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The Idea of Perfection
Douglas Cheesman is 55 years old, and the kind of man you would definitely not look at twice. But he can tell you more than you'll ever want to know about bridges. Harley Savage, big and plain, is a thrice-married woman who freely admits that she bores easily. And Yuribee, a little rural town in NSW that used to think it had a big future, is a place desperately in need of Cultural Heritage.To attract much-needed tourist dollars, Yuribee must find some worthy pieces for its Heritage Museum–items just a little more inspired than crocheted toilet roll holders. The townspeople seem to think that rickety old Bent Bridge is part of this Cultural Heritage. But Douglas Cheesman is in Yuribee to tear it down, and it seems things are about to get complicated.Winner of the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction.
401 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Kate Grenville
39 books830 followersKate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller The Secret River, The Idea of Perfection, The Lieutenant and Lilian's Story (details about all Kate Grenville's books are elsewhere on this site). Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.
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December 29, 2013
Readers who are particularly successful and good-looking, please skip to the next page. Kate Grenville has written a book for the rest of us. Everyone who's ever returned from a great date to discover toilet paper trailing from their shoes will cling to "The Idea of Perfection" like an old friend.
This Australian winner of Britain's Orange Prize tells the story of Douglas Cheeseman, a chronically shy engineer, and Harley Savage, a museum curator who's been having a bad hair day since she was 12. They're both awkward, middle-aged people baffled by where to put their hands. Douglas is so self-conscious about the size of his ears that they turn red. "He'd grown a mustache as a kind of diversionary tactic." Harley struggles to maintain a smile that doesn't highlight her fang-like incisors.
Both come from families of famous people who put their own shortcomings in high relief. They're mystified by the intricacies of small talk, envying the pleasantries that others seem to have learned early in life. "He had been known to laugh long before the punch-line, out of sheer anxiety." Harley aims for lively but comes off sounding accusatory.
They must get together, of course, but Grenville delays their courtship with exquisite timing. Both arrive on the same week in Karakarook, New South Wales, a village evaporating into ghost-town status. "You could not window-shop convincingly in Karakarook," Grenville writes, "unless you were in the market for dead flies." Harley has come to help the remaining 1,374 citizens build a heritage museum to attract tourists. Douglas has been sent to demolish the town's only real attraction, the dilapidated Bent Bridge. They spot one another immediately -- they're often the only things moving on Main Street -- but both are determined not to increase their already high diet of embarrassment.
Though she makes them the subject of great comedy, Grenville regards these sweet losers with incredible patience. Both have endured enough heartache to make them pessimistic about their romantic prospects. Douglas has already bored a wife into divorce with his enthusiasm for concrete.
Harley, meanwhile, won't even acknowledge the mangy dog that follows her around town (not Doug, the other mangy dog). "Sometimes it was a little lonely," she admits, "but it was safe." A doctor has warned her to exercise her weak heart, but she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the obvious implications of that metaphor. She's already run through three husbands and labors under the burden that she drove the last one to suicide. She knows that "she was not adorable. She was not even a particularly nice person. She was not generous or unselfish. She was not a sunny soul. She was not especially talented or creative, except in a limited way. She had certainly never been pretty, much less beautiful."
Grenville winces and winks through her portrayal of these people. Despite her dry sense of humor, she demonstrates a teenager's sensibility for self-consciousness -- an ear for every bungled introduction and an eye for every toppled chair. Her hero and heroine stumble through a minefield of comic embarrassments that detonate with almost every step. At their first meeting, Doug finds himself attacked by a herd of cattle. At their second meeting, Harley vomits. These lovers aren't so much star-crossed as tar-crossed.
While Doug plans to demolish the Bent Bridge and Harley plans to save it, Grenville turns her witty eye to the tortured ruminations of Felicity Porcelline, a satirical portrayal as pitch-perfect as anything by Charles Dickens or Evelyn Waugh. Mrs. Porcelline lives in a world tightly strung along her regulations for proper skin care and housekeeping. She rations the number of wrinkle-forming smiles she allows herself each evening. She fantasizes about eating off her spotless kitchen floor.
In fact, her fantasies are the only things she can't smooth and sterilize. To her horror, she's inexorably attracted to Mr. Chang, the inscrutable Chinese butcher, who has the nerve to act just like a normal person "as if he did not realize that being Chinese was unusual." Terrified by "their fascination for white women," Mrs. Porcelline worries that "if you happened to find yourself with him in the dark for any reason, you would never know he was Chinese." Torn between her carefully covered racism and her ferociously repressed desire, poor Mrs. Porcelline is subject to a constant barrage of erotic assaults on her pristine world. Each day's trip to the meat counter -- sometimes two! -- unleashes a ravenous pack of Freudian slips and displaced anxieties.
"The Idea of Perfection" is perfectly conceived, an irresistible comedy of manners that catches the agony of chronic awkwardness with great tenderness. The Bent Bridge spans a treacherous gully in the heart, but Grenville is a trustworthy engineer who understands the quirky geometry of love.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0418/p1...
This Australian winner of Britain's Orange Prize tells the story of Douglas Cheeseman, a chronically shy engineer, and Harley Savage, a museum curator who's been having a bad hair day since she was 12. They're both awkward, middle-aged people baffled by where to put their hands. Douglas is so self-conscious about the size of his ears that they turn red. "He'd grown a mustache as a kind of diversionary tactic." Harley struggles to maintain a smile that doesn't highlight her fang-like incisors.
Both come from families of famous people who put their own shortcomings in high relief. They're mystified by the intricacies of small talk, envying the pleasantries that others seem to have learned early in life. "He had been known to laugh long before the punch-line, out of sheer anxiety." Harley aims for lively but comes off sounding accusatory.
They must get together, of course, but Grenville delays their courtship with exquisite timing. Both arrive on the same week in Karakarook, New South Wales, a village evaporating into ghost-town status. "You could not window-shop convincingly in Karakarook," Grenville writes, "unless you were in the market for dead flies." Harley has come to help the remaining 1,374 citizens build a heritage museum to attract tourists. Douglas has been sent to demolish the town's only real attraction, the dilapidated Bent Bridge. They spot one another immediately -- they're often the only things moving on Main Street -- but both are determined not to increase their already high diet of embarrassment.
Though she makes them the subject of great comedy, Grenville regards these sweet losers with incredible patience. Both have endured enough heartache to make them pessimistic about their romantic prospects. Douglas has already bored a wife into divorce with his enthusiasm for concrete.
Harley, meanwhile, won't even acknowledge the mangy dog that follows her around town (not Doug, the other mangy dog). "Sometimes it was a little lonely," she admits, "but it was safe." A doctor has warned her to exercise her weak heart, but she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the obvious implications of that metaphor. She's already run through three husbands and labors under the burden that she drove the last one to suicide. She knows that "she was not adorable. She was not even a particularly nice person. She was not generous or unselfish. She was not a sunny soul. She was not especially talented or creative, except in a limited way. She had certainly never been pretty, much less beautiful."
Grenville winces and winks through her portrayal of these people. Despite her dry sense of humor, she demonstrates a teenager's sensibility for self-consciousness -- an ear for every bungled introduction and an eye for every toppled chair. Her hero and heroine stumble through a minefield of comic embarrassments that detonate with almost every step. At their first meeting, Doug finds himself attacked by a herd of cattle. At their second meeting, Harley vomits. These lovers aren't so much star-crossed as tar-crossed.
While Doug plans to demolish the Bent Bridge and Harley plans to save it, Grenville turns her witty eye to the tortured ruminations of Felicity Porcelline, a satirical portrayal as pitch-perfect as anything by Charles Dickens or Evelyn Waugh. Mrs. Porcelline lives in a world tightly strung along her regulations for proper skin care and housekeeping. She rations the number of wrinkle-forming smiles she allows herself each evening. She fantasizes about eating off her spotless kitchen floor.
In fact, her fantasies are the only things she can't smooth and sterilize. To her horror, she's inexorably attracted to Mr. Chang, the inscrutable Chinese butcher, who has the nerve to act just like a normal person "as if he did not realize that being Chinese was unusual." Terrified by "their fascination for white women," Mrs. Porcelline worries that "if you happened to find yourself with him in the dark for any reason, you would never know he was Chinese." Torn between her carefully covered racism and her ferociously repressed desire, poor Mrs. Porcelline is subject to a constant barrage of erotic assaults on her pristine world. Each day's trip to the meat counter -- sometimes two! -- unleashes a ravenous pack of Freudian slips and displaced anxieties.
"The Idea of Perfection" is perfectly conceived, an irresistible comedy of manners that catches the agony of chronic awkwardness with great tenderness. The Bent Bridge spans a treacherous gully in the heart, but Grenville is a trustworthy engineer who understands the quirky geometry of love.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0418/p1...
November 16, 2020
Although I have not participated in this year's challenge to read all of the Women's Prize winners, most of them are still books I would like to read eventually. This one is very enjoyable, despite having romcom elements that would normally deter me - what redeemed it are Grenville's sharp eye for detail and character, unobtrusive plotting and sense of humour.
The book is mostly written in fairly short chapters, each of which focuses on a particular character. The two dominant ones are Harley Savage, a museum expert who makes rustic patchworks, and Douglas Cheeseman, an engineer who is brought to the small town of Karakarook in rural New South Wales to replace a historic but dangerous wooden bridge, while Harley is helping create a museum of historic rural crafts.
Neither of them is a traditional romantic lead, and both bear the scars of unsuccesssful marriages. Their story is interrupted from time to time by a subplot centred on Felicity Porcelline, a housewife who is obsessed with her appearance and the ageing process, and her dalliance with the "Chinese" butcher, whose family has been in the area for longer than most. The town is almost a character in its own right, and Grenville revels in exploring its claustrophobic relationships.
The book is mostly written in fairly short chapters, each of which focuses on a particular character. The two dominant ones are Harley Savage, a museum expert who makes rustic patchworks, and Douglas Cheeseman, an engineer who is brought to the small town of Karakarook in rural New South Wales to replace a historic but dangerous wooden bridge, while Harley is helping create a museum of historic rural crafts.
Neither of them is a traditional romantic lead, and both bear the scars of unsuccesssful marriages. Their story is interrupted from time to time by a subplot centred on Felicity Porcelline, a housewife who is obsessed with her appearance and the ageing process, and her dalliance with the "Chinese" butcher, whose family has been in the area for longer than most. The town is almost a character in its own right, and Grenville revels in exploring its claustrophobic relationships.
November 8, 2017
This book had lots of elements that I often don’t like, and yet…
It was quite slow-paced, but with a great turn of phrase. I have recently whinged about several books just being too slow for me while I’m impatiently waiting for something to happen, and this book should have made me feel like that. And yet…
I hate it when authors don’t indicate speech using quotation marks. Why do we have quotation marks if people aren’t going to use them? It wasn’t until page 62 I realised that there were no quotation marks for speech. Anywhere in the book. And yet…
I really enjoyed it. It certainly wasn’t a book that I could tear through - it needed a bit more time. The characters were well-drawn - from Douglas with his precise nature (perfect for an engineer) and poor relational skills to poor Felicity Porcelline with her superficiality and her OCD that meant everything needed to be just so but then caused her to struggle when things clashed - “Quilting had been good for quite a while… She sometimes regretted all the fabrics. She had them in clear plastic boxes… The plains had been graded in colour from ROY to BIV, and each box was labelled… There was a section for Checks and one for Spots, and another big one for Florals. There had been a bit of a problem, with fabrics that had both spots and checks, or florals that were also stripes. Would you call a checkerboard a Check or a Black-and-White? It had worried her until she had hit on another category: Overlaps.”
There were so many lovely passages of description - in the town, the bush, and the characters themselves. I could see a lot of the bad parts of myself in Harley and Douglas! Not so much Felicity, who I felt was rather pathetic and who made me impatient. The awkwardness of both Harley and Douglas around people - not meaning to say some things in certain situations, and yet those things are what come out of my mouth… Although, Harley is also a more generous-natured person than I can be at times!
I’ve enjoyed several of Kate Grenville’s works now, and am happy to see I still have a few more to go.
It was quite slow-paced, but with a great turn of phrase. I have recently whinged about several books just being too slow for me while I’m impatiently waiting for something to happen, and this book should have made me feel like that. And yet…
I hate it when authors don’t indicate speech using quotation marks. Why do we have quotation marks if people aren’t going to use them? It wasn’t until page 62 I realised that there were no quotation marks for speech. Anywhere in the book. And yet…
I really enjoyed it. It certainly wasn’t a book that I could tear through - it needed a bit more time. The characters were well-drawn - from Douglas with his precise nature (perfect for an engineer) and poor relational skills to poor Felicity Porcelline with her superficiality and her OCD that meant everything needed to be just so but then caused her to struggle when things clashed - “Quilting had been good for quite a while… She sometimes regretted all the fabrics. She had them in clear plastic boxes… The plains had been graded in colour from ROY to BIV, and each box was labelled… There was a section for Checks and one for Spots, and another big one for Florals. There had been a bit of a problem, with fabrics that had both spots and checks, or florals that were also stripes. Would you call a checkerboard a Check or a Black-and-White? It had worried her until she had hit on another category: Overlaps.”
There were so many lovely passages of description - in the town, the bush, and the characters themselves. I could see a lot of the bad parts of myself in Harley and Douglas! Not so much Felicity, who I felt was rather pathetic and who made me impatient. The awkwardness of both Harley and Douglas around people - not meaning to say some things in certain situations, and yet those things are what come out of my mouth… Although, Harley is also a more generous-natured person than I can be at times!
I’ve enjoyed several of Kate Grenville’s works now, and am happy to see I still have a few more to go.
December 11, 2023
This is a most beautiful love story, set in rural Australia, about two ordinary people. The characters are so well drawn, they almost leap off the page. Written with gentle humour and compassion, this story celebrates us normal, unattractive, and socially shy and awkward people. This novel is a real gem!
July 7, 2015
I re read The Idea of Perfection because I remember absolutely loving this book. Set in a small town in the Australian bush, it’s an amusing story in an atmosphere of awkwardness of a romance of two people who have given up on love. They learn that they have flaws and that perfection does not exist within our nature and only in our minds as an ideal where they uncover the truths already embedded in their minds.
November 17, 2018
It doesn’t matter whether you live in the fictional Karakarook, NSW, or Kirkcaldy, Fife. If you’re one of life’s awkward people, you’ll recognise your self conscious self anywhere.
Harley Savage is outwardly confident, inwardly a bag of nerves, unsure of herself and of everyone else, although she assumes that they’re good with people and she’s not. I love how Grenville puts all the hackneyed phrases we live behind in italics to emphasise how hard we try to be what we think others expect us to be - the title’s Idea of Perfection - and how impossible it is for us all to behave like one generic mass of thoughts and emotions. In the wonderfully repressed Felicity’s case, she imposes these impossible standards on herself.
4 stars for a thoroughly enjoyable read about real human beings that made me laugh out loud often.
Harley Savage is outwardly confident, inwardly a bag of nerves, unsure of herself and of everyone else, although she assumes that they’re good with people and she’s not. I love how Grenville puts all the hackneyed phrases we live behind in italics to emphasise how hard we try to be what we think others expect us to be - the title’s Idea of Perfection - and how impossible it is for us all to behave like one generic mass of thoughts and emotions. In the wonderfully repressed Felicity’s case, she imposes these impossible standards on herself.
4 stars for a thoroughly enjoyable read about real human beings that made me laugh out loud often.
December 31, 2010
Perhaps it was the sound of this book that I liked so well, for undoubtedly it was the language that resonated in these descriptions of people and the bush. I liked, too, the story of a fabric artist finding inspiration in a bridge, an engineer seeing beauty in the spaces between things. I liked the idea that men and women can still find the possibility of love in unlikely places even as they age, though it seems perhaps too much fiction to think that we would expose ourselves. The performance of the work by Odette Joannidis added immeasureably to my pleasure because her Australian voices and bird calls added up to fabulous storytelling. Australians know Kate Grenville as national treasure, and I wish she were more heralded in the United States.
November 12, 2013
Two plain, middle-aged people come into the rural town of Karakarook in New South Wales around the same time. Harley was working as a museum curator, helping the townspeople set up a heritage museum. Douglas, an engineer, had been assigned the job of tearing down an antique wooden bridge, and replacing it with a modern concrete version. Both harboring personal problems and socially awkward, they tiptoe around each other while an attraction develops. An abandoned dog that "adopts" Harley helps break down the defenses that Harley has put up against getting close to anyone.
Karakarook has a quirky group of townspeople. Felicity, who does not live up to her name, is the most memorable as she spends a good part of her day applying facial masques and cucumbers. She limits her smiles since they cause wrinkles. While Felicity is physically beautiful, she is probably the most emotionally imperfect person in town.
This was a quiet, but well-written, book with memorable characters. The author's descriptions of New South Wales gave the reader a good sense of place. Kate Grenville won the Orange Prize for Fiction for this book in 2001.
Karakarook has a quirky group of townspeople. Felicity, who does not live up to her name, is the most memorable as she spends a good part of her day applying facial masques and cucumbers. She limits her smiles since they cause wrinkles. While Felicity is physically beautiful, she is probably the most emotionally imperfect person in town.
This was a quiet, but well-written, book with memorable characters. The author's descriptions of New South Wales gave the reader a good sense of place. Kate Grenville won the Orange Prize for Fiction for this book in 2001.
November 21, 2016
I spent most of the month not reading this book, because of other events going on in my life, but have now finished it. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of Kate Grenville's other books, but I did like the idea of writing about real people: shy, awkward, not outwardly attractive but with good qualities buried inside them and waiting for the right person to discover and appreciate them.
I found Kate Grenville's use of italics a bit irritating, but her descriptive writing is lovely:
"The dawn air was cool and sweet. Up in the sky a flock of birds heeled sideways. The sun had not reached the earth yet but up there the wings were catching the first high rays. They went on turning and wheeling, catching and sending the light through the air, the sky with the dipping and turning birds in it a great bowl of light above the waiting earth."
I love that image.
I found Kate Grenville's use of italics a bit irritating, but her descriptive writing is lovely:
"The dawn air was cool and sweet. Up in the sky a flock of birds heeled sideways. The sun had not reached the earth yet but up there the wings were catching the first high rays. They went on turning and wheeling, catching and sending the light through the air, the sky with the dipping and turning birds in it a great bowl of light above the waiting earth."
I love that image.
July 22, 2013
This book is fabulous. As a reader, I loved the story and her descriptions of the characters and small town. As a writer, I was wowed by her use of language, her observation of the tiniest things, and the way she wrote about some of the very same themes that I write about - living in country towns, and the alternating feelings of connection and claustrophobia, and the idea of life as shades of dark and light, beautifully illustrated by the quilts metaphor. Beautiful! Bravo!
November 17, 2024
The Idea of Perfection is the fifth novel by Australian author, Kate Grenville. Set in the dying country town of Karakarook, NSW, pop.1374, the story revolves around the Bent Bridge: the Heritage mob (Karakarook Heritage Museum Committee) believes it can attract tourists; the Shire councillors want to tear this now-dangerous construction down.
Enter divorcee Douglas Cheeseman, engineer from the Lands Office, in town to tear down the old bridge and start construction of the replacement. A self-confessed bridge bore who suffers from fear of heights, he can see a way to save the old bridge but lacks the guts to do anything about it.
The other newcomer in town is Harley Savage, Consultant (Part-time) to the Curator (Textiles) at the Sydney Museum of Applied Arts, here to help establish the Karakarook Heritage Museum on a grant from the Cultural Affairs Board. Descended from famous artists, Harley, who has gone through three husbands, considers herself a danger to anyone who gets too close; she is big and clumsy, and lacks creativity, except when it comes to quilts.
Felicity, neurotic wife of Hugh Porcelline, manager of the Karakarook branch of the Land & Pastoral Bank, believes that the local butcher, Alfred Chang, is in love with her. How all their lives intersect is made into a mesmerising story by this talented novelist.
Grenville’s descriptions bring her characters vividly to life and she conveys the feel of the country town and “the bush” so well, the reader almost feels the heat and the flies. City dwellers Harley and Douglas find this town different: “But out here, she could see people went by different rules. You did not just pick out the best bits of life. You took the whole lot, the good and the bad. You forgave people for being who they were, and you hoped they would be able to forgive you. Now and again you were rewarded with the small pleasure of being able to laugh, not uproariously but genuinely, at a small witticism offered by someone who was usually a bore.
More that the heat and the flies, that was what made the bush feel like another country, where anything was possible.”
Grenville has the power to made the reader laugh and squirm and think about life and being perfect, or not. Winner of the 2001 Orange Prize, this was a wonderful read, my favourite Grenville book so far, and I think it would make an excellent movie.
Edit 2024: still my favourite Kate Grenville book.
Enter divorcee Douglas Cheeseman, engineer from the Lands Office, in town to tear down the old bridge and start construction of the replacement. A self-confessed bridge bore who suffers from fear of heights, he can see a way to save the old bridge but lacks the guts to do anything about it.
The other newcomer in town is Harley Savage, Consultant (Part-time) to the Curator (Textiles) at the Sydney Museum of Applied Arts, here to help establish the Karakarook Heritage Museum on a grant from the Cultural Affairs Board. Descended from famous artists, Harley, who has gone through three husbands, considers herself a danger to anyone who gets too close; she is big and clumsy, and lacks creativity, except when it comes to quilts.
Felicity, neurotic wife of Hugh Porcelline, manager of the Karakarook branch of the Land & Pastoral Bank, believes that the local butcher, Alfred Chang, is in love with her. How all their lives intersect is made into a mesmerising story by this talented novelist.
Grenville’s descriptions bring her characters vividly to life and she conveys the feel of the country town and “the bush” so well, the reader almost feels the heat and the flies. City dwellers Harley and Douglas find this town different: “But out here, she could see people went by different rules. You did not just pick out the best bits of life. You took the whole lot, the good and the bad. You forgave people for being who they were, and you hoped they would be able to forgive you. Now and again you were rewarded with the small pleasure of being able to laugh, not uproariously but genuinely, at a small witticism offered by someone who was usually a bore.
More that the heat and the flies, that was what made the bush feel like another country, where anything was possible.”
Grenville has the power to made the reader laugh and squirm and think about life and being perfect, or not. Winner of the 2001 Orange Prize, this was a wonderful read, my favourite Grenville book so far, and I think it would make an excellent movie.
Edit 2024: still my favourite Kate Grenville book.
July 16, 2016
Kate Grenville has made a significant contribution to Australian literature throughout her writing career. Having experienced the quality of her work in the past, I really expected to enjoy this book. The premise around which the story develops is one that provoked interest, and the writing itself is rich with description. As much as I appreciated the superior skill with which Grenville draws out the nuances of each scene and character, at times the pace of the developing story suffered for the abundance of descriptive text. I also found the focus on the conflict surrounding the bent bridge really only came into its own late in the story, and even then it only generated brief confrontation, which was somewhat an anti-climax. Even so, the story continues towards an appropriately satisfying conclusion.
One element that was not only unsatisfactory, but perplexing, was the affair between the butcher and the banker’s wife. At first this was imagined and later realised in a rather bizarre fashion, but I persisted, certain the relevance of this inclusion would become clear as the story neared its climax. I can identify the concept in its relation to the ‘idea of perfection’ theme and the notion of every small town having its secrets, but not only did this sub-plot remain largely unrelated to the main story, it never really intersected beyond the slightest overlap in the final chapters. This saw me questioning the relevance of its inclusion.
As such I’ve found myself conflicted over the rating to attribute this work. Yes, the writing is skilful and the descriptions clever. I also appreciated the bringing together of Harley and Douglas, two unlikely but ordinary middle-aged people grappling with self-doubt from the weight of life and broken relationships of the past—and Grenville does this well. For the reasons detailed above I’m going to sit on three and half stars, but don’t let this deter you from appreciating the quality aspects of Grenville’s writing. It’s worth experiencing.
One element that was not only unsatisfactory, but perplexing, was the affair between the butcher and the banker’s wife. At first this was imagined and later realised in a rather bizarre fashion, but I persisted, certain the relevance of this inclusion would become clear as the story neared its climax. I can identify the concept in its relation to the ‘idea of perfection’ theme and the notion of every small town having its secrets, but not only did this sub-plot remain largely unrelated to the main story, it never really intersected beyond the slightest overlap in the final chapters. This saw me questioning the relevance of its inclusion.
As such I’ve found myself conflicted over the rating to attribute this work. Yes, the writing is skilful and the descriptions clever. I also appreciated the bringing together of Harley and Douglas, two unlikely but ordinary middle-aged people grappling with self-doubt from the weight of life and broken relationships of the past—and Grenville does this well. For the reasons detailed above I’m going to sit on three and half stars, but don’t let this deter you from appreciating the quality aspects of Grenville’s writing. It’s worth experiencing.
January 7, 2023
Kate Grenville’s The idea of Perfection is the only Women’s Prize winner I DNF’d and since I am a completist, I felt like it was time to revisit it.
This time round I finished it.
Plotwise I was reminded of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, that is two seemingly different misfits join forces, although their causes are different. In this case the setting is a small Australian village where mild mannered Douglas Cheeseman is hired to tear is down while Harley Savage is sent by the government to preserve the town’s heritage. They both fall in love. There is a subplot featuring a town person’s affair with a butcher.
What I liked about the book was the way Kate Grenville would sneak in little details about the protagonists, The two main ones have suffered from broken marriages and mental health issues. Slowly we get a full picture of both Harley and Douglas. I also liked the descriptions of the small town characters, especially Chook the multi tasking builder who has an endless supply of opinions all told in a slang that Douglas cannot understand.
The book begins to drag with the subplot. It gets boring hearing the towns person cheat on her husband and Harley and douglas’ romance follows a rom com pattern which wears itself out after a bit. Plus at 400 pages the book does overstay it’s welcome.
The Idea of Perfection starts off well and takes a dip about midway. For a person who is a fan of The Women’s Prize winners this came a bit of surprise as I do find the choices consistent. Definitely not my favourite but it does rank quite low.
This time round I finished it.
Plotwise I was reminded of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, that is two seemingly different misfits join forces, although their causes are different. In this case the setting is a small Australian village where mild mannered Douglas Cheeseman is hired to tear is down while Harley Savage is sent by the government to preserve the town’s heritage. They both fall in love. There is a subplot featuring a town person’s affair with a butcher.
What I liked about the book was the way Kate Grenville would sneak in little details about the protagonists, The two main ones have suffered from broken marriages and mental health issues. Slowly we get a full picture of both Harley and Douglas. I also liked the descriptions of the small town characters, especially Chook the multi tasking builder who has an endless supply of opinions all told in a slang that Douglas cannot understand.
The book begins to drag with the subplot. It gets boring hearing the towns person cheat on her husband and Harley and douglas’ romance follows a rom com pattern which wears itself out after a bit. Plus at 400 pages the book does overstay it’s welcome.
The Idea of Perfection starts off well and takes a dip about midway. For a person who is a fan of The Women’s Prize winners this came a bit of surprise as I do find the choices consistent. Definitely not my favourite but it does rank quite low.
September 2, 2019
My overall impression of this book is that Kate Grenville has mastered the art of making the boring interesting. It tells the story of two socially awkward, middle-aged, unattractive people who find themselves in an unprepossessing outback town. Neither the people, the town or the stray dog have much going for them, but with some good, humorous, descriptive writing, the author made me want to read about them.
There is a third outsider, who is not unattractive, but is just as self-conscious in social situations. There is something about this town which just a bit twisted and rotten, like their bridge.
Here is a first sight of the town:
'Over the top of the corrugated roof next door, he could see nearly all of Karakarook. It looked as if it had just slid down into the bottom of the valley, either side of the river, and stayed there. ... From the window he could see part of Parnassus Road, wide and empty as an airport runway, lying stunned under the afternoon sun. Along the strip of shops a few cars were parked diagonally into the gutters like tadpoles nosing up to a rock. a dog lay stretched out lifeless across the doorway of an empty shop.'
I have never been there, but I can see it.
There is a third outsider, who is not unattractive, but is just as self-conscious in social situations. There is something about this town which just a bit twisted and rotten, like their bridge.
Here is a first sight of the town:
'Over the top of the corrugated roof next door, he could see nearly all of Karakarook. It looked as if it had just slid down into the bottom of the valley, either side of the river, and stayed there. ... From the window he could see part of Parnassus Road, wide and empty as an airport runway, lying stunned under the afternoon sun. Along the strip of shops a few cars were parked diagonally into the gutters like tadpoles nosing up to a rock. a dog lay stretched out lifeless across the doorway of an empty shop.'
I have never been there, but I can see it.
April 21, 2015
Boy this book was pretty boring. Extremely well written but just goes to show that little something missing ie. a spark of interest means the world.
Mediocre characterisation meant that the main characters were a mystery for most of the book. The only interesting tid bit in the whole novel was completely overshadowed by the terrible culture stereotype. I couldn't even get a grasp of what it was Ms Savage did exactly? Was she an extraordinary craftswoman? No just sewed 'little bits' of fabric together.
Found it quite tedious and couldn't wait till I finished it.
Mediocre characterisation meant that the main characters were a mystery for most of the book. The only interesting tid bit in the whole novel was completely overshadowed by the terrible culture stereotype. I couldn't even get a grasp of what it was Ms Savage did exactly? Was she an extraordinary craftswoman? No just sewed 'little bits' of fabric together.
Found it quite tedious and couldn't wait till I finished it.
February 18, 2017
Still an all-time favourite after being read many times.
I understand that Kate Grenville was encouraged to write something 'lighter' after the very dark novels, Lilian's Story and Dark Places. Since this was written light and dark have continued to be strong themes in her writing.
Harley Savage comes to the rural town of Karakarook to help the locals establish a heritage museum. But what the locals see as heritage differs from what Harley sees and wants. She is after the 'old stuff that most people throw out'. She herself is a quilt maker: her patterns are original and - for the locals who value traditional designs - as eccentric as Harley herself. I loved the way Harley values quilts that actually need some imperfection to be original and meaningful. The quilt she makes is a combination of lights and darks, reflecting the necessarily happy and unhappy aspects of human life. She deliberately makes her seams not align perfectly.
Another imperfection that the locals think needs fixing is the 'bent bridge' - a wooden structure damaged by past floods. Douglas Cheeseman arrives in Karakarook to supervise the building of a new concrete bridge - but comes to see that there may be ways to retain the old bridge, imperfect as it is.
Another way that Grenville plays with the 'idea of perfection' is through the character of Felicity Porcelline, house proud and personally a perfectionist. But unseen desires lie repressed behind Felicity's perfect image.
The stories of these characters play out in predictable and unpredictable ways. Grenville uses humour with a cruel edge sometimes but also with an underlying affection for her characters and for human weaknesses in general.
The book's epitaph has the first (and last) say - the quote Leonardo Da Vinci quote: " An arch is two weaknesses which together make a strength". A treasure of a novel.
I understand that Kate Grenville was encouraged to write something 'lighter' after the very dark novels, Lilian's Story and Dark Places. Since this was written light and dark have continued to be strong themes in her writing.
Harley Savage comes to the rural town of Karakarook to help the locals establish a heritage museum. But what the locals see as heritage differs from what Harley sees and wants. She is after the 'old stuff that most people throw out'. She herself is a quilt maker: her patterns are original and - for the locals who value traditional designs - as eccentric as Harley herself. I loved the way Harley values quilts that actually need some imperfection to be original and meaningful. The quilt she makes is a combination of lights and darks, reflecting the necessarily happy and unhappy aspects of human life. She deliberately makes her seams not align perfectly.
Another imperfection that the locals think needs fixing is the 'bent bridge' - a wooden structure damaged by past floods. Douglas Cheeseman arrives in Karakarook to supervise the building of a new concrete bridge - but comes to see that there may be ways to retain the old bridge, imperfect as it is.
Another way that Grenville plays with the 'idea of perfection' is through the character of Felicity Porcelline, house proud and personally a perfectionist. But unseen desires lie repressed behind Felicity's perfect image.
The stories of these characters play out in predictable and unpredictable ways. Grenville uses humour with a cruel edge sometimes but also with an underlying affection for her characters and for human weaknesses in general.
The book's epitaph has the first (and last) say - the quote Leonardo Da Vinci quote: " An arch is two weaknesses which together make a strength". A treasure of a novel.
September 30, 2012
My second book by this author and I am just as impressed by her beautiful language as I was in the first. Her books are not page turners, but meant to be read slowly and attention paid to the turn of phrase. This takes place in a very small town in Australia (with a population of around 1350) so the people may seem boring to those of us living in a city. However, I was very taken with their simple lives and how happy they seemed.
Ms. Grenville again makes you actually feel the heat, the dryness, the small-townness, the flies -- she transports you to this little spot on the globe and keeps you there while you read this book. She makes you part of this little village of people.
It was heartfelt to watch the romance budding between Harley and Douglas throughout the book -- two very awkward, unattractive people getting to know one another and learning to like one another despite their awkwardness and unfortunate pasts. It was heartfelt to watch Harley finally learning to love the dog who attached himself to her.
There was much to smile about in this story. The subplot with Felicity and Freddie was actually funny until it became not so funny. I was laughing while Felicity tried so hard to control her wrinkles by only smiling once or twice a day and always looking 'Up' so as not to make wrinkles in her neck! Actually, though, I think she was quite mad!
I have added more of Ms. Grenville's books to my "to read" list - she has become one of my favorite authors -- just for her language alone!
Ms. Grenville again makes you actually feel the heat, the dryness, the small-townness, the flies -- she transports you to this little spot on the globe and keeps you there while you read this book. She makes you part of this little village of people.
It was heartfelt to watch the romance budding between Harley and Douglas throughout the book -- two very awkward, unattractive people getting to know one another and learning to like one another despite their awkwardness and unfortunate pasts. It was heartfelt to watch Harley finally learning to love the dog who attached himself to her.
There was much to smile about in this story. The subplot with Felicity and Freddie was actually funny until it became not so funny. I was laughing while Felicity tried so hard to control her wrinkles by only smiling once or twice a day and always looking 'Up' so as not to make wrinkles in her neck! Actually, though, I think she was quite mad!
I have added more of Ms. Grenville's books to my "to read" list - she has become one of my favorite authors -- just for her language alone!
July 30, 2020
*****5.0*****
The story actually revolves around 3 people in a small town called "Karakarook".
1.Harley Savage - a museum curator
2.Douglas Cheeseman- an engineer
3.Mrs.Felicity Porcelline - a common but beauty conscious housewife
Different people meet at a small place, different ideas, different relations, differents views and problems.A place where things dont happen, things are known, things that not cared about and people simple enough and easy with their life.
Writer has beautifully written the "awkward" moments in characters life (as well as ours), which naturally are pushed back. The story has a happy ending and shows a wonderful conversation between our minds and others (which actually goes on concurrently).
Happy Reading!!
The story actually revolves around 3 people in a small town called "Karakarook".
1.Harley Savage - a museum curator
2.Douglas Cheeseman- an engineer
3.Mrs.Felicity Porcelline - a common but beauty conscious housewife
Different people meet at a small place, different ideas, different relations, differents views and problems.A place where things dont happen, things are known, things that not cared about and people simple enough and easy with their life.
Writer has beautifully written the "awkward" moments in characters life (as well as ours), which naturally are pushed back. The story has a happy ending and shows a wonderful conversation between our minds and others (which actually goes on concurrently).
Happy Reading!!
June 10, 2021
I have split feelings on this book. I really liked Harley and Douglas and found their challenges touching and their bumbling and social awkwardness endearing. And then there was Felicity, who I would wish out of the book entirely except that she may be the true center of the book as indicated by the title.
2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction.
2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction.
September 10, 2009
About 50 pages in, I remembered I had read this book seven years ago and how much I loved it. Since I am in the habit of taking notes, I reread what I'd felt at the time, and remember the sharp sense of character and place, her humor. Grenville is an award winner with good reason.
June 4, 2015
This was actually my mom's copy but she complained about the font every time she tried reading it so I did what any reasonable daughter ought to do: I stole it. Or maybe borrowed (with no intention of returning it-- as of now).
Anyway, since this book was originally "meant" for women her age, I don't know what to expect after I picked it up from her shelf. The title itself was interesting enough. But the story. Well, that's a different topic.
The book was basically about these two socially-awkward middle-aged people who went to this small Australian town called Karakarook because of they have some work to do there. The first half of the book was uneventful, just basically the author showing us how bad they can be in situations involving other people-- so uneventful that it is almost boring but the author's writing style pushed me to keep reading. There is something with how she writes that is so vivid yet it doesn't drown you with too much descriptive words-- it's just effortlessly good writing. The two characters met at around the second half of the book and well, let's just say I almost shook my head almost to the point of it disconnecting from my neck all through out that scene. Epic fail, Cheeseman (what a name).
But although the characters gave me a really terrible stiff neck , I liked them. They reminded me of myself in a way (I don't know what is so likeable then, really) and it sort of gave me the image of what I would be like in the future. I mean, I didn't think it would be possible for people their age to feel that kind of social pressure because I thought as you grow older, you tend to not give a damn anymore because of this thing called "maturity". But I guess maturity is knowing how to act-- not exactly knowing how to feel. Yep.
And there is this other character called Felicity. I have one thing to tell you, woman. Your confidence is as high as you are.
I liked this book. I might not even give it back to my mom and just keep it. (Sorry, ma.)
Anyway, since this book was originally "meant" for women her age, I don't know what to expect after I picked it up from her shelf. The title itself was interesting enough. But the story. Well, that's a different topic.
The book was basically about these two socially-awkward middle-aged people who went to this small Australian town called Karakarook because of they have some work to do there. The first half of the book was uneventful, just basically the author showing us how bad they can be in situations involving other people-- so uneventful that it is almost boring but the author's writing style pushed me to keep reading. There is something with how she writes that is so vivid yet it doesn't drown you with too much descriptive words-- it's just effortlessly good writing. The two characters met at around the second half of the book and well, let's just say I almost shook my head almost to the point of it disconnecting from my neck all through out that scene. Epic fail, Cheeseman (what a name).
But although the characters gave me a really terrible stiff neck , I liked them. They reminded me of myself in a way (I don't know what is so likeable then, really) and it sort of gave me the image of what I would be like in the future. I mean, I didn't think it would be possible for people their age to feel that kind of social pressure because I thought as you grow older, you tend to not give a damn anymore because of this thing called "maturity". But I guess maturity is knowing how to act-- not exactly knowing how to feel. Yep.
And there is this other character called Felicity. I have one thing to tell you, woman. Your confidence is as high as you are.
I liked this book. I might not even give it back to my mom and just keep it. (Sorry, ma.)
January 24, 2012
Kate Grenville demonstrates here her great subtlety of observation and influence as a writer. From the smallest of towns she selects a few characters for their very ordinariness, and gradually displays their deep commitment to their own individual and internal values. Through the introduction of a couple of out-of-towners, who are there by invitation of the locals, she displays how what is lacking in the big city for these individuals can be discovered by the freeing up of space to be able to appreciate what can so easily be overlooked where there is more of everything.
In taking her characters on these journeys she also uses the most subtle of techniques to suggest the teenage spirit of wanting to etch their name on the world, while being unsure of how they will be received, and by whom. She mirrors the internal dialogues of looking for the perfect word, with clumsy outpourings of what they would rather not disclose. Yet it is the revelation of one’s own hiccups which invites the opening for others to disclose their own challenges, and find a way in which they can overcome their shortcomings through their connections with each other.
One of the great strengths of Grenville’s writing is knowing what not to say. She gives her characters plenty of moments where the understanding is present without words. By this the sense of trust and support in the world is maintained, no matter what fault any particular person or character may have. It is a great equaliser which shows just how unparalleled Grenville is in her profession. Anyone can recognise themselves here and still come away with a lesson more easily learnt through the gentle and subtle humour which often holds people just a step or two from self-realisation within Australian society. Well-deserved winner of the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction.
In taking her characters on these journeys she also uses the most subtle of techniques to suggest the teenage spirit of wanting to etch their name on the world, while being unsure of how they will be received, and by whom. She mirrors the internal dialogues of looking for the perfect word, with clumsy outpourings of what they would rather not disclose. Yet it is the revelation of one’s own hiccups which invites the opening for others to disclose their own challenges, and find a way in which they can overcome their shortcomings through their connections with each other.
One of the great strengths of Grenville’s writing is knowing what not to say. She gives her characters plenty of moments where the understanding is present without words. By this the sense of trust and support in the world is maintained, no matter what fault any particular person or character may have. It is a great equaliser which shows just how unparalleled Grenville is in her profession. Anyone can recognise themselves here and still come away with a lesson more easily learnt through the gentle and subtle humour which often holds people just a step or two from self-realisation within Australian society. Well-deserved winner of the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction.
December 14, 2019
The overwhelming sense of this book is of the amazing writing---and the detailed, wonderful descriptions of the thought processes of her flawed characters who are often out of their depth. Superb.
February 1, 2021
This is one of those stories that the writing just brings the setting alive, as though it's another character in the story. You really feel like you're in this small, dusty, hot, Aussie town. I actually preferred this to her other novel The Secret River (although that's more plot-driven).
August 13, 2017
Well written, interesting and very unusual. Brilliant descriptions.
October 8, 2009
In a few words: an old bridge, a smalltown outback community and lots of social awkwardness.
A slower burner of a book. It took about half way through to get going in terms of the plot, but events were less important in my enjoyment than the development of the characters and the slow immersion into the life of the Australian outback town in which the book was set. the characters were very well drawn, making it almost uncomfortable reading as their self-consciousness and inner turmoils were slowly revealed. There were lots of lighter moments though, making this as much a social comedy as anything, if you wanted it to be. A great book for tucking up with if you've got the time to enjoy it, but not a page turner, and definitely not for impatient action seekers. I think you get out what you put in with this book.
A slower burner of a book. It took about half way through to get going in terms of the plot, but events were less important in my enjoyment than the development of the characters and the slow immersion into the life of the Australian outback town in which the book was set. the characters were very well drawn, making it almost uncomfortable reading as their self-consciousness and inner turmoils were slowly revealed. There were lots of lighter moments though, making this as much a social comedy as anything, if you wanted it to be. A great book for tucking up with if you've got the time to enjoy it, but not a page turner, and definitely not for impatient action seekers. I think you get out what you put in with this book.
August 12, 2010
In order for the plot of this plodding book to work, Harley must be a sympathetic character. She's not. I also found it hard to believe that a museum in Sydney would allow one of its staff to remain in a backwater for weeks to carry out a job that would have taken a couple of days at most. Felicity and Freddy offer some helpful comic relief, but it wasn't enough to sustain this pointless and overpraised trudge through the outback. The author has chosen to dispense with quotation marks in dialogue -- one of contemporary literature's worst ticks -- occasionally making it hard to know who is speaking. This fault is coupled with the annoying overuse of italics -- an affectation that grows progressively more irritating as the book wears on. I'm not sure it deserves three stars.
August 11, 2017
Grenville writes places and people so well it's almost like watching a film rather than reading a book. The part which is more book like, the internal world of each character became tedious and repetitive: yes we get it, each of the three main characters has serious self doubt issues. Grenville labours too long on this point and there were also moments which to my mind came too close to slapstick making Harley & Douglas appear buffoon like. I did like her observation of small country town life however I found it difficult to place it in time...was it meant to be set in the 1980s? Who uses cigarette lighters with a rolling wheel nowadays? I read this for book group, not one of my favourites for this year.
April 1, 2010
This book, along with Stoner, by john Williams, is probably the best book I have read in 10+ years. I love Grenville's title and her weaving of three individuals working to grow beyond their need for perfection as they visit a small Australian town. The insights and introspection are beautiful, plain and honest, giving you wonderful nuggets of language that Grenville either collected for many years, or is able to just stitch into the dialogue as she thinks of them. At the end of the book, all the lives are set right, and it concludes with a late summer feeling.
March 2, 2020
I liked the ordinary characters that Kate describes in her book and the awkwardness and flaws in their thoughts and communication ... they come to life in this story and you feel anxious for them to feel better about themselves. I thought the writing and story was good although not a book I was racing to pick up to finish.
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