Book Review: The Driver's Seat is one of the best Muriel Spark (1918-2006) novels. Almost experimental, the story is written in present tense, but as if watching a movie, presented visually without interior thoughts. Spark solely describes what we see, not what anyone thinks or feels ("Who knows her thoughts? Who can tell?"). Lise is traveling with a purpose, that can be gleaned from a few hints along the way. Mostly she seems odd, perhaps disturbed. She's trying, and failing, to maintain control. But she wishes to be noticed, leaving a trail of bread crumbs behind in her travels. She tells lies, fabricates stories, adopts accents, dresses garishly, buys things she has no use for, laughs manically. We learn that she's 34, speaks four languages, works in an accountants' office, has been ill for some months, is thin with pale brown hair "probably tinted." Her identity is unfixed, her manner constantly shifting, her history, her affect changing. She has few or no contacts or connections, alienated from everything, responding (or failing to respond) in non-sequitur, abruptly ending interactions, abandoning people and commitments. She acts very much in the moment, blundering forward in her quest ("I keep on making mistakes") to meet, or find, her friend, a man, someone. Of men she says, "Too much self-control, which arises from fear and timidity, that's whats wrong with them. They're cowards most of them." If she can't find herself, she's willing to lose herself. She is seeking "the lack of an absence." When a man accuses her of being afraid of sex, she replies "Only of afterwards ... but that doesn't matter any more." Early on in The Driver's Seat we learn what will happen, how it will end, but that doesn't interfere with the story, only adds to it as we attempt to discern the why. The Driver's Seat is also an Italian film from 1974 with Elizabeth Taylor, who gives an amazing performance (apparently many consider it her worst film, I don't). Andy Warhol also makes an appearance, who is mostly Andy Warhol. Muriel Spark's writing is always a joy and I feel just a little smarter when I'm reading her books. She doesn't suffer fools gladly and expects (demands?) the reader to be as clever as she is. All her books are pleasures, but some, such as The Driver's Seat, stand above the rest. [5★]
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