- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; (Reissue) edition (22 Aug 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000654780X
- ISBN-13: 978-0006547808
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 666,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Brought together by their shared office life, faded Letty, small, wiry Norman, eccentric Marcia and devout Edwin, are an unlikely group of friends, but nevertheless find themselves drawn to discuss their different dreams and plans for the future. This book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Book Description
This is the story of four people in late middle-age - Edwin, Norman, Letty and Marcia - whose chief point of contact is that they work in the same office and they suffer the same problem - loneliness. Lovingly, poignantly, satirically and with much humour, Pym conducts us through their small lives and the facade they erect to defend themselves against the outside world. There is nevertheless an obstinate optimism in her characters, allowing them in their different ways to win through to a kind of hope. Barbara Pym’s sensitive wit and artistry are at their most sparkling in Quartet in Autumn. ‘An exquisite, even magnificent work of art’ Observer 'Barbara Pym has a sharp eye for the exact nuances of social behaviour' The Times 'The wit and style of a twentieth century Jane Austen' Harpers & Queen 'Barbara Pym’s unpretentious, subtle, accomplished novels are for me the finest examples of high comedy to have appeared in England during the past 75 years . . . spectacular’ Sunday Times ‘Very funny and keenly observant of the ridiculous as well as the pathetic in humanity’ Financial Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like the quartet of her novel, Barbara Pym during her writing career may have found herself swept away as if she had never been. She was one of the most underrated authors of the past 75 years, according to the Times Literary Supplement. It is ironic, then, that she created four such memorable characters, people in the autumn of their working lives who somehow survive the sensation of being phased out (of their jobs, their homes, their human ties) and provide us a glimpse of the heartening truth that even the most ordinary of lives hold infinite possibilities for change, all life, as the author points out being nothing so much as a great opportunity. Barbara Pym has given us a tale of solitude and a particular sort of intimacy which oscillates between understated tragedy and an irrepressible circumspect comedy. With a crisp pace not held back by unnecessary detail this book is a soothing antidote to all that is excessive in contemporary literature.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Don't be put off by the title of this novel: there is nothing heavy or depressing about it. "Quartet in Autumn" is about ordinary old people in the 1970s and has not a shred of romance in it; it defies ALL the conventions of fiction, Victorian or modern; still it is a fascinating, hilarious, profound book--the best of Pym's novels, without a doubt. This novel is totally original and I highly recommend it!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Letty, Marcia, Norman and Edwin all work together in an office dealing with unspecified paperwork. Marcia has had a major operation and she and Letty are about to retire, leaving Norman and Edwin working. The style of writing is subtle and understated and the characters mildly eccentric -Marcia keeps well washed empty milk bottles in her garden shed. All four will be changed irrevocably by the end of the book.
The story deals with issues we must all face at some point in our lives. Loneliness, independence, being used and using. The minor characters are well realised - Mrs Pope - who Letty lodges with; Father G the priest with whom Edwin is friends; Marjorie who would like Letty to live with her if there are no better alternatives; and Janice - the social worker - who visits Marcia with the best of intentions.
Four people growing old and dealing with life's slings and arrows in the only way they know how. Of the four Letty is perhaps the most likeable, striving as she does to keep the peace, realising by the end of the book that Marjorie is not the best friend she could have and finding the courage to make her own choices. All four will stay in your mind long after you have finished reading. I shall definitely be looking for more books by Barbara Pym. If you like Anita Brookner you will enjoy this - Barbara Pym has the same acute eye for all the facets of everyday life.
The story deals with issues we must all face at some point in our lives. Loneliness, independence, being used and using. The minor characters are well realised - Mrs Pope - who Letty lodges with; Father G the priest with whom Edwin is friends; Marjorie who would like Letty to live with her if there are no better alternatives; and Janice - the social worker - who visits Marcia with the best of intentions.
Four people growing old and dealing with life's slings and arrows in the only way they know how. Of the four Letty is perhaps the most likeable, striving as she does to keep the peace, realising by the end of the book that Marjorie is not the best friend she could have and finding the courage to make her own choices. All four will stay in your mind long after you have finished reading. I shall definitely be looking for more books by Barbara Pym. If you like Anita Brookner you will enjoy this - Barbara Pym has the same acute eye for all the facets of everyday life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An exquisite portrait
This is a wonderful novel, diving deep into the lives of four people on the verge of retirement. Pym has Jane Austen's ability to paint a richly detailed picture on a small canvas,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Pipistrel
"There was something to be said for tea and a comfortable chat about...
Filled with dry, ironic humor, Quartet in Autumn, first published in 1977, is a poignant depiction of the lives of four elderly people, who have worked together in London for... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mary Whipple
One of Barbara Pymm's best
Always fascinated by stuff which is published post- humously...........Great insights into post retirement life, with amusing observations
Published 24 months ago by J. Sagi
He very nearly visits Marcia, then doesn't
This is a singularly and puzzlingly dull book with hardly any events of note or anything much going on. Four people, two men, two women, work in an office together. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2009 by Eileen Shaw
A Perfect Miniature
While it's true that this final novel has little of the high comedy that made her earlier works popular its elegaic tone is note-perfect. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2009 by Livia
A delightful read
I am a great fan of Barbara Pym. She has the rare knack of creating an absorbing novel out of very ordinary characters doing ordinary things. Read more
Published on 20 April 2009 by F. M. M. Stott
Read the early novels first
Miss Pym published six delightful novels in the 50s and very early 60s before being cast aside by her publisher, Cape, as out of date in the swinging 60s. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2009 by S. B. Kelly
A lovely book
Beautifully observed, restrained and unsensational, a lovely book of life and change. A fine modern classic.
Published on 13 April 2008 by Jack
Quartet in Autumn
A bittersweet novel about growing older in an England which seems to have almost entirely vanished. Miss Pym's characters are often sad, sometimes eccentric, but always engaging. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2007 by Harriet BlueStocking
We've come a long way, baby.....
I chose this title because I wanted something gentle from another era. Although this book was published as recently as the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, (exactly thirty years... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2007 by Puskas
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