The Instructor: A Novel

by Ann Ireland

In a novel of first love and its inevitable disenchantment, Simone Paris writes of her outgrown relationship with her uncompromising and exotic lover and former art teacher Otto Guest

Genres: Fiction, Canada

208 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1971

About the author

Ann Ireland (1953–2018) was a Canadian fiction author who published five novels between 1985 and 2018. Her first novel, A Certain Mr. Takahashi (1985), was the winner of the Seal $50,000 1st Novel Award. She also wrote 1996's The Instructor, which was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award, and 2002's Exile, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Governor General's Awards and the Rogers Writers’ Trust fiction prize.

Ireland was born in Toronto, Ontario. She studied at the University of British Columbia, from which she earned a BFA in creative writing in 1976. She is a past president of PEN Canada and for many years, up until the time of her death, was a writing instructor and the coordinator of the Writing Workshops Department at the Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her 1985 novel, A Certain Mr. Takahashi, was the basis for the 1991 feature film The Pianist.

Her final novel, 2018's Where's Bob?, was published in May 2018, shortly before her death of carcinoid syndrome at the age of 65.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman falls in lust with her art professor. His own art, the way he paints, creates, talks about art-- all completely overwhelm her. And she becomes involved, travels with him to Mexico, begins to figure out who she is. At one point they are living in a small house and their neighbor Bob has recently lost the young man he is in love with. They are walking and Simone is suddenly struck by the impression that Bob has been walking in the yard for hours waiting for her to wake up. "His neediness was creepy. His neediness, I realized in one of those moments of clear perception, was utterly familiar."

This quotation from Jeanette Winterson's book "Sexing the Cherry" seems like both a literal and metaphoric frame for Simone's relationship with Otto. Somehow I wonder if this passage was the seed for the book: Very rarely is the beloved more than a shaping spirit for the beloved's dreams. And perhaps such a thing is enough. To be a muse many be enough. The pain is when the dreams change, as they do, as they must. Suddenly the enchanted city fades and you are left alone again in the windy desert.

I think Alice Munro's comments about the book kept me reading.She wrote,"..when you realize what her role in his life is and his in hers--that's to me the real discovery. And that's when the story transcends this story, these particular people. It doesn't say, "Good thing she got away from that asshole, about time she figured him out in the standard boring feminist style. It says something, like, "Look--this is how we are, this is how we live."

I think Munro is correct, but it was hard for me as the book came towards closure. And then the last ten pages, when Simone visits Otto in New York and comments on his most recent work and he realized that he understand what he has done well and what he hasn't, I realized that she had inhabited her confidence, her understanding of what art can do, and I was glad I hadn't given up on the book, when it became almost too claustrophobic for me.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kat's Review



This book is a new release of a novel originally published for the first time in 1997. Despite that, the story itself still feels fresh. There are a few times when the technology is obviously outdated, like when the instructor goes to a local bar to use a payphone, but it doesn't make the story itself seem outdated. When Otto returns to Simone's life after a long absence, she is surprised by the difference in his appearance. In today's world, the internet probably would have made it possible for the two to have kept track of each other, even if they hadn't kept in touch.



Still, the story is timeless. A young, optimistic student, aching to escape the confines of her parents' small house, who falls in love with her older, more worldly instructor. She believes that the sexual attraction between them means more than it does, and allows herself to be swept away by the romance of the affair, even following him on what promises to be a romantic adventure to Mexico.



Instead, Simone learns some hard lessons about life, love, and relationships. When Otto's wife (separated) and son, who is almost her age, show up, she begins to see him as he really is, rather than how she wishes him to be. The novel tells the story of their affair through the eyes of an older and wiser Simone, looking back at everything from a more mature perspective.



This is a beautifully written book, honest and at times uncomfortable, but certainly the story of one too many young, naïve girls on the verge of becoming women, and the older men who hope to recapture some of their lost youth through them.



Kat's Rating: A Good Read



An engrossing novel by an extremely talented Canadian writer.



I received a complimentary copy of this title from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Lara Kleinschroth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Netgalley

This quick read about a pair of artists is itself a piece of art, with a lovely, poetic writing style. Told in the always bold 2nd person pov, it reads like a love letter from Simone to Otto. Otto is Simone's art instructor and is 25 years her senior, so as their relationship forms and develops, it becomes clear he is her instructor in more than just art. But six years later, Simone has lost her naivete and inexperience and we see a power shift between teacher and student, as between lovers. Philosophical and elegant, Ireland's latest is beautifully crafted and quietly powerful.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about an aging college Art Instructor, Otto and his student, Simone (25 years his junior) and their affair and trek to live in Mexico. Their passion, obsession and ultimately power shift between them (6 years later) are featured as well as her relationship with her parents and remote country living in a cabin without any amenities. Interesting references to art itself and the creative process. Written by a woman from Jenny's neighbourhood.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE INSTRUCTOR is a well written book and I can see readers enjoying it, but it didn't WOW me! The story was typical with nothing new although sections of the book were titillating and kept me turning the pages.

[Christina M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt uncomfortable and anxious for the entire book. I can't tell if that makes the book good or not?

[Janet Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the writing. Tense and spare, not a word wasted.

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather implaudisible plot but still a good read.