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The Gift
Phillip has a lot on his mind. At home, in his unnecessarily large, excessively expensive house, he is attempting to become a Taoist
master of love with his wife, Alice, but his quest is forever being interrupted by the requests of his twin daughters -- "Can we have a pony, please?"; "We want to go to boarding school." At work, in his shed/office at the bottom of the garden, between countless games of Minesweeper and FreeCell, Phillip is trying to pay the mortgage by writing the instruction manuals to Korean bread-making machines. And at parties where he is concerned that he is not taken seriously -- he is variously mistaken as a waiter and a rhinoplastic surgeon -- Phillip tells the world he is, in fact, a screenwriter.
Above all, Phillip is obsessing about his best friends, Barry and Sean. They are rich, more successful, and, most worryingly, they give great presents. Their gifts are always exquisite -- a full set of Italian crockery, a handmade corkscrew from Venice; they give them on birthdays, at parties, and quite often for no reason whatsoever; and, increasingly, these presents break all bounds of generosity.
They are gifts that hurt a man's pride. And they can never be matched. Which doesn't mean Phillip won't try. . . .
master of love with his wife, Alice, but his quest is forever being interrupted by the requests of his twin daughters -- "Can we have a pony, please?"; "We want to go to boarding school." At work, in his shed/office at the bottom of the garden, between countless games of Minesweeper and FreeCell, Phillip is trying to pay the mortgage by writing the instruction manuals to Korean bread-making machines. And at parties where he is concerned that he is not taken seriously -- he is variously mistaken as a waiter and a rhinoplastic surgeon -- Phillip tells the world he is, in fact, a screenwriter.
Above all, Phillip is obsessing about his best friends, Barry and Sean. They are rich, more successful, and, most worryingly, they give great presents. Their gifts are always exquisite -- a full set of Italian crockery, a handmade corkscrew from Venice; they give them on birthdays, at parties, and quite often for no reason whatsoever; and, increasingly, these presents break all bounds of generosity.
They are gifts that hurt a man's pride. And they can never be matched. Which doesn't mean Phillip won't try. . . .
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 7, 2021
I was excited about the prospect of reading a novel purportedly exploring masculine anxiety in today’s western culture.
However, no work that includes the word “hottentot” to describe a large woman without examining the racial and historical meanings of that word in any way is not worth my time and frankly should be taken off shelves.
Needless to say I did not make it past page 20. I suspect the paper will do a fine job as kindling.
However, no work that includes the word “hottentot” to describe a large woman without examining the racial and historical meanings of that word in any way is not worth my time and frankly should be taken off shelves.
Needless to say I did not make it past page 20. I suspect the paper will do a fine job as kindling.
July 4, 2016
Marcel Mauss in his groundbreaking anthropological classic "The Gift" showed how reciprocity is not merely an instance of altruism but something which permeates every facet of society. Social solidarity particularly in archaic tribal societies was dependent on gift exchange. The key insight of the study is applied as a plot device in this novel.
Flusfeder's novel is based on the fantastic anxiety that emerges when reciprocating a gift. It also concerns itself with the intricacies of value. There is no such thing as a free gift, generosity can sometimes seem like a personal affront, particularly when it is overdone. The main protagonist has an existential crisis of sorts, when he tries to gradually outdo his friend's gift giving. There is a vulnerable masculinity here and it is beautifully played out at times (in the first section). Flusfeder has a great writing style, the lack of quotation marks do not discredit or take away anything from the read. He also does not shy away from using complicated ideas or phases, which shows confidence and assertiveness as a creative writer.
A plot develops relatively well with lots of imaginative black comedy and quirks. There are some good one-liners as well (party goer thinks that Phillip is a nose doctor when he says he is interested in sinology). There is a sense that the larger quirks which preoccupy the plot more are almost presentational in that they read really well on a blurb, but are somewhat disjointed and static when taken in context within the book.. The novel begins to snowball fast and as a reader, it is difficult to stop reading but this momentum sharply declines as the second part begins (Up to page 154). I found it very hard to continue reading at points, it became immensely dull. The novel would read considerably better if sections two and three were reduced and collapsed into one. There is a lot of filler and entire scenes could be removed without harming the sharpness of the novel. The material involved Syd Barrett is definitely enjoyable for fans, but it does not develop as I would have hoped. Flusfeder does present him as a dunce or someone with severe Aspergers, which may or may not be controversial. Everything eventually happens in a matter of fact way, as though the writer knew he needed to sum up and tie it all together. Overall, the book begins very well but peters and suffers as the plot expands.
Flusfeder's novel is based on the fantastic anxiety that emerges when reciprocating a gift. It also concerns itself with the intricacies of value. There is no such thing as a free gift, generosity can sometimes seem like a personal affront, particularly when it is overdone. The main protagonist has an existential crisis of sorts, when he tries to gradually outdo his friend's gift giving. There is a vulnerable masculinity here and it is beautifully played out at times (in the first section). Flusfeder has a great writing style, the lack of quotation marks do not discredit or take away anything from the read. He also does not shy away from using complicated ideas or phases, which shows confidence and assertiveness as a creative writer.
A plot develops relatively well with lots of imaginative black comedy and quirks. There are some good one-liners as well (party goer thinks that Phillip is a nose doctor when he says he is interested in sinology). There is a sense that the larger quirks which preoccupy the plot more are almost presentational in that they read really well on a blurb, but are somewhat disjointed and static when taken in context within the book.. The novel begins to snowball fast and as a reader, it is difficult to stop reading but this momentum sharply declines as the second part begins (Up to page 154). I found it very hard to continue reading at points, it became immensely dull. The novel would read considerably better if sections two and three were reduced and collapsed into one. There is a lot of filler and entire scenes could be removed without harming the sharpness of the novel. The material involved Syd Barrett is definitely enjoyable for fans, but it does not develop as I would have hoped. Flusfeder does present him as a dunce or someone with severe Aspergers, which may or may not be controversial. Everything eventually happens in a matter of fact way, as though the writer knew he needed to sum up and tie it all together. Overall, the book begins very well but peters and suffers as the plot expands.
March 9, 2017
I did enjoy this, nearly gave it 5. A man attempts to compete with his wife's gay friends' gifts, and fails miserably. It's funny and touching - I loved all the Syd Barrett stuff but then I'm a fan.
(2003 notebook: lovely detail about football and middle class lives and relationships, on the periphery of the film industry, writing a script, falling to pieces with a sinister Syd Barrett fan, grating his skin into the salad, adding blood to the soup at his anniversary party. Very impressed although doesn't sustain it to the end. )
(2003 notebook: lovely detail about football and middle class lives and relationships, on the periphery of the film industry, writing a script, falling to pieces with a sinister Syd Barrett fan, grating his skin into the salad, adding blood to the soup at his anniversary party. Very impressed although doesn't sustain it to the end. )
September 11, 2023
Many readers seem to be confused about this book. It is not simply a book about gift-giving and the scrapes the protagonist gets himself into the quest to out-do the gifts given by his wife's wealthy friends. To see it as such would be to take it at such face value that you might as well have just picked the book up in the shop, looked at the title and the cover, then put it down again and considered it a job well done.
Of course, any book is open to interpretation, and in mine, this is a book about a man, Phillip, going through a severe mid-life crisis / mental breakdown. It is about the rage of finding that life hasn't turned out the way you thought it would. About the desperation to be better, bigger, more important than one actually is. About flouting society's norms and channeling all this pent up frustration into one single aspect of your life, to the detriment of everything and everyone else. As such, I found the book to be riveting, equally funny and shocking, and ultimately a question of whether Phillip's actions can or should be forgiven - for who of us hasn't, at one time or another, just thought, "Fuck all this shit, I should be the best."?
Of course, any book is open to interpretation, and in mine, this is a book about a man, Phillip, going through a severe mid-life crisis / mental breakdown. It is about the rage of finding that life hasn't turned out the way you thought it would. About the desperation to be better, bigger, more important than one actually is. About flouting society's norms and channeling all this pent up frustration into one single aspect of your life, to the detriment of everything and everyone else. As such, I found the book to be riveting, equally funny and shocking, and ultimately a question of whether Phillip's actions can or should be forgiven - for who of us hasn't, at one time or another, just thought, "Fuck all this shit, I should be the best."?
September 7, 2018
Kirjan aihe on jotenkin herkullinen ja takakansiteksti lupasi hyvää, mutta lukukokemuksena tämä olikin sitten suuri pettymys. En jaksanut seurata tapahtumia kuin pinnistellen ja tuskastuin töksähtelevään kieleen, yksisanaisiin lauseisiin. Nauroin toki kohdassa, jossa päähenkilö tunkeutui nukkuvan ystävänsä asuntoon ja purki raivoaan tekemällä pieniä kepposia, kuten varastamalla yhden Scrabble-pelin nappulan :)
October 9, 2019
It took me a little bit to get into it but once I got there, I found the book to be very funny and so cynical. I'm not really familiar with Syd Barrett but that didn't really bother me. The ending was a bit dissapointing, was kinda hoping for a real dark ending like A Simple Plan or so but nothing like this. But overall still worth 3* for me.
October 22, 2012
I can see that there are wildly divergent views on this book. I think there are some problems with it, but overall it is worth a go. I happen to like dark comedy that has some relevance to our society. This one is quite sharp in critquing the need many of us have to be seen as magnanimous to our friends. We often give more than is necessary to confirm our friendships. In the case of this narrator, it becomes a ludicrous "potlatch" battle between his ultra-rich gay friends and himself and his wife.
The difficult part for me was the style. Flusfeder (what a name!) uses the I'm-going-to-use-no-quotation-marks-style-because-it's-so-cool. It isn't. For authors that want to do this, we should be given a warning or a choice of versions -- like wide screen or letterbox versions of videos. I've suffered through Philip Roth novels like this and it can be very painful for the reader. Because this novel is meant to be funny, one misses a lot of the humor when you have to go back and figure out who said what -- it's kind of like someone who has trouble telling a long joke and has to correct themselves because they miss a key point.
I'm sure someone on this site who has taken graduate literature courses (or teachs them) could tell me what the authors that eliminate quotes are trying to achieve. Perhaps there is a valid reason, and I'm not astute enough to pick up on it.
The difficult part for me was the style. Flusfeder (what a name!) uses the I'm-going-to-use-no-quotation-marks-style-because-it's-so-cool. It isn't. For authors that want to do this, we should be given a warning or a choice of versions -- like wide screen or letterbox versions of videos. I've suffered through Philip Roth novels like this and it can be very painful for the reader. Because this novel is meant to be funny, one misses a lot of the humor when you have to go back and figure out who said what -- it's kind of like someone who has trouble telling a long joke and has to correct themselves because they miss a key point.
I'm sure someone on this site who has taken graduate literature courses (or teachs them) could tell me what the authors that eliminate quotes are trying to achieve. Perhaps there is a valid reason, and I'm not astute enough to pick up on it.
November 7, 2012
I haven't really got a lot of good things to say about this book.
Father of twins and mildly neurotic, the main character Phillip, receives gifts from a rich gay couple who are in movies. All supporting characters, including wife and children are not at all fleshed out.
He spends the book mithering about what gifts he should return - and his attempts to provide the perfect gift get him into a number of unbelievable scrapes.
The book is meant to be a comedy - but it failed to make me laugh or giggle even once. Its also meant to be a morality play against the dangers of keeping up with the joneses and an insight into the (non) worries of the modern man.
It failed to be entertaining.
Possibly my least favorite book of the year.
Father of twins and mildly neurotic, the main character Phillip, receives gifts from a rich gay couple who are in movies. All supporting characters, including wife and children are not at all fleshed out.
He spends the book mithering about what gifts he should return - and his attempts to provide the perfect gift get him into a number of unbelievable scrapes.
The book is meant to be a comedy - but it failed to make me laugh or giggle even once. Its also meant to be a morality play against the dangers of keeping up with the joneses and an insight into the (non) worries of the modern man.
It failed to be entertaining.
Possibly my least favorite book of the year.
February 5, 2009
My Review: So-so, took me way too long to read such an easy read, not a good sign. As far as a novel goes though, I did finish it (captive audience on a 30 min bus ride morning and night...) Interesting use of NO quotation marks though, I almost felt like I was a part of the conversation.
What I Learned: Keep stories about obsessive compulsive issues to short story style (aka The Yellow Wall Paper)
What I Learned: Keep stories about obsessive compulsive issues to short story style (aka The Yellow Wall Paper)
January 8, 2014
I thought it started strong, lost me a little in the middle but ended well. An everyday sort of book that explores how do men prove their masculinity and individual authority in this modern world where they can be rendered feckless by current social standards and cultural mores. Asks the question of is generosity a selfish or selfless act. Who gets more satisfaction out of a gift? A good, quick, British read.
December 18, 2009
I thought this could be the book to read. I liked the start and Syd Barrett stuff too but I didin´t think that the story were whole and it get losted time to time.
It could have been better and funnier. It was too obsessed and miserable. It was not unique enough, where aren't drugs, bad marriages and chaeting these days.
It could have been better and funnier. It was too obsessed and miserable. It was not unique enough, where aren't drugs, bad marriages and chaeting these days.
May 15, 2011
one of the worst books I've ever read. It's painful to read as Phillip the main character receives gifts from his wifes best friends, Barry and Sean and feels the pressure to return gifts that outdo the gift given. A power struggle evolves with him turning nasty and ugly and completely irrational...thrown in a few more boring charateres!
November 12, 2007
had some promising laughable one liners... but the main character is an idiot -- you might like it if you're into that sort of thing
September 6, 2008
Starts out deliciously dark, but then lets up at the end when it should be powering home. Disappointing.
February 25, 2011
I thought I'd put this on, read it in about 2004. A lovely little novel, very funny. I loved the Syd Barrett bits.
November 30, 2013
A man gets obsessive about outdoing his friend in gift giving, which leads to a kind of existential crisis.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews