Private Lives

I read Jane Smiley's "Private Lives."  Margaret is the main character.  The first three chapters were confusing and irritating because so many characters were introduced.  Margaret's family and upbringing had to be explained.  After that, the story focused on Margaret and was easier to understand.  Margaret marries a Navy captain.  My first impression of her husband was that he was on the autism spectrum - possibly Asperger's.  Over time we come to realize that he is a boring, egotistical, arrogant, laughable, insufferable, confident boor.  He thinks he is so smart.   He thinks he is always right.  He is constantly doing research in physics, math, and politics.  Like Margaret says, "He is constantly adding two plus two and once in a great while he comes up with four."  Someone says to her, "Even a stopped watch is right twice a day."  Margaret replies, "Not in the Navy."  His eccentric scientific curiosity evolves into a kind of madness.  The book begins in the 1880's and ends during world war two.  Most of the action takes place near a Navy base in California.  Jane Smiley's description of the love of a mother (Margaret's love of her son) is truly a work of art.