Recovering Maurice by Martin Zelder; Intellectual and Introspective Academic Journey

 Recovering Maurice by Martin Zelder; Intellectual and Introspective Academic Journey

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Recovering Maurice by Martin Zelder is a novel about an academic’s journey of self-discovery that is both intellectual and introspective.

Maurice Obster (pronounced with the long “O” he insists), is a 60 year old economics professor who is contemplating his comfortable life, nice home, and relationship with his wife, Lucia. However, a chance meeting on a plane changed his outlook. A passenger is reading a book called Trauma and Recovery. This meeting illustrates the maxim of “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear” because this quick encounter causes Maurice to think about the traumas that occurred throughout his life.

Maurice largely reflects on his older brother Emil who had hydrocephalus. His parents often paid more attention to Emil than Maurice leaving the boy to parent himself. 

This results in a boy who learned independence but anxiety. Self-reliance but self-consciousness. Quiet in nature but longing for attention. Supporting his brother but jealous of him being the primary focus. 

In one key moment, Maurice auditions to be a guest on the Bozo show but isn't able to make it out of the studio audience and get on stage. This moment says something that throughout his life Maurice often comes close to happiness but never quite hits the landing.

This self-consciousness, anxiety, restlessness, and constant searching become consistent through Maurice's life. He accepts various positions but has trouble remaining in them. Sometimes he has issues with colleagues, sometimes the students, and sometimes with the faculty. He has immense knowledge in the subject of economics but not the ability to establish roots and let that knowledge grow in a stationary place.

He also has some relationship issues that end early until he finds a stabilizing influence with Lucia. Lucia becomes a catalyst for Maurice to settle down and find some permanence in his life. He is able to find the familial, personal, and professional success that has eluded him for so long.

Maurice's successful life becomes halted when his parents and Emil go through separate health crises. He is then forced to confront his childhood in which he was neglected and cast aside and assume the role of caregiver and primary focus. 

Maurice's chapters with Emil reveal the depth of Maurice's care for him and also the deep seated regret of being away for so long. It's a relationship where words were never said and instead of saying them Maurice went away. Now the two brothers are surrounded by a silence that needed time and each other to fill it.