My Notes on How I Ate Disappointment at a Dinner Party
Considering forgoing Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
I think I might not be interested in the novel I mentioned to you.
Before I explain myself let me first wish you a Happy New Year!!
On a personal level, I’m both excited and a bit frightened about the possibilities of this new year. I’m biting my nails thinking about how my personal goals could be missed or made on top of everything else. I know this isn’t the best way to think but I do want to be honest here. If I don’t do all the things I said I wanted to I’ll look back and have another year of my life gone without holding certain accomplishments.
I don’t have that kind of time to waste. Obviously, none of us do.
I think this train of thought is helping me seriously evaluate if I should put Chris Greenhalgh’s book down. And let me tell you… putting a book completely down is a challenge for me. Even if I don’t read it, I tend to just carry it around until I’ve accrued library fees forcing me to return it OR I find a crammed spot for it to live on my overwhelmed bookcase.
Considering all the time I’ve spent not reading this book, I could have read another book. (Which I kinda did. I read The Life Impossible by Matt Haig but it was an audiobook, so I convinced myself that I wasn’t really abandoning Coco & Igor’s story for another.)
You, Dear Reader, could still read it and maybe send me a message sharing your opinion on it? Please don’t be deterred by my lack of interest.
I told you where I got the book from and why I picked it up to begin with. I talked about what I hypothesized the book to be like. I think that I lost interest when I realize my hypothesis was off. I was thinking the two main characters would be so married to their professions and so separated by class that their tryst would be taboo. That idea excited me. Like I’ve said before, I love stories of enterprising women and I enjoy the struggle they sometimes face between choosing career or love. My not so secret hope is always that they get to have both. But not in this story. Coco and Igor are devoted to their respectful crafts but Igor is also just regular ole run-of-the-mill, holy matrimony married. *whomp whomp*
I’m dissatisfied and it’s making me want to stop reading. I believe I saw where this was heading, and I wondered what was turning me off. I wondered, was it the writing? the pacing? the characters? Before settling on my final consideration: is it merely my preference not to read about adultery right now?
The last thing I read, Igor and Coco experienced a flash of attraction toward each other as she replaces a button on the shirt he’s wearing, while his wife is sick in another room in the house.
I’m not saying I would never read about something like this, only that this wasn’t what I was expecting.
It makes me think of a semi-recent disappointment I experienced at a dinner party.
I went to a last-minute birthday dinner last year when a couple of my middle sister’s friends were heading to the city. They decided we’d meet up with them at Nice Guys NOLA (7910 Earhart Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70125).
I’d seen social media promo videos that helped me create an expectation of it being an energetic place to eat. Once we were in there though that expectation was unmet (I’ll give the rundown on the restaurant on my blog).
"That's not very nice, Nice Guys." my sister said after unraveling her napkin to reveal that the silverware was just one (1) plastic silver fork.
I don't think the disappointment was with the place itself. I can accept a place with plastic forks and no working A/C . My heart and stomach have the room. Let it be known that I am a woman whose favorite cheeseburger comes from a one pump gas station that is also a laundry mat. What I can't do is reconcile an eatery with a $40 entree presenting plastic forks like they’re 18/10 flatware.
I think it's the pretense. A place or situation presenting itself as one thing but the reality of it is another.
The bottom line and connecting theme are, I had expectations for the plot of this story to be spicy but classy. The writing is fine. The pacing is good. The characters are flawed, like I like them to be. Just my personal expectations weren’t met.
Last year was seemingly all about romance for me. Almost every book I read had something sultry dripping off the pages. Between the books I read leading up to the holidays paired with the candy cane coated Hallmark/Lifetime/Tubi movies, I guess I’ve gotten my fill of the sweet stuff. Time to make the switch back to more sobering works. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh siphoned my excitement of love affairs for a minute with a harrowing blow — infidelity is wrong and selfish. Where I would have been entertained by it before has been replaced with a sympathetic acidic taste in my mouth.
Besides, I don’t think the Coco/Igor story is even about love or sex. It’s a push and pull for control and dominance masquerading as a love affair.
It touted itself as a steamy romance but it’s a love story I’m not in love with.
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