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How Far Can You Go? (Paperback)

by David Lodge (Author) "IT IS JUST AFTER eight o'clock in the morning of a dark February day, in this year of grace nineteen hundred and fifty-two ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (2 May 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140057463
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140057461
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 72,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #17 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lodge, David

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Product Description

Product Description

Polly, Dennis, Angela, Adrian and their peers were bound to lose their spiritual innocence as well as their virginities on the way from the 1950s to the ‘70s. On the one hand there was the traditional Catholic Church, on the other the siren call of the permissive society – the appearance of the pill, the disappearance of Hell and the advent of COC (Catholics for an Open Church). It was inevitable that things would change radically. But how far could it go? How far could they go? And where would it all end? Find out in this razor-sharp novel of satiric insight and comic despair.


About the Author

David Lodge has written many bestselling novels, including THINKS and NICE WORK. His books have sold well over a million copies in Penguin. Formerly Professor of English at Birmingham University, he now writes full-time. He continues to live in Birmingham.
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IT IS JUST AFTER eight o'clock in the morning of a dark February day, in this year of grace nineteen hundred and fifty-two. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Traditional Catholicism and the Permissive Society, 15 Oct 2005
By A Customer
David Lodge explores the themes of sex and religion and the power of the author in this (in my opinion) his best novel. He follows a group of a dozen or so characters most of whom are at the outset of the novel practising Catholics at the University in London in the 1950's and follows them through to middle age.

If that sounds a bit worthy then be reassured. This is comic novel - of sorts. It's not as plainly comedic as the Changing Places trilogy or Paradise News but the benefit of that is when the novel in places turns to serious events it can do so with the gravitas required.

A variety of charcters struggle with the whole range of life problems. This is not a typical novel and the oucomes are not predicatable. For instance;

"Tessa, in short was clasically ripe for having an affair, and in another milieu, or novel might well have had one. Instead, she bought lots of clothers and changed more times a day than was stricly necessary, collected cookbooks and experimeted with complicated recipes, read novels from library about mature, sensitive women having affairs, and enrolled in the Open University"

Sex is discussed and depicted in this book at great length but it is written about with more intelligence and insight than other less skilled writers. Ultimately though it is the characters who draw you in. I challenge you not to sympathise with Angela whose goodness overides her need to look for her own happiness. You will share the desperation of Miles who must reconcile his deep faith with his homosexuality. You will be drawn into the terrible difficulties of Michael who is both a devout Catholic but also incredibly turned on by the beckoning of the permissive society.

The closing section of the novel is moving in the extreme, as the characters demonstrate how far they have moved since there youth. All have faced tests to their faith and all have found there are no easy answers, Lodge the author included. I highly reccomed this novel.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars David Lodge's Best Novel, 20 Aug 2003
By G. Brooks "brooksgp" (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
.. and that's saying quite a lot. Despite the briliant comedy of "Changing Places", "Therapy" and "Nice Work", amongst others and the compelling stark Greenian realism of "Ginger, You're Barmy", for me this is the best of the lot. You get plenty of laughs, but also briliant characterisation, a kaleidoscopic view of the changing world of the English Catholic and a great insight into the dilemmas and thought processes of the Catholic mind. A book written with great style, feeling & compassion, which repays multiple reads.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Razor-sharp, engrossing novel, 23 Feb 2001
By A Customer
This is a smart, serio-comic novel about a group of Catholic students in London beginning in the early 50s, and the baleful influence of their religion upon their development. The themes are Catholicism, sex (lots), relationships, the 60s, and writing (the novelist adds a layer by occasionally appearing and talking about his craft). Razor-sharp and engrossing. I really enjoyed it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Episodic "period" piece about Catholics and Sex
I have enjoyed many of Lodge's novels. I enjoyed this less but could still recommend it for some good characterisation and wry observation. Read more
Published 12 months ago by seeyoujimmy

3.0 out of 5 stars The book was bogged down with religious minutiae.
'How far can we go' was one of the books I selected for my 'holiday
reading'. I wanted something light-hearted and as I had thoroughly enjoyed
'Therapy' and 'Paradise News'... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2001 by bookworm@tesco.net

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating study of the three decades.
i really enjoyed this book. a group of friends go from austere catholicism into the permissive seventies, with a glance behind them. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 1999

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