Usually when reading I tend to like a supporting character. They aren’t usually admirable characters- like Cecilia in Ian McEwan’s Atonement, or Daisy in The Great Gatsby- they are usually the characters class discussions rip apart. But I’m fascinated by them.

In order to really love a book, I feel I have to connect to some aspect of the story, but usually it’s a character that I like to connect to. I like the characters with flaws, unique and sort of unexplained. And I like the novels that are entirely crafted- where there isn’t a sentence or word or period out of place- like I found Fitzgerald and McEwan be.

I am currently writing a research paper on John Updike’s Rabbit, Run and it has the same crafted feel, as Updike has in all his work, but the characters, while deep and flawed, I find the lack a fascinating quality which generally draws me into a novel. Even in A&P, I liked the narrator and I liked Queenie. The closest I come to being intrigued with a Rabbit, Run character is Ruth, especially when she turns Harry away when she tells him she is pregnant. But the story doesn’t intrigue me because of my disconnect with the characters.

Sometimes writing a paper on a novel you love is really difficult because there is so much to say, but for me and Rabbit, Run I just feel disconnected, which is making it difficult for me.