Being Committed: 05/11/07

Being Committed is the worst book I've read so far this year. Considering I've read 140 so far, that's pretty bad! I was surprised at how much I hated it given how I had found Behaving Like Adults to be a surprisingly strong novel.

Hannah, the protagonist, is a detective who claims throughout the novel to understand people and yet she fails miserably in her own basic relationships. When her boyfriend of five years proposes to her, she turns him down and the plot goes down hill from there.

In fact the only sensible character in this entire novel (among the main characters) is Hannah's ex-boyfriend. He has the sense to dump her and move on. Of course she pines after him and when she can't have him back (after dumping him!) she goes after her ex-husband.

Yes, this stupid twit had been married once before to a perfectly nice young man. They had married young and she had divorced him after six months. Why? Well, who the hell knows. Hannah never gives a good reason and Maxted never breaks in to add any extra insight.

So somehow I'm supposed to follow along with Hannah and agree with all her ludicrous observations on humankind and care about her feelings. Well, sorry, but I don't. Hannah is a shallow, self obsessed, narcissistic good-for-nothing and I feel sorry for her ex.

Comments (1)

Comment #1: Saturday, May, 12, 2007 at 22:27:41

Susan Helene Gottfried, MFA

"Yeah, I wasn't thrilled with the only Anna Maxted I've read, but I think I have another one around here somewhere... I'm willing to give her another try; what am I missing that the critics love? "