Lisa Halliday

 

I've gone through another phase of intense appreciation for Philip Roth, and that's led me to Asymmetry, the novel by Lisa Halliday which, if not exactly about Roth, sure seems to be about an author very similar in age and outlook to him. (See more about the relationship between Halliday and Roth here.)

Published in 2018, Asymmetry is a book about power: about how it's acquired, wielded, and countered. For me, the novel was primarily about the imbalances which result from power: whether those are a result of gender dynamics, racism, or politics. The novel's three parts speak to this: in the first, a young female author enters into a relationship with an older novelist resembling Roth. The nature of power here is built not only on gender, but on sexuality and fame. The second part, which focuses on an immigration episode at London's Heathrow Airport, and which is seemingly disconnected from the first part of the book, casts an upsetting gaze on what it is to be powerless, on what it is to have no agency, no recourse. These two parts of the novel are distinct -- in the sense that their characters are unrelated: but of course, upon reflection, they share a considerable amount when it comes to their exploration of power and its misproportion.

The third part of the novel is the shortest and reads like a radio interview with Roth. The imbalance is present here, too, as Roth -- who is not Roth -- asks out the interviewer at the end of the story, effectively exercising his power over a married woman. This part of the book, while fluent and comical, struck me as the least complete. Compared with the second part, for instance, with its emotional backdrop and evolved characters, the final portion seemed predictable -- as if the theme of power had reached its conclusion. Ultimately, I was not sure what to think about Asymmetry: some sections felt gimmicky, while others packed a genuine punch. In some ways, the book read like a series of short stories, united under the banner of a certain theme. Whether they unite to become a novel is debatable. This, in the end, despite all the veiled references to Roth, is what gave me pause.