Too much of the fiction aimed at teens is trite
and unimaginative or melodramatic. Hard Love is none
of these. Instead, Ellen Wittlinger treats us to a story of
unrequited love in which the characters are three-dimensional.
The protagonist is John, a high school misfit
who publishes a "zine" (not a web site, but a homemade
magazine which he photocopies and distributes at the local Tower
Records) under the pen name, Giovanni. In the course of distributing
his zine, he comes across another zine called "Escape Velocity,"
published by a girl named Marisol. He's fascinated by her writing
and becomes obsessed with meeting her, so he hangs out at the
record store when he knows she'll likely be dropping off her
next issue. Thus begins a friendship between a guy who believes
he is immune to emotion and a girl who describes herself as
a "rich spoiled lesbian private-school gifted-and-talented
writer virgin."
Everything about this novel rings true: the way
the characters dress, how they feel about each other, the day-to-day
effects of divorce, and especially the dialogue. Here, for instance,
is a conversation John has during a weekend visit with his dad,
who has bought Chinese takeout and turned it into a candlelit
dinner at home with John:
"What the hell is going on?" I couldn't
help it; I was too nervous to eat.
He smiled but continued to spoon rice onto his
plate. "You're perceptive aren't you?" Perceptive?
I'd have to be comatose not to smell a rat here. He sighed,
but it wasn't an unhappy sigh. "The fact is, I sometimes
feel like I don't know you anymore, John. We spend time together,
but we don't talk much."
"Whose fault is that?" I mumbled.
Now that I knew he just wanted to bullshit me, I could eat.
The Moo Shu looked good, even with bullshit sauce ladled over
it.
As the title implies, this is not a story with
a fairy-tale ending. It's about facing some difficult truths
and coming to terms with emotions John fights hard to avoid.
The letters he writes to his parents are heart-wrenching. If
you have suffered a broken heart or just want a good read, forget
the sappy romance novels--this is the book for you.
Buy Hard
Love at Amazon.com
