Man And Boy

I have just finished reading the novel "Man And Boy" (MAB) by Tony Parsons. And boy, was it good! I am free to read another library loan, "Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto but just maybe, I need to free my mind and off-load my thoughts on MAB. And this is no small feat, though, it is most probably nothing compared with what Tony- my favourite writer at the moment - did in MAB.

For a start, as the title suggested, MAB is all about human relationships - father and son, husband and wife, ex-husband and new lover, and of course, you got Harry Silver! I was taken back, ever so slightly taken back, as the drama unfolded to find Harry, a supposedly happily-married man, to be a "boy" in many sense. He was never responsible, never actually grown up, never around for his boy and ever the romantic boy-man. Within a matter of months of hitting the big three-O, he fucked up his life - slept with a colleague, had his wife walked out on him, lost his job and was stuck with his young son Pat, for the first time in his life. The writings are at times witty, sharp and funny amid a look at the breaking down of the nuclear family. It was said that the men in this lousy modern world, always "fuck around, fuck up and fuck off..." Specifically, men sleep around, impregnate his lovers, and then finally disappear like a scary cat.

MAB also has its touching moments - as Harry's old dad's life came to an end, Harry lamented how he desired to be more like him, but could never be. He could never be gentle, caring to his family while making the necessary sacrifices. He pondered that his generation simply couldn't keep early nights and take responsibility of the family like his father did. Perhaps, that was what made Harry even more determined to give Pat a complete home. At one point, he was consoling his old dad how Pat was going to turn up well; the only problem was that he might be a little extra cautious about jumping into a serious relationship, which did not sound so bad after all. In its last few paragraphs, with the coming spring, hope for a happier future followed with Harry's reconciliation with his new love, Cyd and her kid daughter. Another chapter of his life had ended, but one question begs for an answer: had he learnt enough to pick up the broken pieces of a dream? - A dream of a perfect family, of a perfect love.

PS: 1) "To cherish, to love, for there may only be one chance in your life to make someone happy, and in turn to be truly happy", I said that, not Tony, the man.
2) "...a life without love is no life at all...And if you find someone to love, then you should never let them slip away..." by Tony, the man, in MAB