Hat mir gut gefallen, vor allem das letzte Kapitel, das Resümee ( )

8.5 This is a satirical and cynical look at the current fitness trends and it would seem that the character of Serenata is somewhat based on the writer herself. Shriver admits to subjecting herself to a daily fitness routine similar to Serenata. It is also a look at a marriage and the challenges of adjusting from full time work to retirement or in Remington's case dismissal. The reason for dismissal was he had been accused of assault when he slammed his hand on the desk of his boss, in anger at her perceived ineptitude. He believed that he had been overlooked in the appointment to the position she now held and was the victim of reverse racism. She was a woman of African-American decent and had a disability confining her to a wheel chair. So Remington feels he has something to prove in attempting to complete at first a marathon and then a triathlon. ( )

After I read, We Need to Talk about Kevin, I decided to try another Lionel Shriver book. Her most recent skewers the health craze with her wicked sense of humor. Not much of a plot and the unlikeable characters challenge your interest. But her elegant writing is engaging. And for those of you suffering with a spouse or partner addicted to exercise there may be just enough in the book to entertain and tickle you. ( )

Alérgica a toda clase de actividades grupales, Serenata Terpsichore, la protagonista de esta novela, es una artista de voz en off que ha dedicado su vida a hacer ejercicio físico, a correr, a nadar, a montar en bicicleta.

Ahora, al cumplir sesenta, tanta actividad le pasa una dolorosa factura en forma de artrosis. Por su parte, Remington Alabaster, su siempre sedentario marido, acaba de ser prejubilado a la fuerza del Departamento de Transportes de Albany tras un confuso enfrentamiento con su nueva jefa, y decide escoger precisamente ese momento para descubrir las bondades de la gimnasia y correr una maratón. Tras apuntarse a la fiebre del fitness, cada vez más presente en el mundo moderno, el una vez moderado Remington se convierte en un narcisista insufrible, y contrata a una estricta (y seductora) entrenadora personal, junto a la que participará en competiciones cada vez más exigentes: después de la maratón, medio Mettleman, el triatlón completo… Tan furiosa como preocupada, Serenata descubrirá que no conviene subestimar la tenacidad de un prejubilado con mucho tiempo libre que se empeña en desafiar a la edad.

Astuta y penetrante, en El movimiento del cuerpo a través del espacio la acidez de Lionel Shriver tiene un nuevo objetivo: el culto a la forma física, la entrega desmedida al ejercicio, que sirve de mirador desde el que observar tendencias, fallos y manías de la sociedad norteamericana de nuestros días, con sus tensiones culturales y raciales. Una novela feroz y explosiva, repleta de temas candentes (los sinsabores del envejecimiento, la masculinidad en crisis, las tensiones en la pareja, la corrección política), cuya mirada extremadamente aguda no elude ni una polémica, ni deja un mito sin desmontar.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Here's a teaser:

The whole tribunal, wherein an older white man is “hauled up on disciplinary charges for threatening behavior and racially and sexually aggravated assault”), indeed the whole chapter, is WELL WORTH the read.

***

REMINGTON: Just because she felt threatened doesn’t mean she was threatened.

TRINITY: I’m afraid it means exactly that. You can’t argue with what people feel.

…

TRINITY: Our frame of reference is progressive contemporary mores … Well, times have changed.

REMINGTON: What has not changed—what has always been the case with human beings—is that “feelings” are no more factually sacrosanct than any other form of testimony. So you can “argue with what people feel.” Because people lie about what they feel. They exaggerate what they feel. They describe what they feel poorly, sometimes out of sheer verbal inadequacy. They mistake one feeling for another. They often have no idea what they feel. They will sometimes mischaracterize their emotions with an eye to an ulterior motive—such as to slander a man who does indeed “threaten” them, but only with his comparative professional competence. ( )