Man and Woman is the second book that I have read from Tony Parsons. The first was Man and Boy and I loved it. But since I do not remember it, I will just talk about Man and Woman for now.
A line that I remember from the book is very apt and worth mentioning:
“A man is pronounced twice in his life; once when he is pronounced as man and wife and the other when he is pronounced dead”
The book is a beautiful description of a situation where a person has to deal with a lot of conflicting emotions. It is a story of Harry Silver, the main character of the story. The story revolves around this person, his emotion and his reason. He is the protagonist, he is a man overwhelmed with many roles that he has to play.
He is a recent divorcee, having commitments for his ex wife; he is a father to a son who is moving away from him; both physically and emotionally; he is a husband to a wife who he loves or thinks that he loves at the moment; he is trying to be a father to his step daughter; he is a son to a loving and aging mother; and finally trying to work his way through his office and a career that his new wife is trying to begin. Confused, as I am now, let me take a breather till you get what all I am talking about...
Ok, back to what I was talking about. The story begins with the marriage of Harry with Cyd; a beautiful wedding with the best man as Pat, Harry’s son and Peggy as bridesmaid, Cyd’s daughter. Harry is now a father to a daughter who still loves his irresponsible and one off affair dad. Harry is a dad who still feels responsible for the break up of his marriage and for the divided childhood of his son. Therefore he wants to make amends with Peggy and make her feel that she has both her parents and happy memories of her childhood. Cyd is a young woman; the most beautiful woman of the world. She is just at the brink of starting a career and she knows that her husband is going to support her, no matter what happens. After all, both of them have gone through hell and would want to make a happy life ahead, together!
Second part deals with how the marriage begins to break up with an arrival. Harry finds love again, this time in another woman of her dreams. She is a woman who is not the most beautiful woman in the world but yet Harry loves her; the reason: she is the one who managed to see the spark in his son’s eyes. She loves his son and that is a strong enough reason for Harry to love her; even after he is married to the woman who is according to him the most beautiful woman in the world. The conflicts now start cropping up and it is up to Harry to solve it or prolong it. He manages to mess up yet again and this is where you realize that love doesn’t happen only once or twice. A man or a woman can keep falling in love and keep outgrowing from it as well.
The third part is the final realization time. Harry realizes that it is ok to fool around, rise and fall in love but there comes a time when you need to sit back and evaluate. Evaluate what you have lost and what you have gained. Life will give you enough chances of going astray; it is up to us to decide why we stay and why we go. Harry also comprehends that everything is going perfect for him and he is being loved for, without a reason. If anything goes wrong now, he has only himself to blame.
Reading the book, you start understanding some basic facts. It also gives an important lesson. The fact that our parent’s marriages worked; and worked beautifully! Why does it not happen nowadays? A simple line by Harry’s mom explains this mystery: “REST YOUR EYES”!
As humans, we are our own maker or destroyer of our life. The life is complex and you can make mistakes. The triumph is in not making mistakes but not repeating them. It is a very subtle message with a much deeper meaning. It is for all of us; to rest our desires, our passion and our thinking for a while. The grass would always be greener the other side. But it is for us to understand that the grass is not dry or colorless on our side as well.
This book is a revelation of sorts. It makes you think about life in a newer way without being preachy. It is a witty, it is moving; it is comforting and it a straight talk.
This book would be much more appreciated by the other gender; as it touches some core issues with the mankind. Parent/child conflicts, professional imposition on personal space, ego clashes; it deals with all.
It is an honest effort on the genuine dilemmas of modern life. The book has some fine, beautiful moments that we all face in our life. It is a must read for all the people who are in love, who are married, who are undergoing mid life crisis or who just want to know more about life.
***I read the book last weekend and requested for the category that time. Till the time, I got the approval, my memory had again relapsed. This is again a try and a feeble one this time; to write about a book which is worth a read by all.