Word: delbanco
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Delbanco's underwhelming explication is by no means limited to his protagonists: a certain sense of abruptness pervades Old Scores. The frequent, dramatic changes are never foreshadowed and are rarely discussed for more than a sentence. Beth suddenly gets married; years later her husband suddenly announces he is gay; Sally suddenly demands biographical information from her biological mother Beth...
Good writers have made great literature out of simpler stories than this, but they have done so by creating nuanced characters and by sensitively describing complex emotions. Old Scores instead offers one-dimensional characters whose actions seem logical only in Delbanco's brain. Delbanco's underdeveloped characters and general lack of clarity make many parts of the story utterly baffling...
...beautiful undergraduate at a small Vermont college; Ballard is her instructor in a vague brand of philosophy. Beth fires double entendre after wildly provocative double entendre at the defenseless Ballard, her devoted tutor. The two rather quickly become lovers--but in the physical, not emotional, sense of the word. Delbanco incorrectly assumes a few lurid encounters between Ballard and Beth are sufficient demonstration of their timeless love. The tenuous emotional bond between the two lovers relies on little more than sex and arch conversations; it is scarcely strong enough to survive a strong shock...
When Ballard is severely injured in a hit-and-run accident quite early in the book, his romance with Beth is obviously doomed. Delbanco faithfully lists Ballard's injuries, yet writes absolutely nothing about his reaction to the accident or his recovery from the accident. One day Ballard is nearly dead, several pages later he seems quite well. Still later Delbanco dismisses 15 years of Ballard's life in two paragraphs and then mentions that Ballard has only now nearly finished working through the various stages of grief that follow a loss...
This lack of precision is maddening, especially where emotions are concerned. "Renouncing her calmly, [Ballard] sent [Beth] away," Delbanco notes when, after the accident, Ballard distances himself emotionally from Beth. No other explanation for his sudden termination of the affair is given. Equally inexplicably, it is shortly after the accident that Beth discovers she's pregnant and chooses not to tell Ballard but to give the baby up for adoption. Delbanco explains that Beth "was twenty-one, an adult...[who was] in control of things and could make up her own mind...