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secretbookcase 's review for:
Memento Mori
by Muriel Spark
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
A wonderfully acerbic account of a group of elderly people who receive repeated phone calls from a stranger stating: “remember you must die”. The book is less about uncovering who this mysterious caller is and more about the diverse ways in which each person reacts to these calls and to their own mortality. Spark’s writing is sharp and witty in exposing the foibles, nastiness and self-absorbed nature of many of the characters. Although they are mostly unpleasant and unkind people, the book nevertheless retains a lightness as Spark sketches out with humour how vivacious these elders remain in their efforts to live and to ‘hold one over the other’ right up until the end of their lives. A hugely entertaining and masterfully crafted book.