After Claude – Iris Owens (1973) 206 pages (cheating my own criteria by 6 pages)
Trigger warning: mentions rape
I bought this one day when I finished the book I was reading more quickly than expected and I was waiting for a friend, who was late. I don’t like being without a book to read on my person and I found a late-opening charity shop. Amongst the Da Vinci Codes and James Patterson’s entire back catalogue I was thankful to spy a New York Review of Books logo. They’re a reliable, interesting publisher and so I found myself launched into the acerbic wit of Iris Owens, totally unprepared.
After Claude is funny, but it also features a despicable heroine. Kudos to Owens for not feeling it is necessary to write an attractive, likeable female for her lead, but really, Harriet Daimler is one of the most infuriating, obnoxious and unpleasant people ever committed to paper. She moves from friend to friend, sponging off them until her unrelenting selfishness alienates them and they chuck her out. She may be depressed: she sleeps all day, watches trashy quiz shows and eats, that’s it. But any sympathy the reader may feel is limited by her rudeness, prejudice and manipulations towards all who cross her path. She frequently uses homophobic language; she is racist; she denies her own Jewishness without realising that her denials illuminate that which she is trying to hide:
“ ‘Mazeltov,’ he congratulated me in an unfamiliar tongue.”
Who doesn’t know what Mazeltov means? Harriet is also completely delusional. The story begins “I left Claude, the French rat.” What quickly emerges is that Claude has thrown her out, sick of her utter selfishness and bitterness.
“Claude, who had learned his English in England, spoke with one of those snotty, superior accents, stuffed into a slimy French accent, the whole mess flavoured with an occasional American hipsterism, making him sound like an extremely rich, self-employed spy.”
What Claude quickly learns is that trying to throw someone out who won’t listen and is totally self-interested, is no mean feat.
“ ‘Me a bore?’ I laughed, amazed that the rat would resort to such a bizarre accusation. I have since learned never to be amazed at what men will resort to when cornered by a woman’s intelligence.”
Over the course of the story we learn how Harriet and Claude met, when she was thrown out of her friend Rhoda’s house, for something horrific which I won’t include for fear of spoilers, but would you live with someone who treated you thus?
“Had I been insensitive when I told her ‘Rhoda, I have nothing per se against your karate classes but rather than pin all your hopes on a rapist, wouldn’t a cruise make more sense?’”
What kept me reading was partly wanting to see what would happen to someone so extremely selfish and self-serving that normal rules don’t apply: Harriet could do anything. Also, amongst the rancour are some bitingly funny observations, such as this regarding a friend’s marriage:
“It goes without saying that though ideally suited and ecstatically happy, Jerry and Maxine had flown directly from their wedding ceremony to group therapy, paying top prices for the privilege of insulting each other in front of an audience.”
What happens to Harriet after Claude is bizarre. She meets a guru-type and ends up begging to be allowed to join their cult, even after suffering sexual humiliation at their hands. Ultimately then, Harriet is both horrible and pitiful, extremely vulnerable but bent on destroying anyone who might want to help.
Like a pratfall in which someone ends up genuinely hurt, After Claude is funny but you feel you shouldn’t laugh; it’s painful and you want to tear your eyes away. Owens is an accomplished writer but I’m not sure I could have stood a much longer novel.
I rather like the sound of this story of come-uppance…
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It’s a weird one!
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Hmm… I prefer complicated unlikeable protagonists to strightforward ones but Harriet sounds a step too far for me.
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She is tough to take. It’s one of those where the novella length is absolutely essential I think, you couldn’t spend too much time with her.
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I don’t mind unlikeable characters, but Harriet in this novella does sound like a hard character to spend time with.
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She is tough. As it was a novella I spent a couple of hours with her which was fine, but I wouldn’t have wanted it to be a book that was with me over a few days.
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I’m loving these posts and am totally intrigued as to how you’re producing these daily. Are you reading one and posting all in the same day or do you have some up your sleeve? I’m very impressed at your productivity!
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Thanks so much! No, I’m trying to write them at weekends and then schedule the posts for the week. I’ve never scheduled posts before so this is a new approach for me! After a day at work I’m too tired to write a post coherently. I’ve a list of planned posts up to about Day 24 so it’s just making sure they get written and scheduled, and I’m hoping I don’t leave the final week til the last minute (I definitely will) 🙂
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This sounds interesting, but highly infuriating!
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Yes, that’s just about it 🙂 It’s very well written but any longer with Harriet and the risk would be throwing the book across the room!
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Heavens! I know characters can be unpleasant (and a lot of ones I like are) but there has to be some point of contact for the reader – and I don’t know if I could manage to find one here…. 😱
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Harriet’s pretty much impossible to like, and yet the reader is sort of dragged along in her wake! Which is clever, as it puts you in the position of everyone else she comes into contact with 😀
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Sounds utterly weird! I enjoyed the quotes but like you I’m not sure how much of Harriet I could put up with. I very much like the idea of emergency book-shopping though… 😁
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It is really witty and I wouldn’t want to put people off reading it, but Harriet is an absolute horror.
The emergency book shopping was just before the book-buying ban began – what on earth would I do now?! *breaks out in a cold sweat*
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I am thankful for your Novella series. I’m currently working on a list of novellas for overbooked working mothers who love to read but hardly have time for it.
I did one list and when I heard that a one of them confessed having found pleasure again in reading thanks to my little list, I decided to draft a new one.
“After Claude is funny but you feel you shouldn’t laugh;” We have an expression in French for that. It’s “rire jaune” meaning literally “to have a yellow laugh”. It means exactly that kind of laugh.
A great find for my list…
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I’m so glad to hear about your project and that my posts might help! I remember one of my friends saying when she had children she didn’t read a book for 5 years, and she’d been an avid reader previously. Novellas will be great for such busy people, hopefully they’ll find the time to squeeze a few in.
Did you post your previous list on your blog? I’d love to see it & get some more ideas for great novellas to read 🙂
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Yes, I did a post. Here it is : https://bookaroundthecorner.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/finding-time-to-read-thanks-to-novellas/
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Wonderful! I’ll definitely take a look later (when I’m not at work 😉 )
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It’s a bank holiday here.
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It’s the day after the bank holiday here so work is a bit quieter than usual, which is why I’m sneaking cheeky looks at my blog 😀 Hope you’re enjoying your day off!
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