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A review by wendoxford
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
4.0
I loved this argy bargy between an elderly well heeled group, their staff, their wills and their state of health and mortality. This is all nudged towards their various unravellings as a mystery caller rings "Remember you must die". It is dark humour incarnate.
Most of the characters have lived colourful lives and now in the 70s and 80s have differing views on their own state of health and that of their peers. It is as backbiting as any coming of age novel might be. It reinforces the fact that old age is not for the faint hearted. Spark does not shy away from what is distasteful or what the reader may see as such. There are wonderfully laugh out loud scenes in a geriatric ward where the women are all addressed as Granny plus their surname. Nobody complains!
The macabre is insidious yet playful throughout. If it suits a character to be sharp yet appear senile, they do because it works for them! How perfect is that? Muriel Spark and Dorothy Parker both catch the same spark for me. Different environments but similar perspectives
Most of the characters have lived colourful lives and now in the 70s and 80s have differing views on their own state of health and that of their peers. It is as backbiting as any coming of age novel might be. It reinforces the fact that old age is not for the faint hearted. Spark does not shy away from what is distasteful or what the reader may see as such. There are wonderfully laugh out loud scenes in a geriatric ward where the women are all addressed as Granny plus their surname. Nobody complains!
The macabre is insidious yet playful throughout. If it suits a character to be sharp yet appear senile, they do because it works for them! How perfect is that? Muriel Spark and Dorothy Parker both catch the same spark for me. Different environments but similar perspectives