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marycel 's review for:
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
by Muriel Spark
This is a fascinating novella, because at the outset it seems like it's going to be a tragic tale of a teacher ahead of her time who's trying to break out of the mold and educate her young female students despite administrative pushback. Where it goes is way more interesting (and disturbing) than that. Is Miss Brodie a smart and forward-thinking educator who sees something special in her students, or is she a cunning manipulator who enjoys the fantasy that she's shaping them in her image? Is she complicated or repulsive? Is the story a cautionary tale or a farce? How things seem at the beginning and how they look in hindsight at the end are very different, though as one of the girls muses, is that because Miss Brodie's character changes over time, or only because we've gained more insight into who she really is? The fact that I can't wholly decide most of those things is what makes The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie so interesting and Muriel Spark such a great novelist.