It's one hell of a yarn, which makes The Lovers and the Despot's strangely soporific style something of a disappointment.
As for making the lovers two men, everybody generally assumes one way unless told otherwise..
This vacancy is what makes the lover weary of her quickly; but it is the source of the mystery, the charm, that seduces him and makes him inclined to feel an easy affection in the first place.
Even Alice's young paramour is sufficiently calculating to advertise that his scholarly discipline promises what others can't: "Philosophy students make the best lovers," John tells her.
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We've always heard that friends make the best lovers anyway, right?
A decade from now, I know that I'll be making a more-than-decent living, and so, assuming I don't ask a friend to knock me up (hey, best friends make the best lovers, right?), I'll have plenty of money to pay for in vitro fertilization.
Niffenegger plays ingeniously in her temporal hall of mirrors, but fails to make the connection between the lovers as compelling as their odd predicament.
In one memorable scene, she throws a bottle of ink at Man Ray during a fight; when they make up, the lovers sit on their bed, admiring the splatter the ink has made on the wall.
Sadly, however, I think this taste of paradise will make the average watch-lover desire a B&R even more, a sad state of affairs for someone who is trying to avoid spending $5 grand or more on a stinking watch.
