Thinks . . .

by David Lodge

Book Overview

David Lodge's novels have earned comparisons to those of John Updike and Philip Roth and established him as "a cult figure on both sides of the Atlantic" (The New York Times). Thinks . . . , his witty... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142000868
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Clash of disciplines

A novel about cognitive science, and there are a lot of quite long conversations between the two principal characters about mind-body philosophy which, though central to the fullest understanding of the plot, some readers may find a little daunting. Both characters keep a private journal. The man is a sexually predatory cognitive scientist at a university. His private thoughts are coarse and randy. The woman is a visiting teacher of creative writing and a much more sensitive and sympathetic character. The book is brilliantly written and paced, a real page-turner with a satisfying ending.

David Lodge is back on track.

David Lodge has always been a bit of a "cult" writer. some of his other recent books were disappointing but Thinks... is a welcome return to form.The book centers around the Ralph Messenger , a cognitive scientist at a British university and Helen Reed a recently widowed writer who is also on campus. Lodge is masterful with his characters and draws out the sexual tension between them.Along the way Lodge provides a decent insight in to modern cognitive science theories (I've done some work in the field myself and Lodge presents theories accurately without becoming to technical).Lodge works his magic with the characters building up a complex layered relationship . The book is filled with a dry humor and the academic setting serves as a interesting backdrop. It seems that Lodge's better books tend to be set against an academic background.

Lodge's batting average remains high

This is Lodge very nearly at his best (and I say that having read every word the man has ever written). Ralph Messenger is a professor, a philospher by training, but now head of the Centre for Cognitive Sciences at the University of Gloucester. He has a solid rep in his field, with past positions at Cal Tech and MIT. He's also tall and good-looking, just turned fifty, and is a dedicated womanizer. His Californian wife, Carrie, is aware of his tendency to sleep around when he's off at conferences and such, and she tolerates it -- as long as he doesn't do it in their own backyard. (But there's a lot more to Carrie than this, as any fan of Lodge's knack with characters would expect.) Enter Helen Reed, middleaged London novelist and recent widow, who has come to the University to teach a creative writing course for the spring semester. Her background is intensely literary and she and Ralph disagree about almost everything -- but they manage to form a relationship anyway. Lodge apparently recently discovered the whole field of cognitive research and he uses Ralph's explanations to Helen to summarize what he's learned. Fortunately, he does this in an interesting and often witty way -- lots of nice quotes here -- so the reader might actually come out of this book with a surreptitious education in the subject. But Ralph and Helen and Carrie are the focus, of course, and you'll get to know and like all of them, and understand them, even when you don't entirely approve of some of the things they do.

an intelligently written book

This is the first time I read David Lodge and now am all interested in checking out his other books. "Thinks" is an intelligently written book. It is captivating and challenging at the same time. The story is interesting, despite its old subject of infidelity and its consequences. Lodge smartly stays away from the clichéd rendering of longing and guilt associated with illicit passions. He, on the other hand, hilariously arranges a series of rapidly happening events to conveniently remove Helen's moral concerns and allows her to enjoy the passionate affair guilt free (or maybe not completely). But that does not exempt them from the weary after-taste of any passionate affairs, especially when the outside world crashing in with assorted worldly crises. In a comic but understanding way, Lodge tells one of the most truthful stories about human emotions. He effectively mixes different modes of narrative to give the story movements and depths without any hint of overt contrivance. (The only exception is the inclusion of students' writing samples, which I find extraneous and a bit show-off). This is the best book I have read recently.

Another intelligent novel for Lodge fans

"Thinks" continues Lodge's winning streak of intelligent, amusing and thought-provoking novels set in academia. The characters are new although there is at least one cameo appearance from "Nice Work"."Thinks" has more intellectual content than his prior novels. Lodge seems keen to challenge his readers and a review of contemporary philosophical thought on the topic of consciousness achieves that objective. Any fan of Lodge will enjoy this latest addition. Newcomers to Lodge may find "Nice Work" or "Small World" more approachable and wish to return to "Thinks" later when they have a taste for Lodge's writing.