The Reading Group Reads
Therapy by David Lodge
Tubby Passmore is a successful writer of a TV situation comedy series. He and
his wife live in a substantial detached house in the suburbs of a metropolis
and enjoy the good things in life - a 'richmobile', membership of a
sports and social club, a flat in London. But Tubby is not happy. He spends
much of his time indulging in one sort of therapy or another - psychotherapy,
physiotherapy, aromatherapy. The first part of the book is a humorous account
of part of his life, rather like a journal of events and thoughts; an exercise
recommended by his psychotherapist. We learn about the other people in
Tubby's life, his anxieties about the present and future and his wistful
memories of his youth. The second part is a series of accounts about what these
people (wife, platonic mistress, work colleague and others) think of Tubby. In
the third part of the book we find out that these accounts were actually
written by Tubby himself and they provide more evidence of his neuroses as we
witness what he believes other people think about him. The story ends with
Tubby reaching a more contented place after the journey that the book has
represented. This is a book full of witty dialogue and some comical situations
provided by entertaining characters. We all enjoyed reading it and felt warmed
by its human content.
This month the Reading Group are reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka and we will be discussing it on Wednesday, 4th October, 8 p.m. at The Old School House, High Street, Burwell.