Muriel Spark (1970 [2006]) The Driver’s Seat.

This is my second reading of Muriel Spark, The Driver’s Seat. And the third reading of the introduction by John Lanchester of this short novel or novella (100 pages) part of the Penguin Classics.

You either like a story or you don’t. I didn’t like The Driver’s Seat.

It has a back-to-front plot. In the first few pages the reader is told Lise will be stabbed to death. A bit like being told there’s one day to the World Cup 2026 and Brazil will win it.

Lise is not a likeable central character. She’s batty and unpleasant. The story begins with Lise buying a dress. It’s garish colours means that she will stand out—as she intends to.

‘How final is finality’?  

In some ways the plot mimics the Mesopotamian tale, Appointment in Samarra, which I always think of as Death in Samarra.

Lise doesn’t court death or avoid death. She seems to run towards it with both arms open and shouting loudly, here I am, while leaving a trail of clues as to her killer. Plotting her own plot.

That’s a novel, novel with the predetermined nature of addiction such as drug, drink, gambling or sex and the ending in plain sight, whch we know, but don't really think about. 

It doesn’t work for me because I can’t suspend belief and the characters she meets seem one dimensional.

Bill, for example, whom she meets on the plane. He’s a believer in macrobiotic food. And having an orgasm twice daily to keep healthy. The kind of health bore most people would avoid. Almost as nutty as Lise.

But is he the killer?

I don’t really give a fuck, but you might. That’s the nature of choice. Read on.