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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Hi-larious. Flora Poste wants to write a novel as good as Persuasion when she's 53, and until then she'll be collecting material. I heartily agree.
Wuthering Heights and/or Far From the Madding Crowd gets a long overdue Jane Austen-makeover!
And the result is: something frivolous, cheeky, hilarious & very satisfyingly sensible.
And the result is: something frivolous, cheeky, hilarious & very satisfyingly sensible.
*3.75
A charming and witty story. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys classics but wants something light and satirical.
A charming and witty story. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys classics but wants something light and satirical.
Delightfully snarky but also warm-hearted - glad a friend recommended I read this classic, well worth it.
I'm surprised and delighted by how much I enjoyed this book. I thought I'd dislike it, given I find reading satire a little bit tough (as I do with a lot of humour) but this was more engaging than I anticipated. It's quite twee with the way it presents itself, with Gibbons winking repeatedly at the reader. A dash of futurism, some tongue in cheek passages, and a distinct feeling of Flora knowing what to do in every situation really did help.
The important arches of the book- such as what Robert Poste did to the family, what Ada's problem was, why it was so vital Flora manage the farm- are swept aside. Sure, from a reader perspective I'd have loved answers to these questions, but that's the point of the novel. In the same manner that everything is wrapped up so tidily (which, again, is thumbing the nose at similar texts), the whole point was a gentle, if loving, mockery.
It wasn't until I finished the book that I realised the asterisked passages were the deliberately florid paragraphs. I found myself wanting to skim over them due to how they dripped with purple prose, and at the end I realised that was the whole reason for their being. Whups!
The important arches of the book- such as what Robert Poste did to the family, what Ada's problem was, why it was so vital Flora manage the farm- are swept aside. Sure, from a reader perspective I'd have loved answers to these questions, but that's the point of the novel. In the same manner that everything is wrapped up so tidily (which, again, is thumbing the nose at similar texts), the whole point was a gentle, if loving, mockery.
It wasn't until I finished the book that I realised the asterisked passages were the deliberately florid paragraphs. I found myself wanting to skim over them due to how they dripped with purple prose, and at the end I realised that was the whole reason for their being. Whups!
We chose this for book club as we wanted a classic that promised humour. Half of us didn’t even finish it. I love a classic but I just feel like if this was ever funny in the past, it really hasn’t aged well. I stopped reading at about the halfway point- and then when my friend told me what had happened (or not!) in the second half, I’m glad I didn’t bother!
Flora Poste is an efficient whirlwind bringing laughter, love, and modernity to a hilariously lugubrious family. She also finds the time to completely befuddle a mansplainer and captivate a dashing pilot. Think Jane Austen's Emma by way of P.G. Wodehouse.