Monday, September 3, 2018

Isn't It Romantic?

Isn't It Romantic? by Ron Hansen (2003) 198 pages

This novel, which calls itself "an entertainment," is a quick read, a comedy of errors. A French woman, Natalie, takes her vacation on a bus trip across the upper Midwest. Her fiance, Pierre, who she presently does not want to see, finds her and accompanies her starting mid-trip. They get stranded in the tiny town of Seldom, Nebraska, when they leave the bus during a mechanical failure and get left behind. Natalie is invited to stay in a boarding house for women only, while Pierre stays with the owner of a garage, who also happens to be a winemaker. Natalie and Pierre are each wooed by the townspeople. The comedy often arises due to people wrongly assuming who or what is meant by use of pronouns, but I found the winemaker especially funny in numerous ways. The book reads almost like a screenplay, with lots of direction as to the action. Maybe the book relies on a few too many clichés, but I found it to be a funny diversion.

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