The framework
(chapters and their content) is written in the style of a legal contract, with
plenty of footnotes to convey the difference between what the narrator voices
and his private thoughts. For example, the final chapter has a subclause, “The
terms and conditions of endings: More often than not, they’re badly disguised
beginnings.” The novel is fast-paced, funny and engaging; the exact opposite of
contractual terms and conditions.
Frank recalls the
beginning of his relationship with Alice. He was a straight-A student at
university who loved taking tests because they “made me feel as if I was
accomplishing things”, whereas she was a free spirit; daring, compulsive and everything
he thought he wasn’t. Frank takes tests
that Alice sets for him – sample tests which she puts into a book making him
seem like a loser. The book is called Executive
X and is a psychometric book about how to hire the right person for the
job, by proving who the wrong person for the job is: Frank. “It was in that period of the late nineties, before
the crash, when there was money everywhere. A time when no one was sure why it
was working or who was responsible – until, that is, management consultants
were credited with the world’s runaway success.”
When Frank notices
how far he and Lisa have drifted apart and how much she is humiliating him, he believes
he may be partially to blame. Guilt has power and is a force that “will hold
together the most opposing forces of the universe”, such as him and his wife. When
he considers his options, one of them is revenge killing, “But I’m British. So
shooting people wasn’t an option. I wouldn’t know where to get a gun if my life
depended on it. As for allowing my rage to trigger a crime passionnel, well, let’s be honest, that’s far too hot and
European for my cold Anglo blood.”
Frank is
depressed and feels lonely, but he does have some people on his side – a wonderful
older woman called Molly, his younger brother, Malcolm, who sends cryptic messages
from wherever he happens to be, and an old colleague and friend of his father’s,
Doug. Fittingly, Frank is saved by the prenuptial agreement his father insisted
that he and Alice sign. He isn’t necessarily happy at the end of the novel, but
he is vindicated as he is rescued by the terms and conditions that he creates
and, over time, ingeniously adds to contracts, knowing that no one reads them
but that they are legally binding.
No comments:
Post a Comment