I read this book because I immensely enjoyed two of Lionel Shriver's other books -- The Post-Birthday World and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Usually when I find a book that I like, I immediately try to find other books by the author and read them. Although I enjoyed this book, I didn't find it as intriguing or involving as her others. (And, yes, the author is a woman -- I just assumed it was a man when I began The Post-Birthday World and kept thinking "This guy can really write from a woman's point of view" but then later found out it was a woman!) Anyway, I'm not saying this is a bad book by any means...just that I didn't love it as much as the two others I have read.This book is about a marriage and tennis. The protagonist is a semi-professional tennis player named Willy Novinsky. Willy has lived and breathed tennis since she was a young girl and has centered her whole life on being a successful professional tennis player. When she meets Eric Oberdorf during an impromptu tennis game at Riverside Park, she is intrigued by his natural talent and his good looks. He is intrigued by her. Because she's never made room in her life for romance, it seems like a match made in heaven to find a man who admires her tennis game and shares her interest in tennis. Eric begins pursuing tennis as a profession as his natural talent begins to blossom. They fall in love and marry. And things are good...until Eric's career begins to eclipse Willy's career...At its heart, the book is about Willy's struggle to come to terms with her life ... as a wife, as a tennis player, and as a woman. I loved that she wasn't a "typical" woman that you often find in books. She is a competitive woman who wants to win. Who values tennis more than anything in the world -- possibly even her husband. Her struggle to come to terms with these issues is very interesting but painful to watch. As someone who has never been very passionate about a career, I struggled to watch Willy deal with her loss of identity as her tennis career begins to falter. Willy isn't a completely sympathetic character, and I often found myself struggling to like her. But at the end, I found myself wanting to know what the future held for her.Although this wasn't my favorite book of Lionel Shriver's, it was a good read. If you are particularly fond of tennis, you might find even more to love about this book. All in all, I give the book a C ranking.
Time taken to read - 2 days Publisher - Serpent's TailPages - 339Blurb from GoodreadsEver since she picked up a racquet at the age of four, tennis has been Willy Novinsky's one love. But when she falls for fellow pro Eric Oberdorf, their relationship is tested to breaking point by their competitive urges.My ReviewTennis is not something I am interested in at all however when on holiday we do pick up something we normally wouldn't read. Willy Novinsky is on a journey to becoming a professional tennis player, her ranking score is going up, she is smashing her competition and winning her matches. She has no time for friends, romance or really anything that isn't tennis, until Eric Oberdorf comes along. They embark on a relationship and she teaches him some pointers to strengthen his game. As their relationship deepens, Willy finds herself struggling with her game and watching Eric go from strength to strength. Tennis brought them together, it may very well tear them apart.It has been a while since I have really disliked a character as much as I ended up disliking Willy. As her game declines she becomes a vindictive, nasty, horrible character, Eric is understanding, sweet, competitive and no matter what he does it further enrages or prompts her to behave like a brat.Without going into spoilers as I hate that, sex and sexual terminology is used and the subject of abortion is mentioned, in what some people may feel, distressing detail. I found Willy to be a cold fish, a character with little to no redeeming qualities. As much as tennis is not my thing, I must say I wasn't as bored as I thought I would be reading this type of theme. I have read Shriver before and I would read her again, I don't particularly like her style however I cannot put her books down until I have got through the whole story. There is something about how she writes that pulls you along and in, even when you don't like or find the subject content particularly interesting. 2/5 for me this time, I can't say it is like any of her books I have read before as they all seem very different, I would certainly say give it a bash if you came across it but I wouldn't actively encourage you to seek it out.
What do You think about Double Fault (2006)?
Unfortunately the match between Shriver's style of biting, cynical observation and the relationship - however doomed and tragic - at this novel's heart fail to marry. Her characters are somewhat unattainable for all the detail and analysis in their making.Were it not for my enthusiasm for tennis I might have enjoyed it less, but were the tennis not there Double Fault might be better. As willing as she is to pull observations into the story, we are never allowed a moment's pause from the central whining, and Shriver's desire to expand is repressed by the scope of her own novel.
—John Vincent
Certainly not Lionel's best work, but still worth reading.The book is more of an investigation of the characters in the book, much like "A perfectly good family", rather than plot based (like "Post birthday world"). As usual, Lionel makes many insightful comments and observations throughout this piece of writing. Unfortunately the plot is a quite plodding (and a bit depressing), leading to me to give this book only a moderate rating. Still worth the read though if you're a Lionel fan - just don't expect her usual high standard.
—Rosemary
Since Wimbledon had just started when I read this, it seemed perfect timing to read a tennis-related story about relationships and competition on and off the court. I loved it! The book follows a tennis-playing couple from their first meeting into marriage. We see what success and failure does to a relationship; and the damage that competition can do.I really do like Shriver’s style - well written narrative and great characters that have complexity nd are, frankly, interesting to read about, which is pretty key but unfortunately not always a given in novels. If you haven’t read her first novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, I urge you to do so. It is not always comfortable reading but she has a way of getting to the heart of the most important issues and then doesn’t pussy foot around. She gets stuck in. I will be looking forward to reading whatever she writes next…
—Kate
