, Anna, at one point, and Schulman proves it over and over again. I was astonished by the way that Schulman offered cleverness, analysis, and complexity only to strip all that away, down to the bare essentials.
The novel is set in 1991, in the midst of the AIDS show more epidemic, and follows two characters: Anna, a lesbian whose pursuit of straight or bisexual women has caused much heartbreak and Doc, an unlicensed shrink who uses the skills he learned from his psychotherapist parents to do counseling at $10 per hour.
Doc has suffered from a terrible heartbreak of his own, at the hands of a woman referred to only as the Woman in White Leather. At one point, thinking back on what he always wanted from her and never got, this is what he says:
"She would let Doc say every word without being rushed. She would let him have a long time to say it. She would not be planning her rebuttal all along. She would ask clarifying questions, not trick ones. But she would only be able to do that if she really wanted to know. If she didn't really want to know it wasn't love. If it was, she would have listened and then she and Doc could stay together."
There are so many moments like that one in EMPATHY, moments that are so vulnerable and familiar that if you've lived even a little you'll feel naked as you read.
At another point, Anna talks about attending the the funeral of her friend Nancy's mother. Nobody in Nancy's family knew that she was gay, and to spare Nancy further emotional anguish at a difficult moment, Anna decides to "look straight" at the funeral:
"I put on a beautiful black dress, designer stockings, shined my heels, makeup, two earrings from the same set. Then I got on the subway. An hour later, I climb out in the middle of nowhere and up ahead I see three of my friends. You know what? They all made the same decision. They all put on their best, most feminine clothing and they looked so beautiful. I loved them. We were walking together, our high heels clicking on the streets, our waists shapely, necks exposed and decorated. Then we stepped into the chapel and all Nancy's relatives were wearing polyester double knits. They couldn't stop staring. Later, at the shiva, her Uncle Heshy asked me if we were a rock and roll band. It's really hard to get away with being the wrong thing."
Doesn't that last line just rip your heart out? And EMPATHY is just one deeply moving, trenchant passage after another. It has a sort of twist to it which I should have seen coming; at one point, Doc pretty much announces what the twist is. But I didn't figure it out until almost three-quarters of the way through the book, and when I did I felt so stupid. I wondered how I could have missed something so obvious, and I felt like a real jerk.
EMPATHY is short and every word counts. It's almost insanely quotable, if my review hasn't already driven that home -- every page, every line has something amazing about it. "There is a way that people tell their secrets. If they make it into a big production, its no secret. Only shame is the true indication of authentic camouflage" is the quote that made me buy the book. The first paragraph is a marvel: "Her passion was like sweat without the sweat. It had no idea. No idea of what clarity is. It was like two holes burned in the sheet. It was one long neck from lip to chest, as long as a highway. Hot black tar, even at night."
I can't recommend EMPATHY highly enough. It's smart and true and a pleasure to read. Beautifully written, funny at times, memorable. A phenomenal book. show less
A friend had passed this to me, and I was slow to read because I hadn't liked the other Schulman book I read. However, I finally picked this up, and actually liked it. It's set in the 90's, in New York City in the midst of the AIDs epidemic. The main characters are Anna O (who takes her name from the Freud patient) and Doc, who is sort of a a renegade therapist who treats her.
THe narrative is often allegorical, and seldom straight-forward. It addresses gender identity, Jewish identity, and the search for romantic love.
THe narrative is often allegorical, and seldom straight-forward. It addresses gender identity, Jewish identity, and the search for romantic love.
A friend told me this was her favorite book, and the whole time I was reading it I kept thinking "really?!". Honestly, trying to figure out why my friend liked it was the only reason I saw this book through to the end. Well, and the fact that it was so short made this easier. Something about the arty style of the writing felt forced and hard to follow. Dreadful. I haven't read more by this author, and maybe if I am truly desperate for something to read I will give another of her books a try.
Anna O. is a loner in New York, an office temp obsessed with a mysterious woman in white leather; Doc is a post-Freudian psychiatrist who hands out business cards to likely neurotics on street corners ...
This was a very good book. It talked about some pressing matters with humour in them. The last five chapters however made me give the book only four stars, it just got too weird even for me, but then again, this was written in 1992, I wasn't even then :)
Men should read this book to fully understand how ill equipped we are to listen to the women in our lives ... the truth hurts, boys.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
29+ Works 3,624 Members
Sarah Schulman is Distinguished Professor of English at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, USA. She is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, AIDS historian, journalist, and active participation citizen.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Empathy
- Original publication date
- 1992
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 247
- Popularity
- 130,937
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.70)
- Languages
- English, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 6
