The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
Ratings3
Average rating4
15
Ratings3
Average rating4
Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater-vest, waters his fern Frederica, and heads out to his garden. But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he's never seen before among Miriam's possessions. He embarks on an odyssey to find out the truth about his wife's life before they met. It takes him from London to Paris and India, on a journey that leads him to find hope, healing, and self-discovery in the most unexpected places.
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This book was just weird as heck. Not for me.
As to what was weird about it, The strange obsession this book has with sex, nudity and constantly thinking that finding out past possible romances of a dead character is somehow “self- discovery” for her husband. Why is everyone spilling their guts to Arthur? It wasn't done in a natural manner and clearly forced by the author. Example: When he calls the Indian guy, the giver of the first charm, he keeps talking about how the wife might have had a relationship with someone even if he did hear that she recently passed away and the person he is spilling all that to the dead woman's husband. (HE IS INDIAN. AN INDIAN PERSON WOULD NEVER DO THAT. HINTING AT SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS LIKE SOCIAL SUICIDE AND HUSHED UPON HERE!!!How do I know? Cause I'm Indian myself.)Excuse me? Why would you do that when you just heard she died and he is grieving for her? There was nothing to indicate he was rambling either. Most disturbing was all the scene where Arthur shared a room in a hostel with girls who did leave when he entered but later the girls came back drunk and with a guy. Two people had sex and Arthur somehow later felt at ease hearing other people breathing around him as he slept when earlier he was so uncomfortable. Even if wasn't graphically descriptive being so incredibly left field and just plain disturbing.Later when he goes to France to find out the about the charm send from a boutique, he and the owner some how develop attraction in the span of a few hours. How come a lady who just found out her good friend has died wants to try spending a night with said DEAD friend's grieving husband? She even becomes slightly offended at Arthur's polite rejection and hints at Miriam's not graceful past. ......Did character that just got introduced for a few paragraphs suddenly have a long time interaction with the protagonist and now wants to disgrace his dead wife? Did that actually happen?Should I say the author thinks too lightly of anyone that's not a main character or too lightly of French women? I don't even know at this point. I also definitely don't get why Arthur ended up naked modelling when he went to find out about a paint palette charm at an art college. And again another guy working there endings up spilling his guts about his tumultuous relationship with his lawyer wife but it's all good and dandy because good sex.Just no. The idea of introducing various relationship perspectives this way was too forced. It was just too gross and disgusting. Like the idea that a plain and normal relationship of two people just meeting and falling in love is too normal and therefore just not possible.
TL; DR - This book is obsessed with sexual themes and nudity and takes very weird turns. INCREDIBLY weird turns. Tries too hard and thinks a quiet and happy marriage is too bland.
I don't understand how any of this was supposed to be about healing and self discovery.
