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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
reflective
"Once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten. And, in a way that bends time, so long as it is remembered, it will indicate the future. It is wiser, in every circumstance, to forget, to cultivate the art of forgetting. To remember is to face the enemy. The truth lies in remembering."
I piled through this as Brookner's writing is so readable. One of my 2024 reading goals is to read all the Brookner, Rhys, and Pym books I own. The holy trio of English women writers of Backlisted. They actually have a lot in common thematically and character wise. They all write so neatly too. They're also funny. Jean Rhys is probably the darkest wit, but Brookner's waspish eye provides some delightful lines.
"I am famous for my control, which has seen me through many crises. By a supreme irony, my control is so great that these crises remain unknown to the rest of the world, and so I am thought to be unfeeling. And of course I never speak of them. That would be intolerable. If I ever suffer loneliness it is because I have settled for the harsh destiny of dealing with these matters by myself."
This is the story of Frances Hinton - called Fanny and Little Orphan Fanny - by Alix. We'll come to Alix later. She's a librarian in a London medical research library and I was immediately thinking of Barbara Pym's 'Less Than Angels'. (Pym-Rhys-Brookner do seem to be connected. Indeed, I thought with some of the references about Alix that perhaps Brookner was pulling on Rhys as a character, but I think I read too far there.)
She lives alone, in her dead parents flat, except for an elderly housekeeper called Nancy. She has lived a life without making much impact on it. But she attracts the attention of Alix. Alix is a vampire of sorts. An emotional one. Feeding off of 'interesting' people and events. Abandoning those that she don't keep her fed with emotion and secrets. Alix is a monster really. Or I thought she was. And after Frances refuses to play her game and get herself attached to and involved with James Anstey, Frances is cut off. Maybe temporarily. Maybe permanently.
But Frances has used events - will use events - to write a novel. She's already a published short story writer and has perhaps out vampired Alix by making her and Nick and James characters in her book. Frances has taken what happened to her and turned it into literature.
Which makes you wonder if Brookner has done the same. Was there a real Alix? (Was it Jean Rhys? Sorry.) Did Brookner farm her life for plots and ideas and events? I'm sure there's a literary critic out there that can tell us.
This is the third Brookner book I've read. And although I enjoyed it I enjoyed it less than I did A Start in Life and Providence. Next up is Hotel Du Lac, which is (probably) her best known book.
I piled through this as Brookner's writing is so readable. One of my 2024 reading goals is to read all the Brookner, Rhys, and Pym books I own. The holy trio of English women writers of Backlisted. They actually have a lot in common thematically and character wise. They all write so neatly too. They're also funny. Jean Rhys is probably the darkest wit, but Brookner's waspish eye provides some delightful lines.
"I am famous for my control, which has seen me through many crises. By a supreme irony, my control is so great that these crises remain unknown to the rest of the world, and so I am thought to be unfeeling. And of course I never speak of them. That would be intolerable. If I ever suffer loneliness it is because I have settled for the harsh destiny of dealing with these matters by myself."
This is the story of Frances Hinton - called Fanny and Little Orphan Fanny - by Alix. We'll come to Alix later. She's a librarian in a London medical research library and I was immediately thinking of Barbara Pym's 'Less Than Angels'. (Pym-Rhys-Brookner do seem to be connected. Indeed, I thought with some of the references about Alix that perhaps Brookner was pulling on Rhys as a character, but I think I read too far there.)
She lives alone, in her dead parents flat, except for an elderly housekeeper called Nancy. She has lived a life without making much impact on it. But she attracts the attention of Alix. Alix is a vampire of sorts. An emotional one. Feeding off of 'interesting' people and events. Abandoning those that she don't keep her fed with emotion and secrets. Alix is a monster really. Or I thought she was. And after Frances refuses to play her game and get herself attached to and involved with James Anstey, Frances is cut off. Maybe temporarily. Maybe permanently.
But Frances has used events - will use events - to write a novel. She's already a published short story writer and has perhaps out vampired Alix by making her and Nick and James characters in her book. Frances has taken what happened to her and turned it into literature.
Which makes you wonder if Brookner has done the same. Was there a real Alix? (Was it Jean Rhys? Sorry.) Did Brookner farm her life for plots and ideas and events? I'm sure there's a literary critic out there that can tell us.
This is the third Brookner book I've read. And although I enjoyed it I enjoyed it less than I did A Start in Life and Providence. Next up is Hotel Du Lac, which is (probably) her best known book.
reflective
slow-paced
The worst thing that a man can do to a woman is to make her feel unimportant.
Anita Brookner is a master of analyzing human behaviour. She is brilliant in sketching characters and making them unforgettable. This is the second book I read by her in which the main character has an uncanny resemblance to me in her personality, mannerisms, frame of mind and temperament.
Once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten… It is wiser, in every circumstance, to forget, to cultivate the art of forgetting. To remember is to face the enemy. The truth lies in remembering.
She likes an ordered life. She has a sharp tongue but likes courtesy of manner and paying attention to the existence of other people. Frances is well behaved and observant. She is of a sacrificial disposition. She is discreet, reliable, reasonable and honest and has a sense of honour and she is well aware that these qualities have no value in matters of love and friendship. In a word, she is not interesting enough for someone to care to please her. Why would anyone exert themselves for someone who has so few demands?
I was not a powerful woman, able to bend others to my will, nor was I particularly malleable, and therefore able to bend to the will of others.
When Frances meets the married couple Nick and Alix, she falls in love with their restlessness, cruelty and selfishness; with their love of action, speed and gratification. They soon become an addiction- she craves their company because she is fed up with her own principled lonely life. She wants companionship; she wants to forget and let go of the past.
I was the beggar at their feast, reassuring them by my presence that they were richer than I was. Or indeed could ever hope to be.
But in reality, Alix is a narcissist and Nick, her enchanted sidekick and as is with all narcissists, they are incessantly in search of new devotees.
Will Frances be able to keep up with their whims and demands? Will she wake up and see Alix for what she really is- a self-absorbed egotist? A 'she who must be obeyed'?
It was then that I saw the business of writing for what it truly was and is to me. It is your penance for not being lucky. It is an attempt to reach others and to make them love you. It is your instinctive protest, when you find you have no voice at the world’s tribunals, and that no one will speak for you. I would give my entire output of words, past, present, and to come, in exchange for easier access to the world, for permission to state ‘I hurt’ or ‘I hate’ or ‘I want’. Or, indeed, ‘Look at me’. And I do not go back on this. For once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten. And writing is the enemy of forgetfulness, of thoughtlessness. For the writer there is no oblivion. Only endless memory.
Anita Brookner is a master of analyzing human behaviour. She is brilliant in sketching characters and making them unforgettable. This is the second book I read by her in which the main character has an uncanny resemblance to me in her personality, mannerisms, frame of mind and temperament.
Once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten… It is wiser, in every circumstance, to forget, to cultivate the art of forgetting. To remember is to face the enemy. The truth lies in remembering.
She likes an ordered life. She has a sharp tongue but likes courtesy of manner and paying attention to the existence of other people. Frances is well behaved and observant. She is of a sacrificial disposition. She is discreet, reliable, reasonable and honest and has a sense of honour and she is well aware that these qualities have no value in matters of love and friendship. In a word, she is not interesting enough for someone to care to please her. Why would anyone exert themselves for someone who has so few demands?
I was not a powerful woman, able to bend others to my will, nor was I particularly malleable, and therefore able to bend to the will of others.
When Frances meets the married couple Nick and Alix, she falls in love with their restlessness, cruelty and selfishness; with their love of action, speed and gratification. They soon become an addiction- she craves their company because she is fed up with her own principled lonely life. She wants companionship; she wants to forget and let go of the past.
I was the beggar at their feast, reassuring them by my presence that they were richer than I was. Or indeed could ever hope to be.
But in reality, Alix is a narcissist and Nick, her enchanted sidekick and as is with all narcissists, they are incessantly in search of new devotees.
Will Frances be able to keep up with their whims and demands? Will she wake up and see Alix for what she really is- a self-absorbed egotist? A 'she who must be obeyed'?
It was then that I saw the business of writing for what it truly was and is to me. It is your penance for not being lucky. It is an attempt to reach others and to make them love you. It is your instinctive protest, when you find you have no voice at the world’s tribunals, and that no one will speak for you. I would give my entire output of words, past, present, and to come, in exchange for easier access to the world, for permission to state ‘I hurt’ or ‘I hate’ or ‘I want’. Or, indeed, ‘Look at me’. And I do not go back on this. For once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten. And writing is the enemy of forgetfulness, of thoughtlessness. For the writer there is no oblivion. Only endless memory.
[1983] Picked this book up this morning, a lazy Sunday, a little over half way through, knowing I had the luxury of not having to put it down again until I'd finished it. Slow burn of a story. Deep dive into the characters. She tells a story where nothing happens better than just about anyone. The arc of the main character's storyline was like a single rolling wave, so smooth you don't even realize you're riding it until you've crested and come down the other side. I think you could open to a random page, read any paragraph on it, and appreciate the rich writing from just that small sample. So happy there are many more Anita Brookner's out there waiting for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sad 50s British spinster lit - if you like that, and I do!!!! - you will like this! A quick read, lovely writing, how easy it is to get trapped in a life of expectations.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No