Roger Rosenblatt is a distinguished essayist, play-write and
novelist. I had never read his work until his most recent novel: Thomas Murphy.
It is a delightful book filled with insights about poetry, family, aging, and
dementia. Yes, it does sometimes border on being a too-sweet dessert, but
Rosenblatt always brings it back to earth. The novel is told in the voice of
Thomas Murphy, an aging Irish poet who lives in New York, a widower with a loving
daughter and grandson. His daughter is pushing him for tests by a neurologist
for his memory problems. Murphy's dealings with the doctor, and everyone else,
are priceless...and funny.
I know, it sounds like a candidate for another feel-good movie, but
it's worth looking beyond the icing. Murphy's tongue in cheek monologues are free from
chronology and also free from distinguishing fact from fiction, which can
make them wonderful. The reader becomes accustomed to Murphy's stories woven
into "the story", and one quickly doesn't care whether it is history
or story or both, because it's great story-telling. His observations about
life, art, love, loss, are all worth reading and considering.
OK, truth be told, I read this book when I hit a big
speed-bump in my life, bang! Despite Murphy's trials, this book was a real pick-me-up, so sue me. I can imagine
and hear Thomas saying, "And what could be wrong with that?"
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