Fool

C. Stephen Gray is Director of Information Services, Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

This is a disturbing little novel, not much fun to read and of little interest except to those concerned with the more arcane side of literature. Whiteson’s hero — known variously by several aliases, but to all as simply Fool — is a kind of composite man, a half-serious and occasionally grotesque portrait of what every urban male risks becoming.

Drawing on techniques as varied as surrealism and the baroque, Whiteson fashions an extended portrait of his main character that almost never gets off the ground. The novel made me recall one of Dr. Johnson’s comments on a Richardson novel (Pamela or Clarissa?) to the effect that anyone reading it for the plot would surely hang himself. There are episodes in Fool, to be sure, and characters and symbols and images that recur with yawn-inspiring frequency. But there is no discernible purpose at work throughout the book, no thread of interest that offers much of either instruction or delight. It is often tough going, and it seldom rewards the reader for his efforts.

Aside from its grimly humorous portrayal of urban London, and the fairly eccentric cast of minor characters, Whiteson’s Fool is constantly in danger of making his readers into parodies of his main character: surely a foolish undertaking for any serious author.