Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Servant (Valancourt 20th Century Classics) by Robin Maugham

1 review

henrygravesprince's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This is an interesting novella that seems to have The Talented Mr. Ripley-esque twinges of a class struggle at its core, but so much of it is told through smoke and mirrors to obscure 1940s political commentary through an also-1940s cultural lense, and so reading this and deciphering it for me felt very “through a glass darkly”. It almost leans into surrealism, but shies away from actually going into it, and it’s very ‘stream of consciousness’ in its literary aesthetic. I’m not sure if I’m just not tuned into the particular era on the literary analysis dial or if the book’s brevity made it more difficult to glean the meaning in its short runtime.
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