Back in the day I loved me some David Lodge, especially his academic oriented novels like Nice Work and Changing Places. But I just read my sixth Lodge–the first in over ten years–and, well, I think I am done with him.
Paradise News by David Lodge
Perhaps Paradise News is particularly weak and one-dimensional and I shouldn’t give up on Lodge’s work. He is kind of the thinking man’s Peter Mayle. More substance than Mayle for sure but both kind of tedious in a light-hearted way.
I really don’t want to discourage folks from trying his Campus Trilogy which, based on my memory at least, is much more interesting. But, the two Lodges that are still unread on my shelves are being put into the ‘donate’ pile.
hogglestock 
My experience has been similar to yours. Nice Work and Changing Places were great but then I read another of his campus novels – Small World – and thought it was tedious. Thats the last fiction by Lodge that I plan to read. His non fiction work is more interesting
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I guess he can take comfort in being really successful (if not good).
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The last Lodge I read was Deaf Sentence which I thought was more sensitive than the others I’ve read as it deals with aging in a thoughtful but humorous way.
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That is one that I have gotten rid of.
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Which have you got on the TBR, though, as some were good. And I loved his autobiography. I didn’t like Deaf Sentence because I thought it was just playing it for laughs, interestingly.
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Deaf Sentence is one I got rid of. I don’t recall the name of the other.
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I like Therapy and thinks of the later ones, but nothing beats the academic ones.
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Same here. I loved the three academic novels (I’m an academic, so familiar world) but the rest were just boring. I actually disliked Paradise News enough that I put ALL of his works in the donate pile – I didn’t even keep the ones I’d originally liked!
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I don’t own any of those that I liked, but I think I would have responded in the same way.
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