Because I have a crush on Kate Winslet and watch every movie of hers, I wanted to prepare for Revolutionary Road by reading Richard Yates' 1961 novel of the same title. (Here's the New Yorker's 2008 review of a collected-stories-by-Yates book that includes the novel.)
The novel's so good, I actually haven't seen the movie yet, 'cause I'm afraid it will be disappointing. In fact, the novel's so brilliant, I made Erik read it over Christmas break, forced it on Emma and Norah, and will mention it to anyone who's asking me for a good read.
And why is it such a good read? The prose is beautiful, that's for sure. Yates describes a world of male anxiety that I can only imagine, while at the same time brushing over sexual discrimination that I can imagine all too well, judging by the male behavior Yates portrays. The plot is relatively simple: It's 1955. There's the young couple, April and Frank Wheeler, who leave New York City to find a family paradise but instead end up living the suburban nightmare of boredom. Frank is a paper shuffler in the city, where his mistress lives, and April attends to house and children, of whom there are two, in the suburbs. To escape their fate, April plans to move the family to Paris, so that Frank can fulfill his dream of becoming a writer, while April will join the workforce to support them. However, Frank's talk of wanting to write lacks any real ambition, as he now becomes painfully aware, and his wife's determination to work threatens to the core his identity as the breadwinning, successful male. Needless to say, they never make it to Paris.
Although Yates makes Frank the victim of the suburban prison and of middle-class conventions, it is April who suffers, doing so quietly, in contrast to the vocal egomaniac Frank. Yates doesn't tell her side of the story, but he provides enough room for us to imagine it.
With the same attentive care to padded foam-rubber bras as Yates, AMC's series Mad Men tells the story of both the competitive men in the 1960s advertising world of Madison Avenue and the housewives who care for their domestic (and suburban) happiness. In addition, it looks at the Mad Men's secretaries who, in search of a successful husband and with the dream of trading the city for a colonial-style 3BR house in the suburbs as soon as they have found him, vie for the attention of their bosses, who readily abuse that affection for their own sexual gratification. Like Frank, many of the Mad Men have enormous egos (that poorly cover their anxieties), especially regarding their literary aspirations, and gamble with their wives' well-being to fulfill their ambitions. Apart from the story line that focuses on advertising genius and ladies' man Don Draper and the women in his life (the wife, the mistress, and a business client), the images themselves are captivating: the colors, the fashion, the interior design... The show is true eye candy. (Although bad for your health: with all the smoking going on in the show, it hurts my lungs just watching.)
We haven't made it past two discs of Mad Men, but if the show is as good all the way through the current season, it may become a favorite.
And now I will rent Revolutionary Road, the movie, and hope it's as visually appealing as Mad Men and somewhat faithful to Yates' novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment