Problems and Other Stories

by John Updike

In this midcareer collection of twenty-three short stories, John Updike tackles such problems as separation, divorce, and remarriage, parents and children, guns and prostitution, leprosy, swooning, suffocation, and guilt. His self-seeking heroes tend to be forty; his heroines are asleep, seductive, longing, or reproachful. None of these characters is innocent, and all are looking vainly for the road back to an imagined Paradise. Pain and comedy closely coexist in this mainly domestic world of the 1970s, where life is indistinguishable from a television commercial (but what is it advertising?) and every morning’s paper brings news of lost Atlantises.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, American, American Fiction

285 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.

He died of lung cancer at age 76.

Reviews

[Fionnuala]

Problems, the title story in this collection, has three main characters, A, B and C.
A lives with B, having divorced C.
A has many problems in his life, college fees, household bills, psychiatrist issues, laundry problems, but the biggest one is that although B is young and beautiful, and A divorced C for her, A still spends most of his time obsessing about C.
John Updike stretches this basic premise into a series of fun maths problems none of which move A closer to solving his initial dilemma although he does succeed in balancing his bills better.

The rest of the stories in the collection are variations of the same problem. Although none are set out as maths questions, most concern divorced men, lots and lots of As, usually living with Bs and obsessing about Cs. However, there’s a variant to the dominant pattern: in the few stories where A is not yet divorced, it is B, the future mistress who is the obsessed-about one.

Basically, A can never have his problem solved. He is continually yearning for what he can’t have. The word tantalien comes to mind.
Tantalus, Willi Glassauer 1864

When he's not striving for what he can't have, he's regretting what he has lost. His regrets aren’t confined to partners; his kids, his parents, they’re all little shards of guilt piercing his comfortable existence. When it is not a case of what he actually did to them, it’s a case of what he didn’t do for them, guilt doubling and trebling by the page.
And when all those sharp shards don’t succeed in disrupting his life enough, he feels bad about that too, and has another shard to add to his collection.
Martin Shongauer, c. 1466

So there are bucket loads of shards and arrowheads flying about. The thing about these stories is that they are full of metaphors which is great if you like metaphor as much as I do. Apart from the maths metaphor in the title story, there is a potter with a severe skin disease who nevertheless makes the finest and most translucent pots imaginable—until he is cured. Then there’s an archaeologist whose job takes him off on archeological digs—but he only succeeds in raking up his own painful past.

Some of these stories are gems from the beginning, others take a while to reveal their treasures but the writing throughout is very rich and rewarding. That's a little ironic since I was led to this collection by a comment on one of my reviews from earlier in the year, a review of an Oulipo collection written with various constraints including mathematical ones, making the maths element in Updike's title story a clear link. But Updike’s writing couldn’t be more of a contrast to the Oulipo pieces. Updike doesn’t do constraints; he uses all the vowels, all the consonants, all the syllables, all the vocabulary, all the style features he can squeeze in. In fact, you could probably say that there are no constraints of any kind in Updike’s writing. He likes his words.

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid collection. I’m a great admirer of John Updike, even when he’s not totally clicking with me. Problems as a collection contains some gems, some clunkers. And the rest of the stories are just fine.

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updike at his best -- tons of polish, a little bit of insight, and no heart at all.

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tucked in the pages was a library checkout receipt - this copy had been selected by Oksana B. with a due date of 2/11/2008. One wonders what she made of it. If she finished it. If she even remembers.

I enjoyed it. Somehow, somewhy, this late spring speedrun into Updike's short stories has been a comfort.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories (a few too many of them maybe). Especially liked "The Gun Shop," "How To Love America and Leave It At The Same Time," "Daughter, Last Glimpses Of," "Ethiopia," "Here Come The Maples," and "Guilt-Gems."

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very repetitive.

[Suhrob · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a mix of:
1) realistic but poetic probes into issues around divorce, infidelity, children leaving home etc.
All stories that fall into this category are excellent. The total impression is then somewhat that Updike knows this formula and milks the nostalgia dry.
Nonetheless, each on its own is fantastic - 5*

2) Slightly experimental ditties: the first story and Problems. I liked both - Problems' end is a bit formulaic, but still - 5*

3) Mix of other stuff - 2-4*, I didn't really enjoy most of these, but they were *technically* all well written.

Definitely recommended if you are rich white male family man nearing your midlife crisis.

[Adi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of charming short stories, focusing on love, loss, separation and life choices. With ease and elegance Updike introduces his wondrous, old-fashioned countryside, and fills it in with pragmatic and simple men and women, who desperately try to find their happiness. I really enjoyed the plain storytelling, and how ordinary and familiar the characters felt.

[Timothy Winterstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read about mid-twentieth-century, middle-class malaise, Updike is your man

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mid-career collection of short stories by my favorite author of the form. This is not his best collection but there are several gems worth picking up the book for.

[Nathan Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Gonna have to get more of his short stories

[M.L. Rio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories is one of the best portraits of everyday life in America I've ever come across. "How to Love America and Leave It at the Same Time" is especially poignant, and in the titular "Problems" the mathematics of emotion plumb unexpected depths. He harps too long on certain themes (divorce, infidelity), so that the stories start to feel repetitive, but overall an excellent read.

[Maan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book #24 for 2012: Truth be told, I just randomly picked up this book from a shelf in the library just because I needed a "U" for my A-Z Challenge.

Problems is a collection of short stories. This is my first Updike. Although I still have no strong opinion about this book as a whole, I did like some of his stories. Please refer to my favorite lines.

Favorite lines:
The subway, rattling, plunges back underground. Or, it may be, as some extreme saints have implied, that beneath the majesty of the Infinite, believers and non-believers are exactly alike. –from the story Believers

She had grown plump in her years of happiness. He remembered her smoking, and wished she would begin again. He wished she would die. The blanched eyes, the blunt nose, the busy plump self-forgetful hands. –from the story Augustine’s Concubine

First thing in the morning, Pumpkin would light a cigarette. Next thing, Tod would scold. She wanted to kill herself, to die. He took this as a personal insult. She was killing herself to make him look bad. She told him not to be silly, and inhaled. She had her habits, her limits. She had her abilities and disabilities. –from the story Love Song, for a Moog Synthesizer

He lived with his mother and a Filipino servant in a choice slice of house on the good side of Beacon Hill. –from the story The Faint [Maan’s side comment: This book was first published in 1972 and I think it’s interesting that back in the day, the concept of Overseas Filipino Workers is already in existence.]

He had been a bully since his first cry for milk, and had continued a tyrant. –from the story Guilt-Gems

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

As most always, as in most of these stories - as in the majority of Updike's work - the protagonists are white, privileged New Englanders. This isn't exactly a detraction in my reading; rather, it's Updike's primary literary vehicle for conveying some very insightful, semi- (if not fully-) autobiographical "Guilt-Gems" (to borrow one of the story's titles). These protagonists are divorced (or divorcing) forty-something dads trying to fit it all together and get on with their lives. Though sometimes repetitive in his sentiments, the emotional honesty of these stories - in addition to the intelligence of Updike's ironical insights and the compositional intelligence of his very accessible prose - make reading this collection well worth it. In particular: "The Gun Shop," "How to Love America and Leave It at the Same Time," "Nevada," "Ethiopia," "The Man Who Loved Extinct Mammals," "Problems," "Domestic Life in America," "From the Journal of a Leper," and "The Fairy Godfathers".

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were written during the 1970s, while Updike's first marriage was crumbling. As he did so obsessively throughout career, Updike chronicles the events of his life during those years in detail -- only the names are changed. Not always the most pleasant of reads, given the circumstances, although "Here Come the Maples," "Nevada," "Separating" and "The Egg Race" are certainly worthwhile reads. The more experimental pieces here -- "Augustine's Concubine," "Problems" among them -- left me cold.

[Mary Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still trying to decide what I think of this collection as a whole. It was my first exposure to Updike so I'm interested in reading some of his novels next. Brilliant, amazing writer, no doubt about that; and the title story of this collection is pure genius. (But then, I'm a mathematician turned fiction writer, so it's hard for me to resist a short story told in a sequence of math problems...)

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST LINE REVIEW: "It comes on every night, somewhere in the eleven-o'clock news." And Updike's steady reporting of the walks we all take through life continues in this collection of stories from the 70's. His mastery of language is still there, maturing along with his muscles and aching bones. His relationships in the real world also continue to find their fictive outlets in these mini-worlds, reminding me how easily and often art imitates life.

[Tom Gass]

Updike wrote a lot of short stories. Some of them hit and some miss. His best seem to come from his own experience, as you could expect. He has gotten a lot of mileage out of his divorce. "Here come the Maples" is one of his best, a beautiful and painful portrayal of a man remembering his courtship and marriage on the day he files his divorce papers. Another is "Separation." about divorcing parents trying to tell their children.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent collection - I think it's actually a good example of writing style, but I didn't like most of the plots. If you pick up this book I recommend "Minutes to the Last Meeting", "The Fairy Godfathers", and "Separating"...there's two or three others that are pretty good, but these are the best...in my "humble" opinion

[Bill]

One of Updike's best short story collections. Covers the period of his transition into a new marriage, children still at home, though some leaving; dabbling with other popular short story forms. His flowery style is restrained appropriately by the form itself.

[Mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that I hate JU poems but his short stories are something else. Each word just sparkles in this collection. It starts slow but with the one entitled "Transaction" I was hooked.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because at a lecture by John Updike he said he liked his short stories better than his novels. Apparently we don't have the same taste. :(

[Tyler McGaughey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty terrific collection. Highlights: "The Gun Shop;" "Nevada;" "How To Love America and Leave It At The Same Time;" "Separating;" "Here Come The Maples;" "The Egg Race; "Atlantises."

[David Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read.

[Inquire]

A good set of stories.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars out of the possible five is about right for me.
I liked more than half of the 23 stories a lot.

[Don Trowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous short story collection. Updike at his best writing about marital and other relationship problems. One of my favorite story collections of all time.

[Beth Slucher · Rating 5 out of 5]

the lost generation of the 1960s

[Melissa Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while going through a breakup that felt like a divorce. It helped a lot.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection wasn't as cohesive as some of his others.