Scan barcode
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
A kind of novella that spends more time in your mind than on the page. Spark does it brilliantly by working under-the-hood. It is no spoiler that it is all about Lise executing her plan to kill herself. And so it is "it’s a whydunnit in q-sharp major and it has a message: never talk to the sort of girls that you wouldn’t leave lying about in your drawing-room for the servants to pick up." - the lines Lise used to describe the last book she read. But the why never gets answered clearly.
By the end, we get clear clues that she must have suffered some psychological problems. And mental illness can describe her problems and one can easily dismiss it at that, but from Shakespeare to Plath to Gogol to Grass to Han Kang, writers have long held habit of putting methods in madness. I will forward two theories, not mutually exclusive.
Suicides, especially those who have been planning to kill themselves for a long time, tend to be dramatic (think '13 reasons why'), knowing you are going to die soon, must mean that you want to leave some impact on the world. Is that why Lise works hard to leave a trail behind? Refuse to take unstainable dress so that her blood would show on her dress exciting 'pity and fear' (the last words of a novella)?
The second theory is that her eccentric actions arise out of a wish to avenge sexism she must have faced all her life. In the first chapter, there is the first reference to the 'glass ceiling' I have found in literature when Lise is described as having 'five girls under her and two men. Over her are two women and five men.'. The title itself points to a male-ruled world. She is a spinster, and her suddenly turning extremely girly - all point to a suppressed sexual instincts (at one point, she says it is the 'after the sex part' which bothers her.) This can be compared to the male character who tells her that a daily orgasm or two is necessary for digesting food. Lise seems to have decided to be in the driver's seat for a change. Throughout the novel, she seems to provoke men to believe to believe that they can expect favors from her only to deny them afterward. Again, she makes use of a man to kill herself too.
By the end, we get clear clues that she must have suffered some psychological problems. And mental illness can describe her problems and one can easily dismiss it at that, but from Shakespeare to Plath to Gogol to Grass to Han Kang, writers have long held habit of putting methods in madness. I will forward two theories, not mutually exclusive.
Suicides, especially those who have been planning to kill themselves for a long time, tend to be dramatic (think '13 reasons why'), knowing you are going to die soon, must mean that you want to leave some impact on the world. Is that why Lise works hard to leave a trail behind? Refuse to take unstainable dress so that her blood would show on her dress exciting 'pity and fear' (the last words of a novella)?
The second theory is that her eccentric actions arise out of a wish to avenge sexism she must have faced all her life. In the first chapter, there is the first reference to the 'glass ceiling' I have found in literature when Lise is described as having 'five girls under her and two men. Over her are two women and five men.'. The title itself points to a male-ruled world. She is a spinster, and her suddenly turning extremely girly - all point to a suppressed sexual instincts (at one point, she says it is the 'after the sex part' which bothers her.) This can be compared to the male character who tells her that a daily orgasm or two is necessary for digesting food. Lise seems to have decided to be in the driver's seat for a change. Throughout the novel, she seems to provoke men to believe to believe that they can expect favors from her only to deny them afterward. Again, she makes use of a man to kill herself too.
douchegordijn's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lavrendy's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t know a thing about this going in, aside from how clever Spark’s prose is and how much I liked the cover. Lise, the main character, is offbeat and surprising in ways that a lot of contemporary “weird girl” books aim for but don’t quite meet (for me.) Nothing about her character or the story was predictable.
It went by so quick that I’m not sure what the takeaway was lol but I had fun and was also pretty freaked out at its dark turn at the end. A nice and slightly confusing whirlwind read!
It went by so quick that I’m not sure what the takeaway was lol but I had fun and was also pretty freaked out at its dark turn at the end. A nice and slightly confusing whirlwind read!
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
It has taken me a couple of days to decide what I think of [b:The Driver's Seat|668282|The Driver's Seat (Penguin Modern Classics)|Muriel Spark|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176945891s/668282.jpg|2776383]. Ultimately, I prefer [b:The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie|517188|The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie |Muriel Spark|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307465236s/517188.jpg|6132856], the only other work by [a:Muriel Spark|13093|Muriel Spark|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1246041337p2/13093.jpg] I have read. [b:The Driver's Seat|668282|The Driver's Seat (Penguin Modern Classics)|Muriel Spark|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176945891s/668282.jpg|2776383] reminds me of the film that forms on one's teeth after eating or drinking too much sugar; vaguely unpleasant but otherwise unremarkable and easily removed. It is a methodically executed psychological thriller that initially left me unsettled, but that feeling has faded over time. It did not have any staying power; something that, to me, is the hallmark of an exceptional work. I do not regret the time I spent reading it, but I might if it were a longer work.
anakelly21's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars what the Hell was that. the dialogue in this novella reads like you’re playing Sims and choosing the weirdest adventure possible. will need to think about this for a bit.
hernameislalex's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
nichecase's review against another edition
5.0
short and harmful; a book where the details you don't know sneak up on you and make you vividly aware of how much you don't know.
wetherspoonsgf's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5