The Temporary

Lighter in tone than any of the other Rachel Cusk novels I have read, this is still quite a black comedy. The characters are at least superficially dislikeable caricatures, but their failings, prejudices, motivations and misunderstandings are very human, and the writing is polished, witty and readable, with plenty of perceptive insights.

Follow me on my journey to read Cusks in chronological order! I loved spending more time in 90s London and was impressed by how completely different this was from Saving Agnes. I enjoyed the close first person narrative from more than one perspective, and I liked for once reading about a character who was not a writer. The novel was probably easier to read in than the previous one with clever and original prose and insights. The book peaked for me with the description of the investment bank office setting, which was very funny. Was a bit of a drag around chapter 10 and then picked up again. I enjoyed the ending fine and I think it was a good way to wrap up this lighter story. I am curious how Cusk will handle future endings.

Disturbing in that it has no truly likeable characters, and although there is much talk about thought the characters seem to do more feeling than thinking. While the story is basically about a weak man who meets a somewhat shallow woman, as with all Cusk the story doesn't matter. There are certain truths here about relationships between men and women, especially those with loose ties.

My goodness, I have never read a book so packed full of metaphors! Nothing at all is described simply and eventually I found this rather off-putting. Nonetheless, the underlying story is mostly OK, although the protagonist is someone I don't relate well to at all. No more Cusk for me.