With his first novel, Hemingway's Chair, Michael Palin is proving himself to be of superb wit yet again. After the success of Monty Python, Palin has gone on to write and act in major Hollywood productions, as well as showing himself to be quite the world-traveler and documentarian with his "Around the World in Eighty Days," "Pole to Pole" and "Full Circle" series.
To read Hemingway's Chair, you wouldn't realize this is his first novel. His style is unique, with a very mature and deliberate pacing that perfectly suites his characters and storyline. We also see Palin's sense of humor throughout the novel, with wonderfully wry passages and observations such as his description of the "small, angry man with a face the colour of a nasty wound."
The novel's protagonist is Martin Sproale, a young postal worker in the small English town of Theston. Times, they are a-changin' for the postal system, with modernization that threatens the workers and townspeople. The changes threaten a way of life that is not all about efficiency; it's about a sense of community.
Martin, a mouse of a man who is obsessed with Ernest Hemingway, lives with his mother and spends most of his free time day-dreaming about living the kind of life that Hemingway led. In his reluctance to change, Martin loses his fiancé, his job, as well as his mind, it seems. His transformation from a reticent misfit at the beginning of the book to someone who stands up for what he believes in (what would Hemingway do?) is a joy to behold.
Palin infuses his characters with wonderful and endearing quirks creating truly memorable individuals. This is a feel-good story that will touch the hearts of anyone who has ever wanted to "stand up to the powers that be."
Children's Books by Palin: Small Harry and the Toothache Pills; Limericks; The Mirrorstone; Time Bandits; Cyril and the Dinner Party; and Cyril and the House of Commons.
