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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Brenda and Tony had a lively son, an estate in the country, and very few problems. Brenda got bored, and decided to take up with John Beaver. This, obviously, was a bad choice and the events that followed are the moral of the story.
Despite the "it's all the woman's fault" tone, the story read quickly and had some unexpected twists. It kept my interest more than I anticipated.
Food: a mouthful of hot, black coffee. Bitter, strong, not unpleasant, but maybe missing a little sugar.
Despite the "it's all the woman's fault" tone, the story read quickly and had some unexpected twists. It kept my interest more than I anticipated.
Food: a mouthful of hot, black coffee. Bitter, strong, not unpleasant, but maybe missing a little sugar.
When it comes down to it, I just want a happy ending. Thus, three stars instead of four which the brilliant writing deserved.
That was a rough read at the end....
That was a rough read at the end....
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs
This is the first modernist novel I've ever read, with the exception of [b: Mrs Dalloway|14942|Mrs. Dalloway|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479336522s/14942.jpg|841320] which I read when I was thirteen and knew even less than I do now. No one likes an intellectual upstart so I'll refrain from declaring that I hate this, though I do. It will be more fruitful to discuss what this actually is.
The blurb refers to this as 'chilling and bitter', which I think is a good choice of words. There's a remarkably consistent coldness to this. No one seems to have any feelings at all. Deaths are reacted to with all the care of brushing off a piece of lint — declarations of love are made without being felt — betrayals and imprisonments are taken without any pain, because pain might be the strongest feeling of all. So, it is chilling that these people move through life without feeling anything. And it is bitter because the emotional vacancy of this book feels like the shadow cast by intense emotion in Waugh's own life. Ironically, the more this book insists on drifting from scene to scene, without a narrator to bridge the gap between book and reader, the more it seems to me that there's a huge unacknowledged pain behind it all. This is not me betraying my anti-intentionalist stance. The lack of a narrator and the lack of any warmth is still a part of the book, and in my reading I think that that's the most important irony: by feeling so little, really what is conveyed is pain that is too great to be looked at in the eye.
Anyway, this kind of cold, distant book is not to my taste at all. Someone else on the blurb calls it 'marvellous', which to me seems like the absolute last word I'd use. 'Marvellous' suggests kindly warmth and smiling regard — two utterly inappropriate responses to this book.
In places it is weighed down with allusions, though I'm sure what is allusion to me is common knowledge to the intended readers of this book. Also I want to complain about half-arsed metaphors (a stuffed fish left behind, to symbolise a relationship that does not blossom) though perhaps those are a stylistic choice too.
The blurb refers to this as 'chilling and bitter', which I think is a good choice of words. There's a remarkably consistent coldness to this. No one seems to have any feelings at all. Deaths are reacted to with all the care of brushing off a piece of lint — declarations of love are made without being felt — betrayals and imprisonments are taken without any pain, because pain might be the strongest feeling of all. So, it is chilling that these people move through life without feeling anything. And it is bitter because the emotional vacancy of this book feels like the shadow cast by intense emotion in Waugh's own life. Ironically, the more this book insists on drifting from scene to scene, without a narrator to bridge the gap between book and reader, the more it seems to me that there's a huge unacknowledged pain behind it all. This is not me betraying my anti-intentionalist stance. The lack of a narrator and the lack of any warmth is still a part of the book, and in my reading I think that that's the most important irony: by feeling so little, really what is conveyed is pain that is too great to be looked at in the eye.
Anyway, this kind of cold, distant book is not to my taste at all. Someone else on the blurb calls it 'marvellous', which to me seems like the absolute last word I'd use. 'Marvellous' suggests kindly warmth and smiling regard — two utterly inappropriate responses to this book.
In places it is weighed down with allusions, though I'm sure what is allusion to me is common knowledge to the intended readers of this book. Also I want to complain about half-arsed metaphors (a stuffed fish left behind, to symbolise a relationship that does not blossom) though perhaps those are a stylistic choice too.
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Waugh once again turns his piercing eye toward high society...and once again creates a thouroughly unlikeable novel. Every single character is either completely cruel and selfish or an absolute idiot; both types are utterly unrealistically written. After Waugh killed off a small child just to demonstrate Brenda's unfeeling nature, I lost all patience with the book. Waugh mistakes unmitigated vitriol for a discerning eye, and lacks empathy for any of his characters.
A deliciously promising start pays off for a delightful two-thirds of the novel before spiraling into the messy nonsense of an ill-fitting, sloppy ending. My feelings about the novel are probably best expressed by quoting Henry Green, who wrote to Waugh "I feel the end is so fantastic that it throws the rest out of proportion. Aren't you mixing two things together? It seemed manufactured and not real."
reflective
medium-paced
