Unholy Loves

by Joyce Carol Oates

Looks at the lives of the men and women of a prestigious upstate college, including Albert St. Dennis, Professor of Poetry, and the people he meets-Brigit, a divorcee, and Alexis, a pianist and composer

Genres: Fiction

335 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A campus novel set in a fictional prestigious college in the 1970s. She takes on all the inside gossip, the endless parties, the jockeying for position among the professors and administrators. According to her biography, Invisible Writer by Greg Johnson, she drew on her experiences as a professor of English and writing at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada early in her teaching career. The story felt almost claustrophobic and I was glad it was relatively short, but through one female character she gives a deep profile of what it is like to be a novelist.

[Katie Wennechuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this novel about a year in the lives of academics at a small private school; affairs, rivalry and jealousy and trying to be original. Several professors had rich fantasies about their relationship with a famous guest poet in residence. Seeing these private vanities and dreams in a story arc next to real life goings on was spectacular. This novel was less dark than Oates' newer ones.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started to read this book because I had very quickly read 200 pages of a detective novel, and wanted to balance it with quality fiction. Oates delivered; as someone who dabbled in academic work, I recognized if not situations, but certainly the atmosphere of universities. I loved the absence of prudishness on Oates' part about homosexuality, and loved the unlikely pairing of Brigit and Alexis. I didn't want it to end, especially not with a conclusion evoking the dry, pessimistic 4th chapter, but the ending is quick, painless and funny. An outstanding work of fiction (?).

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, partly because I'm a faculty wife. The gossip and dull parties ring very true. The comic treatment suits the material. Toward the end, it sinks a bit and betrays the more interesting first half of the novel.

[Mary Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

JCO is very difficult. I did like this better than some of her others

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can we understand other people if we can't even understand ourselves? . . . but Joyce always (?) leaves us with hope.

[Kerstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Unholy Loves" hat mich nicht vollständig überzeugt. Das Buch lässt sich gut lesen und ich fand die Einblicke in das Denken und Fühlen der verschiedenen Charaktere interessant, aber in der zweiten Hälfte gab es einige Entwicklungen, die ich nicht nachvollziehen konnte. Dies bezieht sich vor allem auf die romantische Beziehung der Protagonistin. Die Dynamik zwischen den beiden hat mir zu Beginn gefallen, auch wenn es ungesund wirkte, wie sehr Brigit sich an Alexis angelehnt und sich fast schon an ihn geklammert hat. Später hingegen haben beide große, fast schon unverzeihliche Fehler gemacht und vor allem sein Verhalten ihr gegenüber, als sie gestritten haben, fand ich schrecklich. An sich wäre das kein Problem gewesen, da auch negative und 'schlechte' Beziehungen in Büchern vorkommen und eine realistische Darstellung nuanciert und emotional sein könnte. Hier war das nicht unbedingt der Fall; zwar entwickelt die Protagonistin sich entscheidend weiter, was mir gut gefallen hat, aber dass sie danach überhaupt noch mit ihm gesprochen und eine gewisse Nähe zu ihm gefühlt hat, konnte ich nicht verstehen und ich fand diesen Aspekt fragwürdig. Dafür hat mir durchaus gefallen, wie diese Ereignisse Brigit beeinflusst haben und wie sie sich dadurch verändert hat; ihre Entwicklung vom Anfang zum Ende des Buches ist definitiv bemerkenswert.

Mir hat auch gefallen, dass die große Macht von Gerüchten sowie Klatsch und Tratsch angesprochen wurde und dass man gesehen hat, wie schwer es sein kann, Teil einer verschworenen Gemeinschaft zu werden. Das akademische Jahr selbst wurde ebenfalls gut thematisiert und die Dynamik in der Fakultät hat auf jeden Fall genug Stoff für das Buch geliefert. Trotzdem konnte ich zu keinem der Charaktere eine Verbindung aufbauen und obwohl ich es interessant fand zu sehen, was der Wahrheit entsprach und was nur ein Gerücht war, gab es auch verwirrende Passagen, in denen mir zunächst nicht klar war, was nun real war und was nicht. Die Protagonistin selbst habe ich zwiespältig wahrgenommen. Einerseits war es leicht, Mitgefühl für sie und ihre Lage aufzubringen, anderseits kam sie mir oft zu passiv vor und durch ein paar spätere Enthüllungen fand ich es schwer zu beurteilen, wer sie nun wirklich ist und was nur einer Fassade oder falschen Interpretationen ihres Verhaltens entspricht. Das war irgendwie interessant, doch es hat mich überwiegend irritiert. Als Charakterstudie funktioniert das Buch aber definitiv.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5 stars

Really liked this novel. I enjoyed seeing the development in the relationship between Alexis and Brigit and how their affair played out throughout the novel. And like with any Joyce Carol Oates novel, there is a cast of interesting characters that we got to meet during the course of the story. Overall, this was an interesting novel with an interesting cast of characters.

[Miranda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes, they say write what you know, but reading about a college faculty and their worries over dissertations and committees and party invitations and parking spots doesn't make for a fascinating story.

[Ellen O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one had a really strong start, but i feel kind of lost its way the longer it went on. some truly fantastic characters here, even if the cast felt a little cluttered at times. dark and bizarre ending but enjoyable nonetheless. RIP albert st dennis for real

[Sunalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5 en fait, et bien plus lisible que certains des précédents romans de JCO.

[Elizabeth Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

This one kept putting me to sleep. I would read about 10 pages then take a 20 minute nap. But I didn’t hate it. I liked the themes of how you see yourself versus how others see you.

[Micol · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is pretty much like listening to some harried associate professor namedrop and drone on (and on and on) about university politics while you eye the cocktail table and wait for an opportunity to make a break for it.

[Charles M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Oates better efforts, but follows true to her commitment in chronicling American life during her lifetime. This time, story line focuses on an intimate relationship on a college campus between two academicians; amidst a renown poet.