Book 2: A Parade of human weaknesses
As we are taken into Book 2 / Day 2 of Frank Bascombe's life, we the readers realize this is a totally different frame of mind. The intimist, almost warm atmosphere gives place to a parade of not-so-nice characters, grotesque, old and physically worn out, their views sarcastic and unbelieving, locked in their own little worlds and mostly in the second half of life, if not the fourth quarter: the Feensters; unforgettable Wally Caldwell (his wife's supposedly dead husband brought back into existence); Thom (the funniest page I read in this book, extremely embarrassing if you - like I did - took the book to the café); the first appearance of Paul's girlfriend Jill who doesn't have a hand; Clare Suddruth, the old man who wants to give his wife a house, and Wade Arsenault. What a crowd.
If people are different, style has changed too. A bit like John Coplans, the naked body: " I stare glumly in at his inflatable hemorrhoid donut". (p. 439) [why would you ever write a sentence such as this one?].
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