"This entertaining commentary on getting to grips with getting old sees a previously inactive 64-year-old embrace the contemporary cult of fitness with absurd obsessiveness."
“For the last thirty-two years, you’ve not once trotted out for a run around the block. And now you tell me with a straight face that you want to run a marathon.” So begins this scathingly amusing novel that sees 64-year-old Remington - recently forced to retire early after an unsavoury employment tribunal – develop an unhealthy obsession with extreme exercise and his hideously competitive trainer, Bambi.
Remington’s wife, sixty-year-old Serenata has always been a solitary exerciser (“I find large numbers of people doing the same thing in one place a little repulsive”), so the fact that her “husband had joined the mindless lookalikes of the swollen herd” comes as a shock, and an insensitive affront too, given that she was recently compelled to give up a lifetime of running after a diagnosis of osteoarthritis in both knees.
Their spiteful bickering begins immediately, with neither party displaying themselves in a favourable light. Indeed, both characters are largely unlikeable, which makes their sniping all the more entertaining. Remington bemoans accusations of privilege, thus revealing said privilege: “I’m a little tired of being told how ‘privileged’ I am... How as a member of the ‘straight white patriarchy’ I have all the power. I’m supposedly so omnipotent, but I live in fear, less like a man than a mouse.”
After (eventually) crossing the finish line of his first marathon, Remington signs-up for a gruelling triathlon, with his farcical persistence in spite of serious incidents and injuries making this novel both hilarious and excruciatingly cringe-worthy, albeit with an unexpectedly bittersweet upshot.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Enthusiasm or obsession? Contempt or concern? A story of a marriage's reaction to the effects of age on the body.
I like Lionel Shriver’s work and this one particularly sparked my interest as the current craze for triathlons and their like seem to be all over social media. As with all Shriver’s protagonists, you are never quite sure if you are meant to actually like them; she never sugar-coats their darker, more unsympathetic side and in this novel, at least to begin with, you aren’t quite confident as to which camp you are meant to be rooting for - the now incapacitated Serenata or the newly athletic Remington. It’s a measure of Shriver’s skill with words that you are torn between both sides of the argument more than once.... Read Full Review
Which is more painful, entering an extreme sporting event or living with someone who is entering one? Ms Shriver has once again excelled at portraying the raw emotions of characters pushed to the absolute limit both physically and mentally.
I was so excited to receive a review copy of Ms Shriver’s latest novel; I love her writing style and the way she is seemingly fearless in tackling difficult topics. She has certainly taken on several biggies in this latest tale of that new religion, extreme sport.
Serenata has always been a solitary exerciser but she has pushed her body to the point where her knees are destroyed and she is fearful of how knee replacements may leave her. Her husband, Remington, never really a sportsman has recently lost his job and has decided to challenge himself by running a marathon. Like a lot of people who come late to things, he throws himself into his training regime with gusto. Serenata is less than enthusiastic. In fact, she is downright anti the whole thing.... Read Full Review
Exploration of the unexpected changes in relationships and the challenges of ageing well.
Exploration of the unexpected changes in relationships and the challenges of ageing well.
Serenata and Remington have a relationship that excludes others, which extends to their children. This changes when Remington announces he is going to run a marathon. Their once comfortable way of being is shattered as Serenata realises “how heavily their marriage of late had depended on their slender Venn diagram of overlapping habits”.
This is a predictable story without the big revelation of We Need to Talk About Kevin and Big Brother. Despite this, I did enjoy the book. I found myself thinking a lot about the themes. There was a cautious note about obsessive exercise junkies of all ages and the impacts on physical health but the psychological issues behind obsessive exercise and control were touched on lightly – a missed opportunity.... Read Full Review
