Well isn't The Heart of the Matter a bit of a bleak book? One that made me incredibly frustrated with the main character, Scobie, an assistant police commissioner stationed in a west African colony during World War II. Scobie has been living in the colony for 15 years and seems to be quite jaded about the environment he's in, his job, his colleagues, and certainly his wife. Nothing much seems to move him and he repeatedly states how much pity he feels. And completing his obligations doesn't give him any joy.
But then a series of events occur, of Scobie's own doing, that make his life and position a little more tenuous: he borrows money from a local shady merchant to send his wife to South Africa (as she hates it there in the colony and is frustrated by her husband not being promoted to commissioner); acting on a request from the man who lent him the money, Scobie illegally provides contraband to an incoming ship captain; and Scobie begins having an affair with a young woman named Helen, who arrived to the colony very ill, on a ship that nearly sank in the ocean on its way, losing her husband during the journey. Scobie realizes that his illegal doings are likely to get him in trouble, and there are spies all around (a newly arrived police agent, Wilson, the servants for all of the main characters, etc) who are more than eager to catch and report him.
I had a hard time wrapping my head around the character of Scobie, and often had a difficult time sympathizing with him, because he just seemed so detached. Even though he expresses his love for his wife and for his mistress, he feels so much pity for them, which muddles what he seems to think "love" is and made it harder for me as the reader to believe he cared much about anything. As the book goes on, we learn more about Scobie's strong beliefs in Catholicism, and his inability to reconcile his actions against the religious doctrine and God - he goes to confession but cannot follow through with righting his sins. And from that point on, he believes that he is continuing to damn himself by accepting communion while living in sin. So while Catholicism is the only thing Scobie seems to really ascribe to and believe in, in the end, he ends up turning his back on even those teachings and commits the "unforgiveable sin". It was infinitely frustrating to read a character over and over again never feel any joy or happiness from any of the choices that he made. Another book where I found myself wanting to shake a character and say "Just get your fucking shit together."
This book certainly did transport me to a unique setting, and the descriptions of the dynamics of the society were quite interesting and compelling. And I suppose Scobie's role within that made for an interesting plot point. But overall, I had a hard time really getting into the book. I cannot take anything away from the writing, because it was quite superb and there is so much symbolism and so many thematic elements to unpack, but it just left me feeling a little meh about everything.
But onward we go. Up next, I'm taking a momentary break to pick up a suggestion from my sister and her book club with A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. While reading last night, the bf pointed out that the book had been made into a movie and he already knew quite a bit about it. It seems like a quirky read that I'll probably motor through somewhat quickly. 210 to go.
