How amazing for Updike to have written 18 stories about the same couple, Richard and Joan Maple, over a 30 year period, returning time and again to what is effectively the portrait of a difficult and latterly disintegrating marriage. He could have written a novel instead, one supposes, but the stories in my opinion are brilliant reads, both as stand alone pieces, and also read together in chronological sequence. It's hard to like the characters; they are in turns deceitful and flippant - there are several affairs on both sides, and they are extravagant with money. Updike keeps one reading through the sheer skill of his writing; it's precise, full of imagery, and emotionally engaging throughout - sometimes very funny, at other times plunging into sadness and turmoil. Not many authors 'can pick people apart' quite like Updike! I didn't discover Updike until his death in 2009. I really enjoyed "Rabbit, Run" but found "Villages" pretty stale, and pretty much the same subtext as "Rabbit," there's a lot of adultery going on in suburbia. This edition is the first time "The Maples Stories" are gathered together (nicely done by the ever-fabulous, Everyman's Pocket Library.) These stories appeared in various magazines between 1956 and the mid-1970's. Also included is the last and unpublished work about the same couple. Overall, I enjoyed them. They are pretty heart-breaking as you're basically reading about the decline of a marriage where the two involved do love each other, but just can't make it work. The husband of the piece is pretty controlling, misogynistic, and even a bit twisted when dealing with his wife. The interesting part for me is that the wife is also having affairs, thus both are cheating on each other for various reasons, she basically takes control of her own sexuality. Pretty much a depressing and almost disturbing account of a mid-Twentieth Century marriage. That being said, the stories are well written. The characters definitely come alive -- you really get to know who these fictional people are. And the whole thing ends with such a bittersweet quote. As the main character, Richard, is holding his first grandson he thinks, "Nobody belongs to us, except in memory." For me, that captures the essence of Updike.
What do You think about The Maples Stories (2009)?
Read this book backwards. (Advice for whether you've already read the book, or if it's new to you.)
—Amit
This is Updike at his best. He captures suburban married life do well in these moving short stories.
—bisforbritt
I really don't know why anyone would bother writing about such unsympathetic characters. For years.
—Sada1994
