NICE WORK
David Lodge's novel “Nice Work” is a very amusing book. Something that had some sort of impact on my thinking was the very different characteristics of the main characters and how they finally, against all odds, somehow began to like each other. With against all odds I mean that the characters have very different histories and backgrounds which influence their opinions. But as the time pass by they learn to understand each other, which is the key in any relationship. Because if you don’t understand a human being it is often very hard to really like the person (even if it is very hard to understand females on a regular basis but you like them anyway, perhaps that maybe explains the thrill in a growing relationship).
The main characters of the book are Vic and Robyn. Robyn is a feministic university teacher and she wants everyone to be equal and prefer a developing work instead of high wage. Vic is rather the opposite and is a MD at an industrial factory (Pringles) with focus on how to maximize the profit and rationalizing the company costs. They meet when “The industry year” appoint Robyn to follow Vic at his job in the factory one day a week for the rest of the semester. In the beginning the exchange of the experience, which is the meaning with her presence, doesn’t work well. They meet several times but their different lifestyles and ideologies collide and prevent a fruitful dialog. Robyn doesn’t enjoy her situation at the factory and can´t wait to go back to teaching at the university. But after a while the unlikely couple begin to understand each others personality and their relationship develops, despite that Robyn is dogmatic feminist and Vic has a pragmatic view on things. Both have some troubles and somehow the relationship develops in a romantic affair. I think this is a very common way to begin a relationship or a friendship, you don’t feel so much for each other at the first beginning because you don’t understand why the other person act at a certain way. But after some time you understand the characters individual behavior and can accept or begin to like her personal characteristics and this creates funny moments, interesting dialogs and maybe results in some form of attraction.
An interesting part of the book is in the end when Vic and Robyn stop being so extreme in their opinions, despite that they earlier were rather principle in their ideologies.
The book has a happy ending when Vic and Robyn appear to spend the rest of their lives together, “happily ever after”. Despite the interesting reading about the characters it is not my regular type of book, therefore I am afraid I won’t read more books of David Lodge. I rather prefer factual study books, so I may not be Lodge´s target audience. But anyhow it is a quite humoristic book and I believe that I would recommend the book for someone who need or want to read an English book.
