Grating.
I decided to give this a go because I remember enjoying Berger's Little Big Man so much. That was an absurd, stylised retelling of the American West with great heart and resonance. I liked that. (Great movie too!) More topically, I decided to read it because we're in the midst of our own house move, so I thought the promised story of Neighbours from Hell might put our own woes into some perspective. However tedious the relocation process is, at least we won't get neighbours like Earl Keese, and Harry and Ramona, right?
And so I must hope, because as Thomas Berger tells it, Earl, Harry and Ramona are on the Insane end of the Bad Neighbours spectrum: within minutes of Harry and Ramona moving in next door to the (dull, suburban and routine obsessed) Keeses, they are at war. But this is no common or garden slow-burn between neighbours arguing over shared fences and parking rights and when the bins get put out -- Earl and the new couple next door barely draw breath long enough to introduce themselves before they're at each others' throats, wrecking each other's cars, trampling boundaries and threatening violence over nothing. Out of the blue, over a surprisingly contentious spaghetti dinner, Ramona accuses Earl of trying to rape her. (They have met, like, an hour before. Although, to be fair, Ramona immediately goes upstairs, uninvited, to have a shower, and lounge next-to-naked in the Keese's master bedroom .... Yep, that about sums it up ...) To which accusation Earl's wife only responds "That was quite a performance ..."
So, as you may have guessed, this isn't exactly High Realism, and style and substance are completely over the top, and surreal. There's a hint at the beginning that Earl suffers from some kind of "perception" issue -- seeing things that are not there. Is all this happening in his imagination? If so, Berger doesn't really cut the reader a break, and allow them in on the joke. Or hint at why the idea of a middle-aged man hallucinating extreme outrages by his new neighbours (and responding in kind) might be funny. Far from figments of Earl's imagination, the outrageous Harry and Ramona seem as real as Earl (which is to say, not a lot). Wife Enid is checked out, and oblivious to what's going on, to the point where it seems like she's in a completely different novel ... Is there a clue there ...?
So, Earl says or does something and Harry & Ramona over-react. And then H&R say or do something, and Earl over-reacts. And then one or other of them announces that it was all a joke, or a misunderstanding, and let's all just get on like good neighbours. And then it all starts again ...
I found it wearing. One reviewer suggested that it might have worked better as a short story -- an absurd little allegory of the pressures of suburban living, where things like shared fences, parking and trash cans can result in otherwise sane people going to war with each other. Perhaps. But it went on and on and on, without much pay off.
I decided to give this a go because I remember enjoying Berger's Little Big Man so much. That was an absurd, stylised retelling of the American West with great heart and resonance. I liked that. (Great movie too!) More topically, I decided to read it because we're in the midst of our own house move, so I thought the promised story of Neighbours from Hell might put our own woes into some perspective. However tedious the relocation process is, at least we won't get neighbours like Earl Keese, and Harry and Ramona, right?
And so I must hope, because as Thomas Berger tells it, Earl, Harry and Ramona are on the Insane end of the Bad Neighbours spectrum: within minutes of Harry and Ramona moving in next door to the (dull, suburban and routine obsessed) Keeses, they are at war. But this is no common or garden slow-burn between neighbours arguing over shared fences and parking rights and when the bins get put out -- Earl and the new couple next door barely draw breath long enough to introduce themselves before they're at each others' throats, wrecking each other's cars, trampling boundaries and threatening violence over nothing. Out of the blue, over a surprisingly contentious spaghetti dinner, Ramona accuses Earl of trying to rape her. (They have met, like, an hour before. Although, to be fair, Ramona immediately goes upstairs, uninvited, to have a shower, and lounge next-to-naked in the Keese's master bedroom .... Yep, that about sums it up ...) To which accusation Earl's wife only responds "That was quite a performance ..."
So, as you may have guessed, this isn't exactly High Realism, and style and substance are completely over the top, and surreal. There's a hint at the beginning that Earl suffers from some kind of "perception" issue -- seeing things that are not there. Is all this happening in his imagination? If so, Berger doesn't really cut the reader a break, and allow them in on the joke. Or hint at why the idea of a middle-aged man hallucinating extreme outrages by his new neighbours (and responding in kind) might be funny. Far from figments of Earl's imagination, the outrageous Harry and Ramona seem as real as Earl (which is to say, not a lot). Wife Enid is checked out, and oblivious to what's going on, to the point where it seems like she's in a completely different novel ... Is there a clue there ...?
So, Earl says or does something and Harry & Ramona over-react. And then H&R say or do something, and Earl over-reacts. And then one or other of them announces that it was all a joke, or a misunderstanding, and let's all just get on like good neighbours. And then it all starts again ...
I found it wearing. One reviewer suggested that it might have worked better as a short story -- an absurd little allegory of the pressures of suburban living, where things like shared fences, parking and trash cans can result in otherwise sane people going to war with each other. Perhaps. But it went on and on and on, without much pay off.
This is one wacky book! I would say the characters, both the neighbors and the "victims", are pretty much beyond belief, but I got several good chuckles out of this quick read. I'd recommend it for those who need something light and ridiculous.
