I was pleasantly surprised by Equal Affections, having had no expectations at all: I was unfamiliar with the author, picked the 24-year old book off a sale table somewhere, and the cover graphics and text stirred only mild interest. But I quickly found it extremely well written, with characters that become more interesting as the story unfolds. It has to be Louise's story, she the wife and mother living unfulfilled, fighting her cancer and trying to reconcile with her unfaithful husband, lesbian daughter, and gay-married son. All the characters are drawn in depth, however -- they all get "equal" treatment, living and breathing as equally important parts of the family. Danny the son at times seems the protagonist -- we see him grow from sensitive, malleable teenager to confident lawyer, but unsure of his relationships. His sister the singer-songwriter is talented, marginally successful to her cult audiences, but equally troubled in her feelings toward her parents. If anyone gets less than equal treatment in the book, it is Louise's husband Nat, the nerdy conservative professor stalled in his career, his marriage, his life.Leavitt does a great job describing the little details in life, the minor intimacies, unspoken jealousies, the power struggles within relationships of husband-wife, brother-sister, parent-child, and even husband-gay husband. And in spite of all the exposition, we realize at the end that we can never fully know another person, as much as we might feel we should. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the truth - we are complicated souls.
The Puzzle of LifeIn front of the eyes of the reader, David Leavitt paints a blurry family portrait. The blank canvas slowly fills with people – first they are represented by mere outlines; then, slowly, they acquire sharp details, both beautiful and ugly. Just as in real life – and in a human mind – the novel jumps from one person to another; from a fantasy to a memory; from past to present. The tone is bittersweet, yet not sentimental; the metaphors novel and engaging. In front of the reader slowly emerge people entangled in complex relationships; people haunted and influenced by their past, their memories and their desires. The brighter the picture gets, the more cracks in it appear. But the overall feeling we are left with is not in the least depressive; if anything, then it is civil, vibrant, sincere and – in the long run – hopeful. People and life in general, Leavitt seems to be suggesting, are far from being perfect, but when there's love, there's always hope.
What do You think about Equal Affections (1997)?
Good, but not as good as other books by Leavitt - the scenes of an ordinary life are nicely observed, the characters are (overall) neatly drawn. But there are a few stray plotlines (the whole aside with Walter and his internet chatting habits seems to just have been cobbled as a setup for a future redemption scene, but it adds to nothing more than an aside, albeit a truthfully captured one). It's in the small gestures and everyday emotions that the book finds itself - like the scenes of hospital life and the various ways we cope with grief - but overall it doesn't come together as a the powerful book it wants to be. The coda - looking at the last meaningful event in Louise's life - seems to shoot for a universal truth (sharing your pain will set you free, it seems to be) but it packs no real punch.
—Marcelo
This took me by surprise. I loved The Lost Language of Cranes, but staved off reading this book for a long time because I was sure nothing could compare; I was halfway through it before I was proven wrong.Equal Affections is well named its title taken from W.H. Auden's "The More Loving One", quoting it for the epigraph: If equal affection cannot be,Let the more loving one be me.The novel centers on Louise and her family. A stay-at-home mother and faculty wife, she has been living under the shadow of cancer for twenty years. Her husband Nat, once devoted to her, has become distant as he is left behind in his field of computer science. Her two grown children, April and Danny, are both gay, something her eccentric sister sends her psychological articles about. April found brief fame as a counter-culture singer/songwriter and Danny managed her career in the lesbian festival circuit until he met law student Walter and became a lawyer himself. Walter is a porn addict and frequents sex chat-rooms. Leavitt goes at great lengths to portray how each of the characters' feelings wax and wane never seeming to meet at the same level at the same time. Leavitt goes to such great lengths that the book threatened to become an elaborate character study without much to go on - but, things happen. Reading on the bus, mildly entertained, I was suddenly overcome. The novel had reeled me in slowly and from that point on I hated to pause for anything. The book is not as powerful as The Lost Language of Cranes, but it was not all that Leavitt has to offer a reader.
—Myles
