Usually castles belong in fairytales, fables and Disney movies. But in The Keep, the second novel from the national book award finalist Jennifer Egan, the dilapidated, medieval castle wants to be an upscale spiritual retreat for the wealthy that feel they need some time away from their cell phones. Two cousins, Howie and Danny, have come to Eastern Europe to rehabilitate an old castle for tourism, but the task is difficult, and Howie and Danny have a shadowy past.
The old castle is overloaded with meaning almost before the first paragraph is over. Egan's castle is so overbearing that she lets it drive the plot, instead of letting her plot drive through the setting. The castle is constantly in need of attention from both the characters and readers, but never gives anything concrete back.
Egan has an interesting story here. There is a lot of tension between Danny and Howie. Danny almost killed Howie years ago in a childhood joke gone wrong. Howie is married to a millionaire. Danny has been messing around with the mob. Howie, the once ugly dork, became a handsome man with age, while Danny never grew out of his awkward adolescence. You get the picture. Egan has her plate (probably too) full with this one story.
But wait! This isn't the whole story. This is actually the story within the story. Howie and Danny are actually character's in Ray's novel. Who's Ray? I'm glad you asked. Ray is a drug addict in a prison writing workshop. And his story is also told within The Keep. Roy claims he heard the story he is writing about Howie and Danny somewhere else, but it is a strange story for a drug addict to write, and his reasons for writing this particular story are never explained well enough. A literary scholar might tell you that there are parallels of imprisonment between the two stories, but personally, I think that's hogwash.
More than anything else, Ray's story detracts from the already heavily and detailed story of Howie and Danny. So, instead of illuminating Danny and Howie's situation, Ray's story actually takes away from it. By the end of the novel, there are so many twists and turns, that none of the characters are explored to satis
faction. By the time we get to a third story line (I won't even tell you those details), this reader's eyes are rolling back in her head.
Another theme explored in The Keep is modern technology. Egan tries to comment on personal electronics in modern culture (Danny can "sense" when there is wireless available), but the point is not made. Her metaphors are eccentric and jagged at best and lazy at worst. If all she is trying to say is that technology can cause problems, not many people need to read a book about a castle to figure that out. Egan's castle is full of symbols. But that's not a good thing. Everything becomes muddled and the connection between the portable telephones and the crumbling medieval walls are lost (if there was ever a connection).
Egan is a talented writer and she makes a lot of scenes look easy, especially her comedy (accident-prone Danny has many mishaps that should leave you smiling) and dialogue (conversations, whether light-hearted or serious, always seem natural). She also deserves brownie points for having an experimental vision and sticking with it. Unfortunately, brownie points cannot be traded in for good reviews and even though she has an interesting vision she needed to work harder at presenting this vision. All in all, The Keep is a lumpy and confused book.
