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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
First published in 1960, The Catherine Wheel features all of Elizabeth Harrower’s literary trademarks: a young woman, a claustrophobic relationship, a brooding atmosphere and brilliant psychological insights.
Set in London during the 1950s, it’s a grim portrait of both the city and the troubled life of a 25-year-old Australian woman who arrives from Sydney to begin a law course by correspondence.
Clemency James moves into a boarding house and has a small circle of friends who keep her entertained. But when she meets Christian, a good-looking man with a much older wife, her quiet, stable and studious existence gets thrown into disarray.
Kind-hearted and somewhat passive, Clem cannot resist Christian’s charms even though she knows he’s trouble, for Christian, an out-of-work actor, has a gambling and alcohol problem. He’s vain, petty and narcissistic.
When Clem agrees to give him French lessons of an evening to sustain her meagre allowance she feeds into Christian’s fantasy of moving abroad and becoming successful. He wants Clem to come with him, and while she realises it’s an unlikely prospect — he’s married after all — she somehow succumbs to his ways and finds herself caught up in a claustrophobic relationship from which she cannot extricate herself.
Her friends, fearful for her welfare, find that whatever they say, Clem takes against them: she truly believes that for all her lover’s faults she’s the one who will be able to change him.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
Set in London during the 1950s, it’s a grim portrait of both the city and the troubled life of a 25-year-old Australian woman who arrives from Sydney to begin a law course by correspondence.
Clemency James moves into a boarding house and has a small circle of friends who keep her entertained. But when she meets Christian, a good-looking man with a much older wife, her quiet, stable and studious existence gets thrown into disarray.
Kind-hearted and somewhat passive, Clem cannot resist Christian’s charms even though she knows he’s trouble, for Christian, an out-of-work actor, has a gambling and alcohol problem. He’s vain, petty and narcissistic.
When Clem agrees to give him French lessons of an evening to sustain her meagre allowance she feeds into Christian’s fantasy of moving abroad and becoming successful. He wants Clem to come with him, and while she realises it’s an unlikely prospect — he’s married after all — she somehow succumbs to his ways and finds herself caught up in a claustrophobic relationship from which she cannot extricate herself.
Her friends, fearful for her welfare, find that whatever they say, Clem takes against them: she truly believes that for all her lover’s faults she’s the one who will be able to change him.
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
Maddening. I read half, then skimmed through to the end when I realised this just would not get any better. Watching this woman get sucked in by a con man was boring and infuriating. Two stars because she’s such a great writer. The last page is the best in the book.
‘I love The Watch Tower, but I love The Catherine Wheel more. Like all the Harrower books, with their psychological mysteries, their droll humour, their brilliant language and ear for voices, The Catherine Wheel takes your hand from the first page and beckons you in.’
Ramona Koval
‘A brilliant achievement.’
Washington Post on The Watch Tower
‘First published in 1966, this book has traces of Patrick White mixed with the darkness of the brothers Grimm. It is a great novel due a rediscovery in the way that Stoner was championed by John McGahern.’
Irish Times on The Watch Tower
‘A remarkable achievement.’
Australian Book Review on Down in the City
‘Rich and rewarding.’
Starred review, Kirkus
‘The Catherine Wheel is a great starting point for those new to Harrower’s work, those readers who are unafraid to face the darker aspects of desire we’re sometimes too ashamed to acknowledge.’
3am Magazine, Top Reads for 2015
Ramona Koval
‘A brilliant achievement.’
Washington Post on The Watch Tower
‘First published in 1966, this book has traces of Patrick White mixed with the darkness of the brothers Grimm. It is a great novel due a rediscovery in the way that Stoner was championed by John McGahern.’
Irish Times on The Watch Tower
‘A remarkable achievement.’
Australian Book Review on Down in the City
‘Rich and rewarding.’
Starred review, Kirkus
‘The Catherine Wheel is a great starting point for those new to Harrower’s work, those readers who are unafraid to face the darker aspects of desire we’re sometimes too ashamed to acknowledge.’
3am Magazine, Top Reads for 2015
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
I have not enjoyed this book one bit. After 90 pages I thought to myself that it would kick on.
Nope! It got more boring.
I got to the 250th page and had had enough. Page after page of boring twaddle that is so repetitive as to be the literary equivalent of Chinese Water torture.
But I soldiered on to the end. Why? I ask myself. I have 450 books sitting round my house and I kept reading this boring crap for some unknown reason. The same meaningless boring chat back and forth by the same boring people from beginning to end and I keep reading. Not one of the characters is of interest. The narrator boringly explains page after page not very much at all. Yeah she is head over heels in boring something or other with a failed actor who is is is…. I don’t know what, a dull boring mind screw? I don’t mind the challenging but this was not challenging. It is boring. The same repetitive stuff page after boringness page.
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
I have not enjoyed this book one bit. After 90 pages I thought to myself that it would kick on.
Nope! It got more boring.
I got to the 250th page and had had enough. Page after page of boring twaddle that is so repetitive as to be the literary equivalent of Chinese Water torture.
But I soldiered on to the end. Why? I ask myself. I have 450 books sitting round my house and I kept reading this boring crap for some unknown reason. The same meaningless boring chat back and forth by the same boring people from beginning to end and I keep reading. Not one of the characters is of interest. The narrator boringly explains page after page not very much at all. Yeah she is head over heels in boring something or other with a failed actor who is is is…. I don’t know what, a dull boring mind screw? I don’t mind the challenging but this was not challenging. It is boring. The same repetitive stuff page after boringness page.
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'll give Elizabeth Harrower another chance. I think she captured well the inner workings of a psyche gradually drawn down into a destructive obsession. What I did not like was the simplistic plot, which would have made this book a tedious read had it been lengthier.
Sums up the book nicely:
" As if love ever lasted! As if it could or should! Of course it might..."
While the style seemed, for the most part, pretty straightforward, there were some notable sections that I captured for future reference.
"And now the reasons for those tears were like a presence in the room, implacable, forcing me to know what I would not: that my tears were for a lost simplicity, for a failure I would lack the innocence to repeat. "
Sums up the book nicely:
" As if love ever lasted! As if it could or should! Of course it might..."
While the style seemed, for the most part, pretty straightforward, there were some notable sections that I captured for future reference.
"And now the reasons for those tears were like a presence in the room, implacable, forcing me to know what I would not: that my tears were for a lost simplicity, for a failure I would lack the innocence to repeat. "
"Who was I to divert a river single-handed?"
Yes...but that doesn't mean you should jump into that river either.
I didn't find The Catherine Wheel as good as [b:The Watch Tower|2497026|The Watch Tower|Elizabeth Harrower|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335598702s/2497026.jpg|2504346]. That doesn't make it a bad book, however. It's just rougher and less refined than her later classic. In The Watch Tower there's the balance of Clare to Laura's absolute submission to Felix, while here Clem trashes herself for...what, exactly? To get burnt and so know better next time? It's not an obvious case of romantic delusion, she's never quite ready to say she loves him and wants to possess him alone, but her pity for him is just as powerful and traps her just as effectively. (There's an excellent New Yorker article about Harrower's work that I read while reading this and it's spot on.)
Elizabeth Harrower nails down the kind of man that frankly, it's hazardous to be in the near area of, nevermind caught up with, again with a level of insight I haven't seen anywhere else. It's horrifyingly claustrophobic. I was glad to have finished it and left it behind.
Yes...but that doesn't mean you should jump into that river either.
I didn't find The Catherine Wheel as good as [b:The Watch Tower|2497026|The Watch Tower|Elizabeth Harrower|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335598702s/2497026.jpg|2504346]. That doesn't make it a bad book, however. It's just rougher and less refined than her later classic. In The Watch Tower there's the balance of Clare to Laura's absolute submission to Felix, while here Clem trashes herself for...what, exactly? To get burnt and so know better next time? It's not an obvious case of romantic delusion, she's never quite ready to say she loves him and wants to possess him alone, but her pity for him is just as powerful and traps her just as effectively. (There's an excellent New Yorker article about Harrower's work that I read while reading this and it's spot on.)
Elizabeth Harrower nails down the kind of man that frankly, it's hazardous to be in the near area of, nevermind caught up with, again with a level of insight I haven't seen anywhere else. It's horrifyingly claustrophobic. I was glad to have finished it and left it behind.