Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Picador (2011), Edition: Reprint, 240 pages
Description
Since leaving his job to look after Alexa, his eight year old daughter, Thomas Bradshaw has found the structure of his daily piano practice and the study of musical form brings a nourishment to these difficult middle years. His pursuit of a more artistic way of life shocks and irritates his parents and his in-laws.
Media reviews
Luisteren. Is nl. een radio-recensie.
Rachel Cusk is een van de interessantste schrijfsters van dit moment, en misschien ook wel een van de meest deprimerende. Interessant vanwege de intelligente manier waarop ze schrijft over de intieme betrekkingen tussen vrouwen en mannen, ouders en kinderen, en deprimerend om dezelfde reden. Dat
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laatste is meteen ook het enige wat er in te brengen is tégen haar werk: ze is wel heel erg ernstig, en somber. Haar vorige roman, Arlington Park (2006), was om die reden moeilijk uit te lezen. De blik waarmee ze hierin haar ogenschijnlijk geslaagde vrouwelijke personages naar hun respectievelijke mannen laat kijken, agressief en tegelijkertijd gelaten, is eentonig koud. Het feit dat de vrouwen zelf uit opportunisme de verhoudingen in stand houden, maakt de boel er niet opwekkender op, maar wel dubbelzinniger. Alle mannen kunnen dan wel moordenaars zijn – ‘Ze nemen een vrouw en geleidelijk aan vermoorden ze haar’ –, je kunt van tijd tot tijd wel fijn tegen ze aan leunen. Er zijn geen daders en slachtoffers, we’re into this together, en het is de vraag of er iets anders mogelijk is. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member wandering_star
The Bradshaw Variations is about an extended family. The main characters are all just about in their 40s, and slightly puzzled as to where they ended up where they have. They all relate to each other in well-established ways; each of them, at times, resents the way that others assume that they are
One of the book's epigraphs quotes Sartre as telling us that Bach "taught us how to find originality within an established discipline; actually - how to live", and that's really what the book is about - the way that we all construct and are constrained by the myths of our own lives. We would all say that we want to live freely, and yet is it ever possible for us to escape from ourselves? And indeed, what would it really mean to live freely? Cusk builds up a sense of the fragility of the world we construct, without which we would just be human beings hurtling through space - no wonder we cling to the certainties of our lives.
Cusk has a sharp eye for the trappings of a life - the clothes, the houses, and what they say about us and our tribe. She also writes beautifully - I was often torn between letting the prose take me rushing on and stopping to explore a complex thought which was quickly expressed.
It's probably not for everyone - it is quite cerebral and emotionally detached, and not very much actually happens. But I enjoyed it enormously.
Recommended for: anyone who wants a thought-provoking book about human relationships, and who doesn't mind books about middle-class people worrying about middle-class concerns.
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unchanging, and yet they continue to see each others' lives in particular lights, "as a harmonic key governs a melody".One of the book's epigraphs quotes Sartre as telling us that Bach "taught us how to find originality within an established discipline; actually - how to live", and that's really what the book is about - the way that we all construct and are constrained by the myths of our own lives. We would all say that we want to live freely, and yet is it ever possible for us to escape from ourselves? And indeed, what would it really mean to live freely? Cusk builds up a sense of the fragility of the world we construct, without which we would just be human beings hurtling through space - no wonder we cling to the certainties of our lives.
Cusk has a sharp eye for the trappings of a life - the clothes, the houses, and what they say about us and our tribe. She also writes beautifully - I was often torn between letting the prose take me rushing on and stopping to explore a complex thought which was quickly expressed.
It's probably not for everyone - it is quite cerebral and emotionally detached, and not very much actually happens. But I enjoyed it enormously.
Recommended for: anyone who wants a thought-provoking book about human relationships, and who doesn't mind books about middle-class people worrying about middle-class concerns.
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LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
LibraryThing Early Reviewer scheme 10 Aug 2009
The story of a year in the life of an extended family, focussing on Thomas and Tonie, who have recently swapped roles at home, and Howard and Claudia, older businessman brother of Thomas and his lapsed artist wife. The bickering older Bradshaws are
The style and tone are very detached and I didn't really form an emotional attachment to any of the characters - most seemed to have a morality based on selfishness and not enough attractive characteristics to balance this. The author didn't really seem to "care" about any of her characters either, apart from as symbols to show a) how there are different ways to cope with trying to control the world; b) that there is no answer to the dilemma of whether women should stay within the home or go out to work (both sides are shown struggling and punished) and c) that acting selfishly (even the dog with its hedonism) will bring punishment and destruction. So a moral tale but without the attractive/engaging characters that would make the morals hit home more effectively.
The joint climax of the story seems contrived and in one case obvious (why put animals in books just as symbols - an eternal criticism of mine!). Some of the characters get lost, the central conceit of Thomas' world view as a set of musical metaphors gets diluted and tails off, there is no real resolution, but I don't suppose there is meant to be, as the book's narrative is bounded by the year rather than the action.
It all felt a bit like an exercise in writing about different kinds of characters and their relationships, and fell a bit flat. There were some perceptive portrayals, eg Alexa and Olga, and some interesting exploration on how Thomas finds it harder to listen to his favourite male pianists once he starts learning the piano himself, but the book ultimately doesn't have *enough*, either in the form of a plot or of enjoyable and minute description of family relationships and interior monologues.
I think this is going for the Weldon or Moggach reader. Cusk has published a good few books (I read another years ago which had the same detached feeling) but I don't think this is likely to be her commercial breakthrough.
The story of a year in the life of an extended family, focussing on Thomas and Tonie, who have recently swapped roles at home, and Howard and Claudia, older businessman brother of Thomas and his lapsed artist wife. The bickering older Bradshaws are
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skilfully portrayed, younger brother Leo and his alcoholic wife are sketched in, mainly to give amusing lines to their children, and leads on Tonie's family and the life of the piano teacher are not really followed up.The style and tone are very detached and I didn't really form an emotional attachment to any of the characters - most seemed to have a morality based on selfishness and not enough attractive characteristics to balance this. The author didn't really seem to "care" about any of her characters either, apart from as symbols to show a) how there are different ways to cope with trying to control the world; b) that there is no answer to the dilemma of whether women should stay within the home or go out to work (both sides are shown struggling and punished) and c) that acting selfishly (even the dog with its hedonism) will bring punishment and destruction. So a moral tale but without the attractive/engaging characters that would make the morals hit home more effectively.
The joint climax of the story seems contrived and in one case obvious (why put animals in books just as symbols - an eternal criticism of mine!). Some of the characters get lost, the central conceit of Thomas' world view as a set of musical metaphors gets diluted and tails off, there is no real resolution, but I don't suppose there is meant to be, as the book's narrative is bounded by the year rather than the action.
It all felt a bit like an exercise in writing about different kinds of characters and their relationships, and fell a bit flat. There were some perceptive portrayals, eg Alexa and Olga, and some interesting exploration on how Thomas finds it harder to listen to his favourite male pianists once he starts learning the piano himself, but the book ultimately doesn't have *enough*, either in the form of a plot or of enjoyable and minute description of family relationships and interior monologues.
I think this is going for the Weldon or Moggach reader. Cusk has published a good few books (I read another years ago which had the same detached feeling) but I don't think this is likely to be her commercial breakthrough.
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LibraryThing member 60GoingOn16
Rachel Cusk's previous novels, especially Arlington Park, were well received so I started out hopefully; not having read any of her earlier books, I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect. It was a huge disappointment; a novel that like a crossword puzzle mentioned early on "doesn't go
Yet another novel written in the present tense to no apparent effect, as it certain doesn't heighten the tension. Not that there is much tension to heighten. It is also a prime example of over-writing. (Did this book have an editor? Just asking.) Perhaps the over-writing was intended to compensate for the flatness of the characters.
Had this not been a review copy, I would probably have given up by chapter two but I felt duty bound to read to the end.
In the 1950s, the UK had a popular radio comedy sketch programme called Take It From Here. One of its regular sketches featured a family called the Glums. The Bradshaws are little more than a middle-class version of the Glums - but without the humour. The sort of family that has been picked over ad infinitum by oh-so-many writers, so any novelist venturing into this territory needs to have something new or different to say about middle-class life. The Bradshaw Variations fails on both counts.
Dreary and depressing and probably best not read by anyone feeling a tad melancholy.
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anywhere". I felt like giving the characters - and the book - a good shake. Yet another novel written in the present tense to no apparent effect, as it certain doesn't heighten the tension. Not that there is much tension to heighten. It is also a prime example of over-writing. (Did this book have an editor? Just asking.) Perhaps the over-writing was intended to compensate for the flatness of the characters.
Had this not been a review copy, I would probably have given up by chapter two but I felt duty bound to read to the end.
In the 1950s, the UK had a popular radio comedy sketch programme called Take It From Here. One of its regular sketches featured a family called the Glums. The Bradshaws are little more than a middle-class version of the Glums - but without the humour. The sort of family that has been picked over ad infinitum by oh-so-many writers, so any novelist venturing into this territory needs to have something new or different to say about middle-class life. The Bradshaw Variations fails on both counts.
Dreary and depressing and probably best not read by anyone feeling a tad melancholy.
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LibraryThing member triscuit
I have liked all of Cusk's novels so perhaps I have a relationship with her that skews me to forgive/appreciate her rather more than the previous reviewers here. The things they complain about are not necessarily negatives for me - I am not a plot driven reader and I like cerebral when it is
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written in such clear and perceptive prose. I usually avoid morose writing but I find this bracing rather than depressing. I do get weary of middle class, middle aged angst and this may be a bit too much like a achingly cold French film at times. But then she comes up with such a perfect description of a way of being, a feeling, an abstraction that normally falls outside our perception and it is like I have been given a gift of sight, of seeing things as they are, an 'oh yes' moment. Show Less
LibraryThing member sanddancer
The Bradshaw Variations is a tale of upper middle class anxieties across the extended Bradshaw family. IAt the centre is Thomas Bradshaw, who has recently given up work to become a house husband to allow his wife to work full time. We are also introduced to his brothers, their wives, his parents
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and his wife's parents. Whilst I'm sure the author feels she has created a rich and interesting cast, I found them a dull bunch of self-absorbed cliches. They certainly never seemed like real people and if people like this do exist, then I'm certainly glad I don't know them. We are given access to the thoughts of several of the people in the book, but each perspective is written in the same way - over-written, over-burdened with descriptions that often are laughable and they all sound the same. Even the 8 year old daughter sounds identical to her parents. Strangely the book was quite an esay read, perhaps I was just keen to not spend any more time in their company, but there was no real depth to any of it. I would describe it as chick-lit with pretentions. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stromata
This is the first work of fiction that I have read by Rachel Cusk, but I have recently read 'The Last Summer' an account of a summer spent withy her family in Italy, which I greatly enjoyed.
When I read the first chapter or so of 'The Bradshaw Variations' I must admit to thinking 'oh no, not another
When I read the first chapter or so of 'The Bradshaw Variations' I must admit to thinking 'oh no, not another
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tale of middle-class angst', but I quickly became ensnared by the lives of the family around whom this story revolves. I think part of the initial struggle with this book is due in part to the writing being perhaps a little less tight and spare than in later chapters. Chapter fourteen, where a mother and father make a visit to the house of their adult daughter, contains the best writing I have read in contemporary fiction for years. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member dudara
The book centres on various members of the Bradshaw family and in particular, Thomas, Tonie and their daughter, Alexa. The traditional family roles are reversed when Tonie accepts a promotion to chair the English department in the university where she lectures and Thomas becomes a stay-at-home
The book tries to capture the tribulations of family life, but the writing is so detached that I found it hard to form any affection for the characters or their problems. It's a nice slim hardcover book but it still took me a long time to read it. I literally had to drag myself through it. Extremely unsatisfying.
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father to Alexa. Other characters are Thomas' brothers and their families as well as their respective parents.The book tries to capture the tribulations of family life, but the writing is so detached that I found it hard to form any affection for the characters or their problems. It's a nice slim hardcover book but it still took me a long time to read it. I literally had to drag myself through it. Extremely unsatisfying.
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LibraryThing member gaskella
A year in the life of the Bradshaws - three brothers, ageing parents and their families and three family mid-life crises. Firstly, there's middle brother Thomas who has taken a year's sabbatical to learn the piano, his wife Tonie who has been promoted and back at work full-time, and daughter Alexa.
This is a stylised novel in which to quote Tolstoy, "each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." It is predominantly told from Thomas' point of view, house-husband and musician-manqué, and the author uses many musical metaphors to describe his part. Tonie, his wife however is so aloof, she's almost not there, until crisis comes. The episode near the end involving Howard's family and their unloved dog Skittle was hilariously awful and in its drama does much to leaven the intensity of this chronicle of middle-class family life.
I felt it was trying too hard to be clever, instead rather suffering in its detachment - funnily I remember feeling similarly about 'The Travelling Horn Player' by Barbara Trapido when I read that a few years ago, (it also has a musical theme running through it), although the latter had a more interesting cast of characters.
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Older brother Howard is successful and impulsive, wife Claudia likes to be busy which keeps her in excuses for not going into her studio shed to paint. Then there's Leo, the youngest, who's rather insecure and his heavy-drinking wife Susie. Behind them are their parents who constantly bicker.This is a stylised novel in which to quote Tolstoy, "each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." It is predominantly told from Thomas' point of view, house-husband and musician-manqué, and the author uses many musical metaphors to describe his part. Tonie, his wife however is so aloof, she's almost not there, until crisis comes. The episode near the end involving Howard's family and their unloved dog Skittle was hilariously awful and in its drama does much to leaven the intensity of this chronicle of middle-class family life.
I felt it was trying too hard to be clever, instead rather suffering in its detachment - funnily I remember feeling similarly about 'The Travelling Horn Player' by Barbara Trapido when I read that a few years ago, (it also has a musical theme running through it), although the latter had a more interesting cast of characters.
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LibraryThing member AllieW
Thomas Bradshaw is on sabbaticaL and, since his wife, Tonie, has just been promoted to Head of the English Department at the university, he has become a house-husband. They do not seem entirely comfortable in their new roles. This uncomfortableness seems to permeate the entire novel. Most of the
Cusk has drawn her characters well and the writing is good, on the whole. The plot, such as it is, follwos the course of Thomas' sabbatical year and how the family react to the changes it causes. There is speculation on love, the nature of progress, marriage, self-identity and how we perceive others.
Generally I found this very readable, but there was something vaguely unsatisfying about it in the end. I had the nagging feeling that somewhere in this quite good novel was an utterly brilliant one trying to get out. Unfortunately, it didn't emerge.
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characters appear to be, in some way, dissatisfied with the way their lives have panned out, often comparing themselves unfavourably with others.Cusk has drawn her characters well and the writing is good, on the whole. The plot, such as it is, follwos the course of Thomas' sabbatical year and how the family react to the changes it causes. There is speculation on love, the nature of progress, marriage, self-identity and how we perceive others.
Generally I found this very readable, but there was something vaguely unsatisfying about it in the end. I had the nagging feeling that somewhere in this quite good novel was an utterly brilliant one trying to get out. Unfortunately, it didn't emerge.
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LibraryThing member arkgirl1
This tale of an extended family over a year consists of little vignettes of their lives from different perspectives. Although Cusk is undoubtedly an accomplished writer, and some of the insights are cleverly portrayed, the novel, for me, lacks emotional depth . The musical motif sometimes seems
The book starts and ends with the central pairing of Thomas and Tonie; he has just taken over as house-husband and stay-at-home father[to 8 yr old Alexa] whilst his wife re-establishes her career. It then moves on to dip into the lives of their parents, his siblings and wives, and finally their lodger. All are very difficult to warm to and the whole tale has a detached feel.
It does have ideas that made me stop and think but overall it did not move me and I desire more than an intellectual challenge and treatise on middle-class morals to fully satisfy my reading demands.
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artificially shoe-horned in but then the writing can then twist and turn lyrically adding an extra dimension to the story. Eventually the idea that gives the novel its title seems to peter out.The book starts and ends with the central pairing of Thomas and Tonie; he has just taken over as house-husband and stay-at-home father[to 8 yr old Alexa] whilst his wife re-establishes her career. It then moves on to dip into the lives of their parents, his siblings and wives, and finally their lodger. All are very difficult to warm to and the whole tale has a detached feel.
It does have ideas that made me stop and think but overall it did not move me and I desire more than an intellectual challenge and treatise on middle-class morals to fully satisfy my reading demands.
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LibraryThing member ccayne
If you need to be driven by plot, this will not be your novel. If you enjoy good writing and a cerebral look at a microcosm of a family's year, you will enjoy Cusk's latest effort. We see the interior lives of the Bradshaw family, particularly Thomas, Tonie and their daughter Alexa. Each of their
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lives invites examination as they move through a year of change - Thomas is not working and is absorbed in music, Tonie is promoted without desiring it and Alexa absorbs the changes in her parents. On the periphery are Thomas' family, each in their own state of flux. Show Less
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
I always know what I’m getting into with a Rachel Cusk novel – lots of high brow musing, a sort of intellectualising of everyday life, and some moments that speak perfect truth about families and the way people interact. This book was no exception. The only difficulty I find is that for every
Similar to Arlington Park in its obsessive analysis and fearsome – sometimes off-putting – intelligence, The Bradshaw Variations focuses on the members of a family, shining its spotlight on each of them for brief periods. The chapters are shorter, though, so if the thread is lost it is easy to start anew a few pages later.
Though the central focus is on a husband and wife who have agreed on a role reversal with him becoming a house-husband, these were the characters I found hardest to understand, picture or like. Far better were the brother and sister-in-law Howard and Claudia, and their dog who frankly stole the show.
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moment of crystal-clarity there are paragraphs of musings that I could not comprehend even if I had several lifetimes in which to ponder over them.Similar to Arlington Park in its obsessive analysis and fearsome – sometimes off-putting – intelligence, The Bradshaw Variations focuses on the members of a family, shining its spotlight on each of them for brief periods. The chapters are shorter, though, so if the thread is lost it is easy to start anew a few pages later.
Though the central focus is on a husband and wife who have agreed on a role reversal with him becoming a house-husband, these were the characters I found hardest to understand, picture or like. Far better were the brother and sister-in-law Howard and Claudia, and their dog who frankly stole the show.
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LibraryThing member camharlow2
Vignettes of family life over the course of a year make up this novel. It follows some of the events to affect the relationships of the Bradshaw family, in building a picture of the three different generations in the family and explores not only the feelings between the generations, but those
However, I found the writing less than engaging. This meant that although the developments for the family members did follow a natural course within the novel, the characters seemed somewhat distanced and I was unable to engender much feeling and concern for them.
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within each age group. However, I found the writing less than engaging. This meant that although the developments for the family members did follow a natural course within the novel, the characters seemed somewhat distanced and I was unable to engender much feeling and concern for them.
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LibraryThing member bodachliath
A searching and beautifully written dissection of the stresses and tensions in the lives of an ordinary middle class extended family.
LibraryThing member Rdra1962
Very insightful views into 4 marriages in one family. A bit Brit-dry, but well written and even, at some points, funny!
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
240 p.; 5.5 inches
ISBN
0312680678 / 9780312680671
Local notes
Fiction