A review by sarahmatthews
Mary Swann by Carol Shields

funny mysterious slow-paced

Mary Swann by Carol Shields

Read as e-book, using a mix of Braille and text to speech

World Editions

Pub. 1987, 320pp

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It’s rare that I read much about a book before starting it but I loved Larry’s Party by this author which has a brilliant concept behind it and I guessed Mary Swann might have a similar approach, so to get the most out of the experience I figured I ought to go in with a few clues.

This is a satirical look at the literary academic world through the eyes of four characters who’re all preparing to attend a symposium on a (fictional) poet called Mary Swann.

The first part is told from the perspective of each participant; the academic Sarah Maloney, the biographer Morton Jimroy, the librarian Rose Hindmarch and the publisher Frederic Cruzzi. They’re all then brought together at the end for the big event.

There’s mystery surrounding Mary Swann that they’re fascinated by; why was she murdered by her husband, what’s special about her apparently ordinary poetry, and why are artefacts concerning her work disappearing? This is enough infomation to get going and without it I think I’d have given up fairly quickly as the pace is slow and the characters rather unlikeable, though, of course, that's part of the point.

What drew me in was the wonderfully witty and insightful writing, highlighting the absurdity of each character. They're all obsessed with Mary Swann; very much from the perspective of how her tragic life can benefit their own. There’s a great scene where Rose Hindmarch and Morton Jimroy go out to dinner and he’s making all kinds of intellectual insights into a poem and Rose can’t quite bring herself to put him straight on what it was likely to have really been about. For her part, Rose is so flattered to be invited to the symposium she’s unable to be totally honest about how little she really knew Mary Swann. And it’s amusing how she was so keen for the Mary Swann Memorial Rooms to be a success (and so underwhelmed by Mary’s real few lasting possessions she’s been offered), that she uses money given through grants for the project to buy second hand items:

“…she has considered, then rejected, the idea of placing a small card in the doorway advising visitors that the contents are similar to those found in Mary Swann’s rural home. But quite rightly she has decided that such a notice would be a distraction and that it might inject a hint of apology of insufficiency. (The charm of falsehood is not that it distorts reality, but that it creates reality afresh.)”

There’s a lot of self-deception going on here, looking at how literary reputations can be shaped by those who obsess over them, and commenting on how we often live our lives telling ourselves and others all kinds of half truths to justify our actions.

The last section, at the symposium, is written in the form of a film script which I enjoyed for it’s quirkiness and for the brilliant stage directions, e.g. “MUSIC: A skirling tune, strings mainly, with some bagpipes.” The scenes of the symposium are hilariously cringey as Shields pokes fun at the pettiness of academics trying to get one up on each other. So many egos!

At the very end of this edition there was a lovely surprise for me as a blind reader where the cover is described; the font used, the colours chosen and composition: “The letters form a rotating vortex; a play between form and counter-form, hovering at the border of recognisability and readability.”

All in all this was a compelling read with a dramatic and entertaining conclusion, and one that would make for a great reread in future.