There are some people who are really good at living life. They appreciate every moment and are grateful for every opportunity they receive in their careers and love lives. Then there are those who sort of get left behind. While not completely unlovable or lacking talent, their lives get away from them, leaving them with a few broken memories and a lot of free time. In the recently published “Noah’s Compass,” author Anne Tyler explores the lifestyle of the latter group, focusing on the subtleties of life and the inability many of us have to look at the big picture.
“Noah’s Compass” is the story of Liam Pennywell, a 61-year-old fifth grade teacher who is trained in philosophy and lives and breathes for that genre. Liam is forced into retirement, and due to a need for less space, he moves to a smaller apartment. During his first night at his new digs, Liam is attacked in his sleep by a burglar (one who was no doubt disappointed with Liam’s obvious lack of enthusiasm for material things). When he wakes up at the hospital, there is one small problem: Liam doesn’t remember a thing. He becomes obsessed with trying to remember the attack and tries to find help in a very strange way. Looking to employ his own “rememberer,” Liam ends up with something very different instead.
The irony in the protagonist’s quest for his memory is that while focusing on that one attack on that one night, he neglects to recognize the fact that his whole life has been less than average. With two failed marriages and three daughters with whom he has no close relationships, Liam seems to have been a bystander in his own life all this time. Why, then, is he so obsessed with remembering this one incident when he has done so little to take in the life that has already passed him by?
In a little twist of events, Liam becomes acquainted with Eunice, a spontaneous, erratic, tragically dressed younger woman whose job revolves around remembering everything for her elderly boss. In the beginning, it seems Liam wants to use her to help with his memory of that fateful night, as misguided and illogical as it sounds. But eventually, his relationship with this hodgepodge little character becomes more, and instead of accomplishing his initial goal, Eunice’s presence in his life leads him down a road of deep introspection.
Tyler has a natural flair for exposing life’s little idiosyncrasies. And her description of her main character leaves the reader feeling at once sorry for him and not, because he has nobody to blame but himself. The beauty of Tyler’s writing is that she takes what could have been an extremely depressing scenario and makes it something more. Everything about the characters and plots of “Noah’s Compass” are familiar and not at all extraordinary, and yet she manages to make the reader stay interested to the very last page. Where one might expect some crazy plot twist where the burglar turns out to be his daughter or someone equally unthinkable (a thought process undoubtedly fed by countless weekend-long “Law & Order” marathons), there is instead a dreamily simple conclusion, where things don’t necessarily end but where loose ends are messily tied up.
“Noah’s Compass” is another shining installment in Tyler’s remarkable career. Her writing is compassionate, honest and completely engaging, and this novel proves that.
Rating: W W W W
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