Review of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY
Okay ... all the "blurbs" are right ... it is a terrific read
Every once and a while a book comes out that feels it was born for this moment. Not in the serious elegiac sense of Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger or the searching reflective mode of Elizabeth Strout. Rather it explodes in that fizzy lightning in a bottle way: well-written, funny, irresistible, and relevant. A book where you laugh and care and reflect in equal measure. It is a voice that actually “speaks” from the page. It feels like a great date. Books that come immediately to mind include The World According to Garp and Bonfire of the Vanities. Like certain wines, they are meant to be consumed right now.
I do not know if this is Bonnie Garmus’ first novel. Clearly, she knows how to write. I bombed in chemistry so she could have made all that stuff up – still, it does not matter. While I wish the ending was not quite so “wrapped up”, that stands as my only gripe. I read it in two days, fell in love and laughed out loud. Despite the razor-sharp wit and endearing quirkiness, the novel retains a seriousness of purpose that transcends its considerable entertainment factor. It is a highly accessible and risible feminist message rooted far enough in the past (50s & 60s) to be clear of the many different waves that movement continues to go through. While there is nothing funny about the #MeToo movement, if humor is the balm to sadness and tragedy, then this book is just that. If the book is an affirmation for women, it is a good education for men.
NOTE: I hope they make this eminently cinematic novel into a movie rather than a series. It has the punch of a great film … that most elusive of films, a comedy with a serious message. The roles are out of central casting. A series would dilute its narrative strength.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus
2023 382 pages