Changing Places

[chickenfeet]

I reread David Lodge's Changing Places yesterday. I suspect the last time I read it was at least twenty years ago, long before I'd visited Plotinus, stayed with friends in Ashland, met a Morris Zapp protegée and shacked up with a girl from Miranda County. Mercifully, even another twenty years hasn't resulted in any greater acquaintance with Rummidge. In those twenty years I've read most of Lodge's other works, with enjoyment, but had forgotten how different Changing Places is from his other work. CP, on rereading, proves to be far more experimental and self conscious than I remembered; partly written as conventional narrative, partly epistolary (complete with self referential obvious joke), partly screenplay. By and large though it works, though perhaps no better than his more conventionally structured work. Best of all, it still makes me laugh out loud and few authors do that (Off hand I can only think of Tom Sharpe). I'd say it's a 'must read' for anyone who either has had much experience of academia or of experience of living and working on both sides of the pond or, of course, both. I reckon that takes care of 90% of the f-list one way or another!

Comments

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I'm in the middle of Small World right now ...

[itchyfidget.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll look that up. I think my dad (academic in all but name) is a big David Lodge fan.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I have Changing Places on my To Read pile. Only other Lodge I've read is How Far Can You Go? and Thinks..., both of which I enjoyed.

[gillo]

I prefer Nice Work myself, though CP and SW are great fun. I just love the use of the Victorian novel as structure, text and subtext in NW.

I still think Bradbury's The History Man is a better book, though.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I like Bradbury too.

Hey, I'm both!

[nanila]

I'll put that on my list.

(I just started working my way through imyril's John Wyndham collection. He's so English. It's killing me.)