In Love by Alfred Hayes was first published in 1953. Set in post-war New York it isn’t really about being in love at all. Rather, it is about how we go about convincing ourselves we are in love and then using that so-called love as a weapon. That makes the book sound dangerous, doesn’t it?
The story begins with our main character, approaching forty, sitting in a bar and having a drink with a young, pretty girl. It’s a bit confusing at first because the man is narrating and slips between talking to the pretty girl, addressing her as “you,” and being in his head which amounts to talking to the reader though we are never addressed directly. Along with this we slip between present and past as he begins to recall another pretty girl he used to know and thinking that he made a big mistake that he will always regret. Then he tells the story of that other pretty girl. This is the bulk of the book and it is told from our man’s perspective in a straightforward narrative style.
He and the girl, I don’t ever recall that they either of them get named, were seeing each other for sometime. The girl, not a girl really but a young woman in her early twenties, has a daughter who is being raised by her grandparents after the woman and her husband divorced. She is trying to work in the city and earn money but it is a grim sort of life. Our narrator is a nice enough fellow and the pair convince themselves that they are in love. But they aren’t, not really. They use each other to make their lives less miserable, to fill the void of loneliness.
And then one evening, out with some friends, the woman meets Howard, a wealthy businessman who asks her to dance. Howard takes a shine to her and as they dance he offers her $1,000 to spend the night with him. That is a lot of money to her and even though she is tempted she refused. Still, Howard gives her his number in case she changes her mind. From here the relationship between our narrator and the woman enter into a death spiral that neither of them wishes to acknowledge until both of them are so messed up that there is no chance to set things right again.
If you are thinking, wow this sounds like that movie with Robert Redford and Demi Moore, Indecent Proposal, you are kind of right. Except the movie was based on Jack Engelhard’s 1994 novel by the same name and besides the offer of money the two books are completely different.
Our woman of course, calls Howard. They go out but nothing happens immediately. Howard actually likes her and instead of just going to bed with her, he treats her like a lady, wining and dining, buying her presents, making her feel loved. And our narrator, all along he knows that if he’d only say something to her, say he loved her, she would stop seeing Howard, wouldn’t have called him to begin with. As she slips farther and farther away from him he gets bitter and angry and places all the blame on her. And when she tells him she won’t be seeing him anymore, it pushes our narrator over the edge:
I began, too, to experience the conceit of suffering. it conferred upon me a significance my emotions had previously lacked. It seemed a special destiny. Because I suffered I thought I loved, for the suffering was the proof, the testimony of a heart I had suspected was dry. Since happiness had failed me, it was unhappiness that provided me with the belief that I was, or had been, in love, for it was easier to believe in the reality of unhappiness when I had before me the evidence of sleepless nights and the bitterness of reaching in the dark for what was no longer there. The strict constriction of the heart was undeniable; there was a melancholy truth in the fact that it was suffering which made me, I thought, at last real to myself.
Since the story is told in hindsight, our narrator makes it clear throughout that he has thought long and hard about what happened and why and how it is that he finally ends up hurting her with his desire to destroy any hope for happiness she might have. It doesn’t make the story any less emotionally brutal, nor did I end up having much sympathy for the narrator. I understood him and his motives but understanding did not melt into sympathy.
In Love is a slim book, more novella than novel and it is astonishing just how much is packed into it. I feel like I read a much longer book. Kudos once again the the NYRBs Classics folks for another good subscription selection.
This sounds excellent! *adds it to the TBR stack*
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Novellas, when they work, can be amazing things – you might be able to make a case for novella length being the ideal for fiction! I had not heard of the book or the author so I will google him.
Off topic but you might be interested to read Guardian columnist’s Polly Toynbee’s latest article which examines our coalition government’s (the most reactionary and nasty in British history) plan to marginalize literature in the GCSE examinations. Despair is pretty much how I feel about this.
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Ian, I think you are right Ian about making the case for novellas as the ideal length for fiction. That doesn’t sound like good news for education in the UK. Off to find that article!
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Alfred Hayes wrote screenplays for some episodes of The Twilight Zone – fantastic!
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I knew he did some screenwriting what the book’s introduction didn’t mention the Twilight Zone. That’s great. I can’t find which episodes he did though. I’ll have to do some digging!
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books, I hope you enjoy it when you read it!
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I think Ian has a point about novellas and yet as a reading public, certainly in the UK, we seem to shy away from them. There was considerable discussion this autumn about whether or not Colm Toibin’s ‘The Testament of Mary’ should have been considered for the Booker and equal controversy when the not much longer ‘On Chesil Beach’ won it some years ago. I have a nasty feeling that it has something to do with not feeling you’re getting value for your money.
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Alex, we shy away from novellas in the US too. I suspect you are right about it being because people feel they aren’t getting value for the money. It’s a shame. I caught some of that discussion about Toibin’s book and I thought it was just plain silly.
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Sometimes with novellas I feel like I’m not getting value for my emotional investment. I’ve just gotten to know these people and then, wham. That’s it.
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Jeanne, I often feel that way about short stories! I find though that a really well done novella can be quite satisfying and can leave me knowing far more about the people in them than a longer book might.
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Interesting. I’m not familiar with Alfred Hayes at all and have never heard of this book. The unusual use of point of view sounds intriguing. I’m glad you liked it.
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Rebecca, One of the pluses about the NYRB subscription is how many authors I have read this year that I had never heard of and what wonderful gems they have written. Part of me wishes the whole book would have carried on like the beginning but another part of me is glad my brain didn’t have to work that hard for the whole thing!
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You’re zipping through the NYRBs actually–sure you aren’t going to continue next year?…… I have set this one aside as I keep reading those first few pages and not getting into the story–and I see that I need to just persevere, but now I have started The Bridge of Beyond instead and finding it suits my mood much more. I have also quietly put the Hazard aside–too much going on this month, but we’ll see if I can make up time in December and read a couple NYRBs. Maybe! Anyway, so now we can maybe read the Cather and the Schwarz-Bart together? It always helps to read along (for me) as it keeps me on task. The Hayes does sound good, though, once you get oriented!
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Danielle, I wouldn’t say zipping! I still have August, September and now November unread. The Bridge of Beyond looks good and it has a really neat cover. You know I didn’t connect the “Bridge” between it and Cather! I started The Cather yesterday BTW. Off to a good start!
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This sounds like a most intriguing book. I am in awe of authors who manage to take some ordinary occurrence and perform a sort of emotional autopsy on it. That kind of writing often feels very rich and potent to me. NRYB has been a fantastic subscription, hasn’t it?
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Litlove, oh yes the NYRB subscription has been fantastic. I had never heard of In Love before I read it but Hayes really does perform an emotional autopsy. I suspect you would like this one.
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You know you are tempting me to ask for a NYRB subscription for Christmas! 🙂
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Iliana, it’s been well worth it! I’d like to renew it but I am conflicted because I’d also like to concentrate next year on books I’ve been wanting to read for awhile but haven’t gotten to. It’s a dilemma!
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