Prague: A Novel | Arthur Phillips | Reminds me of Seinfeld

Prague: A Novel | Arthur Phillips | A snarky spin on the ex-pat life

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Prague: A Novel

	Prague: A Novel Arthur Phillips Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 148 reviews view larger image
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A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.

Reminds me of Seinfeld

"Prague" reminds me of "Seinfeld", and I say this as an admirer of "Seinfeld". The group of expatriates enjoys being together, and you enjoy their conversations; they are willing to do things for each other, but there is a lack of commitment; notwithstanding Scott's romantic idealization of a woman totally unsuitable for him, there is a proud lack of sentimentality. There is a focus on sexual liaisons, but no successful relationships (despite one marriage).

The ideas discussed are sometimes more serious than those discussed in Seinfeld, but while the novel appeals to one's intellect, this is not a novel of ideas. Mark Payton's theories of nostalgia actually make some sense, but are not to be taken too seriously. The Hungarian publisher, and the need to sometimes choose between integrity and accommodation are serious, but Phillips makes him something of a buffoon at the end - too much so to my taste. In fact the novel occasionally drags, mostly in some of the drunken scenes involving the publisher.

The prose as well as the dialogue is good, and several of the characters are wonderfully sensitive to the beauty and history of their surroundings, undoubtedly reflecting the author.

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A snarky spin on the ex-pat life

For any American who ever wandered around Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, Arthur Phillips' "Prague" will probably strike a nostalgic chord. It's a story about a quintet of Westerners -- four Americans and a Canadian -- who find themselves living in Budapest in 1990 and 1991. These five 20-somethings are all escapees, hunkering down behind the fallen Iron Curtain to get away from their unfulfilled lives back home. Of course, it isn't that easy. The same frusrations and self-doubts that dogged them in the West very much keep them company in their adopted home.

Skim through a few of these reviews and it quickly becomes apparent that Arthur Phillips has a knack for getting under people's skin. Count me among them. But the book didn't perturb me as much as it did others. Sure, the prose is long-winded and some of the dialogue is maddeningly inane. And the characters, with the exception of John P., are smarmy and not very likeable. Perhaps we can chalk these shortcomings up to the author's inexperience. But truth be told, I stuck with the book and actually enjoyed it, despite its obvious foibles. I think if you're in the niche audience of the ex-expat who spent a year or three in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, the book may resonate with you as well. For everyone else, don't be surprised if the story gets on your nerves from the get-go, and doesn't let go until you've finished the last page.

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