The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler
I came across The Accidental Tourist on kindle book deals and, having enjoyed Anne Tyler novels in the past, decided to give it a try. I find her writing simple and comforting. She seems to write about the lives of ordinary people with an interior intensity that places the reader inside the thoughts of the central character. The Accidental Tourist is no exception.
The title comes from the protagonist’s job. Macon writes guide books for travelling business men looking to avoid uncertainty: which hotels to stay in, where to find the best eggs for breakfast etc. It is a job that takes him all over the world, without really taking in any of the places he visits, a job that seems unthinkable in the current circumstances!
Macon and his wife, Sarah, separate after the death of their son and at first he is lost without her. The house seems to be full of reminders “he looked at the flowered cushions and marvelled at how an empty space could be so full of a person” and he begins to operate on a new routine to make his life as efficient as possible. For example, he washes his clothes in the water from his shower and moves the popcorn machine to the bedroom so he doesn’t have to go downstairs for breakfast (it is practically the only thing he can stand to eat). But Macon is “barely making it from one day to the next”.
When he meets Muriel, a slightly eccentric dog-trainer, his life changes. He steps out of routine and into the unknown, falling into a relationship with her before he even seems to realise it. Later he is surprised, when unexpectedly encountering Muriel, “how she drew at him, pulling deep strings from within”.
Grief follows both Macon and Sarah and appears in unexpected ways. For example, when taking Muriel’s son, Alexander, clothes shopping he finds it “disorientating, in a way, to see that everything continued no matter what”. However, Macon changes slowly throughout the course of the novel into a more optimistic person. When Sarah feels that the world is full of “evil and danger”, he is the one to offer up some hope: “it’s kind of … heartening, isn’t it? How most human beings do try. How they try to be as responsible and kind as they can manage”.
I found The Accidental Tourist slow at times, and a little dated, but also funny, poignant and gentle. And Macon, although frustrating at times, is a loveable character.
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