The two books for September had
similarities, but could not be more different. Similarities between
the two books have been noticed before, such as the case where both
books involved twins. In this case, both books were set in the
immediate post-war period, but one was in the English and French
upper classes, and the other in rural Ireland.
Both the men in the RG gave up on Love
and Summer by William Trevor. It was beautifully written, but when he
takes the best part of a page to describe the act of putting the
kettle on for tea, that is a bit slow. Perhaps in this modern age we
are used to action,action,action, and can't wait for the next thing.
(not stated very well). The book was written in 2009! It was
described as a clichéd situation that kept you going to see if
something would develop, but nothing did. There were no surprises. A
few people commented that it had a depressing ending. It was noted
that Trevor describes the 1950's (Ireland) as no one else can.
It was even noted that one person that
had read it before couldn't remember it, it had not been memorable.
The story was about the awakening of
love for Ellie, the orphan girl brought up in a convent, who had
started as a servant for the farmer Dillahan,and ended up being
married to him as a matter of convenience. To the photographer
Florian she was just a summers dalliance, but to Ellie he was the
spark of a real life. Miss Connulty was a side issue.
On marks this came out as 4.5, but was
biassed upwards by not taking into account the two who couldn't see
the point in continuing with it, which is a valid literary criticism.
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Contrast this with The Blessing by
Nancy Mitford, that was written in about 1950, and well received. It
could classify as a classic on that basis.
The complicated courtship and marriage
of Grace and Charles-Edouard could be taken to be
semi-autobiographical as the author married a Frenchman and lived in
Paris too. She too was an uneducated country girl. It was funny the
way that 'the Blessing' Sigismond did everything to keep the two
apart as he was the beneficiary of their separation, he thought, but
got found out at the end.
It exaggerated the social issues of the
three classes of people, French, English, and Americans who are
partakers in the story. It was nicely paced, and fun to read. Some
bits had people laughing out loud. People said that French Society is
even more closed than the English upper classes, and the French
attitude to the English hasn't changed at all in the years since this
was written.
Four 8's, two 7's, and two 6's gave
this an average mark of 7.
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