Now reading...

[ejp626]

Coincidentally, I'm now shuttling between Lessing's Four-Gated City and Stannard's Spark biography. I respect Lessing and recognize her seriousness. On the other hand, her prose style is, shall we say, utilitarian, and she has hardly any sense of humor. Comparing her to Spark is like comparing boiled potatoes to potato chips. They both have their virtues I think; just don't think you can hold either to the other's standards.

There's nothing worse than someone insisting that they have a perfectly good sense of humor, but that X or Y just isn't all that funny. At the moment, I do seem to be reading works that are Important and Serious and have little lightness at all (to borrow from the Calvino essays), and that seems to be the rut I want to stick in for a while. So Lessing is a better fit to say nothing of Dostoevsky. The humor I can stomach at the moment is of the wry variety. Or black humor may be ok (there is some of that in The Man Who Cried I Am, which seems to be the book that I had hoped City of Light would be). I imagine this will pass, and I will be more open to books that have a bit more generosity of spirit about them... (At that point, I am considering reading some Montaigne...)

[jlhoots]

Wilentz / Marcus: The Rose & The Briar

[BillF]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Edited August 8, 2014 by BillF

[ejp626]

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

[Leeway]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

I don't know "The Man Who Cried I Am," but are the identifications supposed to be that schematic? These figures are often composites (for legal and literary reasons), although some, as you point out, are easy enough to guess.

[ejp626]

>>The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

I don't know "The Man Who Cried I Am," but are the identifications supposed to be that schematic? These figures are often composites (for legal and literary reasons), although some, as you point out, are easy enough to guess.

It was written in the mid to late 60s when the legal landscape was a bit different. I'm honestly not sure if it is supposed to be a pure roman a clef or if the characters are composites. I'd have to do more research to find this out, and I'm not up to it at the moment. But it's a pretty good read so far.

[BillF]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

Glad you're enjoying the Stannard biography. I certainly did. At first his tendency to write in metaphor irritated me, as did his numerous half-hidden literary quotes, but I soon settled into it. As for "even-handed", I found I had to read through his constant excusing of Spark to make my own judgments on her behavior. Let's admit it, she must have been a dreadful woman!

[Leeway]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

Glad you're enjoying the Stannard biography. I certainly did. At first his tendency to write in metaphor irritated me, as did his numerous half-hidden literary quotes, but I soon settled into it. As for "even-handed", I found I had to read through his constant excusing of Spark to make my own judgments on her behavior. Let's admit it, she must have been a dreadful woman!

Do you mean the "B" word? When I said "even-handed" I was thinking of the others besides Spark. I have more to go though (just finishing school days), so I might have to revise my evaluation.

[Matthew]

Run To The Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton, volume one 1939-1941. Rereading this, I have a deeper appreciation of the pre-monastic Merton, as he struggles with the implications of the coming war and trying to discover what to do with his life.

[BillF]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

Glad you're enjoying the Stannard biography. I certainly did. At first his tendency to write in metaphor irritated me, as did his numerous half-hidden literary quotes, but I soon settled into it. As for "even-handed", I found I had to read through his constant excusing of Spark to make my own judgments on her behavior. Let's admit it, she must have been a dreadful woman!

Do you mean the "B" word? When I said "even-handed" I was thinking of the others besides Spark. I have more to go though (just finishing school days), so I might have to revise my evaluation.

Jus' keep goin' ...

[Matthew]

Saint Genet: Actor and Martyr by John Paul Sartre. Finally reading this one, after hearing so much about the book. About half-way through, and it is a strange one, with a very real sense of hopelessness about it. That whole post-WWII era in Europe, or America, for that matter, strikes me as bleak.

[A Lark Ascending]

Grant - Jean Edward Smith. Comes across as a very decent man in this interpretation.

Good book - excellent on the war years. The post-war and presidential years were areas I knew little about. Possibly a little hagiographic. But I was certainly impressed by Grant's refusal to adopt airs and graces despite his exalted positions.

Susan Hill - The Woman in Black. Really enjoyed this short Gothic ghost story, clearly modelled on Collins and the like...until the end. The climax was so corny as to spoil the book as a whole which had a marvellous eerie atmosphere.

Empires of the Dead - David Crane. The story of how the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the enormous memorial deluge grew out of WWI. Wasn't aware how new this was, though thinking about it you don't see many memorials to the dead of previous British wars. Most tend to be regimental or dedicated to individual or small groups of the officer class.

[ejp626]

I wrapped up The Man Who Cried I Am. In the end, a very strange book. About halfway through it switches over to sort of a Forrest Gump approach -- Black writer with nationalist leanings gets to meet and mingle with elites in New York and Washington D.C. He even becomes a speech writer for Kennedy for a few months. The final quarter morphs into this paranoid mode somewhat reminiscent of Chester Himes' Plan B. I didn't think this mixing of styles worked well. I thought the first half of the book was the strongest.

I'm just getting started on Dostoevsky's The Demons. After that it will be (or should be) Von Rezzori's An Ermine in Czernopol.

[Matthew]

A Mysterious Something in the Light: The Life of Raymond Chandler by Tom Williams. While waiting for another Chandler bio to arrive, I reread this one, and it is a very good look into Raymond Chandler's life. A sad life of a man who was by turns, overly sensitive, overly standoffish, overly prideful, and overly drunk. It is a picture of a person looking for something that's lost in his life, and that "something" was never found. He had an amazing love for Cissy, his wife, who was eighteen years older. Once she died, he took an alcohol bath for his final years.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Matthew

[Leeway]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

Glad you're enjoying the Stannard biography. I certainly did. At first his tendency to write in metaphor irritated me, as did his numerous half-hidden literary quotes, but I soon settled into it. As for "even-handed", I found I had to read through his constant excusing of Spark to make my own judgments on her behavior. Let's admit it, she must have been a dreadful woman!

SO, just finished:

To start on a positive note, I found the book useful in sorting out the manifold details of Spark's life. Along the way, I took note of a number of authors and books I'd like to follow up on. The critical reactions to Spark's works, and Stannard's own summing up of the works, also were helpful. On a less positive note, although Stannard supposedly had a free hand in the writing, it appeared to me that he pulled his punches quite often. I also suspect that material involving Spark's husband and son were left out. The husband is hardly mentioned after he returns to England, and the son is typically (but not always) seen through Spark's extremely jaundiced perspective. Stannard's style surprisingly is not very good. One of his habits, leaving the conjunction out in his sentences, and relying on comma splices, really started to bother me. Occasionally, he slips into celebrity rag mode, like "Hollywood Star" or similar. I guess Spark's indulgence in "la dolce vita" encourages this style. I thought of the movie, "The Great Beauty," when I was reading about Spark's life in Rome.

Which brings us to Spark herself. I had Bill F's "dreadful woman" phrase in my head as I read. Did it amount to that? The words "betray," "dismiss," and "discard" appear many times throughout the book. Ved Mehta said she went through people like Kleenex. Someone bothered her: dismissed! No longer useful: discarded! Someone might betray? Betray them first! Old friend? Worst of all! (they tie you to the past). She shared a trait with her hero, John Henry Cardinal Newman towards other people: "cruelly dismissive." Agents, publishers, editors? Discard! Her husband: dismissed! Her son: discarded! Her mother? Dismissed! She was like a tinpot dictator who can only accept fawning admiration.

When she came into the money, she lived lavishly but, although Stannard avoids saying it, vulgarly. Racing all over Europe, England, and New York, she seemed more in flight from something than going anywhere. She was tight-fisted with her own family. She kept them at arm's length. Her treatment of her son, whom she abandoned at age 6, is reprehensible. Writing him into various novels as the bad son maybe even more reprehensible. She seems utterly devoid of family feeling. They would only hold her back. She was ruthlessly ambitious (discard! dismiss!).

What she did have was talent. Wrote over 20 interesting novels. I think they are still worth reading.

[BillF]

THE COMFORTERS - Muriel Spark - 1957.

Picked up an inexpensive copy of Spark's first novel while up in NYC for Vision Festival. A fairly long novel, tries to do a lot, including some meta-fictional novel-within-a-novel type stuff, doesn't quite all hang together, but is still amusing to read. It does contain the essentials of Spark's fiction: Catholicism, mental breakdown/instability, criminality, and the supernatural/supernormal.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time.

What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one).

I've read six and my favorite is Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so no surprises there.

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that?

I would agree with BillF that "The Prime of Jean Brodie" is her best work. Following, in my order of preference, are:

"The Girls of Slender Means"

"The Ballad of Peckham Rye"

"Memento Mori"

"A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988, but hearkens back to her early work; indeed, if one did not know the dates of publication, one would likely think it was among that first group of novels.

Just finished Far Cry - very readable and thanks for your recommendation, Leeway. I can distinguish it from the early Sparks, though. In those there's a density of nuanced language so typical of literary writing of that era, which I don't find in the much more recent Far Cry.

Interesting, good point. Glad you liked the book.

Speaking of Spark, has anyone looked into her collection of non-fiction The Informed Air? There was a relatively positive review in the Toronto Star over the weekend, though the few Amazon reviews have been fairly negative, saying that these are largely short, inconsequential pieces that don't merit the title of essay. I'd be curious to hear what Spark had to say about the Brontes (a whole section devoted to this), but it definitely sounds like something to check out of the library rather than purchase.

The Man Who Cried I Am is pretty good on the whole, but I am tired of trying to guess which character corresponds to which Black author. The introduction spells out who is Richard Wright and who is James Baldwin, but then doesn't say who is Ralph Ellison. I'm guessing Chester Himes is represented as well, but am not sure. Rudolph Fisher (The Conjure Man Dies) is probably too obscure (I really ought to reread this one of these days). I haven't run across any poets in the narrative yet, so it looks like Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were left out. Carl van Vechten makes an appearance, but I am not sure who his Jewish counterpart was supposed to be.

I haven't tried Spark's non-fiction, although being this far into the oeuvre, I guess I should. Not just the essays but also the book on Masefield (an author once highly esteemed and very collectible on the rare book market during his time, now largely forgotten), as well as her other miscellany writings. Not sure I have time for all that unless it proves unusually engrossing. Anyway, will add the essays to the list. Right now I'm reading the Stannard biography of Spark; very readable and seems even-handed.

Glad you're enjoying the Stannard biography. I certainly did. At first his tendency to write in metaphor irritated me, as did his numerous half-hidden literary quotes, but I soon settled into it. As for "even-handed", I found I had to read through his constant excusing of Spark to make my own judgments on her behavior. Let's admit it, she must have been a dreadful woman!

SO, just finished:

To start on a positive note, I found the book useful in sorting out the manifold details of Spark's life. Along the way, I took note of a number of authors and books I'd like to follow up on. The critical reactions to Spark's works, and Stannard's own summing up of the works, also were helpful. On a less positive note, although Stannard supposedly had a free hand in the writing, it appeared to me that he pulled his punches quite often. I also suspect that material involving Spark's husband and son were left out. The husband is hardly mentioned after he returns to England, and the son is typically (but not always) seen through Spark's extremely jaundiced perspective. Stannard's style surprisingly is not very good. One of his habits, leaving the conjunction out in his sentences, and relying on comma splices, really started to bother me. Occasionally, he slips into celebrity rag mode, like "Hollywood Star" or similar. I guess Spark's indulgence in "la dolce vita" encourages this style. I thought of the movie, "The Great Beauty," when I was reading about Spark's life in Rome.

Which brings us to Spark herself. I had Bill F's "dreadful woman" phrase in my head as I read. Did it amount to that? The words "betray," "dismiss," and "discard" appear many times throughout the book. Ved Mehta said she went through people like Kleenex. Someone bothered her: dismissed! No longer useful: discarded! Someone might betray? Betray them first! Old friend? Worst of all! (they tie you to the past). She shared a trait with her hero, John Henry Cardinal Newman towards other people: "cruelly dismissive." Agents, publishers, editors? Discard! Her husband: dismissed! Her son: discarded! Her mother? Dismissed! She was like a tinpot dictator who can only accept fawning admiration.

When she came into the money, she lived lavishly but, although Stannard avoids saying it, vulgarly. Racing all over Europe, England, and New York, she seemed more in flight from something than going anywhere. She was tight-fisted with her own family. She kept them at arm's length. Her treatment of her son, whom she abandoned at age 6, is reprehensible. Writing him into various novels as the bad son maybe even more reprehensible. She seems utterly devoid of family feeling. They would only hold her back. She was ruthlessly ambitious (discard! dismiss!).

What she did have was talent. Wrote over 20 interesting novels. I think they are still worth reading.

A fine write-up. Very much in agreement with you.

[paul secor]

Antonio Tabucchi: Pereira Declares

A small gem

[Leeway]

A fine write-up. Very much in agreement with you.

Thank you. I did want to add a few more notes. Regarding identity, Spark seemed to lose interest in the Jewish part of her identity after "The Mandelbaum Gate," and more especially after her conversion. I find that rather interesting. As for her conversion to Roman Catholicism, she seems never to have become more than a nominal Catholic. Her Catholicism appeared quite idiosyncratic; token conformance with basic rules and disagreement with many tenets of the modern Church. It certainly did not make her a more loving, faithful or charitable person (one can say the same for other famous converts like Waugh and Greene). However it did provide a vital intellectual and spiritual (maybe theological might be better) context in her fiction, an aspect which I had not really appreciated.

I find it interesting that Spark and Lessing share an African background. I believe Spark showed up in Africa about the time Lessing was leaving, but for both, Africa seemed to have been a formative experience. There is only the barest mention of Lessing in Stannard's book, but I think there was more to the relationship. I wish he had explored that. Similarly, Stannard does note that Spark had a friendship with Iris Murdoch. That really interests me, but Stannard doesn't provide much to go on. Stannard's biography of Evelyn Waugh appears to have been much better received; anyone read that? Spark has got me interested again in Waugh.

[BillF]

A fine write-up. Very much in agreement with you.

Thank you. I did want to add a few more notes. Regarding identity, Spark seemed to lose interest in the Jewish part of her identity after "The Mandelbaum Gate," and more especially after her conversion. I find that rather interesting. As for her conversion to Roman Catholicism, she seems never to have become more than a nominal Catholic. Her Catholicism appeared quite idiosyncratic; token conformance with basic rules and disagreement with many tenets of the modern Church. It certainly did not make her a more loving, faithful or charitable person (one can say the same for other famous converts like Waugh and Greene). However it did provide a vital intellectual and spiritual (maybe theological might be better) context in her fiction, an aspect which I had not really appreciated.

I find it interesting that Spark and Lessing share an African background. I believe Spark showed up in Africa about the time Lessing was leaving, but for both, Africa seemed to have been a formative experience. There is only the barest mention of Lessing in Stannard's book, but I think there was more to the relationship. I wish he had explored that. Similarly, Stannard does note that Spark had a friendship with Iris Murdoch. That really interests me, but Stannard doesn't provide much to go on. Stannard's biography of Evelyn Waugh appears to have been much better received; anyone read that? Spark has got me interested again in Waugh.

I have read nearly all of Waugh's novels, most of them many years ago, and number him among my very favorite writers. (Spark doesn't make that grade!) I've also read a biography of Waugh, but don't recall who wrote it. It was a single volume, so couldn't have been Stannard. Handful of Dust is my favorite Waugh novel.

[Leeway]

A fine write-up. Very much in agreement with you.

Thank you. I did want to add a few more notes. Regarding identity, Spark seemed to lose interest in the Jewish part of her identity after "The Mandelbaum Gate," and more especially after her conversion. I find that rather interesting. As for her conversion to Roman Catholicism, she seems never to have become more than a nominal Catholic. Her Catholicism appeared quite idiosyncratic; token conformance with basic rules and disagreement with many tenets of the modern Church. It certainly did not make her a more loving, faithful or charitable person (one can say the same for other famous converts like Waugh and Greene). However it did provide a vital intellectual and spiritual (maybe theological might be better) context in her fiction, an aspect which I had not really appreciated.

I find it interesting that Spark and Lessing share an African background. I believe Spark showed up in Africa about the time Lessing was leaving, but for both, Africa seemed to have been a formative experience. There is only the barest mention of Lessing in Stannard's book, but I think there was more to the relationship. I wish he had explored that. Similarly, Stannard does note that Spark had a friendship with Iris Murdoch. That really interests me, but Stannard doesn't provide much to go on. Stannard's biography of Evelyn Waugh appears to have been much better received; anyone read that? Spark has got me interested again in Waugh.

I have read nearly all of Waugh's novels, most of them many years ago, and number him among my very favorite writers. (Spark doesn't make that grade!) I've also read a biography of Waugh, but don't recall who wrote it. It was a single volume, so couldn't have been Stannard. Handful of Dust is my favorite Waugh novel.

I really like the early Waugh: Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Black Mischief, A Handful of Dust, Scoop. Just listing these now makes me think that some of these are fairly close to Spark in style and manner; they have that savage wit. I might reread The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold just to compare it to The Comforters. Waugh seemed to think there was a similarity. I was never a fan of the Brideshead books; rather humorless.

I might pull down a couple of Graham Greene novels too, see about connections. I have Norman Sherry's 3 volume bio of Greene (picked up at a library sale), which I hear is a hoot. Didn't Sherry come to detest Greene, or vice versa? Anyway, it stands intimidatingly on the shelf.

I found two more Spark books in my "book room" - Loitering with Intent and Aiding and Abetting. Plus there are a few Murdochs I haven't go to yet. So many books.........

[BillF]

A fine write-up. Very much in agreement with you.

Thank you. I did want to add a few more notes. Regarding identity, Spark seemed to lose interest in the Jewish part of her identity after "The Mandelbaum Gate," and more especially after her conversion. I find that rather interesting. As for her conversion to Roman Catholicism, she seems never to have become more than a nominal Catholic. Her Catholicism appeared quite idiosyncratic; token conformance with basic rules and disagreement with many tenets of the modern Church. It certainly did not make her a more loving, faithful or charitable person (one can say the same for other famous converts like Waugh and Greene). However it did provide a vital intellectual and spiritual (maybe theological might be better) context in her fiction, an aspect which I had not really appreciated.

I find it interesting that Spark and Lessing share an African background. I believe Spark showed up in Africa about the time Lessing was leaving, but for both, Africa seemed to have been a formative experience. There is only the barest mention of Lessing in Stannard's book, but I think there was more to the relationship. I wish he had explored that. Similarly, Stannard does note that Spark had a friendship with Iris Murdoch. That really interests me, but Stannard doesn't provide much to go on. Stannard's biography of Evelyn Waugh appears to have been much better received; anyone read that? Spark has got me interested again in Waugh.

I have read nearly all of Waugh's novels, most of them many years ago, and number him among my very favorite writers. (Spark doesn't make that grade!) I've also read a biography of Waugh, but don't recall who wrote it. It was a single volume, so couldn't have been Stannard. Handful of Dust is my favorite Waugh novel.

I really like the early Waugh: Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Black Mischief, A Handful of Dust, Scoop. Just listing these now makes me think that some of these are fairly close to Spark in style and manner; they have that savage wit. I might reread The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold just to compare it to The Comforters. Waugh seemed to think there was a similarity. I was never a fan of the Brideshead books; rather humorless.

Yes, those are my favorite Waughs. My only reservation is that nowadays we feel a bit uneasy about aspects of Black Mischief and, to a lesser extent, Scoop. Pinfold was readable, but not in the same class. Absolutely hate the romantic Brideshead, tellingly the most popular (television adaptations, etc), which is quite lacking in the closely worded, incisive satire of the early books. As to resemblances in Spark, the biography suggests she looked up to Waugh and Greene as the established and, I think undeniably superior, masters, but was very happy to receive their recommendations in her early days through the Catholic nexus.

[Joe]

Cesar Aira, THE LITERARY CONFERENCE... I believe most of Aira's novels are improvised in their own way; this one is not as sublime in its contingency as VARAMO, but still pretty darn fantastic.

John McPhee, ORANGES... a treasure.

Robert Fernandez, PINK REEF... the only comparison that makes even any provisional sense to me is William Blake; that is, Fernandez's very, very, very strange "lyrics" are visionary documents... I almost can't go any further without getting into semiotics, Lakoff and Johnson's METAPHORS WE LIVE BY, all things 21st Century and "neuro-"... like Blake's, Fernandez's poetry troubles.

[Head Man]

I have read nearly all of Waugh's novels, most of them many years ago, and number him among my very favorite writers. (Spark doesn't make that grade!) I've also read a biography of Waugh, but don't recall who wrote it. It was a single volume, so couldn't have been Stannard. Handful of Dust is my favorite Waugh novel.

Back in the day I too read all of his books ... not sure I would enjoy them as much now.

Anyway one book about him that is definitely worth reading is "The Letters of Evelyn Waugh" edited by Mark Amory. It shows him as funny (particulary in his letters to Nancy Mitford) witty and suprisingly kind when writing to his family. Used copies probably going cheap on Amazon......

Edited August 18, 2014 by Head Man

[johnblitweiler]

I have read nearly all of Waugh's novels, most of them many years ago, and number him among my very favorite writers. (Spark doesn't make that grade!) I've also read a biography of Waugh, but don't recall who wrote it. It was a single volume, so couldn't have been Stannard. Handful of Dust is my favorite Waugh novel.

Back in the day I too read all of his books ... not sure I would enjoy them as much now.

Anyway one book about him that is definitely worth reading is "The Letters of Evelyn War" edited by Mark Amory. It shows him as funny (particulary in his letters to Nancy Mitford) witty and suprisingly kind when writing to his family. Used copies probably going cheap on Amazon......

Be sure to read "The Loved One" even though it's later Waugh.

[ejp626]

Only about 100 pages into Dostoevsky's Demons but am enjoying it quite a bit. I was worried since I was so disappointed with The Idiot, and I wasn't sure if I had changed or this was just very uncharacteristic Dostoevsky (I think the latter). It kind of helps that I was really immersed in the world of Russian nihilists and anarchists when watching Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. What's particularly intriguing is that Dostoevsky knew this crowd but fell out with them fairly early on, and apparently had a difficult relationship with Turgenev, which was mostly a negative one. Turgenev shows up as a risible character in Demons, despite the fact that some of the plot points in the first 100 pages are lifted from Turgenev's A Month in the Country. At any rate, Turgenev and a bunch of the other Russian intellectuals show up in The Coast of Utopia, but not Dostoevsky. He's kind of conspicuously absent.

I've decided to somewhat reorient my reading list and to go ahead and read Berlin's Russian Thinkers and I guess Herzen's My Past and Thoughts (the 2 vol. abridged version). I think that will allow me to get this out of my system and most on to the Rezzori and some other literary topics.