A review by kitnotmarlowe
The Right Thing to Do at the Time by Dov Zeller
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
as a rule, i am not a person who cries. not at media, not at any basic human emotion because there is something DEEPLY wrong with me. i cry the way we incorrectly assume medieval peasants took baths--twice a year whether i want to or not. and while i'm not sure i cried reading this book (i finished it in a bath of which the temperature was best suited to boiling a lobster alive, so there was a fair amount of moisture on my face to begin with), i came pretty damn close.
the right thing to do at the time is a story about love, friendship, and the nebulous fog between the two of those which sometimes spills over to both, and other times remains an undefinable dimension which needs no further explanation. it is a story about trying to love your life and find joy and meaning in places you thought were puddles but are actually wells. it is, first and foremost, a story imagining pride & prejudice as aided through the wisdom the great talking butter dish.
the characters are perfect, the fact that we don't even meet talia and helen until about a quarter of the way through is perfect (and, until the 75% mark i wasn't entirely convinced that helen was going to be a red herring and we were going to completely subvert the pride & prejudice narrative and have ari and itche run off into the sunset together), the gender bending works really well! (more on that later), and i deadass scream-laughed multiple times while reading. i highlighted entire paragraphs on my kindle! it's really just a tremendously fun reading experience!
now, i consider myself something of a connoisseur of pride & prejudice-related media despite not actually having read the original book. so i will be talking with utmost confidence out of my ass when i say that helen zonkerman....perfect darcy. she's perfect! i'm sick of pretending that darcy is just an aloof rich guy! he's got depth! it isn't enough for him to be handsome with 15 thousand a year, he also has to be a bit of a freak! and i don't mean in That Way, i mean that the ideal darcy ought to be possessed with the self-aware anxiety of a thomson's gazelle that KNOWS it's in a natgeo documentary about cheetahs! darcy is a prey animal with so much awkwardness it has nowhere to go but wait like a dormant volcano until the inevitable I THINK YOU'RE HOT BUT YOUR FAMILY IS POOR AND EMBARRASSING scene. just, an incredible weirdo who learned about human social cues from an etiquette manual that is at least 70 years out of date regardless of period. what i'm saying is that helen zonkerman is the gazelle in a cheetah documentary. she's not quite mean to ari, at least not in any way that matters, she just doesn't know how to talk or really interact with him. she's perfect i love her. mathilda merman is also SO funny as the collins-expy. i guess dov zeller just has a knack for writing the most awkward women on the face of the planet.
the rest of the gender-bending makes the story even more delightful, if possible. mr & mrs bennet work BETTER i think if he's obsessively demanding alka-seltzer so he doesn't keel over and die and she's locked in her study thinking about dialectics or whatever. it works SO well! the whole p&p framework maps so perfectly that the situations which are adapted from the original novel work without needing too much fiddling with but never feel like they're bullet points which dov zeller is crossing off to remind the reader that Yes this is pride & prejudice. the interweaving of plot points with major holidays! y e s
the plot thread of ari's menial drudgery at the music library with his tyrannical boss turning into his archival project with the niggunim and realizing that he loves music because it makes him feel deeply and makes others feel deeply, and the possibility of music as historical preservation in the face of great persecution...i am feeling every emotion known to man right now and a few that i am only just discovering. not only is this plotline filled with excellent writing, it helps make ari's character more expansive. he subverts the lizziefication that has been slowly encroaching on romance media since 2005 pride & prejudice. at the beginning of the novel, ari is a sad sack. he's depressed, he's working a job he hates, he really only has One Friend, his family's overbearing, he's not a romance novel protagonist. he's not someone who always has a quip ready to fire back when someone cuts their eye at him, and he isn't someone confident enough to fight for what's important to him. the music plotline gives him a life outside of his love story and outside of his family, it's the one thing which he can truly call his own, and yet it is not his own, because it belongs also to the grand tradition and people of which he is a part. and the whole relationship between ari and bubbie pearl and all the stuff about aging and loneliness and familial obligation!
i'd be remiss if i didn't at least shout out the footnotes. semi-intrusive footnotes in fiction are a top 10 literary device for me. probably even top 5. i love a silly footnote, i love a snide footnote, i love a sad footnote, and an informative footnote. the footnotes here are mainly of the informative variety and end up providing support to the story, but still manage to convey the effortless wit found in the rest of the book.
the only other piece of media that has given me the same rush of madcap bittersweet chaos energy in recent memory is moonstruck (1987) dir. norman jewison. make of that what you will.
the right thing to do at the time is a story about love, friendship, and the nebulous fog between the two of those which sometimes spills over to both, and other times remains an undefinable dimension which needs no further explanation. it is a story about trying to love your life and find joy and meaning in places you thought were puddles but are actually wells. it is, first and foremost, a story imagining pride & prejudice as aided through the wisdom the great talking butter dish.
the characters are perfect, the fact that we don't even meet talia and helen until about a quarter of the way through is perfect (and, until the 75% mark i wasn't entirely convinced that helen was going to be a red herring and we were going to completely subvert the pride & prejudice narrative and have ari and itche run off into the sunset together), the gender bending works really well! (more on that later), and i deadass scream-laughed multiple times while reading. i highlighted entire paragraphs on my kindle! it's really just a tremendously fun reading experience!
now, i consider myself something of a connoisseur of pride & prejudice-related media despite not actually having read the original book. so i will be talking with utmost confidence out of my ass when i say that helen zonkerman....perfect darcy. she's perfect! i'm sick of pretending that darcy is just an aloof rich guy! he's got depth! it isn't enough for him to be handsome with 15 thousand a year, he also has to be a bit of a freak! and i don't mean in That Way, i mean that the ideal darcy ought to be possessed with the self-aware anxiety of a thomson's gazelle that KNOWS it's in a natgeo documentary about cheetahs! darcy is a prey animal with so much awkwardness it has nowhere to go but wait like a dormant volcano until the inevitable I THINK YOU'RE HOT BUT YOUR FAMILY IS POOR AND EMBARRASSING scene. just, an incredible weirdo who learned about human social cues from an etiquette manual that is at least 70 years out of date regardless of period. what i'm saying is that helen zonkerman is the gazelle in a cheetah documentary. she's not quite mean to ari, at least not in any way that matters, she just doesn't know how to talk or really interact with him. she's perfect i love her. mathilda merman is also SO funny as the collins-expy. i guess dov zeller just has a knack for writing the most awkward women on the face of the planet.
the rest of the gender-bending makes the story even more delightful, if possible. mr & mrs bennet work BETTER i think if he's obsessively demanding alka-seltzer so he doesn't keel over and die and she's locked in her study thinking about dialectics or whatever. it works SO well! the whole p&p framework maps so perfectly that the situations which are adapted from the original novel work without needing too much fiddling with but never feel like they're bullet points which dov zeller is crossing off to remind the reader that Yes this is pride & prejudice. the interweaving of plot points with major holidays! y e s
the plot thread of ari's menial drudgery at the music library with his tyrannical boss turning into his archival project with the niggunim and realizing that he loves music because it makes him feel deeply and makes others feel deeply, and the possibility of music as historical preservation in the face of great persecution...i am feeling every emotion known to man right now and a few that i am only just discovering. not only is this plotline filled with excellent writing, it helps make ari's character more expansive. he subverts the lizziefication that has been slowly encroaching on romance media since 2005 pride & prejudice. at the beginning of the novel, ari is a sad sack. he's depressed, he's working a job he hates, he really only has One Friend, his family's overbearing, he's not a romance novel protagonist. he's not someone who always has a quip ready to fire back when someone cuts their eye at him, and he isn't someone confident enough to fight for what's important to him. the music plotline gives him a life outside of his love story and outside of his family, it's the one thing which he can truly call his own, and yet it is not his own, because it belongs also to the grand tradition and people of which he is a part. and the whole relationship between ari and bubbie pearl and all the stuff about aging and loneliness and familial obligation!
i'd be remiss if i didn't at least shout out the footnotes. semi-intrusive footnotes in fiction are a top 10 literary device for me. probably even top 5. i love a silly footnote, i love a snide footnote, i love a sad footnote, and an informative footnote. the footnotes here are mainly of the informative variety and end up providing support to the story, but still manage to convey the effortless wit found in the rest of the book.
the only other piece of media that has given me the same rush of madcap bittersweet chaos energy in recent memory is moonstruck (1987) dir. norman jewison. make of that what you will.