PimpinAintEasy
New Member
hello, I am interested in discussing this novel. has anyone else read it? here is my review of the novel.
***minor SPOILERS ALERT***
TALKING IT OVER was a really fast and entertaining read. Stuart, a rich, seemingly boring and straight laced banker marries the soft-spoken and adorable Gillian who is a painting restorer. Stuart's charming, eccentric and bankrupt English teacher best friend Oliver also falls in love with Gillian and becomes his best friend's sexual rival.
It is a love triangle told in first person narrative where each person in the triangle gives their point of view about what happened. It is almost like a documentary (though a documentary would be non-fiction)in a book. The author inserts first person narratives of relatives, friends, acquaintances and flower girls to strengthen the point of views of the three main narrators or at times to confuse the reader. The most interesting intervention in the novel by a common female friend of Stuart and Oliver claims that Oliver seduces Gillian because it is nearly the same as him seducing Stuart (here is the exact line: "the reason Oliver wants to f-u*c-k Gillian is because it's the nearest he can ever get to f-u*c*k*i-n*g Stuart."). The line seems to suggest that there is more than friendship between the two male characters. Gillian seems to be the object of a sexual and economic power struggle between the two best friends.
Now, I know close to nothing about Britain in the 1980s and 90s. So it is impossible for me to comment on the context of the novel. But the relationship between the two best friends before Stuart meets Gillian is often transactional in nature - Stuart the banker provides the money while Oliver gets the girls for their double dates. The arrival of Gillian upsets this transactional relationship. Hence, Gillian's seduction by Oliver almost comes across as revenge on his economically superior best friend for upsetting their ordered friendship with clearly defined roles.
There are parts of the novel which were really dark like when Oliver says that the situation is such that he has locked the three of them in a room and thrown the key away. But the tone of the two male characters is almost playful and animated at times while Gillian is diffident. It is definitely a very dark novel and it is not your average romantic comedy though you might be fooled into believing it is when you read the first few pages. Strongly recommend this one. And I look forward to reading the sequel.
(8/10)
***minor SPOILERS ALERT***
TALKING IT OVER was a really fast and entertaining read. Stuart, a rich, seemingly boring and straight laced banker marries the soft-spoken and adorable Gillian who is a painting restorer. Stuart's charming, eccentric and bankrupt English teacher best friend Oliver also falls in love with Gillian and becomes his best friend's sexual rival.
It is a love triangle told in first person narrative where each person in the triangle gives their point of view about what happened. It is almost like a documentary (though a documentary would be non-fiction)in a book. The author inserts first person narratives of relatives, friends, acquaintances and flower girls to strengthen the point of views of the three main narrators or at times to confuse the reader. The most interesting intervention in the novel by a common female friend of Stuart and Oliver claims that Oliver seduces Gillian because it is nearly the same as him seducing Stuart (here is the exact line: "the reason Oliver wants to f-u*c-k Gillian is because it's the nearest he can ever get to f-u*c*k*i-n*g Stuart."). The line seems to suggest that there is more than friendship between the two male characters. Gillian seems to be the object of a sexual and economic power struggle between the two best friends.
Now, I know close to nothing about Britain in the 1980s and 90s. So it is impossible for me to comment on the context of the novel. But the relationship between the two best friends before Stuart meets Gillian is often transactional in nature - Stuart the banker provides the money while Oliver gets the girls for their double dates. The arrival of Gillian upsets this transactional relationship. Hence, Gillian's seduction by Oliver almost comes across as revenge on his economically superior best friend for upsetting their ordered friendship with clearly defined roles.
There are parts of the novel which were really dark like when Oliver says that the situation is such that he has locked the three of them in a room and thrown the key away. But the tone of the two male characters is almost playful and animated at times while Gillian is diffident. It is definitely a very dark novel and it is not your average romantic comedy though you might be fooled into believing it is when you read the first few pages. Strongly recommend this one. And I look forward to reading the sequel.
(8/10)
