The Privileges: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)

I had read some of the reviews of this book, before deciding to read it. I was left with a strong negative impression of the main characters--which, in the two days it took me to finish reading the novel, I had trouble pinpointing. I know people like the Moreys, the husband and wife Adam and Cynthia. They are people whose lack of sentimentality and refusal to dwell in uncomfortable memories of disempowerment and loss are not so much a concentrated effort that is a result of deep reflection, but a practical, get-on-with-it attitude to life that is greatly effective in securing the kind of life most wish to have. It is interesting that people would rather forgive adulterous men who do 'good' in public, yet are harsh on Adam Morey, whose sole focus in life is to be the best husband and father he can be to his much-cherished wife and children by providing limitless possibilities for them.Jonathan Dee's Moreys represent the young, brash, no-looking-back, guilt-free America, whose vision of the future and its secure place in it has no relation with illusions or prayers or fate, but the simple fact of acting on its ideals and making it a reality today. As we should all be able to see by now, that modus operandi no doubt has affected everyone in its dust, but it doesn't reduce the purity of its intention; a particularly American creed.If Adam Morey is an alcoholic instead of a dedicated athlete, if he is an abusive instead of a devoted husband, if he comes home with no 'bacon' instead of having more than anticipated and acted on his wife's needs and his family's, I wonder if my fellow reviewers would be more forgiving, and write things about him with descriptions like 'human', or 'deep and true' or, 'honest'? Have we become a society that is comfortable in sidling up with unforgivable weaknesses than what can be interpreted as strength of character? What kind of a society throws stones at those minding their own business living autonomous, self-sufficient, successful lives, when that exact society built the particular infrastructure for the realization of that particular life trajectory?Yes, the Moreys exclude family members outside of their own nucleus -- the reminders of their disempowered past-lives. Dee doesn't venture to describe how both Cynthia and Adam come to this choice, apart from illustrating the alienating gap between their children and the children's grandparents that are jarring for both parties. Again, what kind of compromises is one willing to make for one's dreams? For the Moreys, in order to seize the big living they sought for themselves, they made the innate choice to leave behind all that would not sync with that vision. Adam is not guilty of being a 'sociopath'-- if the USA can be called a sociopath for wanting to spread democracy with such naïveté as, similarly, the Pile character believed he was doing in Graham Greene's The Quiet American--he just believed in the American Dream. His idea of being a righteous man is to do good by his family and staying loyal to that.Dee's message is one that is deeply paradoxical and delivered in a deceptively economical manner. Are we guilty of being true to our dreams that does not seemingly hurt anyone and is for the good of the people we have vowed to take care of for the rest of our lives? As Candide had advised: cultivate our own garden; mind our own business, do our best to provide for those we care for, be true to them. Adam and Cynthia are devoted to each other their whole married lives, and have the kind of marriage all of us wish for: one that is filled with faith and support, true love and resilience, a lack of doubts and misgivings. Would we rather punish these characters for their tunnel vision, or those whose grasp of the big picture give license to their disloyalties towards those who trust them? How many 'humanitarian' individuals are ruthlessly indifferent to the emotional well-fare and general well-being of those closest to them?The Moreys represent the naïve, seemingly carefree, beautiful and bold America. Historical baggage is one they've left at the altar; as in the novel, the beginning of the Moreys' lives start at their wedding very early in their lives. At the end of the novel, Dee portrays moments in which Adam and Cynthia respectively experience uncharacteristic self-reflection, triggered by loss and alienation. Both of them chuck their probing thoughts out the window before truly giving any time for the thoughts to take hold in their vigilantly-guarded sentiments. In this rejection of exploring possible (other) meanings of their lives, Dee depicts that the lives of the privileged are not as free from burden as we'd like to project in our envy or need to believe that they are different to 'us', or 'inhuman'. The burden of the success that the Moreys achieve, is the baggage of deciding not to carry any. Everything demands a compromise, and in America, one is free to make the compromises one chooses to live with.

What are we to make of the Moreys? They are a "perfect" family on paper in some ways; loving, monogamous marriage; committed parents; tight little family circle. Generous with their wealth -- trying to do good in the world. Yet, they're also oblivious to everyone but themselves, often nasty, narcissistic, self-serving and arrogant. For me, this duality was iDee's genius in this very readable novel. In addition to being a really good writer -- with fresh turns of phrase and a penetrating eye for social detail -- he manages to construct what I think is a paean to modern greed and amorality, but within the confines of what otherwise feels like a conventional family story with characters you feel deeply ambivalent about. I found the story engrossing, not least because of his prose, but also frustrating. There are things to admire about these characters, as well as (many) things to dislike. Of course, that's true of most people, but it's exaggerated to a grand level here, perhaps because Adam and Cynthia won't settle for anything but a "big life." Is it possible to have a big life without obscene amounts of money? And does having that kind of money bring you a big life? These seem to be some of the questions Dee examines, without any kind of clear-cut denouement. Indeed, the "non-end" end shows us Jonas, certainly up to that point the most sympathetic character, planning to embed himself into the family money and life. What's the point of denial, after all.At various points, I wondered if Dee were trying to find a doorway into the mind and motivation of a Bernie Madoff type individual -- a rationale for the risk-taking via Adam's need to "save" the woman he loves and who seems to be drifting away. Whether intended or not, it does provide interesting glimpses into another world, one both exciting and also quite sad. Read this as indictment of the .001% or a peek at their lives, but do read it.

The scene is set by a detailed and rather alarming description of an expensive wedding. To one who has no familiarity with such an occasion this seems almost anthropological in intent and it is a beautifully crafted method of introducing the characters and of defining their milieu. The happy young couple become Cynthia and Adam Morey.The backbone of the novel is Adam's progress towards the top level of financial status. It seems that he plans to achieve this aim by cultivating those who can assist him, dropping them when necessary. We are told of his charm, which has to be taken on trust, and of his social skills. He is something of a fitness fanatic. He is, unlike Auden's intellectual, true to his wife. By early middle age he is supporting charities and has a private jet. He is a public figure.We also follow the fortunes of daughter April and son Jonas at different stages of the twenty or so years that bring us up to date. Their father's financial success affects them but they are very different personalities and more interesting than their parents. The focus is shifted from time to time and the reader's interest and curiosity is maintained.The numerous recommendations given by important authors suggest that this is no ordinary book. It may be no accident that Adam is rather a boring hero, committed as he is to goal. The novel certainly tackles an important current issue. Anyone who has seen the film "Inside Job" may think the author's perception a little too even handed. The novel it is a very enjoyable read written with style but, like Adam, it seems to lack certain warmth. It is rather as if Scott Fitzgerald had decided that Tom Buchanan should be the hero instead of Gatsby or that Dick Diver ought to turn out to be more of a winner than he did. And that comment is intended to imply that "The Privileges" is first class work, and consequently that it has to be assessed in the context of the best American fiction. The extent of ironical intent and the possibility of metaphor are topics for debate.

Dee writes very well. I found myself underlining phrase after phrase in my Kindle because they were so well expressed.It's hard to know what to say about the story. If Cynthia and Adam fell into a pile of manure, they would come up smelling of roses, and that ought to make them unsympathetic, but it doesn't. If you don't like two people who marry at the tender age of 22 and make their love last well into middle age, then you're a right old grouch.The novel jumps forward in time with each chapter and there are few clues as to the era. I started off by assuming that the wedding was contemporary but soon realised that it must have taken place in the 80s. As in Jane Austen we are in a self-contained world and, as Austen doesn't mention the Napoleonic Wars, so Dee doesn't mention September 11th. Each chapter ends with a crisis of sorts but then we jump forward in time and that period of angst is forgotten which is, perhaps, a useful message.The ending is unsatisfactory, but I assume that if it went on with another jump in time, all the characters' worries would, once again, have been resolved.It's a short novel and a very easy read. I found it original and fascinating.

really odd. the opening chapter is vivid, engaging. you're all set for a substantial novel, but the whole thing evaporates. you're hurtling across decades as the couple at the heart of it grow older and richer. it's a series of increasingly sketchy vignettes, without the dots joined and with the reader losing a grip on who these people are.themes and possibly interesting plots get thrown in and left hanging. insider trading, adultery, drugs, outsider art. it's like the author feels it's enough to throw it in there without bothering to develop it.you get 70 pages of a better, longer book and the remaining 200 pages of the writer phoning it in.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying the first half but found it hard to keep up with the se one half

This book came fêted with enthusiastic endorsements from the likes of Jonathan Franzen, Jay McInerney and The New York Times, the story of upwardly mobile Adam and Cynthia Morey taking on Manhattan and making it work for them. Interestingly, McInerney made the point in his review that the first chapter alone 'was worth the price of admission', all those wedding guests sweating it out in a Pennsylvanian heat wave. And he's right, that first chapter really is a great piece of work and persuaded me that I'd chanced upon a winner. The problem was that very gradually, after that marvellous start and some of the earlier set pieces, the story seemed to unravel. A hundred pages from the end, I began to suspect that Dee had lost his way - as I had - and fifty pages on I just knew I wasn't going to enjoy the ending - or quite understand what it was he was trying to say. And I didn't. It felt like a cop-out, as though Dee couldn't find the loose ends to tie up, and give his readers - this reader, at least - what they wanted. After such an encouraging and entertaining start his story just... took a wrong turn and ran out of steam. Having said all that, I'll give Dee the benefit of the doubt and count The Privileges a tiny glitch for a writer of obvious talent, a superior stylist and perceptive social observer who's probably going to make me eat my words with his next book.