U is for Updike

As I've made this reading journey over the past months, one thing I've tried to do is read not quite so famous authors. Sometimes it was easier than others. For my "U" book, it didn't happen that way. As you might expect, there are not a ton of authors whose last name starts with a U. I chose a rather famous writer's 18th novel as my "U" adventure. Here are my thoughts on "U" is for Updike, John and his novel Toward the End of Time.

There are a few things you just don't want to admit when you finish the 18th novel of a famous American author. One of those things is that you didn't really like it. Another is that you didn't really get it. I'm admitting both of those things to you. Now I realize that John Updike is not universally loved. After finally diving into one of his books, I can understand that. Toward the End of Time has a fascinating premise. The U.S. and China have been at war with each other. This war ended with only about 1/2 the population of the entire world remaining. The U.S. government is in shambles and China is uninhabitable due to nuclear fallout. The dollar is worthless and individual states are producing their own scrip. It sounds like it would be a frightening time or a time of real self-discovery. For the not so likable main character in this novel, it's just another day of being retired and bored.

The novel revolves around the life of one Ben Turnbull, a retired stock broker living just outside Boston. While Ben could be talking about how the world has changed for the better or for the worse, he is so self-absorbed he talks only of the small world around him. He is a 66-year-old loser. While it would be fascinating to be taken on a journey to the year 2020 where the world is picking itself back up following a horrific war, we are instead treated to the rambling descriptions of every tree, plant and flower on the property owned by Ben and his second wife, Gloria. During one of Gloria's business trips, Ben actually fantasizes that he somehow killed her and subsequently moves a prostitute into his home to be his new wife. Ben is obsessed with sex, preferably with much younger women. He is weak in the face of Gloria, who does return, much to his surprise. Even after being diagnosed with cancer, he just can't seem to garner sympathy from the reader.

There were some interesting futuristic moments in the novel. An abandoned space station which can still be seen in the sky brings eerie thoughts in consideration of the current state of our own space program. With the fall of the government, taxes are no longer being collected and the police and fire departments have little to offer in the way of protection. Small bands of "entrepreneurs" take charge and offer their own protection, of course, for a fee. Rather than allowing these thugs to take over the security business, one of the last remaining working entities shows up to save the day. For a monthly fee, FedEx begins providing protection to all good citizens. These thought-provoking moments are scattered so lightly through the novel that it's hard to gain enough sustenance from them to carry you through the entire book.

When this journey is over, I may go back and read one of Updike's earlier novels. Unfortunately for some writers, things just change for the worse with age or over-publication. I hope that's the case. I hope to goodness that Updike's work has not always been so trite and so narcissistic. Toward the End of Time could give a good sci-fi writer some interesting ideas on which to build, but other than that, I'd not recommend it.