小团读书 | Four Weddings and a Funeral (2/100)
Technically speaking, Four Weddings and a Funeral can hardly be defined as a novel, but a screen script, nor is Richard Curtis classified as a full-time author as he mainly works as a film actor, a film producer and director. Only consisting of 6 short chapters, the book involves multiple themes, following the experiences of his single friends through the vision of the protagonist, Charles. Apparently, each theme, such as love and youth, marriage and divorce, life and death, wedding and funeral flickers and vanishes intentionally, sheerly absent from the writer's subjective comments or attitudes on them, which tactfully intrigues readers' interest and effort to reflect on these themes and further on their own spiritual life. The book involves four weddings and one funeral, each developing independently, with complete settings and plots, and meanwhile being intentionally linked together to serve as a taciturn oberver, witnessing each step of the relationship progress between the hero and heroine.
Seemingly, Charles, the hero, is a handsome and flirtatious playboy as a result of his countless girlfriends and dissolute life, but indeed, he is good-natured but socially awkward procrastinator. He hasn't believed marriage or true love, until he runs into an American lady, Carrie, the heroine, which arouses his inner impulse for loving a woman and eagerness to live with her for all his life.
The first wedding is held in Somerset, Charles is the best man of Angus and Laura, at which Charles meets Carrie and spends the wonderful night with her. Carrie half-jokingly assumes that, since they have slept together, Charles will have no choice but to marry her, to which Charles endeavors to respond, not sensing that they both have fallen into love at the first sight. The opportunity just slips away and Carrie returns to America.
They two encounter at the second wedding, which is of Bernard and Lydia, a couple who became romantically involved at the previous wedding. Charles feels a tingling of jealousy when Carrie introduces her fiancé to him, noticing that he has loved her irresistibly. At the reception, Charles' embarrassing meeting with his several ex-girlfriends indirectly mirrors the hero's inner conflict and puzzlement, torn by his position between his frivolous past pleasure seeking and his present desperation for Carrie. His self-reflection overthrows his previous prejudice against love and sheds light to his mind that true love does exist, and though a little late, it is on its way, around the corner of his life.
A month later, Charles receives an invitation to Carrie's wedding. While shopping for a present, he coincidentally runs into Carrie for the third time, he awkwardly confesses his love to her, hinting that he would like to have a relationship with her, to no avail. He realizes love is fleeting, once he misses it, it will never come back.
At Gareth's funeral, one of close his friends who died of heart attack, Matthew, Gareth's life partner, recites the affecting poem "Funeral Blues" by W. H. Auden, commemorating his deep love for Gareth. Charles, preoccupied with sorrow and loneliness, cannot help pondering whether hoping to find "one true love" is just a futile effort or not.
The fourth wedding is held for Charles and one of his ex-girlfriend Henrietta. The moment before it starts, Carrie arrives, revealing to Charles that she has been divorced. Charles is again thrown at the crossing of life road. What does he choose? He will spend the rest of his time doing what other people expect from him, or make a decision to let them all go, to choose his true love. To be or not to be, which is a bitter ordeal to Charles. At last with the encourage of his brother David, Charles dredges up the nerve and admits "I do" when the vicar asks whether Charles does love someone else, and the wedding farce is halted.
Charles later confesses to Carrie, that while standing at the altar, he realized that for the first time in his life he totally and utterly loves one person, and it is nobody but Carrie. The book ends up with the two love birds finally getting together.
When I was a little kid, every time I watched love tragedy movie, or heard a sad love story, I cast my scorn on it, assuming in my mind, that they are art works, which purpose are designed to arouse audiences' empathy to shed tears for the thorny fate of the protagonists. However, with the time stretching on, I have found that art is rooted in reality, which is even crueller than the former. It is not easy to find his/her Mrs/Mr right in human life. In the long-term pursuit of true love, some people, who are afraid of getting hurt, refuse to search from the beginning, making an excuse that this is no love existing in the world; some people search for a while and then compromise with the difficulties midway, for a loveless marriage which leads to a bitter life, and only the people who persist in pursuing and harbor a strong belief in life and future, can finally obtain the true love. After years of trek and struggle, when turning around, you will find true love is just around the corner, beaming at you. What does true love taste? Why are there so many people sacrifhold to it strongly? In the book, by quoting the poem written by W. H. Auden, Richard Curtis shares you his answer.
"He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good."
