A review by spootilious
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 

Read: January 10, 2025

Title: I Capture the Castle

Author: Dodie Smith

Genre:  Historical Fiction / Classics

Rating: 3/5

Review: 
Read this for a book club at our local library. 

I had to check out 3 different versions of it before finally getting the novel and not the playwright or another adaptation which was annoying but manageable. 

This book was problematic to say the least. There were a lot of things that didn’t sit well with me. Some of it was considered acceptable at the time, I’m sure, and is a testament to the problematic mind frame of the forties, but the superficial aspect of every woman in the story had me struggling to really care for any of them. It seemed like each of them were prudish regarding anything real that didn’t involve their beauty or nudeness, which was quite annoying.

The men weren’t too much better though in a different way. All of them seemed immature (both men and women), in one way or another, making the entirety of the novel feel like some sort of satirist joke. The characters were real enough but with such insanely childish ideas and morals that I couldn’t take much of it seriously.

That being said, it was written beautifully with such surrealism that it was engaging and a joy to read. The intentional satire of the novel was also well done in places. In addition, despite its problematic nature the store feels a bit ageless. This could be a modern story if some technology was inserted (texts instead of notes and letters, computers instead of paper, etc etc). 

Overall, I enjoyed the short and beautiful read even if I didn’t care much for the characters.

QUOTES:

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