Re-reading The Centaur

The move from Hemingway to Updike might not seem natural, but for me it was, since both were part of that joint reading experience in my youth when everyone I knew was reading the same book. Let me remind you that it was a serendipity which translated books reached Russia. But when they did they were always a sensation, and because there were never enough copies the few lucky people shared their treasures with friends. Queues in libraries were enormous. Like many translated and original works, The Centaur was published in a literary magazine, probably in several issues. I don't remember reading it as a book, and I don't think I even read it in English, although I read the Rabbit novels, Couples and Marry Me in English.

Of The Centaur, I remembered two details: the very last sentence, “Chiron accepted death”, and a notice in a autorepair shop,

PROTECT YOUR 

 

YOU WON'T BE GIVEN ANOTHER PAIR.

 I figured out, rather than remembered, that the main character had some connection with Chiron the centaur, and I know I would have recognised all the mythical allusions back then because I knew Greek mythology inside out, and Chiron had always been one of my favourites.

I did not remember the main character's name, which is forgivable, and not one single detail of the plot, which is less forgivable if this was an important book. I did not remember that part of the novel is told by Caldwell's young son. I did not notice then that the other parts are told in the narrative present tense, which has become so common today that some people think it was invented in the 21^st century. Memories did not appear as I was reading (as they did with Hemingway and even Marquez).

I am in two minds about the novel. I did enjoy some of it, for instance, Peter's sarcastic comments on his father, or the lengthy description of the father and son attempting to start a dead car. Peter saved the book for me – I wasn't interested in the pathetic father at all, and he didn't deserve the comparison to the noble Chiron. I am not the kind of reader (or critic) who needs a moral, but I couldn't help wondering why the author is telling me this story.

I will not re-read this book, and I won't recommend anyone to read it. When I am finished with my re-reading challenge, I may try another Updike, either Rabbit Run or Of the Farm.