Schroder by Amity Gaige

On Thursday, January 8^th, the Fixed on Fiction Group met to discuss Schroder by Amity Gaige. Here is a brief summary of the novel, courtesy of Goodreads:

Attending summer camp as a boy, Erik Schroder -- a first generation East German immigrant -- adopts the name of Eric Kennedy, a decision that will set him on an improbable and transformative journey, SCHRODER relates the story of how years later, Erik finds himself on an urgent escape to Lake Champlain, Vermont with his daughter, hiding from authorities amidst a heated custody battle with estranged wife, Laura, who is unaware of his previous identity. From a correctional facility, Erik surveys the course of his life: his love for Laura, his childhood, his experience as a father. In this way, this sweeping and deftly-imagined novel is an exploration of the identities we take on in our lives-those we are born with, and those we construct for ourselves.

First of all, we had a very small group meeting on January 8^th due to some nasty winter weather; however, the group members that were able to attend greatly enjoyed Schroder.

• I thought the writing was excellent, the novel was super readable
• I really couldn’t put this book down
• I enjoyed the book’s unique format. I liked the interesting footnotes and the multiple “I let you down” pages

When asked why they loved this title, readers seemed to appreciate that the novel was very realistic. One member described her struggle with fiction- she often gets pulled out of the story and loses interest if the plot becomes too far-fetched. She greatly enjoyed that Schroder was a very believable story.   

• (on Schroder becoming “Kennedy”) I can believe that his challenges and struggles were too much to bear, so he had to create an alternate identity in order to cope with reality.

The realistic nature of the story led to a conversation about the novel’s ending. Most of us agreed that the conclusion was unsatisfying- What happens to Schroder? To Meadow? Despite the unanswered questions, we agreed that leaving the story in a “gray area” without any solid resolution also made Schroder’s tale even more believable. If there had been a neat and clear ending, it would have likely felt a bit unrealistic compared to the rest of the text.

We also discussed the nature of Schroder’s character at length. Is Schroder a good parent? Is he a “bad person”? One reader mentioned that she could understand that he greatly loved his daughter and was so broken-hearted over his lack of custody that he acted out of pure desperation. Another member added that while he did love his daughter dearly, he wasn’t always acting in her best interest but rather, his own. Some of us agreed that Schroder wasn’t necessarily a “bad person,” he simply made very poor choices.

Conversely, another group member emailed her insightful thoughts on Schroder, which she did not enjoy at all. Here are some of her notes-

• I found Eric Schroder's supposedly candid, self-justifiying letter to be dreadfully tedious and dull, the droning on of a self-absorbed, self-deceiving narcissist.
• I needed some kind of relief, and April Almond did provide some of that, comic relief and human interest. She may have been eccentric but she cared about other people.
• I found the parts about Germany and East Berlin to be interesting, especially the psychology of it, how West Berlin was so palpably close and familiar yet unattainable, except through extremely desperate and dangerous measures

As always, Fixed on Fiction had a lively and enjoyable discussion. Please join us next month as we discuss The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty.