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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Tartly perverse and entertaining -- like a combination of Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Jackson.
Bit of a curiosity, well written, as is everything by Muriel Spark... I have to admit I am still not quite sure what to make of all this. Interesting, and lingering with me, yet I feel like this is my least favourite of her books I've read so far - I ought to put that into perspective though, as she is one of the best writers I've ever read, so I'm certainly not suggesting that I think this book isn't good!
This is about the elderly, aging, senility, will writing and the whole people-just-viewing-old-people-as-pending-cash-bags thing, gold digging, black mail, care of the elderly (albeit in the 50s) and an odd mystery of a strange telephone caller who anonymously rings up the characters to politely remind them that they must die. Who was this? Did I miss something obvious, because I don't think we ever found out. So we follow this old circle of friends and the escapades and confussions that go on as one dies and the benefactor of the will changes as new things come to light; others are either blackmailed into changing their wills, or try to persuade others into certain behaviours by changing their wills... and nobody really wants to think about the fact that the end is nigh.
I am a little frustrated though as I feel like I've missed something in this oddball tale.
This is about the elderly, aging, senility, will writing and the whole people-just-viewing-old-people-as-pending-cash-bags thing, gold digging, black mail, care of the elderly (albeit in the 50s) and an odd mystery of a strange telephone caller who anonymously rings up the characters to politely remind them that they must die. Who was this? Did I miss something obvious, because I don't think we ever found out. So we follow this old circle of friends and the escapades and confussions that go on as one dies and the benefactor of the will changes as new things come to light; others are either blackmailed into changing their wills, or try to persuade others into certain behaviours by changing their wills... and nobody really wants to think about the fact that the end is nigh.
I am a little frustrated though as I feel like I've missed something in this oddball tale.
A mid-Twentieth Century British novel of manners with a twist: an anonymous caller who enjoins elderly people to "Remember you must die." Enjoyable, but overall not my cup of high tea.
What a wonderfully strange and immensely enjoyable little book!
Such a quirky book. Darkly funny, filled with amusing old characters.
Spark is one of those authors I kept meaning to read, although I had not previously heard anything in particular about this book. Set in late 1950s London, a mysterious caller keeps phoning a group of elderly characters and saying only, "Remember you must die." Most are unsettled by this, especially as they are in the continual process of redoing their wills, tidying up their affairs, and trying to keep the sins of the past safely locked in the closet (which is the first place their ever-so-slightly younger housekeepers go in order to blackmail them). Her subtle, effective humor combined with such a peculiar cast of characters has me wanting to read more work by Spark (feel free to make recommendations in the comments, please).
Typical Muriel Spark: some great witticisms, tight writing, amusing dialogues and very little plot.
Witty, wry and thoroughly enjoyable. Muriel Spark is wonderful.
this is as wacky as the day is long. a painfully slow and mostly uninteresting old fashioned whodunit...sorta. i don't even know. sheesh.