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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 17, 2005 'The Amateur Marriage' couples prose, ideas in vital book By Chris Honor� Tidings Correspondent What do we mean when we say a book, such as "The Amateur Marriage," is literary fiction as compared to the more commercial novels that crowd most best sellers lists? By the broadest dictionary definition, a work being literary means it "pertains to or of the nature of books and writings," with the caveat that it is also deemed to be literature. And what, precisely, is "literature" when compared to all that writing that we bundle together and call commercial writing -- fiction or nonfiction? Literature, relying again on a dictionary definition, is that writing in which "expressions and form in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest are characteristic." It's an interesting distinction that is struck between commercial and literary lit. And one that is often more subjective than not. A sense that when you read, say, Grisham's latest novel, "The Broker," you are at the shallow end of the pond. Having an enjoyable if not downright entertaining read, perhaps, but you are not engaged in a narrative that will mine the vagaries of the human condition. Or explore the very nature of what it means to live a life: To have relationships, or puzzle over the exigencies that stitch themselves into the fabric living. Anne Tyler has, on occasion, been characterized as straddling the line between commercial and literary fiction in the sense that her novels, their characters and circumstances, have the widest possible appeal. Actually, using "The Amateur Marriage" as an example, it would seem that Tyler stands squarely in the literary camp, but a place she inhabits with such skill that her work is readily accessible. In "The Amateur Marriage" she explores with a deft touch the labyrinth called marriage: Two individuals, Pauline and Michael, who met on the eve of World War II, both as inexperienced as it is possible to be, fall in love and decide to marry soon thereafter; there was a war on and things happened quickly. For the next sixty years we follow their lives, as a couple, as parents, switching from Michael's point of view to Pauline's, in a very measured and engagingly honest way. Both are flawed, both are found wanting by the other, each reacts to life in such different ways that they must struggle constantly to find common ground. They grudgingly realize that there is no other way but to compromise and often rage at that seemingly harsh reality, understanding that if they are to stay together there is no other alternative. They must yield. They must see the world from another perspective, a fact that weighs and at times seems onerous. "The Amateur Marriage" by its very title, by the sum total of its wonderfully constructed narrative, conveys the essential truth that marriage is a life experience that is so complex, so profoundly difficult to navigate, that all who stand on the field of play, to use a sports metaphor, will never be more than amateurs. No matter how long they play the game. The skills required, the emotional buffeting, the constant shifting sands, the necessity of a sustained effort, all mitigate against anything but amateur status. It is not a journey that you ever master; what it requires is a commitment to tenaciously move forward and to realize that you must yield -- with heartfelt empathy, you must yield. But never quit. This is a lesson, in the end, Michael unexpectedly finds much more difficult to understand than Pauline with consequences that are both sad and understandable. "The Amateur Marriage" is lovely book, literary in the best sense of the word, written in clear and direct prose, and one that is filled with ideas that are indeed permanent and universal. It is a book not to be missed. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams