One Day at a Time

Hello faithful readers - sorry for the delay in posting! I was rather busy last weekend, but things have calmed down now, and the rest of the summer should be smooth sailing from here.

The book I am going to talk about today is One Day by David Nicholls. It is about Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, who meet on July 15, 1988 on their last day of university. The book follows the progress of their relationship by checking in with them on July 15th for the next 20 years or so. This was another one on the Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Fiction. The book has already been optioned for a movie with Anne Hathaway (love!) and Jim Sturgess (who?).

So far, I seem to be really enjoying the non-fiction of the list and not enjoying the fiction books as much. This book is no exception. I really hated the first few chapters, but I persevered, and grew to like it. It was not bad. Do I want to own it? No. Was it a mildly enjoyable read? Yes.

I was very intrigued by the one day per year format, and I thought it really added to the book. I would read about something that the characters were planning for later on that year, and I'd have to wait until the next check-in to find out what happened. I thought that was a neat trick.

On the other hand, however, that's almost all the book had going for it. I don't think I'd be interested in the characters of Emma and Dexter if the book had just been written in a normal way. Your main characters should be able to carry a book no matter how it's written. But I just wouldn't be interested enough to read about them without the conceit of only learning about their lives one day at a time.

I might be interested enough to read about Emma - especially as I think she sort of had short shrift in this book. It's supposed to be about two people - Dex and Em - but I think the author focused more on Dexter's journey and grow than he did on Emma's. And there was some sort of inconsistent characterization at the end: Emma is thoroughly annoyed with her friends with children, yet only a few years later she wants a baby desperately. There was no hint of this complete change of mind at all.

My main problem is with the character of Dexter. He starts off as the kind of guy who is, well, a jerk. He's a lad - to use the British slang (in keeping with the Britain-set book). He tarts around with girls, drinks and drugs, thinks he's so amazing, has some sort of trust fund so he doesn't really have to work - in short, he's not a very likeable character. And he doesn't really change or grow - he does, to some extent - but is essentially the same person at the end as he was at the beginning. Unlike Emma, who does grow and change, but who is not documented as well as Dexter. With this type of characterization, it is very hard to see what Emma sees in Dexter. Sure, a woman might be swept off her feet by a pretty face, but if he's a jerk, she'll realize that sooner or later and come to her senses. Unless she's the sort of woman who will put up with jerkiness for the sake of being in a relationship. And Emma is not that sort of woman.

I also had an issue with the structure of the book. The book opens with Emma and Dexter's meeting on July 15, 1988. But, the reader does not really learn about what happened on that day. It's briefly alluded to, but not enough to form any definite conclusions about what happened. While at first I was annoyed (how are these two people supposed to make some epic connection over an encounter that brief!), I eventually came around. I liked that the author wasn't showing us what happened, but letting us make up our own minds. Until the end, after the climax of the story, when the author flashes back to July 15, 1988 and shows us what happened. I think that was a mistake, story-wise. By then, I didn't want to know about July 15, 1988, because I already had my own idea of what happened. He should have told us at the beginning, or not at all.

From all of this, it sounds like I hated the book. I truly did not - after I got into it, it was an enjoyable read; mostly because each day ended on a cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved until the next yearly check-in. It's not a terrible book, but neither is it an amazing book. It is a nice, light-hearted summer read, however. If you're looking for something light and summery, this could be the read for you.