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A review by andreablythe
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
4.0
While I was not fond of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, several people recommended I read another Murial Spark book and the most recommended was Memento Mori. For which I'm grateful, because I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The story revolves around a group of the elder, each of whom exists in various states of mental and physical health. I think young people (being anyone under 70, I suppose, including myself) can tend to forget that grandparents and elders have lives and dramas, mysteries and betrayals, friendships and affairs. Maybe this is because we are too wrapped up in our own dramas and assume that live gets quieter as one gets older. But this book is certainly a reminder that just because one gets old doesn't mean life gets simpler.
Throughout the book, too, is the interesting mystery of the caller, who rings up various people in the book (if they are over 70) and tells them, "Remember you must die." Eerie and yet poignant, because young or old, we all must die, and each character reacts to this reminder quite differently. As the book went on, I think I was more fond those who were calm about this message than those who attempted to rail against it.
This book looked a quite a lot of fascinating themes and Spark's sparse, abrupt style worked well. While I didn't necessarily love any of the characters, I liked them in general and found them interesting. Overall a quick and enjoyable read, which leaves me wanting to pick up more of Spark's work.
Footnote: After finishing this book, I can't help but think again about how format impacts the reading of a book (at least for me). For example, Miss Jean Brodie was an audio book and Memento Mori was in hardback. It may be that Spark's style works better on the page than when read. I don't know, but I run into this from time to time, and now I'm wondering if I might not have enjoyed Miss Jean Brodie if I had read it in print.
The story revolves around a group of the elder, each of whom exists in various states of mental and physical health. I think young people (being anyone under 70, I suppose, including myself) can tend to forget that grandparents and elders have lives and dramas, mysteries and betrayals, friendships and affairs. Maybe this is because we are too wrapped up in our own dramas and assume that live gets quieter as one gets older. But this book is certainly a reminder that just because one gets old doesn't mean life gets simpler.
Throughout the book, too, is the interesting mystery of the caller, who rings up various people in the book (if they are over 70) and tells them, "Remember you must die." Eerie and yet poignant, because young or old, we all must die, and each character reacts to this reminder quite differently. As the book went on, I think I was more fond those who were calm about this message than those who attempted to rail against it.
This book looked a quite a lot of fascinating themes and Spark's sparse, abrupt style worked well. While I didn't necessarily love any of the characters, I liked them in general and found them interesting. Overall a quick and enjoyable read, which leaves me wanting to pick up more of Spark's work.
Footnote: After finishing this book, I can't help but think again about how format impacts the reading of a book (at least for me). For example, Miss Jean Brodie was an audio book and Memento Mori was in hardback. It may be that Spark's style works better on the page than when read. I don't know, but I run into this from time to time, and now I'm wondering if I might not have enjoyed Miss Jean Brodie if I had read it in print.