Go Gentle

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. If you like this post, you might like others on that site. Consider checking it out!
---

It’s a thing Stoics do: meditate on worst-case scenarios. Which is not about working yourself into a neurotic doom loop. It’s about preparing for things not to go your way. So when they inevitably don’t, you can say, “I expected that.”

Think of it as inoculation against emotional extremes. Because who needs those?

WHAT'S GO GENTLE ABOUT?
Adora Hazzard has a pretty interesting life--she's a philosopher whose entire job seems to be acting as a moral tutor to a couple of incredibly privileged boys who don't seem to be applying much, if anything, of what she's teaching. She's also been a show more tutor, friend, sounding-board for their father, who absolutely pays attention.

She's got primary custody of her teenage daughter, Viv--who is a pip. The two of them (and their dog) live in an Upper West Side apartment--and Adora and her friends are slowly taking over the floor of their building. Sharing expenses and resources among themselves. It's really a clever set-up.

Then Adora runs into a man at the opera (or is it a concert? I think it was an opera--not important). This sets her life careening--almost out of control. She gets involved in international crime, possible terrorism, and more FBI/Interpol agents than you expect from the first half of the novel.

If it sounds like a thriller there--it's absolutely not. It comes close a couple of times, but it avoids it overall. Trust me on that.

DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PHILOSOPHY TO READ THIS?
No. What you need to know about Adora's Stoicism is explained to you--in easy-to-understand bites (that's kind of her schtick).

Might it be helpful to be familiar with Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius and others--maybe some of the contemporary pop-Stoics? Sure. It could also prove distracting if you'd reflexively get pedantic about Adora's take (and I'm not sure there's a lot of room to do that, but I assume there's some...there's always room for a pedant)

WHY DID I PICK THIS UP? WHY DID I KEEP READING?
I picked it up because of Where’d You Go, Bernadette. It’s one of those books that has earned Semple an auto-read from me, no matter what I think about subsequent books. I don’t care what it’s about, I see her name, and it’s getting checked out from the library at least once.

I stuck with it because I was curious—I was curious about the protagonist and a couple of the minor subplots. But primarily, I couldn’t see where Semple was going with anything. Each segment of the book came as a surprise to me, propelling me on.

WHAT DOES THIS BOOK TELL US ABOUT HUMANITY?
It’s hard to put my finger exactly on it. But essentially, [protagonist] shows us how it’s dangerous to tie ourselves to one thing. In some flashback chapters we see what her life was like before she became interested in philosophy. Her career, arguably her life’s focus, was centered on one thing.

Since then, she’s been focused on happiness through virtue. Yes, she’s found a lot of success through that—personally, financially, career-wise. With a certainty about the arc for the rest of her life.

But her life in flashbacks is rocked—the foundation isn’t as strong as she thought. I don’t think her replacement foundation’s flaw isn’t in the strength—just in its scope. It doesn’t take into account the unexpected—in life or affections. A lot of her inner turmoil comes from realizing that virtue isn’t enough, and that she’s okay with it—even as she’s unsure where to go.

I think that’s something most/many/all of us have to go through a time or three in life. Semple’s depiction of that might be overly-compressed (“might” does a lot of work in that thought), but it’s very human. Very relatable.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT GO GENTLE?
I was very satisfied with it. I can’t say I was blown away, and it certainly wouldn’t have earned Semple that auto-read ranking if it were my first novel by her. But it’s good.

Novels about philosophers have to rank pretty low on most reader’s interest list. It just doesn’t seem like something that involves excitement—something potentially important and interesting, but…it sounds like kind of book about a Hobbit who stays home. No one’s picking that up. Semple shows that’s a bad assumption--and she infuses a lot of Adora's philosophy and approach to it throughout the book. Double-win.

I think we could’ve gotten more featuring the women in Adora's life—she has gone to effort to create a home-environment featuring them. We get a lot of description of that, but we don’t see enough of it in action. I’d like to see a bit more of what her next chapter was—some more closure with the various plotlines.

But all of that is looking back and reflecting on the book. As I was reading, I wasn’t thinking about anything other than “where is Semple going with this?”, “Did Adora just do that?” “Viv seems like a great kid, a good character.” Things like that. My critical reflexes didn’t engage once, just curiosity and appreciation.

Solid character work; a fairly unpredictable plot; a kind of lifestyle (well, multiple kinds) that few, if any, readers have seen themselves; and some very clever writing. Go Gentle is a book I’m glad I read and am pleased to recommend. show less

“Thousands of years of men’s wisdom…turns out it’s no match for female intuition.” and I’d dare say their intelligence as well. This is a mystery steeped in stoicism, the art world, a vastly intelligent woman and a terrorist group, and Adora’s life story propels it all forward with compelling force.

Semple writes such a unique plot, with characters that hook you from the start with small quips of wisdom sprinkled throughout to keep you intrigued. (The coven has it figured out!) There are threads that seem to be going nowhere, but actually lead you full circle.

I thoroughly enjoyed this extraordinary story as Semple built the mystery slowly, then unraveled its secrets intelligently through an uncommon blend of philosophy, show more art and female brilliance. What’s not to love about that?!
*I was invited to read by the publisher Putnam, through NetGalley, for an honest review show less

Could I actually love a book more than I loved ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’ Maybe. Sometimes when an author writes a novel as memorable as Bernadette, you think they’ll never be able to match that one. Go Gentle does. I think, maybe, I might like it even a bit more than Bernadette.

Adora Hazzard has had an interesting life in addition to having an interesting name. Originally determined to be a comedic TV writer, after a few stumbles along the way, she finds philosophy and knows this is her life. As a Stoic, most everything rolls right off her. She loves being single. She loves her job working for a very wealthy old money family in New York City. She lives in a historic hotel that was renovated into apartments with her show more ‘coven’ of female friends. Life is, in her mind, pretty darn perfect.

All it takes is just a moment and a mysterious man to turn things upside down.

To say I loved this is truly an understatement. I found the information about Stoics fascinating (beyond the adjective ‘stoic.’) I love how grounded Adora actually seems to be. Her employers and their kids are interesting, as are all the other characters in her life. You will laugh out loud at parts of this, because they are funny. It’s just a joyous ride from start to finish.

Well done Ms. Semple. show less

Maria Semple’s protagonists never disappoint, and Adora Hazzard, the fifty-something divorcee, philosopher, mom, and coven leader from Go Gentle forges new paths of craziness. Adora and her teenage daughter live in New York City, where Adora writes books and serves as the on-site philosopher for the uber-wealthy Lockwoods. While she carefully fills her apartment building with her single friends so they can grow old and take care of each other, life begins to take a turn that reignites old memories and some new problems. Like any good Semple book, Go Gentle veers into ridiculousness at times, but I’m here for it. This was a very fun read, and fans of Semple, Kevin Wilson, and others looking for a quirky and entertaining main show more character running amok in New York and Paris will not be disappointed. show less

I think this book gave me whiplash! It begins with Adora trying to gather a coven of single women to live in her apartment building to share their resources. Adora is a philosopher and a stoic and readers will soon learn how she came to her life’s calling.

Through Adora’s looks into her past, we find that she was once a comedy writer, but after a tremendous humiliation, left Hollywood. Adora went home to lick her wounds and then gradually stumbled into the world of philosophy. She wrote a book as a self-help /study guide, which to her surprise, became published and launched her career as a philosopher.

Adora’s new career leads to a series of (mis)adventures and quite an exciting and unusual life. She develops an unexpected romance show more and manages to catch an art thief in the process.

This story was a wild ride and not necessarily what I was expecting. I loved it and I hated it, but overall it was quite entertaining. It moves at a fast pace and keeps readers guessing as to what happens next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am pleased to give my honest review and recommend this to other readers. show less

I read this based on my enjoyment, back in the day, of Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette, so it's not surprising I was ready to see the echoes and similarities to that novel. It was like Bernadette mashed up with elements of The Goldfinch and even From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The story and its characters were adventurous and funny, the philosophical commentary was really interesting, and the mother-daughter relationship was, of course, integral. I enjoyed it!

At no point in this novel did I know what was coming next. No, I tell a lie. At one point somewhere in the middle, I knew what was coming for a single hot second. This was a ride. I'm not completely sure what to do with it, but I had a good time. I'll take it.