Brain Pain discussion

Paula Fox published her novel, Desperate Characters, in 1970.


Wikipedia page for Paula Fox:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Fox


Wikipedia page for Desperate Characters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despera...


Feel free to use this thread to ask questions and post links to resources for Paula Fox and Desperate Characters.

Also, if you’ve written a review of the book, please post a link to share with the group.

Just a short remark about the title: it is based on a quote from Thoreau's Walden: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

Thoreau argues that the pursuit of success, prosperity, and wealth ironically cheapens the lives of the people engaged in this strive. He instead advocates introspection, simple living, self-sufficiency.

Did the author herself state that Walden inspired her? Because the title doesn't closely resemble the quote.

Zadignose wrote: "Did the author herself state that Walden inspired her? Because the title doesn't closely resemble the quote."

Part of the quote shows up in the book. Whatever her intention, the characters could be said to live in desperate conditions...

Zadignose: "Did the author herself state that Walden inspired her?"

Yes, it's even stated explicitly in the book. I'm aware that this is a bit of cheating, since it refers to a late chapter, so I will hide it behind a spoiler tag:

(view spoiler)[The precise connection with Thoreau is discussed in Ch. 12, p. 150: "Do you remember years ago, when people liked to quote Thoreau, that line about the quiet desperation of most men's lives? One morning, a month or so ago, I went to Charlie's office and found him slouched in front of his desk, staring at what he had written in block letters on a piece of paper. It was that quote." (hide spoiler)]