Do We Ever Learn?- Take Two

Do We Ever Learn? Take Two
Genesis 26: 6- 33

A few weeks ago, the great U.S. novelist John Updike died. I think I had tried to read one of his novels years ago but failed. In light of the eulogies, I thought I should try again, so I started with Too Far to Go, over which one of the eulogies enthused. It is actually a collection of short stories about a married couple called Richard and Joan Maple. They have a strangely dysfunctional and codependent relationship. I happened last night to be reading a story in which they are telling each other about their affairs. The story is mostly told from Richard’s angle; at least we get more insight into what is going through his mind than into what is going through Joan’s. A striking feature of the story is Richard’s strange fascination with his wife’s affairs and her lovers. He wants to know how many there have been and how many times she has met with them and where. . . . He does not seem to be repelled by all this. He is drawn into it...