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A review by edgwareviabank
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
3.5
Up to the end of the July 2020 chapters, I'd have given Romantic Comedy 5 stars. I loved the part set in the TNO studios: the dialogue flew effortlessly, and the characters leapt off the page, with very well detailed inner lives, quirks and humour. For similar reasons, I wished the email exchange between Sally and Noah would never end. I'd have happily read an entire novel based on that.
However, I found the section set in L.A. a little cheesy. I realise that might have been the author's intention, but it didn't land well with me. Even when bumps in the road occur, the relationship between Sally and Noah runs a little too smoothly to be realistic, or to warrant Sally's constant worrying and self-sabotaging. On one hand, that may be precisely the point: a woman jumps into the honeymoon phase of a relationship from a state of enough independence (and, possibly, privilege) that is plausibly and genuinely her main concern. I don't fully buy that, though, because the tone is, overall, witty and lighthearted in a way I wouldn't expect a criticism of society to be. It's a romantic comedy, after all, through and through. All this to say: even when characters seem to be digging deep into their insecurities and flawed selves, there isn't enough depth for my personal taste.
I did like Sally as a character: up until the end of the email exchange, her backstory, sense of humour and sense of self emerge through plenty of well-observed details. I found her relatable, in a way few When the L.A. section starts, brilliance starts descending a little too much into self-absorption, and some her exchanges with Noah begin to sound annoyingly smug (maybe that's how all new couples are, which only makes me hope my partner and I never sounded like this to other people!). I also didn't love the decision to use the pandemic to frame the story: little of the fear, panic, uncertainty and tragedy that took hold of everyone's lives comes across convincingly, aside from a couple of scenes towards the end. I'd rather have read a story set in a completely different period, even just one or two years earlier, than seen that specific time of our lives exploited purely as a device to establish sense of time.
However, I found the section set in L.A. a little cheesy. I realise that might have been the author's intention, but it didn't land well with me. Even when bumps in the road occur, the relationship between Sally and Noah runs a little too smoothly to be realistic, or to warrant Sally's constant worrying and self-sabotaging. On one hand, that may be precisely the point: a woman jumps into the honeymoon phase of a relationship from a state of enough independence (and, possibly, privilege) that is plausibly and genuinely her main concern. I don't fully buy that, though, because the tone is, overall, witty and lighthearted in a way I wouldn't expect a criticism of society to be. It's a romantic comedy, after all, through and through. All this to say: even when characters seem to be digging deep into their insecurities and flawed selves, there isn't enough depth for my personal taste.
I did like Sally as a character: up until the end of the email exchange, her backstory, sense of humour and sense of self emerge through plenty of well-observed details. I found her relatable, in a way few When the L.A. section starts, brilliance starts descending a little too much into self-absorption, and some her exchanges with Noah begin to sound annoyingly smug (maybe that's how all new couples are, which only makes me hope my partner and I never sounded like this to other people!). I also didn't love the decision to use the pandemic to frame the story: little of the fear, panic, uncertainty and tragedy that took hold of everyone's lives comes across convincingly, aside from a couple of scenes towards the end. I'd rather have read a story set in a completely different period, even just one or two years earlier, than seen that specific time of our lives exploited purely as a device to establish sense of time.