tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post114062827356473849..comments2024-03-29T11:20:37.238+00:00Comments on Grumpy Old Bookman: Muriel Spark: Aiding and AbettingMichael Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11338398159818400930noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1165646218406936202006-12-09T06:36:00.000+00:002006-12-09T06:36:00.000+00:00Sorry, all the characters are dead, in fact in Pur...Sorry, all the characters are dead, in fact in Purgatory (a hallucinatory version of Manhattan in the 70s - if you know anything about NYC then you would see how appropriate that is). Paul (the husband) is dead but doesn't know it, and the ghosts of his wife Elsa and their friends are trying to get him to accept his own death. I'm sorry if this annoyed you - Dame Muriel liked to do that to innocent readers. There are numerous clues to the situation throughout. I suppose we don't expect to have such a theme treated comically - I am paricularly fond of the scene where the silkworms burst out of the aged (ghostly) Baroness Poppy's bosom, a gloriously Surrealist image, and a clue. With Dame Muriel's books, you have to read them to the end to find out what the mystery is going to be, then to re-read to pick out all the clues. She was one of the originators of the post-modern novel (or choose your own favourite term) and hers are still the best examples of the genre that I know. But it's no crime not to like that sort of stuff!<BR/>I can strongly recommend Loitering With Intent or A Far Cry From Kensington, as more enjoyable examples of her books. There are lots of critical misreadings of her work lying around, too, so take care. But those 2 later titles are pretty straightforward as well as divinely clever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1150824149051411792006-06-20T18:22:00.000+01:002006-06-20T18:22:00.000+01:00Will somebody please tell me what the book"The Hot...Will somebody please tell me what the book"The Hothouse By The East River " is about..I could not understand the whole plot..so basically are they alive or dead.If they are dead then the whole book is a waste of time...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com