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A Novel
by Tom Rachman
Book Reviewed by:Rome. News. Two words which immediately reminded me of Joe Bradley, the fictional American journalist in William Wyler's Roman Holiday, a 1953 romance in which Bradley (Gregory Peck) encounters Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn), a young woman who has escaped from her aides for a respite from making public appearances. He accompanies her on a tour of the city to write an exclusive story, though she remains unaware of his motive throughout much of the film. I started reading The Imperfectionists imagining that it might bear a similar banter and glamour. While it does contain cinematic moments, including occasions when a corrections editor cries out "Credibility!" during his rounds at the office - a hat-tip to a breezier, comedic style of dialog - as well as descriptions of the newspaper's formative years, which evoke a nostalgic version of Rome, Rachman's debut deepens the portrayal of opportunism that Roman Holiday introduces (and redeems in the final scenes, when Bradley decides not to publish his story). There are few such reversals in this book, which details a world where getting the "scoop" often triumphs over empathy for a subject's privacy, and where career ambitions determine the actions of many of the titular "imperfectionists" who struggle with pressures of work and home. Rare acts of forgiveness rub shoulders with stories of employees enacting revenge as their paper staggers under the strain of economic problems and inept leadership.
Two characters love partners who betray them. One woman maintains an arrangement with her older husband, who permits her to sleep with their neighbor because he understands that she is not "finished" with that part of her life; the editor-in-chief's husband cheats, just as the chief financial officer's ex-husband had done. Rachman's matter-of-fact approach turns these stories into meaningful character studies rather than voyeuristic glimpses. The affairs serve less to drive the plot than as a means for exploring how individuals respond to painful circumstances; in several cases, we meet them after their relationships have already begun to fray. There are no profound apologies for their lapses in judgment, either - an astute choice to prevent conclusions that could seem too epiphanic.
A welcome sign of goodness in the midst of unpleasant circumstances surfaces in the story of Arthur Gopal, an obituary writer whose daughter Pickle is a "wonderful nerd." In a field where appearances play a crucial role - from employees who feign ignorance or competence depending on which stance is most convenient, to public relations specialists who can frame any situation to benefit their clients - Pickle remains unaffected. She is a necessary, charming reminder of what life beyond the news world can offer, and a contrast to the less admirable characters.
Though it is tough to read about selfishness, this debut is noteworthy as a portrayal of everyday lives during decisive moments in a changing landscape. It successfully weaves between workplace drama and domestic tales to combine moments of free-spirited liveliness with a realistic sobriety about relationships that seldom survive the differences between those involved.
This review was originally published in April 2010, and has been updated for the
January 2011 paperback release.
Click here to go to this issue.
BookBrowse's Karen Rigby interviews Tom Rachman
BB: How has studying cinema informed your writing?
TR: At college, I majored in film studies, so movies certainly affected how I tell stories. One strength of cinema is its speed: a movie must grip you and tell a story fast; it ought to pull you completely into the onscreen world. Movies have limits, though, struggling to move beyond what can be seen and what can be heard. The written story allows you to venture more deeply inside characters - a novel explores those aspects of people that, in day-to-day life, we cannot easily see or hear. This is what I hoped to do in The Imperfectionists, to bare the thoughts of a range of people who weren't necessarily shrieking but who were worth hearing. If my book also contains something of the pacing and directness of a good film, then I would be very happy.
BB: In many of the stories, relationships decline after pivotal events or quieter, emotional realizations. Rather than romanticizing the expat experience, they explore loneliness, infidelities, and death, among other struggles...
TR: Life overseas (the novel is set in Rome) can be thrilling and disheartening, liberating and constricting. You have the freedom to invent yourself, but lack the supports that your own culture offers. This makes expats a tight-knit bunch. However, the individual's experience can also be deeply isolating. That theme - being among people yet feeling alone - fascinates me; perhaps it is something I've felt. And it can occur anywhere, not only abroad. One might feel it at work, among acquaintances, even within a family.
BB: In an interview with The Australian you mention the cynicism that permeates the news world, and the imperfection of the enterprise and the characters that inhabit it. What was it like to balance the portrayal of this sometimes ruthless job and the desire to render the characters as endearing?
TR: Working in news is strange: journalists bump up against huge issues every day, yet remain rooted in smaller, personal issues, worrying about slights from colleagues, about promotions, about late buses, about what's for dinner. Their lives straddle the tremendously important and the tremendously trivial. It's inevitable; it's how humans respond. The consequence for journalists is often burnout or cynicism. When I imagined my characters, I didn't conceive of them as likeable or unlikeable, but tried only to understand them. Unexpectedly, this had the effect of making me sympathize even with those who, had I met them in real life, might have been tough to love.
BB: Lest the reader imagine it is a bleak book, resilience is also a strong quality that emerges. How did Arthur Gopal's arc come about?
Read the rest of the interview
This review was originally published in April 2010, and has been updated for the
January 2011 paperback release.
Click here to go to this issue.
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