"Then he turned around sedately and went back to his car, wondering if he were in love. He wondered too if love were some kind of derailed momentum in which one lost all control of one's emotions and was swept down against reality."
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Lucid Love by Kevin JB O'Connor Black Curtains
book review by Wendy Strain
One of the definitions the dictionary offers for the word "lucid" is "clear to the understanding." This is an appropriate term for the title of this book. Omitting any fine details of love-making scenes, it is a "safe" love story told from the unusual perspective of the male half of the couple.
Muriel Belkin is the main character in the story, a 26-year-old recent college graduate and current English teacher already tired of the same old theses offered by his students. Having unexpectedly started a rock band, the story begins as Muriel decides his band is likely to break up soon. Part of the reason for this is his belief that he is in love with the fiance of the brother of one of his band mates. The entirety of the book is spent in pursuit of the answer to this question. as Muriel interacts with the girl and others.
While the premise of the storyline has merit and the plot avoids easy predictability, the book fails to capture the sensibilities of the reader. Muriel makes his way through the story in constant confusion over his own feelings and those of other characters within the story. In this sense, he is a believable character. At times, he seems completely overwhelmed with emotion, and these emotions struggle to transcend the printed words in order to produce a corresponding involvement in the reader.