Schmidt Delivered (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Rating:
Summary: "Her face, when she returned, was a beautiful blank."
Review: "Schmidt Delivered" was not the next book on my reading list, but after finishing "About Schmidt," I had to read the sequel. "Schmidt Delivered" picks up the story two years after the conclusion of "About Schmidt." The protagonist, Albert Schmidt, a retired lawyer, is still living in the Hamptons with a young, Puerto Rican waitress, Carrie. Carrie's annoying and clingy ex-boyfriend is conveniently packed off to Florida. Schmidt's sour daughter, Charlotte, the source of a great deal of grief in "About Schmidt" has more or less dropped her relationship with her father. It would seem that Schmidt's life has settled into a fairly regular domestic routine--Carrie goes off to college every day, and Schmidt waits for her to come home. He fills his spare time by dithering with the post and deciding which Trollope novel to read. Schmidt realizes that he has isolated himself with Carrie, and while this is partly due to the fact that Schmidt's relationship with Carrie is socially unacceptable, Schmidt's isolation is also due to a desire to keep his relationship with Carrie intact. But Schmidt is losing Carrie, and he knows it. He has aged (he's in his 60s), and meanwhile Carrie is off running marathons with a local bodyguard.

An eccentric millionaire, Mr Mansour, moves into the area, and immediately zooms in on Schmidt. In spite of Schmidt's attempts to avoid Mansour, a relationship begins to develop between the two men, and Schmidt finds that his life is changing once again. Schmidt, who views any change in routine as "a mountain he was at first unwilling to climb," resists the drastic alterations in his life, but it's inevitable that Schmidt's life will change again.

I enjoyed "Schmidt Delivered" every bit as much as "About Schmidt." Sequels can be very disappointing, but "Schmidt Delivered" met all my expectations. Characters from "About Schmidt" appear in the sequel and include: obnoxious in-law Renata Riker, spoiled rotten daughter Charlotte, and even Schmidt's loyal friend Gil. As Schmidt heads into another crisis, he also comes to terms with his role as a father and as a friend. This book is full of interesting characters who captured my attention. I found the strains in Schmidt's relationship with the amoral Carrie highly poignant, but the relationship was simultaneously portrayed without a shred of sentimentality. Schmidt remains a sympathetic and complex character, and I am going to read everything written by this excellent author--displacedhuman.

Rating:
Summary: "Her face, when she returned, was a beautiful blank."
Review: "Schmidt Delivered" was not the next book on my reading list, but after finishing "About Schmidt," I had to read the sequel. "Schmidt Delivered" picks up the story two years after the conclusion of "About Schmidt." The protagonist, Albert Schmidt, a retired lawyer, is still living in the Hamptons with a young, Puerto Rican waitress, Carrie. Carrie's annoying and clingy ex-boyfriend is conveniently packed off to Florida. Schmidt's sour daughter, Charlotte, the source of a great deal of grief in "About Schmidt" has more or less dropped her relationship with her father. It would seem that Schmidt's life has settled into a fairly regular domestic routine--Carrie goes off to college every day, and Schmidt waits for her to come home. He fills his spare time by dithering with the post and deciding which Trollope novel to read. Schmidt realizes that he has isolated himself with Carrie, and while this is partly due to the fact that Schmidt's relationship with Carrie is socially unacceptable, Schmidt's isolation is also due to a desire to keep his relationship with Carrie intact. But Schmidt is losing Carrie, and he knows it. He has aged (he's in his 60s), and meanwhile Carrie is off running marathons with a local bodyguard.

An eccentric millionaire, Mr Mansour, moves into the area, and immediately zooms in on Schmidt. In spite of Schmidt's attempts to avoid Mansour, a relationship begins to develop between the two men, and Schmidt finds that his life is changing once again. Schmidt, who views any change in routine as "a mountain he was at first unwilling to climb," resists the drastic alterations in his life, but it's inevitable that Schmidt's life will change again.

I enjoyed "Schmidt Delivered" every bit as much as "About Schmidt." Sequels can be very disappointing, but "Schmidt Delivered" met all my expectations. Characters from "About Schmidt" appear in the sequel and include: obnoxious in-law Renata Riker, spoiled rotten daughter Charlotte, and even Schmidt's loyal friend Gil. As Schmidt heads into another crisis, he also comes to terms with his role as a father and as a friend. This book is full of interesting characters who captured my attention. I found the strains in Schmidt's relationship with the amoral Carrie highly poignant, but the relationship was simultaneously portrayed without a shred of sentimentality. Schmidt remains a sympathetic and complex character, and I am going to read everything written by this excellent author--displacedhuman.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent sequel to About Schmidt
Review: After thoroughly enjoying "About Schmidt" I found the first 200 pages of this 300 page book quite dark. Most of the characters were none too likable, including Schmidtie. But I am soooo glad I finished the book. It was an excellent character study and very well written. My only gripe -- why did the publisher/editor leave out the quotation marks around all of the conversation? Is that just an affectation, or is it supposed to have some significance?

Rating:
Summary: those pesky quotation marks
Review: Begley claims quotation marks make his pages unsightly. He can use them or not, it's a free country, but there's a reason most of the civilized world uses the darn things. It's called clarity. Having dug my way through both Schmidt books without the benefit of adequate puncutation I'd highly recommend Begley give it up and bow to convention. However neat the pages appear, it just ain't worth it. And since when did anyone care about neat-looking pages? That said, Schmidt Delivered was a satisfying experience, mostly due to Begley's memorable characters. Hope the little guy has at least one more Schmidt book in his quiver and that he relents and uses those darn quotation marks to help us keep the musings and the speeches separate.

Rating:
Summary: Boring sequel
Review: I really enjoyed reading "About Schmidt". Of course I had to read the sequel... and was utterly disappointed. Begley had nothing left to write about. Many times he keeps repeating dialogues. I wonder who made the decision to write another book about Schmidt. Maybe the reason was the success of the first book. Well, it was a mistake. It leaves a sour taste. Many times I was thinking: "Ok, now that is the fantasy of an old man, who would like it to be that way." There just was not much story to tell anymore, because everything was said in the first book.

Rating:
Summary: Boring sequel
Review: I really enjoyed reading "About Schmidt". Of course I had to read the sequel... and was utterly disappointed. Begley had nothing left to write about. Many times he keeps repeating dialogues. I wonder who made the decision to write another book about Schmidt. Maybe the reason was the success of the first book. Well, it was a mistake. It leaves a sour taste. Many times I was thinking: "Ok, now that is the fantasy of an old man, who would like it to be that way." There just was not much story to tell anymore, because everything was said in the first book.

Rating:
Summary: Deliver Me From Schmidt
Review: What an odd little book! I never really connected with the characters, and the peculiar writing style and use of punctuation (or rather lack thereof) makes it difficult to discern whether a character is thinking or speaking out loud. For instance, here’s a passage that leaves you puzzled as to who is saying or thinking what:

______________________________________________________________

Jesus, Schmidtie, said Carrie, after he had given her, all during lunch, and even before, while they putting the cold chicken and the tomato salad on the table, the polite silent treatment that had been, while Mary lived, part of his ingrained behavior. What’s the matter with you? I get up early to be out here in time so we can eat and then take a nap, and you treat me like a piece of .... I don’t have to take this.

He wasn’t only sulking. He felt dead inside.

You’re right. You don’t. I don’t suppose you will.

Thanks a lot. I want to shower You can do the dishes by yourself. You’re so good at it.

______________________________________________________________

Schmidt is a recently widowed, successful lawyer who was forced to retire early when the firm no longer needed his specialty. He has taken up with a Puerto Rican former waitress 40 years younger than him who has moved into his home. He is paying her way through college. Although he thinks he is in love with her and asks her to marry him repeatedly, she refuses and actually starts seeing another man while still living with Schmidtie. His friend also tries to hit on her (some friend!). Schmidtie has a placid, rather empty and lonely existence with few friends, no productive work and no hobbies other than gardening.

Schmidtie also has a strained relationship with his daughter, Charlotte, who seems to only want his money and is critical of everything he does. Schmidtie finally sorts it out end as this peculiar, boring book grinds to an end. While I often regret that a good book has come to an end, I wasn’t sorry to turn the last page of this one, so I could pick up another book and look for something more interesting and engaging.