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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Couldn’t spend any more time with these characters or with Mitford’s narrator saying things like “Who could have guessed that Linda’s life would be so dramatic?” every few pages.
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Set during the interwar period with an ending in the early months of WWII, The Pursuit of Love is a bit of a bildungsroman. Fanny, the narrator, tells the story of her fanciful, emotional cousin Linda who grows from a young girl obsessed with sin, love, and saving the lives of animals to a beautiful, optimistic-to-a-fault woman. I had watched the show before reading the book (honestly a big mistake as I couldn’t separate the two while reading. they’re so similar that the scenes from the show just played out in my head while reading the words on the page), and I loved it. Looking back, what I appreciate about the show is it’s incorporation of more details about Fanny: how frustrated she gets with Linda’s selfishness, her family life with Alfred, the internal turmoil that exists when one lives in the shadow of the mythical beings of Linda and the Bolter. We get glimpses of Fanny in the book, but as we are told multiple times “this is Linda’s story,” not Fanny’s. She is the narrator that allows us a glimpse at the life of someone she loved more than anything: a life that was unconventional and filled with eccentricities. Linda is like Goldilocks as she tries out marriages, men, lifestyles, interests, locales, and children. All the while, stable, tweed-clad Fanny and a whole host of other family members and friends try to mentor her and tame her wild nature, but I think the appeal of a person like Linda is that they are so entirely themselves. They feel so much and are so present in each moment that it is hard to take fault with them. They’re childlike in a way. It must be said, though, that Linda is most likely the way she is because of her emotionally stunted and violently ill-tempered father. No one could grow up in a house like Alconleigh and leave unscathed.
Overall, this is a wonderful book with incredible writing. Everything is written in a sentimental but matter-of-fact tone that brings credibility to even the most insane of characters—Lord Merlin being my favorite, though Davey is a standout. It’s a commentary on the English aristocracy that I wish I had read sooner.
Overall, this is a wonderful book with incredible writing. Everything is written in a sentimental but matter-of-fact tone that brings credibility to even the most insane of characters—Lord Merlin being my favorite, though Davey is a standout. It’s a commentary on the English aristocracy that I wish I had read sooner.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
A comedy highlighting England’s aristocratic society sprinkled with the reality of war, family turmoil presented with in a dry, satirical manner that reminded me of reading Shakespeare in high school.
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Come libro è abbastanza lento, non mi ha convinto in pieno ma comunque non è male.
Si vedono i richiami alla vita e alla famiglia dell'autrice, forse la cosa che mi è piaciuta di più del romanzo.
Si vedono i richiami alla vita e alla famiglia dell'autrice, forse la cosa che mi è piaciuta di più del romanzo.