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krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/09/20/review-1725-cluny-brown/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/09/20/review-1725-cluny-brown/
cimorene1558's review against another edition
5.0
Cluny Brown, a girl who 'doesn't know her place', according to her uncle the plumber and various others, goes into service in the country and finally finds her place, although not the one her relatives expected her to find.
magratajostiernos's review against another edition
3.0
3,5/5
Una lectura ligera y muy entretenida con un par de sorpresas, que no por verse venir, se disfrutan menos.
Es el típico libro inglés que dice más de lo que parece en un primer momento, pero sea como sea, representa un lugar feliz en el que estar durante unas horas, sin preocupaciones de ningún tipo.
Es cierto que quizás esperaba un poquito más, o puede que sea que ya he leído muchos libros similares, pero aún así, he disfrutado de la historia y especialmente de la inolvidable Cluny.
Recomendable para que el que busque un libro ingenioso y ligero con una protagonista muy especial.
Una lectura ligera y muy entretenida con un par de sorpresas, que no por verse venir, se disfrutan menos.
Es el típico libro inglés que dice más de lo que parece en un primer momento, pero sea como sea, representa un lugar feliz en el que estar durante unas horas, sin preocupaciones de ningún tipo.
Es cierto que quizás esperaba un poquito más, o puede que sea que ya he leído muchos libros similares, pero aún así, he disfrutado de la historia y especialmente de la inolvidable Cluny.
Recomendable para que el que busque un libro ingenioso y ligero con una protagonista muy especial.
sungmemoonstruck's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
There's a whole sub-genre of British comedies of manners by female writers that I really enjoy and although not all of the elements of this worked for me, I am pleased to find another writer to keep an eye out for. Sharp has a real eye for social rules and types and a way of delightfully skewering them, as well as a talent for vividly sketching characters in a few turns of phrase. Cluny is an endearingly naive heroine and I found myself exceedingly charmed by her. Where this one fell flat for me was the ending and Cluny's ultimate love interest--I don't think the book set up the endgame well enough for me to believe in their happiness, not to mention the fact that Belinski comes very close to sexually assaulting Betty Cream and I refuse to accept him as the hero of the piece as a result.
siria's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
3.5
In the late 1930s, the family of working-class Londoner Cluny Brown decide that she needs to learn to "know her place" and send her off to be trained as a domestic servant at the country pile of the Carmel baronets in Devon. Shenanigans ensue.
Much of Cluny Brown is the kind of light, witty comedy you find many women authors producing in interwar Britain, with our namesake character's naive honesty highlighting many of the absurdities and assumptions of the class system. Some of the characters act in ways that I didn't find entirely convincing—there's a bit of that Wodehousian tendency towards abrupt engagements and so on—but I could roll with it as part of the style of the period. Since Margery Sharp wrote this in the late 40s, however, there's a little bit of melancholy foreshadowing of the war to come which provides an acid that leavens some of the giddier elements.
Where the book worked less well for me was the ending.I can see why Cluny didn't end up with the chemist, because Sharp did her work to show how there was a fundamental incompatibility with their characters. But Cluny being paired off right at the end with Adam Belinski in what we're told is a true love match just didn't convince me at all, and felt dated in a way that many other parts of the book avoided. Yes, I can see that throughout, Sharp is positioning both of them as outsiders in many ways—but you need something beyond thematic similarity to make a couple convincing. Moreover, Belinski is shown throughout the novel to be a relentless womaniser who comes this close to sexually assaulting Betty. Despite what the epilogue says, I think that if Cluny Brown does have a happily-ever-after, it won't be with him.
Much of Cluny Brown is the kind of light, witty comedy you find many women authors producing in interwar Britain, with our namesake character's naive honesty highlighting many of the absurdities and assumptions of the class system. Some of the characters act in ways that I didn't find entirely convincing—there's a bit of that Wodehousian tendency towards abrupt engagements and so on—but I could roll with it as part of the style of the period. Since Margery Sharp wrote this in the late 40s, however, there's a little bit of melancholy foreshadowing of the war to come which provides an acid that leavens some of the giddier elements.
Where the book worked less well for me was the ending.
mg_libros's review against another edition
4.0
90/2022 Cluny Brown. Margery Sharp. Hoja de Lata. 280 páginas. Traducido por Raquel García Rojas
Cluny Brown es huérfana y vive con sus tíos, que la consideran una excéntrica porque un día se fue a tomar el té al Ritz. Y como no saben qué hacer con ella, la mandan a servir. Como si un cambio de aires fuese a hacer que dejase de ser excéntrica y de intentar hacer en todo momento lo que ella quiere.
Me ha gustado porque está llena de personajes interesantes, el hijo de la casa, su amigo el autor...pero sobre todo la propia Cluny, que es un gran personaje. Me lo he pasado muy bien y estoy muy a tope con Margery Sharp. Muy recomendable.
Cluny Brown es huérfana y vive con sus tíos, que la consideran una excéntrica porque un día se fue a tomar el té al Ritz. Y como no saben qué hacer con ella, la mandan a servir. Como si un cambio de aires fuese a hacer que dejase de ser excéntrica y de intentar hacer en todo momento lo que ella quiere.
Me ha gustado porque está llena de personajes interesantes, el hijo de la casa, su amigo el autor...pero sobre todo la propia Cluny, que es un gran personaje. Me lo he pasado muy bien y estoy muy a tope con Margery Sharp. Muy recomendable.
valdez's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I adore Cluny Brown, and all the characters in the book. Margery Sharp is a master of creating characters who are distinct and have their own voices and world views. I love her dialogue, I love her plot twists, which always come as a surprise but make perfect sense when you look back at the story. Sharp illustrates Cluny's working-class family in Paddington with the same expertise she applies to the residents of the baronet's country house where Cluny is sent to work as a Tall Parlor-Maid. Adam Belinski, the Polish man of letters who turns everyone's life upside down, is a wonderful creation and the perfect impetus for much of the plot. I can quote this novel in my head, I've read it so many times. I own it and will read it many more times, I am sure.
about_wind_and_willows's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0