Scan barcode
A review by kynan
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
5.0
TL;DR: This is a booklover's dream! An utterly delightful novella with the original self-saving-princess (I'm taking some literary license here) starring in a rom-com-thriller with a literary twist. I'll happily read this again whenever I require a tonic to a dour reality!
TL: This isn't a long book, actually, it's not a book. It's a novella (~36,000 words, toward the upper-end of the 17.5 to 40K boundaries) but it really packs a lot into a little space! The story is a wryly humorous first-person reminiscence of an American farm-wife's adventure. The lady in question is Helen McGill, ex-New York governess turned domestic-engineer in order to support her brother on his farm, where he'd had to "retire" to from the city for health reasons. She's an amazingly frank and likable character, from the get go. The story opens with:
I loved "logarithms and other kinds of poetry", a simple sentence that belies a more educated woman than appearances suggest, and the whole hiccups thing is fantastic too! It succinctly delivers a mental image of the lady and the author maintains this sparse but effective manner throughout. The story is a strange mix of romance, comedy and (a little bit) thriller with a side serving of "appreciation of education and the finer things in life". Helen's brother, Andrew, after a lifetime of literary appreciation and his relegation to a farmer's life discovers that pastoral duties have awoken a desire to write and, not only does he write, the publishing offers evidence that he has an aptitude for it too. Thus begins the disruption of Ms McGill's life and the story explains how she deals with it (masterfully).
One thing that I found quite interesting is that the book was originally published in America in 1917, 3 years before the hard-fought battle to get women the vote in the USA. Using that as a proxy for general "belief in women's abilities", this book seems remarkably ahead of it's time in having a woman, a self-stated average woman, as the supremely-capable narrator! It's not something that's promoted, it just...is, and Helen's eye for domestic detail adds colour and a feeling of genuineness to the narrative.
The whole thing is riddled with quotable quotes, two in particular stuck with me:
and
It's just so damn wholesome, it's like a freshly baked loaf of bread, the desire to keep on eating, err reading, doesn't relent until you run out of pages, and I honestly think this is one of the books that will enter my "comfort reading" shelf, along with [b:My Family and Other Animals|48132|My Family and Other Animals (Corfu Trilogy, #1)|Gerald Durrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327885239l/48132._SY75_.jpg|76682]; it has that same air of personable innocence and discovery. I think, for the first time, I've stumbled upon a book that I wish I'd been able to introduce to my father. I think he'd have loved this.
I've rated it 5-stars because there are very few books that I'll happily re-read, and this is now one of them. I also loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the humour, I loved the vaguely thriller bits, I loved Helen McGill and her no-nonsense attitude and, in short, I loved it
TL: This isn't a long book, actually, it's not a book. It's a novella (~36,000 words, toward the upper-end of the 17.5 to 40K boundaries) but it really packs a lot into a little space! The story is a wryly humorous first-person reminiscence of an American farm-wife's adventure. The lady in question is Helen McGill, ex-New York governess turned domestic-engineer in order to support her brother on his farm, where he'd had to "retire" to from the city for health reasons. She's an amazingly frank and likable character, from the get go. The story opens with:
I wonder if there isn't a lot of bunkum in higher education? I never found that people who were learned in logarithms and other kinds of poetry were any quicker in washing dishes or darning socks. I've done a good deal of reading when I could, and I don't want to "admit impediments" to the love of books, but I've also seen lots of good, practical folk spoiled by too much fine print. Reading sonnets always gives me hiccups, too.
I loved "logarithms and other kinds of poetry", a simple sentence that belies a more educated woman than appearances suggest, and the whole hiccups thing is fantastic too! It succinctly delivers a mental image of the lady and the author maintains this sparse but effective manner throughout. The story is a strange mix of romance, comedy and (a little bit) thriller with a side serving of "appreciation of education and the finer things in life". Helen's brother, Andrew, after a lifetime of literary appreciation and his relegation to a farmer's life discovers that pastoral duties have awoken a desire to write and, not only does he write, the publishing offers evidence that he has an aptitude for it too. Thus begins the disruption of Ms McGill's life and the story explains how she deals with it (masterfully).
One thing that I found quite interesting is that the book was originally published in America in 1917, 3 years before the hard-fought battle to get women the vote in the USA. Using that as a proxy for general "belief in women's abilities", this book seems remarkably ahead of it's time in having a woman, a self-stated average woman, as the supremely-capable narrator! It's not something that's promoted, it just...is, and Helen's eye for domestic detail adds colour and a feeling of genuineness to the narrative.
The whole thing is riddled with quotable quotes, two in particular stuck with me:
I think reading a good book makes one modest. When you see the marvellous insight into human nature which a truly great book shows, it is bound to make you feel small—like looking at the Dipper on a clear night, or seeing the winter sunrise when you go out to collect the morning eggs. And anything that makes you feel small is mighty good for you.
and
When you sell a man a book you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night—there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean. Jiminy! If I were the baker or the butcher or the broom huckster, people would run to the gate when I came by—just waiting for my stuff. And here I go loaded with everlasting salvation—yes, ma'am, salvation for their little, stunted minds—and it's hard to make 'em see it. That's what makes it worth while—I'm doing something that nobody else from Nazareth, Maine, to Walla Walla, Washington, has ever thought of. It's a new field, but by the bones of Whitman it's worth while. That's what this country needs—more books!"
It's just so damn wholesome, it's like a freshly baked loaf of bread, the desire to keep on eating, err reading, doesn't relent until you run out of pages, and I honestly think this is one of the books that will enter my "comfort reading" shelf, along with [b:My Family and Other Animals|48132|My Family and Other Animals (Corfu Trilogy, #1)|Gerald Durrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327885239l/48132._SY75_.jpg|76682]; it has that same air of personable innocence and discovery. I think, for the first time, I've stumbled upon a book that I wish I'd been able to introduce to my father. I think he'd have loved this.
I've rated it 5-stars because there are very few books that I'll happily re-read, and this is now one of them. I also loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the humour, I loved the vaguely thriller bits, I loved Helen McGill and her no-nonsense attitude and, in short, I loved it