The Terrible Privacy Of Maxwell Sim
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Review
It takes real panache to write with such comedic ease; his pacing throughout is superb and delivers realististic dialogue, and, hence believable charcters ... Coe's sympathy for his creation is contagious (Robert Epstein Indpendent on Sunday )
Max is silly but he makes him more than a figure of ridicule. Instead, he understands him, shows us what it is to be ineloquent in company, to have bland tastes and a childlike need fot sameness, to not be very good at things. Through that understanding he gives us witty and tender humanity, and reminds us that while winners write the history, it is life's losers, such as Max, who have the best stories (Simon Baker Spectator )
Coe takes a risk in using the nerdish Sim as principal spokesman, but he carries it off by empathy, comedy and a venriloquist's ear for idiom. The conclusion to this fine novel, an ending in which Jonathan Coe himself plays a speaking part, is witty, unexpected and curiously unsettling (Pamela Norris Literary Review )
The Terrible Privacy is more intimate than Coe's previous novels. Coe may blackly satirise an atomised 21st-century Britain pockmarked by Travelodges and in thrall to the empty caress of instant messaging but this geographical and cultural hinterland is really a physical correlative for Sim's existential crisis (Claire Allfree Metro )
Cunningly plotted, extremely well-written and very, very funny (Mark Sanderson Daily Telegraph )
An engaging novel (Lianne Kolirin The Express )
Coe's book is as funny and as well written as you'd expect: even the banality of Maxwell's mind is rendered deadpan, with wonderful lightness. It is archly and artfully structured, too; though I can't, without spoiling a plot that delivers revelations and switch backs in careful sequence, go deeply into how (Sam Leith Prospect Magazine )
Coe has always been a virtuoso of voice. He is the master of the kind of distinctively English comedy that has its roots in Fielding and Sterne (Jonathan Derbyshire New Statesman )
Funny and touching (Grazia )
A highly engaging portrait of both a man and a society that have lost their way (Michael Arditti Daily Mail )
The plot is everything Max is not: clever, engaging, and spring-loaded with mysteries and surprises (Caroline McGinn Time Out London )
Exceptionally moving...[managing] to tell us something about loneliness, failure and the inability to cope that we haven't quite read before (Alex Clark The Guardian )
Very funny (RED ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Max is silly but he makes him more than a figure of ridicule. Instead, he understands him, shows us what it is to be ineloquent in company, to have bland tastes and a childlike need fot sameness, to not be very good at things. Through that understanding he gives us witty and tender humanity, and reminds us that while winners write the history, it is life's losers, such as Max, who have the best stories (Simon Baker Spectator )
Coe takes a risk in using the nerdish Sim as principal spokesman, but he carries it off by empathy, comedy and a venriloquist's ear for idiom. The conclusion to this fine novel, an ending in which Jonathan Coe himself plays a speaking part, is witty, unexpected and curiously unsettling (Pamela Norris Literary Review )
The Terrible Privacy is more intimate than Coe's previous novels. Coe may blackly satirise an atomised 21st-century Britain pockmarked by Travelodges and in thrall to the empty caress of instant messaging but this geographical and cultural hinterland is really a physical correlative for Sim's existential crisis (Claire Allfree Metro )
Cunningly plotted, extremely well-written and very, very funny (Mark Sanderson Daily Telegraph )
An engaging novel (Lianne Kolirin The Express )
Coe's book is as funny and as well written as you'd expect: even the banality of Maxwell's mind is rendered deadpan, with wonderful lightness. It is archly and artfully structured, too; though I can't, without spoiling a plot that delivers revelations and switch backs in careful sequence, go deeply into how (Sam Leith Prospect Magazine )
Coe has always been a virtuoso of voice. He is the master of the kind of distinctively English comedy that has its roots in Fielding and Sterne (Jonathan Derbyshire New Statesman )
Funny and touching (Grazia )
A highly engaging portrait of both a man and a society that have lost their way (Michael Arditti Daily Mail )
The plot is everything Max is not: clever, engaging, and spring-loaded with mysteries and surprises (Caroline McGinn Time Out London )
Exceptionally moving...[managing] to tell us something about loneliness, failure and the inability to cope that we haven't quite read before (Alex Clark The Guardian )
Very funny (RED ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Maxwell Sim seems to have hit rock bottom: separated from his wife and daughter, estranged from his father, and with no one to confide in even though he has 74 friends on Facebook. He's not even sure whether he's got a job until suddenly a strange business proposition comes his way which involves a long journey to the Shetland Isles - and a voyage into his family's past which throws up some surprising revelations.
Jonathan Coe's new book is a story for our times: Maxwell finds himself at sea in the modern world, surrounded by social networks but unable to relate properly to anyone. Yet as he delves into his family history he manages to find the resources to survive.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book - odd, perhaps, because the main character, Maxwell Sim, is far from lovable, or even likeable. As his wife notes, he doesn't even like himself. At the start of the book, Maxwell decides to chat with a stranger on a plane. The man makes clear that he doesn't want to join in. "I wasn't having that" comments Maxwell to us, and launches into a rambling speech that only ends when the victim drops dead (it takes Maxwell a while to notice). What else isn't likeable about Maxwell? If a woman is merely polite, he assumes that she must be falling for him (eventually he takes this to extremes and strikes up a relationship with his satnav, holding conversations with it and calling it Emma). When he is mugged, he not only hands over his phone but gives his attacker a clear description of how to get to the station. He isn't very observant - driving up the M40 from High Wycombe he remarks that the countryside is all the same, though he must have passed through the magnificent Stokenchurch cutting. (In his defence, I can't totally dislike someone who remembers where he was when John Smith died).
It is fascinating to see Sim's history gradually peeled back in the four parts of this book as he takes a journey. Each is named after one of the four elements and includes a "discovered" text or story which fills in part of the background - beginning, though, with an account of Donald Crowhurst, a 1960s would be round the world sailor whose voyage collapsed into fantasy and with whom Sim sees parallels (though his journey is less ambitious). These might seem rather heavily done, but you have to read to the very last page before it becomes completely clear what is really going on.
The idea of a man in his mid 40s embarking on an epic journey as a way of escape, or of understanding himself better, or both, didn't of course originate with Crowhurst (or Sim) - see for example Sailing Alone Around the World for the full round the world experience or Coasting (Picador Books) for a more thoughtful and introspective version. It works for Sim, giving us a perspective on how he came to be the unlikeable man he is, and complementary insights into his father (perhaps that aspect is a little too neat, though). In the end the solution for both of them is similar: but will Maxwell be able to do what is required?
In the course of Maxwell's journey, Jonathan Coe ruminates on a number of themes recognisable from his earlier books - the homegenisation of the high street (Maxwell approves of this: he likes to be able to visit a strange town and go into a familiar restaurant. He also likes motorway service stations), the loss - in Britain - of the ability, or desire, to actually make things, symbolised by the loss of the Longbridge car factory (whose fate was described in The Closed Circle. Indeed, a character in one of the included narratives goes on about the superiority of spirit to mere physicality: he is also responsible for drawing Maxwell's father into a world of gambling on exotic derivatives, to his loss).
There is just so much that's good about this book, I could go on and on, like Maxwell. Better to stop and just say: read this book!
It is fascinating to see Sim's history gradually peeled back in the four parts of this book as he takes a journey. Each is named after one of the four elements and includes a "discovered" text or story which fills in part of the background - beginning, though, with an account of Donald Crowhurst, a 1960s would be round the world sailor whose voyage collapsed into fantasy and with whom Sim sees parallels (though his journey is less ambitious). These might seem rather heavily done, but you have to read to the very last page before it becomes completely clear what is really going on.
The idea of a man in his mid 40s embarking on an epic journey as a way of escape, or of understanding himself better, or both, didn't of course originate with Crowhurst (or Sim) - see for example Sailing Alone Around the World for the full round the world experience or Coasting (Picador Books) for a more thoughtful and introspective version. It works for Sim, giving us a perspective on how he came to be the unlikeable man he is, and complementary insights into his father (perhaps that aspect is a little too neat, though). In the end the solution for both of them is similar: but will Maxwell be able to do what is required?
In the course of Maxwell's journey, Jonathan Coe ruminates on a number of themes recognisable from his earlier books - the homegenisation of the high street (Maxwell approves of this: he likes to be able to visit a strange town and go into a familiar restaurant. He also likes motorway service stations), the loss - in Britain - of the ability, or desire, to actually make things, symbolised by the loss of the Longbridge car factory (whose fate was described in The Closed Circle. Indeed, a character in one of the included narratives goes on about the superiority of spirit to mere physicality: he is also responsible for drawing Maxwell's father into a world of gambling on exotic derivatives, to his loss).
There is just so much that's good about this book, I could go on and on, like Maxwell. Better to stop and just say: read this book!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was heading for a four star review but..... read on.
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim explores many contemporary themes, among them our ability to not actually communicate properly, in a world where communication is supposedly easy, the effects of a marriage breakdown and the loneliness this brings and how one town in the UK looks very much like any other. However, form the outset, Max is not an entirely likeable character, and whilst I recognise many of the themes explored, felt it difficult to empathize with him.
The events early in the book lead him to making a journey to the Shetland Islands in order to deliver on his new employers promise of "We go further"; on the way, Max meets characters from his life, and at each stage learns something new about himself, or his family which causes him to reflect on why he is where and what he is.
The book is readable, and by no means poor, but I did not think in the same league as Coe's earlier novels, particularly What a Carve Up!and The Rotters' Club. Pages seemed to turn very quickly, as you wondered what would happen next on his journey, with his new-found friend, the Sat-Nav in his car.
However, there was just "something" missing...and I cannot put my finger on what. Maybe it was my inability to empathize, or just my lack of understanding of Max's view on life in general.
Now, back to my initial line. As I said, the book was not "bad" and was heading for four stars, but the ending..... oh my word the ending. I am not one to spoil it for anyone, but yes Denise (another reviewer here) I too felt cheated, as having read the best part of 350 pages, I thought as a reader, I deserved more than that! Too "clever" for anyone, me thinks!
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim explores many contemporary themes, among them our ability to not actually communicate properly, in a world where communication is supposedly easy, the effects of a marriage breakdown and the loneliness this brings and how one town in the UK looks very much like any other. However, form the outset, Max is not an entirely likeable character, and whilst I recognise many of the themes explored, felt it difficult to empathize with him.
The events early in the book lead him to making a journey to the Shetland Islands in order to deliver on his new employers promise of "We go further"; on the way, Max meets characters from his life, and at each stage learns something new about himself, or his family which causes him to reflect on why he is where and what he is.
The book is readable, and by no means poor, but I did not think in the same league as Coe's earlier novels, particularly What a Carve Up!and The Rotters' Club. Pages seemed to turn very quickly, as you wondered what would happen next on his journey, with his new-found friend, the Sat-Nav in his car.
However, there was just "something" missing...and I cannot put my finger on what. Maybe it was my inability to empathize, or just my lack of understanding of Max's view on life in general.
Now, back to my initial line. As I said, the book was not "bad" and was heading for four stars, but the ending..... oh my word the ending. I am not one to spoil it for anyone, but yes Denise (another reviewer here) I too felt cheated, as having read the best part of 350 pages, I thought as a reader, I deserved more than that! Too "clever" for anyone, me thinks!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Maxwell Sim is a classic `everyman', someone who we can all identify with to some degree. He's slightly befuddled by modern life, technology and dating etiquette (he has to ask his teenage daughter what it means when a colleague ends her text message with an `x`) and has managed to become estranged from his family and most of his friends.
Following the departure of his wife and daughter and six months off work with depression, he eventually resigns from his uninspiring job in After-Sales Customer Liaison (aka Returns) for a department store, to take up a seemingly crazy job offer which involves selling eco-friendly toothbrushes in one of the most remote locations in Britain. His time on the road gives Max the opportunity to catch up with old friends and drag a few skeletons out of the closet, but, above all, he gets to spend some time alone (his terrible privacy) to reflect on the hand life has dealt him. I say "alone" ... he does become a bit too emotionally-dependent on his SatNav, even giving `her' a name and seeking her advice on more than just the quickest route to take and how to avoid traffic jams.
Jonathan Coe has a wonderful way of making mundane events seem humorous and slightly bizarre, and he has a brilliant ear for surreal dialogue (a great example being the hilarious three-way conversation Max has with the parents of an old school friend). Max is an unreliable but very endearing narrator, and his blundering attempts to make friends and his lack of insight into how others perceive him are painful to witness at times (but also very funny).
This book sees Jonathan Coe back on familiar territory after departing slightly from his usual style with his last book, The Rain Before It Falls, and for me it combined elements of two of his best novels - What A Carve Up and The Rotters' Club.
I see that opinion is split regarding the ending. I'm undecided - it's certainly different but I did feel a bit cheated as I wanted Maxwell's story to have a `proper' ending. It'll be interesting to see what other readers make of it.
Following the departure of his wife and daughter and six months off work with depression, he eventually resigns from his uninspiring job in After-Sales Customer Liaison (aka Returns) for a department store, to take up a seemingly crazy job offer which involves selling eco-friendly toothbrushes in one of the most remote locations in Britain. His time on the road gives Max the opportunity to catch up with old friends and drag a few skeletons out of the closet, but, above all, he gets to spend some time alone (his terrible privacy) to reflect on the hand life has dealt him. I say "alone" ... he does become a bit too emotionally-dependent on his SatNav, even giving `her' a name and seeking her advice on more than just the quickest route to take and how to avoid traffic jams.
Jonathan Coe has a wonderful way of making mundane events seem humorous and slightly bizarre, and he has a brilliant ear for surreal dialogue (a great example being the hilarious three-way conversation Max has with the parents of an old school friend). Max is an unreliable but very endearing narrator, and his blundering attempts to make friends and his lack of insight into how others perceive him are painful to witness at times (but also very funny).
This book sees Jonathan Coe back on familiar territory after departing slightly from his usual style with his last book, The Rain Before It Falls, and for me it combined elements of two of his best novels - What A Carve Up and The Rotters' Club.
I see that opinion is split regarding the ending. I'm undecided - it's certainly different but I did feel a bit cheated as I wanted Maxwell's story to have a `proper' ending. It'll be interesting to see what other readers make of it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mainly Very Good
This was my first Jonathan Coe book. I bought it because I myself am in my mid 40s, have recently returned to the UK from Australia, and am probably going through an existential... Read more
Published 1 month ago by BigE65
The Terrible Privacy of Mawell Sim
I really want to talk about the end of this book but I think maybe the end is not the best place to start! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lucybird
How silly and yet moving
Maxwell Simm is a great character I could relate to him growing old and lonely but hoping to find redemption. There are some very funny scenes with the Prius and his ex-wife. Read more
Published 2 months ago by SACB
At least I finished reading it
I hardly ever read fiction these days unless they are good old favourites. Now and then I try an unfamiliar author. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Anna
Tedious
....and boring. A very dissapointing ramble and possibly the stupidest ending ever written. Don't waste hours of your life reading it.
Published 4 months ago by sarahem
Touching.
I really liked the book, and it kept me engaged throughout. Maxwell was a sympathetic character and seemed very real; reading it, you can imagine that there are many people in his... Read more
Published 4 months ago by H. McGregor
Oh Coe. Oh no.
Let me say I have been, and am a huge fan of Jonathan Coe's work. But this is just a ragbag of meandering stories hanging together in a contrived way. Read more
Published 6 months ago by SuzyPerkins
No no no no no.
WARNING: SPOILERS!
Oh dear.
This book baffled me. It got on my nerves. It frustrated me. In the end, it really annoyed me. Read more
Oh dear.
This book baffled me. It got on my nerves. It frustrated me. In the end, it really annoyed me. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Adam Lewis
Running on empty
I'm taking precious moments from my life to write a review that in all likelihood no-one will really read and appreciate. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Adam Brooks
A modern day Reggie Perrin ??
I suppose the word to describe this book is "curious".
Hardly a 'Rotters Club' or a 'Closed Circle' but quite a lilting and entertaining read. Read more
Hardly a 'Rotters Club' or a 'Closed Circle' but quite a lilting and entertaining read. Read more
Published 8 months ago by terri the cook
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