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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
A very strong mid-20th century novel prose style combined with the unique and dying class divisions theme and a nicely placed narrator (who is the child of a couple of the characters, but for a while keeping it a mystery to the reader what exactly this child's status was).
Nancy Mitford said it was good, and I'm inclined to agree with her.
Nancy Mitford said it was good, and I'm inclined to agree with her.
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chose this book totally at random in a bookshop, along with Walter Benjamin's Berlin Childhood, which turned out to be an appropriate companion. Witty, charming, kind of sad, very slow-paced. Enough of a plot to keep things interesting, with great descriptions of interiors, landscapes, clothing, etc. Also notable for its exploration of class and religious identities just after German unification.
As other reviewers have noted, Bedford has a fine and precise command of language, and the entire novel is filled with wit.
Most of the other reviews also mention that Bedford's delivery is indirect to a fault, and readers have to work hard to determine what is happening in each scene, particularly in the long and unattributed dialogs. Here's what I found beyond that: with few exceptions, the characters lack depth; it is a large cast, and Bedford tends to stick with first names, so I found myself asking, "who is Caroline, again? Who is Jeanne?" There is also an abundance of French and German dialog. (Usually, I'd Google translate to get the gist, but I read mostly on an airplane.) For the same reason, I was at a bit of a loss as to the fin-de-siecle references and historical details of the German Empire. On top of all this, the edition I was reading had some glaring typos, particularly around the already confusing dialog passages. All that taken together meant that I gave up trying about halfway through and skimmed through to the end.
Most of the other reviews also mention that Bedford's delivery is indirect to a fault, and readers have to work hard to determine what is happening in each scene, particularly in the long and unattributed dialogs. Here's what I found beyond that: with few exceptions, the characters lack depth; it is a large cast, and Bedford tends to stick with first names, so I found myself asking, "who is Caroline, again? Who is Jeanne?" There is also an abundance of French and German dialog. (Usually, I'd Google translate to get the gist, but I read mostly on an airplane.) For the same reason, I was at a bit of a loss as to the fin-de-siecle references and historical details of the German Empire. On top of all this, the edition I was reading had some glaring typos, particularly around the already confusing dialog passages. All that taken together meant that I gave up trying about halfway through and skimmed through to the end.
Excellent. Highly rewarding if you enjoy works by authors who take the reader's ambition as a given. Full of eccentric aristocrats and slow-developing delicious scandals. Good reminder that nation-states are a new and unnatural construct in Europe. Brush up your French!