..Now I see how one was unable to value the passing time. - Rated 
I have played variations on the phonetic near-equivalence of 'deaf' and 'death' -- writes David Lodge and it seems that this is the main thrust of his latest book.
The main character, Desmond Bates, who is a retired professor of linguistics is battling with his deafness and realising as he writes his journal, and changes from first to third person from time to time, that the 'deaf sentence' in the title is to him a kind of death sentence as well.
He plays with this concept and explores death and deafness in many walks of life.
'This seems to be turning into some kind of journal, or notes for an autobiography, or perhaps just occupational therapy' he says, and we realise that for David Lodge himself, suffering from deafness as he does, it is his autobiography within the autobiography of Desmond Bates.
Lodge has a masterful touch when it comes to characterisation, and greatly so in this novel.
The old father, a character whom we have met before although not the same person, in 'Nice Work' is portrayed skilfully and tenderly without any sentimentality and he is obviously based on Lodge's own father, as he hints at this in the acknowledgements at the end of the novel.
Alex Loom, the manipulative, self-absorbed student who tries to get what she wants by using her sexuality is described so well that we become fist-clenchingly angry with her many times in the course of the novel, particularly at the end.
Subsidiary characters are drawn skifully and carefully and we become part of the family as the story progresses.
Always there is the exploration of deafness and death and when Desmond visits Auschwitz, the writing is breath-taking.
Quietly, without any untoward emotion or jarring expressions of horror, David Lodge takes us through the cold and the darkness, through 'the silence, a silence broken only by the crunch of my shoes on the frozen snow, the occasional sound of a dog barking in the distance, and the mournful whistle of a train'.
Until finally he comes 'to the memorial built to the victims of Auschwitz, annd on each side of it the purpose-built gas chambers and crematoria.....' and he sees a small votive candle in a red glass vessel.
This candlelight wavers through his consciousness in the next few weeks which follow and make him aware of the hope which burns in the hearts of men through all the horrors of the death sentence which all of us succumb to eventually.
There is very little humour in this book - it is an exploration of our journey through life, our physical and mental and moral weaknesses but also the possiblilty of hope and love which see us through the infirmity and indignity of old age and illness.
He quotes from Philip Larkin who was also deaf, and says:
'the sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.'
Although it sounds heavy and sad, it is one man's journal and a life lived for others as well, and David Lodge's skill in writing is such that it is a fascinating book, brilliantly conceived and structured.
Do buy it, it is well worth reading and enjoying.
Val De Beer.
Comic not tragic - Rated
Desmond Bates has been going deaf for the last 20 years. He took early retirement from his position as Professor of Linguistics because he couldn't hear what his students were saying. Now, he faces the frustrations & indignities of deafness every day. His wife, Winifred (Fred), is sympathetic but sometimes irritated. When Desmond meets post graduate student, Alex Loom, he agrees - without realizing it - to a meeting about her thesis on the linguistics of suicide notes. He hasn't heard a word she said at a noisy gallery opening & doesn't realize he's agreed to anything at all. This leads him into a confusing relationship with the manipulative Alex, who wants Desmond to supervise her thesis. Desmond is also worried about his elderly father (also going deaf), living alone in London. This is the most poignant and humorous part of the book. Harry lives in the family home, in increasing squalor, hiding money under the floorboards, and refusing to spend any money on making his life more comfortable. David Lodge has written a beautifully observed novel which illuminates the world of people with hearing loss. Desmond's theory that blindness is tragic while deafness is merely comic is illustrated by the facts of his everyday life - struggles with hearing aid batteries, lip reading classes, & the funny yet frustrating misunderstandings in everyday conversation. Lodge shows the reader the isolation of the deaf in this absorbing novel.
you'll get a nice warm glow - Rated 
A sedate but heart-warming story of male ageing, the persistence of marriage in the face of life's little challenges and misunderstandings, and the swirling waters of father/son relationships.
Desmond is a retired Professor of Linguistics who is afflicted - as he feels - by deafness. His deafness leads him into ever more involving scrapes with a psychotic student, his wife, and his decrepit father.
Funny, fun and a bit emotional - not super-Lodge, but Lodge nonetheless. Most reminscent of Therapy, to me, with a similar narrator and narrative devices.
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