The End of the Road by John Barth
The End of the Road, John Barth's second novel, first published in 1958, is less well-known than some of his later novels, like The Sot-Weed Factor or Giles Goat Boy, but it is well worth reading. It is the story, told in the first person, of Jacob (Jake) Horner, who suffers, we could say (although he doesn't) from a lack of personality. ("Lack of personality" is to be taken here quite literally.) At the suggestion of a "Doctor" (quack? wise therapist?) who has undertaken to help him, he applies for and receives a teaching position at a small-town teacher's college. He becomes friendly with one of his colleagues, Joe Morgan, and his wife Rennie. Joe is brilliant but obsessed with a sort of uncompromising rationalism and Rennie is his partly uncomprehending convert.
Predictably, Jake and Rennie have an affair, Joe learns of it, and attempts to discover a rational solution to the problem. In time, Rennie becomes pregnant, and it is not clear who is the father. Rennie does not want the child and is prepared to commit suicide rather than bear it. Joe does not oppose her ("if that's what she wants . . . ") but Jake works feverishly to arrange an illegal abortion (this is 1955). But the abortion is not a success, and Rennie dies from complications on the operating table. It would appear, perhaps, that her tragedy is the source of the title--The End of the Road. But I think the real tragedy is Jake's, and it is a sort of philosophical--or psychological--tragedy. After Rennie's death he reverts, presumably for good, to the empty limbo where he began.
The End of the Road is in some ways a philosophical book. Not that it advocates a philosophical position, but it contains a lot of philosophical and moral conversation among the characters. I found it stimulating and thought-provoking, and I recommend it despite the tragic outcome.
Predictably, Jake and Rennie have an affair, Joe learns of it, and attempts to discover a rational solution to the problem. In time, Rennie becomes pregnant, and it is not clear who is the father. Rennie does not want the child and is prepared to commit suicide rather than bear it. Joe does not oppose her ("if that's what she wants . . . ") but Jake works feverishly to arrange an illegal abortion (this is 1955). But the abortion is not a success, and Rennie dies from complications on the operating table. It would appear, perhaps, that her tragedy is the source of the title--The End of the Road. But I think the real tragedy is Jake's, and it is a sort of philosophical--or psychological--tragedy. After Rennie's death he reverts, presumably for good, to the empty limbo where he began.
The End of the Road is in some ways a philosophical book. Not that it advocates a philosophical position, but it contains a lot of philosophical and moral conversation among the characters. I found it stimulating and thought-provoking, and I recommend it despite the tragic outcome.