Alright, I admit it: I was wrong. At the end of 2020, having read just around a quarter of The Go-Between, I wrote:
“Look, I know this is a classic, but I am finding it really hard going. I haven’t yet emphasised with any of the characters, and so far am finding the whole thing a bit long-winded. Admittedly, I’ve only read 25% of it so maybe I’ll change my mind, but right now it feels like a bit of a penance. The famous first line: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” is great. I think the author’s big mistake was writing any more after that.”
Well, I persevered, and at around the halfway mark it started to become interesting. The (somewhat subjective) evidence for this was to be found in my attitude. Rather than thinking, “How many pages to go?”, I began thinking, “OMG, what’s going to happen next?”.
I also started to ponder: why the obsession throughout the book with belladonna? I wondered aloud in the discussion group whether this was a deliberate and subtle ploy by the author. The protagonist is in love, or infatuated, with a beautiful woman who, in many respects, is using him. I recalled that in The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, belladonna is defined as something along the lines of “In English, a poisonous plant, in Italian, a beautiful woman, thereby demonstrating the similarity between the two languages.”
Through discussion in the group I began to discern the many layers in the prose, and so to appreciate it more. One of these days I shall read it again. Who knows, I might even enjoy the first half too next time!
If you found this article interesting, why not subscribe to my free newsletter, Terry Freedman’s Books Bulletin, for independent book reviews, interesting places to buy books, and other book-related matters?