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Review
Undeniably charming . . . has an enormous nostalgic attractiveness (New Yorker )
Written with rare insight (Boston Globe )
A very lively and human story (New York Times Book Review )
Written with rare insight (Boston Globe )
A very lively and human story (New York Times Book Review )
Review
Undeniably charming ... has an enormous nostalgic attractiveness New Yorker Written with rare insight Boston Globe A very lively and human story New York Times Book Review
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this out of curiosity. I've read, at one time or another, all of MR's historical works (and lost the actual books in various moves, loans etc - I've just ordered 10 of them from here). I saw it mentioned somewhere or other, so I thought I'd have a punt.
The preceeding review has admirably summarised the plot so I won't repeat it. What I will say is that:
- I had very low expectations, but bought it (a) out of curiosity and (b) for the obvious reason that you can buy second-hand paperbacks here for next to nothing, so where is the risk, just chuck if nbg
- I thought it an excellent book, very well written. Written in 1944 but set in 1937, it is a wonderful evocation of certain classes, types and mileaux in 1930's England, something that MR lived through and which cannot be recreated by the most assiduous social historian, which is why little forgotten gems like this can be so wonderful
- it has an excellent afterwood by MR, written I think in the year she died (mine was a Virago reprint)
Its not a lost masterpiece but I thoroughly enjoyed it and have the feeling it will remain as one of those books that are part of my mental baggage. And its description of living on a river boat made me ache to do the same.
The preceeding review has admirably summarised the plot so I won't repeat it. What I will say is that:
- I had very low expectations, but bought it (a) out of curiosity and (b) for the obvious reason that you can buy second-hand paperbacks here for next to nothing, so where is the risk, just chuck if nbg
- I thought it an excellent book, very well written. Written in 1944 but set in 1937, it is a wonderful evocation of certain classes, types and mileaux in 1930's England, something that MR lived through and which cannot be recreated by the most assiduous social historian, which is why little forgotten gems like this can be so wonderful
- it has an excellent afterwood by MR, written I think in the year she died (mine was a Virago reprint)
Its not a lost masterpiece but I thoroughly enjoyed it and have the feeling it will remain as one of those books that are part of my mental baggage. And its description of living on a river boat made me ache to do the same.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An unusual book and a puzzling one...i'm not sure really what it's about or what the point of it was, but it was a pleasant read and it was written well. However, I found most of the characters not that likeable or sympathetic with their intermittently cold and flippant behaviour towards each other.
It's set in the 1930s and features a couple of lesbians (one of who writes westerns and is not actually a very committed lesbian) one very shallow and self-absorbed man and one confused young girl - the main character Elsie.
Elsie is a mousy timid little girl who is overwhelmed by her parents constant bickering and dislike of each other and runs away to join her sister who lives on a houseboat on the Thames. Elsie sort of grows up by the end of the novel and...I think... so does her sister. But it's unclear (or it was to me anyway) if the book is actually about Elsie growing up, lesbians, casual sex in the period it was written or just a meandering look at a group of quite dysfunctional people. By dysfunctional, I mean in the sense that they are unable to have intimate and honest relationships with each other, rather than because of their sexual identity or confusion about it.
I did like the book, but am hestiant about it because I'm left wondering if I just didn't get it. Or is that because it wasn't meant as anything too deep? Renault does say she wrote this as an antidote to the Well Of Lonliness, which apparantly (I haven't read it) is a very heavy and depressing book about lesbianism. So perhaps this was meant to be a light fun book about lesbians and different sexuality back when in the days when this whole topic was really taboo. (The Well of Loneliness was banned when it was first published and people could only buy illegal copies published in France.)
It's set in the 1930s and features a couple of lesbians (one of who writes westerns and is not actually a very committed lesbian) one very shallow and self-absorbed man and one confused young girl - the main character Elsie.
Elsie is a mousy timid little girl who is overwhelmed by her parents constant bickering and dislike of each other and runs away to join her sister who lives on a houseboat on the Thames. Elsie sort of grows up by the end of the novel and...I think... so does her sister. But it's unclear (or it was to me anyway) if the book is actually about Elsie growing up, lesbians, casual sex in the period it was written or just a meandering look at a group of quite dysfunctional people. By dysfunctional, I mean in the sense that they are unable to have intimate and honest relationships with each other, rather than because of their sexual identity or confusion about it.
I did like the book, but am hestiant about it because I'm left wondering if I just didn't get it. Or is that because it wasn't meant as anything too deep? Renault does say she wrote this as an antidote to the Well Of Lonliness, which apparantly (I haven't read it) is a very heavy and depressing book about lesbianism. So perhaps this was meant to be a light fun book about lesbians and different sexuality back when in the days when this whole topic was really taboo. (The Well of Loneliness was banned when it was first published and people could only buy illegal copies published in France.)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
15 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Not one of Renault's best
7 Aug 2005
Format:Paperback
This book is the most autobiographical that Mary wrote. I won't go into any explanation of this, but if you read one of the biographies about her life, you won't need my help to find the similarities.
A huge weakness I have discovered so far is excessive narration and explanation of each character's emotional state, a fault Mary generally avoids in later novels. I really didn't need a minute-by-minute update of Elsie's fears and anxieties. At first this was interesting, but rapidly becomes annoying and redundant, as the characters are ruled by pretty much the same thoughts throughout.
Mid-way through the book, I just gave up and quit. Elsie is a total bore, a silly timid girl scared of her own shadow. When I started skipping paragraphs describing her doings and thoughts, I realized the book had ceased to entertain or enlighten. Leo and Helen are more original, but Mary just doesn't give them enough play.
And for Chrissakes, let the characters speak, instead of modifying their every pronouncement with a description of their emotional state. Such as - "She said, without sincerity." Or, "She said, with trepidation."
You may want this book to see how a great author like Renault started out writing boners. Writing is damned difficult work, and the only way to get good is to just keep doing it over and over throughout the years. It is one skill that seems to improve with age, unlike everything else.
A huge weakness I have discovered so far is excessive narration and explanation of each character's emotional state, a fault Mary generally avoids in later novels. I really didn't need a minute-by-minute update of Elsie's fears and anxieties. At first this was interesting, but rapidly becomes annoying and redundant, as the characters are ruled by pretty much the same thoughts throughout.
Mid-way through the book, I just gave up and quit. Elsie is a total bore, a silly timid girl scared of her own shadow. When I started skipping paragraphs describing her doings and thoughts, I realized the book had ceased to entertain or enlighten. Leo and Helen are more original, but Mary just doesn't give them enough play.
And for Chrissakes, let the characters speak, instead of modifying their every pronouncement with a description of their emotional state. Such as - "She said, without sincerity." Or, "She said, with trepidation."
You may want this book to see how a great author like Renault started out writing boners. Writing is damned difficult work, and the only way to get good is to just keep doing it over and over throughout the years. It is one skill that seems to improve with age, unlike everything else.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Suprising Fun -- if you just go with it
6 April 2008
Format:Paperback
I read this book after being told Sarah Waters pilfered the charachters of Helen and Julia from "The Night Watch" from it. (To which I say, sort of, but with Waters, it's always more complex.)
The book starts slow. The first time I read it I skimmed the first 50 pages, covering a sweet, dull teen named Elsie. The book hits its stride when she runs away from home and to her sister Leo's home on the Thames. Leo's a 28 (?) year-old tomboy who writes cowboy novels under the pen name Tex O'Hara. Easygoing and cool, she whiles away her days with her girlfriend (take note, Night Watch readers - named Helen) on their little houseboat. The book is striking for its casual portrayal of the couple's lesbianism. It possesses a freedom and assurance that has not been doubled since. Nobody (thankfully) seems to give much of a damn about it - least of all the women themselves.
Renault throws in a twist with the sudden attraction between Leo and her male writing friend of many years, Joe. (She doesn't say it in the afterword but I suspect she did it to escape the censors banning her book like Radclyffe Hall's). But considering this book came out ONLY 15 YEARS after the soppish Well of Loneliness, it feels effervescent and postmodern. The ending is "silly," as Renault herself admitted, but this is still a cool, chill glass of the future. The afterword itself is worth the price of admission.
The book starts slow. The first time I read it I skimmed the first 50 pages, covering a sweet, dull teen named Elsie. The book hits its stride when she runs away from home and to her sister Leo's home on the Thames. Leo's a 28 (?) year-old tomboy who writes cowboy novels under the pen name Tex O'Hara. Easygoing and cool, she whiles away her days with her girlfriend (take note, Night Watch readers - named Helen) on their little houseboat. The book is striking for its casual portrayal of the couple's lesbianism. It possesses a freedom and assurance that has not been doubled since. Nobody (thankfully) seems to give much of a damn about it - least of all the women themselves.
Renault throws in a twist with the sudden attraction between Leo and her male writing friend of many years, Joe. (She doesn't say it in the afterword but I suspect she did it to escape the censors banning her book like Radclyffe Hall's). But considering this book came out ONLY 15 YEARS after the soppish Well of Loneliness, it feels effervescent and postmodern. The ending is "silly," as Renault herself admitted, but this is still a cool, chill glass of the future. The afterword itself is worth the price of admission.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Very Satisfying Read
3 Dec 2006
Format:Paperback
This book is a favorite of mine. Its charm comes from youthful energy and emotional excess. The autobiographical element may account for the vivid setting on the river and the behavior of some of the characters. They seem like real people whom the author cannot control. They may confuse or annoy her (and the reader), but they are alive.
And then there is the love story. The friendship of two very likeable people unexpectedly intensifies, overwhelming both them and the reader. Very satisfying.
Mary Renault surely polished her craft over a long successful career, but this youthful effort has a spirit and immediacy that has held up remarkably well and still gives me a great deal of pleasure.
And then there is the love story. The friendship of two very likeable people unexpectedly intensifies, overwhelming both them and the reader. Very satisfying.
Mary Renault surely polished her craft over a long successful career, but this youthful effort has a spirit and immediacy that has held up remarkably well and still gives me a great deal of pleasure.
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