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stacialithub's review against another edition
3.0
This is an odd, somewhat intriguing book. Interesting premise & unexpected conclusion, imo. For some reason, I've had Muriel Spark on my radar for awhile as an author I might really enjoy. I tried her book [b:The Ballad of Peckham Rye|514625|The Ballad of Peckham Rye|Muriel Spark|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348108682s/514625.jpg|2944385] a year or two ago but couldn't get into it. I tried this one because it was sitting on the shelf at the library. Not sure that I'm a Spark fan so far, but am willing to give her one more try. (I think my library has a copy of [b:Memento Mori|120158|Memento Mori|Muriel Spark|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348186701s/120158.jpg|2934614].)
grubstlodger's review against another edition
3.0
Aiding and Abetting was Muriel Spark’s penultimate novel and deals with a phoney psychiatrist who finds herself with two Lord Lucans on her books. She’s concerned and decides to skip town. Meanwhile two people full on love going on a Lord Lucan hunt and the two Lord Lucan’s consider bumping the other off.
I hope Lord Lucan died before he had a chance to read this book, it’s not very flattering. Other than calling him an inhuman out-of-touch murderer, it repeatedly says that he is a very boring man with very limited charm and a peculiar obsession with smoked salmon and lamb chops. Certainly for their cunning, they have nothing on Hildegard, who was a very interesting and fun character.
This was unlike the other Muriel Spark novels I’ve read, it wasn’t a relaxed look at a group of eccentrics (like The Bachelors or Momento Mori) nor was it a tense and tightly plotted look at one character in particular (like The Driving Seat or The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) it’s a fun but fairly lightweight caper. It kept me invested, being a lot of fun for its 200 pages, but there wasn’t much that will linger, except that Lord Lucan was a prat with a fondness for lamb chops.
I hope Lord Lucan died before he had a chance to read this book, it’s not very flattering. Other than calling him an inhuman out-of-touch murderer, it repeatedly says that he is a very boring man with very limited charm and a peculiar obsession with smoked salmon and lamb chops. Certainly for their cunning, they have nothing on Hildegard, who was a very interesting and fun character.
This was unlike the other Muriel Spark novels I’ve read, it wasn’t a relaxed look at a group of eccentrics (like The Bachelors or Momento Mori) nor was it a tense and tightly plotted look at one character in particular (like The Driving Seat or The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) it’s a fun but fairly lightweight caper. It kept me invested, being a lot of fun for its 200 pages, but there wasn’t much that will linger, except that Lord Lucan was a prat with a fondness for lamb chops.
yanina's review against another edition
2.0
Lo único que sentí con este libro fue decepción. Muriel Spark es una autora que me gusta y me interesa, pero en "Los encubridores" no encontré nada brillante, ni siquiera el humor.
Lord Lucan es un aristócrata inglés que en 1974 mató a la niñera de sus hijos y atacó a su esposa. Su fugó y nadie volvió a saber de él. Años más tarde, una psiquiatra llamada Hildegard recibe a 2 pacientes que se identifican como Lord Lucan ¿Quién está mintiendo?
Basándose en un hecho real, Spark ficcionalizó y moldeó los personajes para crear una historia donde hay un poco de intriga, porque después nos damos cuenta de que todos guardan secretos. Sin embargo, se revelan rápido y sin ningún efecto sorpresa. Hay un ir y venir de historias sobre otros aristócratas que cubren a Lucan, pero los personajes importantes son los que mencioné. Usan el ingenio para despistar, confundir y estafar, en un débil intento de sostener la trama. Los personajes parecen de cartón y hablan como si estuvieran previamente guionados (no sé cómo es posible, pero sentí eso).
Spark es una autora que tiende al humor y a la ironía, pero no sé qué quiso hacer acá. Es una lectura olvidable, insustancial y sólo rescato que está escrito decentemente. Espero que la próxima novela que lea de esta autora no me haga abandonarla.
Lord Lucan es un aristócrata inglés que en 1974 mató a la niñera de sus hijos y atacó a su esposa. Su fugó y nadie volvió a saber de él. Años más tarde, una psiquiatra llamada Hildegard recibe a 2 pacientes que se identifican como Lord Lucan ¿Quién está mintiendo?
Basándose en un hecho real, Spark ficcionalizó y moldeó los personajes para crear una historia donde hay un poco de intriga, porque después nos damos cuenta de que todos guardan secretos. Sin embargo, se revelan rápido y sin ningún efecto sorpresa. Hay un ir y venir de historias sobre otros aristócratas que cubren a Lucan, pero los personajes importantes son los que mencioné. Usan el ingenio para despistar, confundir y estafar, en un débil intento de sostener la trama. Los personajes parecen de cartón y hablan como si estuvieran previamente guionados (no sé cómo es posible, pero sentí eso).
Spark es una autora que tiende al humor y a la ironía, pero no sé qué quiso hacer acá. Es una lectura olvidable, insustancial y sólo rescato que está escrito decentemente. Espero que la próxima novela que lea de esta autora no me haga abandonarla.
harvio's review against another edition
1.0
- my lowest rating ever given to a book that I've finished
- repetitive, choppy, and difficult to read, this poorly-written fictional/surrealistic interpretation of a real-life story was a real exercise in frustration for me
- the real story, upon which this book was based, was so interesting that I kept hoping to learn more about it
- In 1974, the 7th Earl Of Lucan (a member of the British aristocracy) accidentally murdered his children's nanny in an abortive attempt to kill his wife. He then completely disappeared!
- I wouldn't mind ready a non-fiction account of this case.
- repetitive, choppy, and difficult to read, this poorly-written fictional/surrealistic interpretation of a real-life story was a real exercise in frustration for me
- the real story, upon which this book was based, was so interesting that I kept hoping to learn more about it
- In 1974, the 7th Earl Of Lucan (a member of the British aristocracy) accidentally murdered his children's nanny in an abortive attempt to kill his wife. He then completely disappeared!
- I wouldn't mind ready a non-fiction account of this case.
maccymacd's review against another edition
2.0
I picked this up on a whim, because I glimpsed the blurb about Lord Lucan and thought it could be cleverly written, but after finishing it I now feel that maybe my time with Muriel Spark is drawing to a close. I have already got 'A Far cry from Kensington' on my TBR list and I'm really not sure if I can put myself through another of her books. ' Memento Mori' was disappointing, and 'The Ballad of Peckham Rye' was dire.
'Aiding and Abetting' follows a psychiatrist named Hildegard who is treating two men - both say they are the missing Lord Lucan. Before long she realises that her own past is known to the men, a past she desperately wants to keep quiet, and that if she goes to the police with information about them, then they will expose her with great enjoyment. She then disappears.
The beginning part of the book is good, and I liked the concept of the story and the build-up, but then with all Spark's books that I have read, the plot disappears and there is just incoherent babbling going on page after page that I can't understand. I was more than once tempted to DNF the book, but forced myself to finish because I'm trying so hard to have faith in MS. I think it would take something great to make me pick up another of her books, she's just not for me (sorry!)
'Aiding and Abetting' follows a psychiatrist named Hildegard who is treating two men - both say they are the missing Lord Lucan. Before long she realises that her own past is known to the men, a past she desperately wants to keep quiet, and that if she goes to the police with information about them, then they will expose her with great enjoyment. She then disappears.
The beginning part of the book is good, and I liked the concept of the story and the build-up, but then with all Spark's books that I have read, the plot disappears and there is just incoherent babbling going on page after page that I can't understand. I was more than once tempted to DNF the book, but forced myself to finish because I'm trying so hard to have faith in MS. I think it would take something great to make me pick up another of her books, she's just not for me (sorry!)
psalmcat's review against another edition
3.0
A short, rather odd little book about what she thinks could be the story of Lord Lucan 25 years after his disappearance. (He murdered his children's nanny & then tried to kill his wife before he disappeared.) It's quite a strange story with no discernible ... connection to the world I know. Kind of lightweight, but easy to read cuz it's only 166 short pages.
jereco1962's review
4.0
A delightful comic novella. Using an actual murder case as her jumping-off point, Muriel Spark posits what might have happened to the 7th Earl of Lucan after his disappearance in 1974. While she sticks to the historical record for details pre-1974, from the point of his disappearance on, it's all outrageous conjecture, in which an artisan who refurbishes antiques teams up with a false stigmatic-turned-psychiatrist, a physician from Africa, an old friend of the murderer and the daughter of one of those who helped the murder escape to track him down 25 years later. But wait, is there one murderer or two? Charming and very funny, despite its sad origin story.
queerbillydeluxe's review
4.0
I never know what to say about Muriel Spark. I like her, but she is one odd duck.