Bech at Bay

As I work my way through the final Bech volume, I find that Updike knew full well that this would be the final volume and, as such, is paying tribute to Bech. The Protestant's Jewish alter-ego is constantly reflecting on the aspects of his past which we already knew about, having read the last two books. Also, we can see semi-touching portraits of Updike's contemporaries, including a self-referential section of "Bech Presides" in which Updike and several others are suggested as nominees for an arts and culture group called "The Forty". Semi-touching portraits as in, some are sympathetic characters with fatal flaws and others are flawed characters who are fatally sympathetic.

The quizzicle raised eyebrow of Henry Bech on the back illustration of the book presents the attitude of Bech through this Quasi-novel, eyebrows raised and lips in a slight, knowing sneer. After awhile, one gets tired of the sneer, but you still find yourself becoming more nostalgic and quizzicle with Bech as the stories go on.

JPC