Making Things Better by Anita Brookner
"Making Things Better" by Anita Brookner explores the life of Julius Herz, a 73-year-old man who reflects on his past while navigating the challenges of aging and emotional turmoil. As a Jewish exile from Germany, Julius's life in London has been shaped by his family's history and the loss of loved ones. His narrative delves into his long-held feelings for his cousin, Fanny, and a yearning for meaningful connections that remain elusive, such as his relationship with his ex-wife, Josie, and his new neighbor, Sophie.
The story captures Julius's struggle with a monotonous existence, tethered to the music store where he works with his father, and the fading memories of his family, including his mentally ill brother, Freddy. Brookner uses Julius's reflections and experiences to highlight themes of desire, regret, and the quest for autonomy. As the narrative unfolds, Julius is confronted with the realities of aging, symbolized through his physical health concerns and the symbolic weight of his family heirlooms.
The novel culminates in a poignant exploration of self-discovery, as Julius confronts both his past and his uncertain future, ultimately suggesting that the pursuit of emotional fulfillment, even in the face of mortality, can lead to personal renewal. Through rich character development and evocative themes, Brookner invites readers to reflect on the complexities of relationships and the meaning of life as one navigates the twilight years.
Making Things Better by Anita Brookner
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 2002 (pb. in England as The Next Big Thing, 2002)
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Making Things Better opens with Julius Herz, age seventy-three, dreaming of his narcissistic cousin Fanny Bauer, whom he has romantically desired but been denied since childhood. Much of this narrative peers inside Julius’s thoughts, revealing his backstory while chronicling his present. A German exile, a frequent figure in Brookner’s fiction, Julius has lived in London since his Jewish family departed Berlin when he was fourteen during the 1930’s. A benefactor, Mr. Ostrovski, provided Julius’s parents, Willy and Trude Herz, a flat and income from his music store.
This novel’s American title is embedded in the text as Julius attempts to makes conditions tolerable by dutifully serving his controlling parents and maintaining contact with his older brother, Freddy, a gifted violinist who resides in a hospice after a mental breakdown. That exile enabled Freddy to escape his parents’ expectations. Trapped in a dreamlike existence, Julius neglects his desires, including his wife, Josie, who divorces him. Instead of seeking autonomous employment, Julius works in the music store with his father, settling into a tranquilizing routine that helps him grieve as the sole survivor after his parents’ and brother’s deaths.
Ostrovski sells the property where Julius works and lives, forcing Julius to make decisions. Julius adjusts to newfound idleness by leasing a flat and strolling to shops, galleries, and parks. As times passes, aging Julius measures life in the terms of his lease commitment, assuming he might die before renewing it. The text repeats this novel’s British title, referring to dying being the next significant event for older people.
Brookner’s choice of Julius’s German surname, Herz, meaning heart, symbolizes his geriatric concerns, both emotional and physical. He meets Josie for lunches but values her friendship rather than attempting to reconnect romantically with her. Julius is aroused by his unattainable new neighbor, Sophie Clay, a young career woman. He longs for love, particularly with Fanny. When he experiences alarming heart flutters, Julius seeks help from an aloof physician who prescribes medication and ignores Julius’s comments about Sigmund Freud. Ted Bishop, Julius’s housecleaner, shares a cautionary tale in which an elderly airline passenger experiences a dire medical situation, foreshadowing Julius’s future.
Julius goes to Paris, desiring to see a Eugène Delacroix painting that had impressed him as a young man. His memories offer revelations of freedoms he had briefly savored there in the past. At home, he gets rid of heirlooms, particularly family photographs. After not communicating with him for years, Fanny sends Julius letters, pleading for him to help her with legal troubles. Provoked, Julius responds, telling Fanny she is self-centered and should read Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks (1901; English translation, 1924), which examines family relationships. Destroying those angry notes, Julius mails kinder messages, suggesting they retreat to Beau Rivage, the Swiss hotel where he had unsuccessfully proposed to Fanny thirty years earlier. As Julius, wholeheartedly pursuing his desires instead of submitting to others, prepares to board the airplane, he ironically suffers an attack, accidentally dropping and stepping on his heart pills. Julius moves forward, his fate and destination unclear, to experience the next significant phase of his life, either his demise or his renewal.
Review Sources
The Atlantic Monthly 291, no. 3 (April 1, 2003): 109.
Booklist 99, no. 5 (November 1, 2002): 450.
The Christian Science Monitor, January 1-2, 2003, p. 13.
Kirkus Reviews 70, no. 21 (November 1, 2002): 1548.
Library Journal 128, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 151.
The London Review of Books, June 27, 2002, p. 30.
Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2003, p. E11.
New Leader 85, no. 6 (November/December, 2002): 44-45.
The New York Times Book Review, February 2, 2003, p. 17.
Publishers Weekly 249, no. 51 (December 23, 2002): 47.
The Times Literary Supplement, June 21, 2002, p. 24.
The Washington Post, January 12, 2003, p. T2.