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Or to risk sounding like the Emperor Joseph in the face
of Mozart's genius, "too many quotes!". At the beginning of the
novel, Bridget is reading "a modern book, one of those published to
extravagant acclaim, none of it borne out by the experience of reading
it". No doubt this is an oblique reference to Salley Vickers' hugely
successful first novel, Miss Garnet's Angel. On hearing that Salley Vickers is
a trained analytical psychologist, the overwhelming urge is to psychoanalyse
her and her work, and this impulse is too potent to resist. By writing
the above passage, Salley Vickers seems to be saying a number of things:
1). that modern novels aren't much good when compared to the classics,
2). that the huge success of Miss Garnet's Angel took her a bit by
surprise, and 3). don't believe the hype (I'm good but I'm not that good kind
of false modesty). The title of this second novel immediately made me
think of Peter Greenaway's 'Drowning by Numbers', but dedicated followers of
Miss Garnet needn't be afraid to read on. Instances of the Number 3
is a hugely fun, thought provoking novel that works on many different
levels. It's not perfect, but then Salley Vickers is dealing with the
essence of what it is to be human, and we know how entertaining their faults
can be.
Like Miss Garnet's Angel, this novel starts off
with a death. Running throughout the novel like a manic Danish prince is
the story of Hamlet. The similarly named Peter Hansome does come back as
a ghost very early on, but he doesn't do any of that "Thou shalt
kill" stuff that so upsets minor Danish royalty. No, he hangs around
like a real wallflower, not really wanting to be seen, preferring instead to
observe. He's left behind his wife, Bridget, his mistress Frances, and
maybe even another lover. A late religious conversion has gone and got
him stuck in purgatory for the moment (and we all know how us British love
queues). The structure of the book is quite similar to Miss Garnet's
Angel in this regard, but the appearances of Peter within the text do not ride
as well as the insertions of the Book of Tobit into Salley Vickers' first
book. Peter is symbolised as a ghost by the shaky employment of italics
(I suppose there aren't that many statues of ghosts around!). It's Peter's
absence that brings out all the drama in the book, so it seems fairly pointless
to bring him back as a ghost.
It isn't hard to spot that Salley Vickers has
spent a great deal of time in higher education (she has taught English
Literature at university). As I noted earlier, there are quotes
aplenty in this book. Bridget is the most highly read of all the
characters, so it's quite handy that the bloke who comes to clean her chimney
is able to fire off rounds of Yeats at any passing Raven, the insidious local
priest gets to quote fruity Gilbert and Sullivan, Peter finds a sudden urging
to explain to Briget that "Goodbye" means "God be with
you", the "brass monkey" debate rumbles on, and a Painter called
Painter gets to quote the Beatles. Even Frances, who works in an art
gallery, knows enough about the Bible to ruminate on Rembrandt's 'The Woman
taken in Adultery'. Travel also seems to be a vital ingredient to
Vickers' work: Bridget and Stanley Godwit bruise themselves on the
"Blue remembered hills" of 'A Shropshire Lad' when she buys her
country retreat in A E Houseman's beloved shire. Salley Vickers'
characters, like Miss Garnet, seem to have to read as much about a place as
well as to experience it. This comes to the fore in the description of
Ludlow Castle on page 142: the passage concerning the building of the
castle and its history (with its "chunky Silurian limestone") is
startlingly similar to Ludlow Castle's own promotional literature. One
gets the feeling that Salley Vickers just doesn't know when to stop
quoting. This not academia where anonymity and handwriting samples come
in to play, so it does not really matter, and quoting from other sources is the
done thing in our postmodern fiction, but one can't help thinking that Salley
Vickers should be bolder: she is the author now, and would be even more potent
if she did not subordinate herself by quoting from the works of others.
Having said that, reading this novel reminds me of
Iago's "He who steals my purse...", and I'm not referring to
Venice. There's much confusion of names here: Stanley Godwit says his
name is always being mistaken for Godwin, and one of the best bits in the book
is where Painter suddenly starts ordering the Sunday Sport from his local
newsagents because they mistakenly believe that he's the famous Harold
Pinter. Salley Vickers has commented much on the unusual spelling of her
first name, which has led online search engines to get as hot and frustrated as
the first time that they came across Edward Rutherfurd's surname. Such scenes
are where Vickers seems most forthright and open, writing from her own
experience (although the character that shares her psychoanalytic profession,
Stanley Godwit's son-in-law, is practically absent from the text).
Oddly enough, I don't think that the 3 Magi make
any appearances in this book, having cropped up in Miss Garnet's Angel so
often. Salley Vickers also has many great gifts: I found that the major
psychoanalytic thread in this book was far more golden than that in her first
book. Of all the characters, I think the Iranian student Zahin is the
best, even if he does get under Frances's feet. The awkward relationship
between Bridget and Frances is also very well drawn. At the risk of
sounding like Forrest Gump, Salley Vickers' second book is like a box of
chocolates: you might discover some sickly candy within, but you'll
find yourself rooting for all your favourites. Instances of the Number 3
is ultimately a very rich and satisfying novel.
Kevin Patrick Mahoney
Authortrek rating: 8/10.
|
Visit
our Salley
Vickers page, for Salley Vickers biography, Salley Vickers bibliography,
Salley Vickers interviews, and Salley Vickers reading guides |
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