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muggsyspaniel's review against another edition
5.0
This is a review for the final part of the trilogy also titled Eustace and Hilda. I've reviewed the first two parts elsewhere.
This final part brings everything back to the beginning, indeed after the majority of the book takes place in Venice with seemingly nothing happening the last section of the book takes us almost in reverse order back to the beginning of the first installment.
Like the first two parts this book takes place almost entirely in Eustace's mind. From the most dramatic of incidents down to the smallest of details Eustace agonises over everything. He lives in fear of not living up to the lowest of expectations, he has a morbid desire to please his sister Hilda and to avoid offending people. He constantly worries about having said or done the wrong thing no matter how small or inconsequential.
He can be an immensely frustrating character, you want to grip him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him but don't, he's physically frail too... For a moment towards the end he threatens to break the mould he's been cast in but we can all see it's a futile act of rebellion on his part, an act barely noticed by anyone.
I think for many people their strength of tolerance for people like Eustace may be the deciding factor as to either loving or hating this book. But love it or hate it L.P. Hartley's skill cannot be denied, as in The Go-Between he gets inside his protagonists head and delves around digging up purest nuggets of truth. In The Go-Between the protagonist was a child, and in the opening book of this trilogy Eustace is a child and I think that is why those two books are so outstanding, Hartley seems to have been able to recall childhood fears, dreams and more with astounding accuracy and in the second and third books here Eustace is little more than a child. He's not backwards, he's not stupid, but he has never outgrown those childhood worries, his weak heart has led him to be cosseted and his sister Hilda has, partly unwittingly, exerted an unhealthy pull on Eustace. Hilda is little seen in this final book but throughout she acts as an anchor on Eustace, weighing him down and keeping him stuck in his childhood position of sickly little brother.
It's a beautiful, heartbreaking book that slowly, very slowly, takes us to the only possible conclusion of the story. A conclusion that we've all been expecting since reading the opening chapter of The Shrimp and the Anemone.
This final part brings everything back to the beginning, indeed after the majority of the book takes place in Venice with seemingly nothing happening the last section of the book takes us almost in reverse order back to the beginning of the first installment.
Like the first two parts this book takes place almost entirely in Eustace's mind. From the most dramatic of incidents down to the smallest of details Eustace agonises over everything. He lives in fear of not living up to the lowest of expectations, he has a morbid desire to please his sister Hilda and to avoid offending people. He constantly worries about having said or done the wrong thing no matter how small or inconsequential.
He can be an immensely frustrating character, you want to grip him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him but don't, he's physically frail too... For a moment towards the end he threatens to break the mould he's been cast in but we can all see it's a futile act of rebellion on his part, an act barely noticed by anyone.
I think for many people their strength of tolerance for people like Eustace may be the deciding factor as to either loving or hating this book. But love it or hate it L.P. Hartley's skill cannot be denied, as in The Go-Between he gets inside his protagonists head and delves around digging up purest nuggets of truth. In The Go-Between the protagonist was a child, and in the opening book of this trilogy Eustace is a child and I think that is why those two books are so outstanding, Hartley seems to have been able to recall childhood fears, dreams and more with astounding accuracy and in the second and third books here Eustace is little more than a child. He's not backwards, he's not stupid, but he has never outgrown those childhood worries, his weak heart has led him to be cosseted and his sister Hilda has, partly unwittingly, exerted an unhealthy pull on Eustace. Hilda is little seen in this final book but throughout she acts as an anchor on Eustace, weighing him down and keeping him stuck in his childhood position of sickly little brother.
It's a beautiful, heartbreaking book that slowly, very slowly, takes us to the only possible conclusion of the story. A conclusion that we've all been expecting since reading the opening chapter of The Shrimp and the Anemone.
sathyasekar's review
4.0
It has been a while since I completed reading this trilogy. I read the first book separately and having much enjoyed it, starting hunting for the sequels. It was almost three years later that I found to my delight, the trilogy edition.
Though I recall snatches only of the plot, what has endured in great detail is the flawed characters of Eustace and Hilda. That is perhaps the intent of Mr.Hartley as well. Through various plots, sone of them unnecessarily long, what we eventually discover is something more about the brother and sister and their relationship. It is extremely difficult to fit one adjective to either of them. You cannot help but like them and despite their weaknesses, find them very interesting. But they are also maddeningly selfish and weak.
The trilogy is a very intimate character study of Eustace and Hilda through their childhood to adulthood. There is little to enjoy by way of plots, but I would recommend this book for those who enjoy the leisure pace, slow development and beautiful prose characteristic of many great authors (especially British) of the earlier half of the 20th century.
Though I recall snatches only of the plot, what has endured in great detail is the flawed characters of Eustace and Hilda. That is perhaps the intent of Mr.Hartley as well. Through various plots, sone of them unnecessarily long, what we eventually discover is something more about the brother and sister and their relationship. It is extremely difficult to fit one adjective to either of them. You cannot help but like them and despite their weaknesses, find them very interesting. But they are also maddeningly selfish and weak.
The trilogy is a very intimate character study of Eustace and Hilda through their childhood to adulthood. There is little to enjoy by way of plots, but I would recommend this book for those who enjoy the leisure pace, slow development and beautiful prose characteristic of many great authors (especially British) of the earlier half of the 20th century.
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