NOVEL: NICE WORK BY DAVID LODGE

Topic of Discussion: Vic’s Identity Crisis

- Vic feels uncomfortable at his own reflection. He is used to his life with his
wife, who attempts to be “the best wife” for him, but he doesn’t seem to want
this. But he also does not have the courage to tell her.
- He believes he’s the only person that has to give it all in order for the family to
thrive, even if the family isn’t exactly doing that.
- Uncomfortable with certain clothes that make him look shorter rather than
taller, and makes his appearance “cartoon-like”.
- He keeps his music taste hidden.
- Vic has got used to how things work in his private life and in his factory life
that he’s afraid to change or do anything in order to improve something that
he thinks could potentially go wrong. Robyn in fact comes in as a way for him
to question these things even more.
- Limits himself to not go to pubs, clubs, cinemas, theatres. He hated
everything, the summer, the winter, the holidays.
- He gets to a point that he has no friends nor social life, all business.
- Football on the TV became his only way of escaping reality. Things on TV
changing that only him seems to notice (more sexualised content)
- No feelings for Marjorie, he feels as if he had been forced to desire her. He
believes he has to “deal with her”.
- He doesn’t take the risk for his dream of a small company because he has a
wife and three kids.
- He believes in this scheme of fighting to get where you are, which Robyn
doesn’t comprehend.
- Robyn blames Vic for having made others accustomed to his reality.
- “money isn't everything” - demonstration of his mould being broken in
conversation with Robyn (doesn't say it but implies it)
- PAG 255: I'VE NEVER…
- They go on a trip, Vic insists that she go with him. During this trip, he has sex
with Robyn.
- After his moment of “revelation” he finds it hard to live without Robyn. He had
repetitive thoughts about him and her, which made him silent around the
house. He felt UNEVEN
- Marjorie was worried because Vic didn’t feel nor look like himself.
- Breaking his mould by considering the Shadow Scheme 2, reading novels she
had mentioned: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Daniel Deronda. Reciting
poems,
- Stories made about him played him down as regards his keep in the industry,
after closing Pringles
- As he comes home and talks about it, everything seems to fix itself up:
Sandra wants to go to UNI; Raymond is moving out after getting a job; even
Marjorie offered to work a job in a hopeful small business if he happened to
open one. (Misfortunes draw a family together. )
 NICE WORK, SUMMARY
How does one launch upon a voyage of discovery about another person’s life? For
Vic Wilcox, that journey begins with the slowly dawning revelation that a house with
four toilets and a car with a licence plate bearing letters or numbers that you chose
yourself just doesn’t cut it. At 45, Vic’s voyage of discovery may actually begin with
the revelation that his wife no longer does it for him, either. Which would perhaps not
be quite so bad if passion had been supplanted by conversation. When you don’t
enjoy either looking at or hearing your wife, four toilets come more to seem a symbol
of failure than success.
January in the year the government has officially declared it to be the year of
Industry: 1986. In order to do their small part in making sure the year lives up to its
name, Rummidge University has asked Robyn Penrose to assist in closing the
chasm that seems a natural boundary between the world of commerce and the world
of academics. On the other side of that chasm sits engineering industry manager
named Vic Wilcox.
The first meeting does not go particularly well, but unable to stop the forces that
have mandated he allow the decade-younger Robyn to “shadow” Vic as he goes
about the business of management they eventually develop a growing friendship. As
the shadow follows along on Vic’s business trip to Germany, the friendship turns into
something much more. For Vic, Frankfurt changes everything because he’s never
cheated on his wife before and the flush of passion has him excited over the
possibility of getting out of his nowhere marriage and entering into a brand new
relationship with Robyn.
Robyn doesn’t view the Frankfurt connection in quite the same terms. The concept of
spending the rest of her life with Vic never really entered into picture and now this
personal chasm is creating tension as Vic has managed to convince those in charge
that a reverse shadowing in which he gets a firmer understanding the world of
academia would be entirely within the interests of the Industry Year strategy. As a
result, whatever is required of Robyn in her position at Rummidge now includes a
hopelessly smitten Vic tagging along.
Further tension and anxiety is placed on Robyn when it becomes clear that Thatcher
Economics has created a financial crisis within the university system and Robyn’s
odds of landing a full time position shrink before her eyes. The only bright spot is
finding a powerful advocate supporting her should she decide to apply for a women’s
studies position at Euphoric State University. That support is a direct result of the
quality of a book she is currently writing on feminism. Coincidentally, the business
world of Vic is also being affected by the current state of British economics. The
company that Vic works for announces a merger with one of its competitors, thus
eliminating Vic’s position in the process.
Leave it to the Aussies to save the day. Robyn finds out that an Uncle from Down
Under has passed on, naming her as sole beneficiary of an estate worth $300,000.
The chasm between business and academia is effectively bridged when she decides
to invest the bulk of that inheritance in Vic’s idea for a start-up company.
Vic reconciles with his wife while Robyn decides to withdraw her candidacy for the
Euphoric position and remain on temporary assignment at Rummidge amid hopes
that a shot at a permanent position has not been permanently lost.

https://www.gradesaver.com/nice-work/study-guide/summary
 SHORT STORIES - SUMMARIES AND RELEVANT INFORMATION

Three is a Lucky Number - Margery Allingham

The story is about a man called Ronald Torbay who marries middle-aged/old women
in order to murder them and stay with their fortunes. At the time of this story he’s
living with his third wife, a potential third murder, nobody knows who he is as he’s
moved to a new place. He considers himself smarter than everyone else, so he
underestimates his victims’ capabilities. He has always been careful with the type of
wife he chooses, as his success depended on it.
His wife, Edyth, who after her father’s death was all alone with her fortune. She
wasn’t very open as regards money, she kept all her business papers locked in an
old writing case. Additionally, Edyth was very interested in learning more about
Ronald’s job at the factory.
One day Ronald prepares a back for Edyth because he had planned to have dinner
with her in a glamorous way. She was sceptical about it but decided to give in. In this
bath, Ronald had prepared to murder Edyth, like had with his other wives, using a
heater in the bathtub with no electricity, so the death would seem like a tragic event.
Once Ronald called Edyth’s name a couple of times and no answer came back from
inside the bathroom, he was certain that his wife had died, so he went straight for the
writing case with all of Edyth’s documents. In here he finds out that the woman had
moved all the money to a back, so in hopes of not having finished it he rushed out to
the mailbox in hopes to find an envelope with the money. He did find an envelope,
though the money was not there. Instead there was a letter from Edyth letting him
know that she knows all about his plans, and that the neighbours were secret agents
so the police is incoming. She had been doubtful about his intentions since she was
shown a newspaper subheading where a man had murdered two women the same
way, and after seeing a picture of the man, she knew she had to do something in
order to get Ronald caught.

Genre: Murder / Accidents

Symbols: Open and unexpected ending with sirens being heard.

Killing Lizards - William Boyd

This is a story about a 12-year-old Gavin. He was left alone by his sister, Amanda,
who went to a boarding school in England, so he yearns for his mother’s interest but
cannot get it. He often dreams about the death of his father and sister, because he
wants to have his mother all for his own. Even if they are his father and sister, he
sees them as “threats” between him and his mother. He can’t make them disappear
in real life, but in his fantasy world he can, which is how he develops the need to
bring that violence to the real world by killing lizards. When the boy is bored, with
nothing else to do, he likes to hunt for lizards with his friends.
One day, Gavin was out killing lizards with his friends, and then his friends let him
know of his mom’s whereabouts so he decided to look for her while hunting lizards.
He then finds her sleeping with another man in the bushes in a van, which the boy
doesn’t take for granted and brings it home with him, as he lets one lizard live.

To Reach Japan - Alice Munro

The story begins on a Vancouver train platform. Greta and her daughter Katy are on
the train, heading to Toronto for the summer, looking out to Peter, husband and
father, as he waves and smiles. This portrays the idea of a happy family but not
perfect.
Peter avoids intimacy in order to avoid conflict, which is nothing Greta hasn’t
accustomed to. Peter had escaped as a child with his mother from Soviet
Czechoslovakia, and he now works as an engineer which is why Greta and Katy are
leaving Vancouver, because Peter will be working all summer up north where there’s
no accommodations for families. Greta decides to go to Toronto because a friend
needs house-sitting there, and she also needs a change of scenery.
Greta is a poet but she’s not a well known one. She was once at a publishing party
and met Harris Bennet, resident of Toronto, with whom she spent a wonderful
evening. He then took her home and expressed a desire to kiss her, she doesn’t let it
happen though. However, before she left for Toronto, Greta sent Harris a letter letting
him know the time and date of her arrival, without a name.
Then for a time, the story focuses on Greta and Katy’s journey. Greta begins to
reflect on situations with her marriage and her relationship with her daughter as they
spend time on the train. During the time of travelling, Greta encounters another man
(Greg) with whom she sleeps with while Katy was sleeping in one of the train
carriages. She then goes back to her daughter, only to find that she is not where
Greta had left her, causing the mother to panic. She then finds her wedged into the
dangerous space between train cars.
After this, Greg then leaves on his stop and once Katy and Greta keep travelling to
Toronto, with a long while of Greta focusing only on her daughter. Once they reach
Toronto, Harris is waiting for them at the train stop. Katy feels discomfort as they go
closer to the man, the story ends with Katy separating from her mother, standing
there on her own.
The Story-teller - Saki

The story begins in a railway carriage. A woman is travelling with three small
children, two girls and a boy. The woman is the kids’ aunt. Then there’s another man,
unrelated to them, who is referred to as the “bachelor”.
The children are very bored, and the aunt is trying unsuccessfully to keep them calm
in order not to bother the man. The children make questions about the many things
they see through the window, which their aunt fails to answer. In order to avoid them
being loud and noisy, the aunt decides to tell them a story about a girl who is so
good that everyone loves her and she’s saved from a bull attack because of this.
The children do not like the story, neither does the Bachelor who then tells her it’s
very boring. The aunt challenges The Bachelor to tell a better story and he begins…
The bachelor’s story is also about a very good girl described as “horribly good”, she
had three shiny medals she’d bring everywhere. She was once allowed to go into the
park where pigs would run and no one else could go, this park was owned by the
Prince of the village. Throughout his story, the bachelor answered millions of
questions the kids made him, all adding up more information about his story. The girl
of the story then thinks that she’s so lucky to be here for being good. However,
afterwards she finds a wolf and tries running as fast as possible to hide into a bush.
The wolf got close to the bushes but their smell was so strong, it didn’t get the scent
of a little girl. But as the wolf was moving away, the medals around her neck started
clinking together as she was shaking, so the wolf dragged her out of the bush and
ate her. The wolf only left the clothing and medals. The boys then asked multiple
questions about the story, but they all seemed satisfied with its ending.
The man then has a short argument with the lady, in which he proves he managed to
keep them quiet for 10 minutes, more than she had been able to do. He leaves at his
stop as he thinks about the fact of the little kids asking for inappropriate stories in the
future.

To Build a Fire - Jack London

The story begins with the unnamed main character, referred to as “the man”, on the
Yukon trail. He’s in the middle of a cold and isolated setting, the ground is covered in
snow. The man is travelling alone with his dog, heading to a camp where they will
join their companions. The man is very positive about his journey, thinks of lunch and
looks forward to finding his friends that night. He is not at all concerned about the
cold, even if ice has frozen his lips together. The dog, on the other hand, senses
danger in the extreme weather conditions. It expects the man to find shelter or build
a fire, but the man lacks understanding of the situation.
The man hikes along a frozen creek, noticing areas where the water has turned into
ice but has not yet frozen completely. He knows if he falls it can cause a lot of trouble
and delay his journey, but he doesn’t consider the actual danger of wet feet in such
conditions. At one point, he forces the dog to find a path through the ice, concluding
in the dog falling through. The dog bites the ice off and the man helps it clear its
paws.
By noon, the man is pleased with his progress. He sits down and tries to eat his
lunch but is shocked when he can’t feel his hands and lips moving. He realises he
needs to build a fire, as he remembers what an old man from the Sulphur Creek had
warned him about: The cold. He manages to build a fire and eat lunch, he smokes a
pipe and then sets off again, the dog’s instincts tell it that they should not keep
travelling so it is very reluctant to move away from the fire.
The man and the dog continue up the creek until he falls in a pool, ending up soaked
to his knees. He is angry but somehow not frightened. He has to build a fire to dry
out his socks and moccasins. He manages to build a fire with grass and some sticks
he finds under some trees. However, the man needs to warm up quickly if his feet
are wet and the temperature is this low. He has lost all feelings in his feet and his
hands are going numb. Even the blood itself feels cold. Yet, he’s confident about his
fire warming him up, he even thinks of a fool of the man who warned him not to
travel alone.
Just as the man gains hope, it’s all lost when snow from the trees falls onto his fire
after trying to grab more sticks from it. The man finally comes to the realisation of
how dangerous this situation is. The dog watches anxiously as the man attempts to
remake a fire. The man tries to find elements such as sticks, branches and matches,
none of which seem to be on his side of things, he even burns all matches at once in
an attempt to light up the fire. The man looks at the dog and tries to murder it in
order to use its warm body to defrost his hands. The dog backs away as he tries to
crawl to it. He forces himself to stand up and run towards the direction of the camp.
He knows it’s almost impossible yet his hope to reach it is still vibrant. He then falls
and begins to feel comfortable in the snow, frightened by this he gets up again and
tries to continue, but falls a second time. He gets on his feet once again and tries for
a last time as he sees the dog all calm and warm, but he doesn't reach very far. At
this time he accepts his coming death, he imagines himself being the one to discover
the body and telling the old man in Sulphur Creek that he was right. He freezes to
death.
The dog stays for a while until it eventually realises the man is dead and moves on in
search of other humans who can provide food and warmth.

Themes: NATURE IS INDIFFERENT / SURVIVAL IN EXTREMES /

SELF-RELIANCE AND ITS LIMITATION

POV: The narrator is an omniscient one, who understands the man and his inner
world. The narrator judges the man as they have a better understanding of the world.
The Verger - Somerset Maugham.

Albert Edward Foreman was a Verger at St. Peter’s Church. He took pride in his job
and wore his gown with satisfaction. He has worked as a verger for 16 years, with a
huge collection of gowns piled up in his wardrobe. The afternoon of the story, there
was a christening going on, and it had just finished. He was busy clearing up and
waited for the vicar to leave the vestry so that he could tidy up and leave.
He saw the vicar coming towards him. The vicar was in his forties, new to the church
due to having been recently appointed. He was very involved in all the activities of
the church. Albert, however, missed the previous vicar, who wanted things in the
church to be done neatly. He wasn’t so interested in everything and interfering.
Albert was hopeful that the new vicar would change with time.
The vicar asks Albert to have a word with him. The vicar compliments Albert’s
handling of children and of the place as a whole. Then the vicar sets off to talk to two
churchwardens. Albert only observes from afar.
Before working at St. Peter’s church, he was in service in very good houses. He had
started as a butler and other jobs of the sort. He was tall, thin, grave and looked very
much like a Duke. He also had an unimpeachable character.
The vicar comes to tell Albert that he has conducted his duties in a satisfactory way,
but he was astonished to find out that the Verger was illiterate and could neither read
nor write. Albert replied that the former vicar knew about it and told him that it didn’t
make a difference. The two churchwardens also express outrage at this, as he has
been the verger for 16 years.
The Vicar issues an ultimatum to Albert that he learn to read and write within three
months or else he loses his job. Albert responds that at his age, it’s impossible to
acquire literacy and that he was ready to resign once they found a replacement.
Politely Albert closed the door and stepped out, he was upset even if he had
maintained dignity in front of them.
While walking back home, he took a wrong turn. He had some savings but it wasn’t
enough for him to live on it, and he didn’t want to go back to house work. He had
imagined he’d work as a verger until his death. He was tired and wanted a cigarette
to comfort him, he looked for a shop but he couldn’t find one, so he walked further. It
was a long street with many shops, but not one sold cigarettes. He found it strange
and checked again. He then reflected that a person with a small shop selling
cigarettes would do very well with money.
The next day he went to the same street and found a little shop to rent. He took it
and after a month he had made a business as a tobacconist and newsagent. In a
year’s time, his business was doing well, which allowed him to get another shop and
get a manager to run it, so he did so.
One day when he went to the bank to deposit money, the bank manager suggested
that he invest his money in stocks and securities. Albert didn’t want to risk his money
and preferred to keep it in the bank, the manager even offered to do the investments
on his behalf. He only had to sign some papers, but Albert revealed he couldn’t, so
the Manager ironically asked “What would you have achieved if you were literate”,
and with a smile on his face Albert responded that he’d be the verger at St. Peter’s
church.

Hamlet (Short Story) - Shakespeare

This adaptation of the tragedy by Shakespeare begins with the events of guards
waiting for the visit of the King’s dead ghost to show on the castle battlements. With
them is Horatio, friend of the King’s son, Hamlet. Hamlet is suspicious about his
father’s death due to the fact that shortly after it, his mother married his uncle. The
ghost won’t speak to Horatio, but the next night it confirms Hamlet’s suspicions to
Hamlet, he was murdered by his brother and Hamlet must take revenge.
Hamlet decides to wait to try to uncover more truth about his father’s murder. He
would only kill Claudius when he was sure that he had murdered the King.
Meanwhile he’d pretend to be insane with grief, in order to disguise his plans.
Ophelia had been very close with Hamlet for a long time, he was sending her flowers
and love letters, but once this occurrence happened, Hamlet stopped showing any
emotions. Hamlet had planned to have a play be done for the royalty, in which the
actors would play “The Murder of Gonzago”. However, the story had a twist at the
end in which the “killer” pours a little green liquid in the “king”’s year. When this was
played out, Claudius felt unwell and they all made the play stop. Hamlet was excited
to see such a reaction from Claudius and everyone around him.
Claudius arranges an urgent meeting in which he says that Hamlet is insane. The
Courtier Polonius believes that Hamlet is mad with love for his daughter and he has
gone insane. Polonius and Claudius try to find out what’s going on behind all of
Hamlet’s actions so they decide to hide Claudius inside Hamlet’s mother’s room,
right behind a curtain. Hamlet before going to his mom’s realises that he has an
open ending to the problem in which he could murder Claudius right at that instance.
But he sees him praying and decides to avoid it.
As Hamlet has a talk with his mother, Polonious thinks he must be trying to murder
her so attempts to leave the curtains but Hamlet stabs through them, killing the man.
Claudius sees this opportunity to take Hamlet away to England, but in the middle of
the travelling, Hamlet manages to escape and come back.
Ophelia goes mad, after all going on, and drowns herself. Her brother Laerte comes
to avenge his father in a duel with Hamlet, as suggested by Claudius. Claudius gives
Laertes a poisonous sword. As this battle is happening, The Queen sips a cup of
poisoned wine, which was intended for Hamlet in case he were to survive the battle.
Both involved in the fight, Laertes and Hamlet, die after being fatally wounded.
Hamlet finds out about the poisonous sword and forces the King to drink the wine.
Only Horatio lives to tell the horrible story, after finding out the Norwegians are
coming to invade the castle. Hamlet tells Horatio to surrender the Danish throne to
Norway before he dies dropping to the ground.