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A review by edders
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
3.0
My opinion whilst reading, as well as the opinions of others upon this book's publication many years ago, are all divided. This most topical, charged and incitory novel deliberately tries to stoke the emotions of its audience.
Our protagonist - Dr Manson - swings wildly between the virtuous and the seedy, between ethical striving and greedy complaisance. If this novel had fewer swings in its plot - if it was less 'sentimental' or clearly romanced - it would be a subtler and for me more impressive work.
Cronin manages to flesh out his characters effortlessly. With the novel's perfect amount of dialogue, character and plot, we know deep down what each of his characters is like. Unfortunately none of his characters leave us with any ambiguity whatsoever, and clearly fall either side of a line dividing them good from bad.
What is slightly more elegant is the management of Dr Manson's energy. It is easy to feel his vitality and enjoyment of a spare, hard life at the start of the novel; and it is just as easy to sense his tired, slowing metabolism in his London practice. The gradual fatigue, the sense of toiling through life, of wasted effort, is probably what I like the most out of this novel. It is more elegant than his romantic plot, and I think it will be more lasting with me.
Cronin fully endorses and exploits some cliches: the wasting, ethereal, elegant nature of those with 'consumption'; the patient relative who, after disaster, still believes in a doctor who questions themselves; and the loving wife who sacrifices herself. Ultimately it is Manson's wife that is the most frustrating for me, not in her nature - and with the time it was written not the way she is only an accessory to her husband - but in the plotting of her arc with her husband. Redemption and tragedy are central to the plot, but I think they cheapen it. This book may have all the more critical success because of this dramatic romance plot but they are ten a penny. Compare the arc here with that in, say, Chinatown? I know which one I will revisit.
That said, I found the opening thrilling. The energy, the liberal idealism, the honest nature of it, is heartwarming despite my bitter, ironic heart's best attempts to remain cold.
I might recommend this, but I suspect it a trifle sappy. It would have been a far more satisfying narrative if it was ultimately a tragedy. This ending seems to make things, if not better, at least alright.
Our protagonist - Dr Manson - swings wildly between the virtuous and the seedy, between ethical striving and greedy complaisance. If this novel had fewer swings in its plot - if it was less 'sentimental' or clearly romanced - it would be a subtler and for me more impressive work.
Cronin manages to flesh out his characters effortlessly. With the novel's perfect amount of dialogue, character and plot, we know deep down what each of his characters is like. Unfortunately none of his characters leave us with any ambiguity whatsoever, and clearly fall either side of a line dividing them good from bad.
What is slightly more elegant is the management of Dr Manson's energy. It is easy to feel his vitality and enjoyment of a spare, hard life at the start of the novel; and it is just as easy to sense his tired, slowing metabolism in his London practice. The gradual fatigue, the sense of toiling through life, of wasted effort, is probably what I like the most out of this novel. It is more elegant than his romantic plot, and I think it will be more lasting with me.
Cronin fully endorses and exploits some cliches: the wasting, ethereal, elegant nature of those with 'consumption'; the patient relative who, after disaster, still believes in a doctor who questions themselves; and the loving wife who sacrifices herself. Ultimately it is Manson's wife that is the most frustrating for me, not in her nature - and with the time it was written not the way she is only an accessory to her husband - but in the plotting of her arc with her husband. Redemption and tragedy are central to the plot, but I think they cheapen it. This book may have all the more critical success because of this dramatic romance plot but they are ten a penny. Compare the arc here with that in, say, Chinatown? I know which one I will revisit.
That said, I found the opening thrilling. The energy, the liberal idealism, the honest nature of it, is heartwarming despite my bitter, ironic heart's best attempts to remain cold.
I might recommend this, but I suspect it a trifle sappy. It would have been a far more satisfying narrative if it was ultimately a tragedy. This ending seems to make things, if not better, at least alright.