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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Lord Slane is dead---what will become of his 88-year-old widow? The six children discuss this, and Lady Slane listens to all the plans and says, "I am going to live by myself."
She goes on to say, "...I have considered the eyes of the world for so long that I think it's time I had a holiday from them. If one is not to please oneself in old age, when is one to please oneself? There is so little time left!"
"I am going to become completely self-indulgent. I am going to wallow in old age."
And so Lady Slane rents a favorite house and makes new friends and reflects back upon her life and encourages her young granddaughter to make the choices she did not make, picking the choices of one's heart.
On old age: "The mind was as alert as ever, perhaps more alert, sharpened by the sense of imminent final interruption, spurred by the necessity of making the most of remaining time; only the body was a little shaky, not very certain of its reliability, not quite certain even of its sense of direction, afraid of stumbling over a step, of spilling a cup of tea, nervous, tremulous; aware that it must not be jostled or hurried, for fear of betraying its frail inadequacy."
A little more on old age: "Those days were gone when feeling burst its bounds and poured hot from the foundry, when the heart seemed likely to split with complex and contradictory desires; now there was nothing left but a landscape in monochrome, the features identical but the colours gone from them and nothing but a gesture left in place of speech."
She goes on to say, "...I have considered the eyes of the world for so long that I think it's time I had a holiday from them. If one is not to please oneself in old age, when is one to please oneself? There is so little time left!"
"I am going to become completely self-indulgent. I am going to wallow in old age."
And so Lady Slane rents a favorite house and makes new friends and reflects back upon her life and encourages her young granddaughter to make the choices she did not make, picking the choices of one's heart.
On old age: "The mind was as alert as ever, perhaps more alert, sharpened by the sense of imminent final interruption, spurred by the necessity of making the most of remaining time; only the body was a little shaky, not very certain of its reliability, not quite certain even of its sense of direction, afraid of stumbling over a step, of spilling a cup of tea, nervous, tremulous; aware that it must not be jostled or hurried, for fear of betraying its frail inadequacy."
A little more on old age: "Those days were gone when feeling burst its bounds and poured hot from the foundry, when the heart seemed likely to split with complex and contradictory desires; now there was nothing left but a landscape in monochrome, the features identical but the colours gone from them and nothing but a gesture left in place of speech."
Irresistible, defines a "good read" in the language, the characters and the triumph of one woman of a certain age over those who have her "best interest in mind."
This was an unusual book. I enjoyed the beginning and the end the most, when Lady Slane's appalling children were entertaining. The middle however was boring and unconvincing. I didn't believe in Lady Slane as a thwarted artist at all, and I didn't believe in her love for her husband either. She seemed incapable of any warm emotion at all. Then there was Mr Bucktrout, who seemed to have wandered in from a Dickens novel...
From BBC Radio 4 Extra - 15 Minute Drama:
Adaptation of the 1931 novel by Vita Sackville-West about an old widow who defies her children to embark on an independent life after her husband dies.
Adaptation of the 1931 novel by Vita Sackville-West about an old widow who defies her children to embark on an independent life after her husband dies.
I feel like this should have the subtitle 'Or, Why Having Children Is Actually The Worst'.
Something about this and its suddenly-headstrong-after-80-years protagonist appealed to me... it was also interesting to see such an old book expressing views on feminism from within its context.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"if one wanted beauty, one had only to rest one's eyes on her, so fine and old and lovely, like an ivory carving; flowing down like water into her chair, so slight and supple were her limbs, the firelight casting a flush of rose over her features and snowy hair. youth had no beauty like the beauty of an old face; the face of youth was an unwritten page. youth could never sit as still as that, in absolute repose, as though all haste, all movement, were over and done with, and nothing left but waiting and acquiescence."
all passion spent is a beautiful twilight of a book. review to come.
all passion spent is a beautiful twilight of a book. review to come.