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crazygoangirl 's review for:
An Academic Question
by Barbara Pym
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
It pains me to say this was a disappointing read, especially because Pym’s Excellent Women which I read years ago was a 5-star reading experience for me.
An Academic Question, written in 1971, lacks Pym’s assured, easy observational writing style. It lacks her usual witticisms and subtle irony. The characters seem superficial and are surprisingly shallow. Caroline Grimstone, Caro as she is referred to in the book is the central protagonist - a shallow, unhappy, weak-charactered sort of woman, who refuses to deal with her unsatisfactory life through a potent combination of sheer laziness and stubbornness! She allows her husband Alan to manipulate and use her and even forgives him adultery on the flimsiest excuse!
The other characters too felt under-developed. There was potential but it remained unexplored and unfulfilled. Crispin Maynard, Kitty & Coco, Dolly, Iris Horniblow, all promised much and delivered little. Evan Cranton & his wife Menna seemed most realistic to me but they had minuscule parts. Caro & Alan were an entirely unsympathetic couple. I did not wish them well. Also, the ‘academic question’ in and of itself was boring and inconsequential and although it made for an interesting title, (I read that Pym herself didn’t name her manuscript after completion), it had very little to do with the subject matter.
Ultimately, it felt like Pym’s heart was not in this book. She seems at sea with her setting and her characters, unsure of their behaviour and motivations. It’s almost like she’s trying hard, too hard, to be contemporary while unable to accept that times have changed! It left an unsettling, confused feeling in my mind and left me wanting to go back and re-read Excellent Women to return to and enjoy vintage Pym at the height of her craft!
Forgettable. Avoidable.
An Academic Question, written in 1971, lacks Pym’s assured, easy observational writing style. It lacks her usual witticisms and subtle irony. The characters seem superficial and are surprisingly shallow. Caroline Grimstone, Caro as she is referred to in the book is the central protagonist - a shallow, unhappy, weak-charactered sort of woman, who refuses to deal with her unsatisfactory life through a potent combination of sheer laziness and stubbornness! She allows her husband Alan to manipulate and use her and even forgives him adultery on the flimsiest excuse!
The other characters too felt under-developed. There was potential but it remained unexplored and unfulfilled. Crispin Maynard, Kitty & Coco, Dolly, Iris Horniblow, all promised much and delivered little. Evan Cranton & his wife Menna seemed most realistic to me but they had minuscule parts. Caro & Alan were an entirely unsympathetic couple. I did not wish them well. Also, the ‘academic question’ in and of itself was boring and inconsequential and although it made for an interesting title, (I read that Pym herself didn’t name her manuscript after completion), it had very little to do with the subject matter.
Ultimately, it felt like Pym’s heart was not in this book. She seems at sea with her setting and her characters, unsure of their behaviour and motivations. It’s almost like she’s trying hard, too hard, to be contemporary while unable to accept that times have changed! It left an unsettling, confused feeling in my mind and left me wanting to go back and re-read Excellent Women to return to and enjoy vintage Pym at the height of her craft!
Forgettable. Avoidable.