ISP Post 1 The Antagonist

The book I chose to read for my ISP is The Antagonist by Lynn Coady. I found this book to be interesting to read and relevant to today as it highlights how even the people you consider to be your friends can betray you. It is written as a series of emails from the main character, Gordon Rankin Jr to his former college friend Adam.  The emails are in a response to Adam using the details of  Gordon’s life as the basis for a book that he published. It is clear to the reader that Gordon is angry about having his life used as the basis of Adam’s novel. He reveals that he thought Adam was his friend who he could tell his deepest secrets to, “You must be some kind of oracle, a man of profound sympathy and insight.” (32) Finding the story of his life laid out in his buddies book, leaves him both angry and betrayed. It is his response that is both comical and sad that makes this a good book to read.

The writing style that Coady uses is interesting because it helps the reader understand Gordon without simply just describing him. In the emails, Gordon often states the condition he is in, whether he is drunk, tired, angry, or in a good mood “I got a bit worked up after writing that and went off to drink and watch TV and now I am drunk. I just realized I can write you however I want — drunk or sober”(11). Gordon stating how he is feeling while writing the emails helps me to understand what he is going through and the emotions he is putting into the emails. His rambling responses are also funny when he has one sided conversations with Adam who is clearly not happy that he is being accused of basing his novel on Gordon’s life.  Gordon’s response to Adam’s threat of keeping a paper trail is to say that he was going to keep a paper trail of his own. He ends up writing  Adam saying that he should “stop whining, stop threatening (it’s pathetic” (20). 

Social determinants are prevalent in the book. These are factors in society that can affect the path that your life will take. Alcoholism, drug use and being a victim of physical or verbal abuse can cause phycological problems that are hard to overcome and can cause lasting effects.  Gordon was “born the illegitimate offspring of fornicators”(17) his adoptive mother as a saint, whereas his father was “the prick”.(15) who was verbally abusive to both him and his mother. He has a poor relationship with his father because of this and it is this dysfunctional relationship that he views as the reason for his shortcomings, “the problem, as alway, was Gord.” (70) 

His physical size worked for and against him. He was seen as a goon and a thug as his great size gave him the appearance of a fully aged man when he was just a teen. It also worked to his advantage when he received a hockey scholarship to university because of his size.  His path derailed with the death of his mother and he began a long spiral down to days spent just lounging around and doing drugs after he looses his scholarship.