Close Ups by Alan Gould

Close Ups Reviews

• 
  Lisa

  I bought this at one of those remaindered books stalls, intrigued by the blurb. But once I began reading it, I didn't expect much of it because it seemed to be a story of a teacher's lust for a student, not unlike the now prolific father-lust-for-daughters genre. The introductory pages were disjointed, with hints to the future, incomplete references to the past, and enigmatic poetic images lurking in the prose. (Well, Gould is a poet).
  But then I became completely absorbed, and lay abed all day to finish it...
  Within the familiarity of the dinner party, teachers, suburban Canberra, the shared history of Vietnam and its effect on family relationships - is the quaint, old-fashioned figure of Walter Pringle, a teacher's teacher. He quotes poetry to Shel's drunken old father - and Walter knows it well enough to quote not because it's in the curriculum but because he has a genuine love of literature which he shares with his classes in old-fashioned ways.
  Yet it is he who breaks through to queer, damaged, enigmatic Shel. Not Lynette, the teacher who gives her all but resigns in despair over her own inadequacies. Not Moya who as the 'boss', knows all. None of those who've taken on the social work side of teaching succeed with Shel: it's the one who merely shared a love of books and in so doing touched a chord in this troubled young woman.
  Walter takes her in - because he knows she will never fit into the world enough to survive on her own. In part she becomes his substitute child, a substitute of sorts for the child he lost through divorce. Walter isn't brave and he doesn't like discomfort but he does hanker for adventure a bit.
  Those are the reasons ascribed to him by the raconteur, Neal Poyntz, who ultimately destroys all with his intrusive camera, a metaphor for the contemporary tabloid media.
  But readers see otherwise: it is goodness that motivates Walter, real altruistic love. Rare and special, and these days, unlikely to be believed.