sweddy65's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book from start to finish. I drove my sweetie crazy the first night I picked it up because I had to read the funny perfect sentences out loud, and every sentence was a funny perfect sentence.
The story is told through the eyes of Rose Aubrey, a child. Rose embodies childhood as I remember childhood to be. You are in a secret world, together with a sibling or two. Grownups behave strangely, but often you like them anyway. You start to understand that your parents have faults, but you love them anyway. Your life is not in your control, but in Rose's case, it always turns out more or less OK.
The book is peopled with delightful characters, all filtered down to us through Rose.
Clare Aubrey's (the mother) soliloquy toward the end is an amazing piece of writing. However, I think my very favorite few sentences in the book came on page 185.
Some setting: The Aubreys are destitute because the father gambled away all their money. They are living in a family house with very little furniture, but they manage to hold everything together. The Aubreys are also very generous with what they do have. One of the other school-aged characters is Nancy. Nancy's family life spirals out of control (I won't tell you how in case you read the book), and the Aubreys bring Nancy and her Aunt Lily to come live with them until the next thing can be figured out. The Aubreys love Nancy and Aunt Lily, but the addition of these two also turns their world upside down.
With that as background, here is one of my favorite passages, edited a little for length:
"But Papa and Mamma were further tormented by Aunt Lily's garrulity. She talked all the time... In her world silence was suspect. With us it was taken for granted that a person who did not speak was thinking, or needed to rest, or, quite simply, had nothing to say at the moment; but to her such a person must either be sad (in which case he was described as 'moping') or nourishing some resentment. In both cases it was the duty of the well-intentioned to distract the affected person by a flow of cheerful conversation, and Aunt Lily was above all dutiful."
The story is told through the eyes of Rose Aubrey, a child. Rose embodies childhood as I remember childhood to be. You are in a secret world, together with a sibling or two. Grownups behave strangely, but often you like them anyway. You start to understand that your parents have faults, but you love them anyway. Your life is not in your control, but in Rose's case, it always turns out more or less OK.
The book is peopled with delightful characters, all filtered down to us through Rose.
Clare Aubrey's (the mother) soliloquy toward the end is an amazing piece of writing. However, I think my very favorite few sentences in the book came on page 185.
Some setting: The Aubreys are destitute because the father gambled away all their money. They are living in a family house with very little furniture, but they manage to hold everything together. The Aubreys are also very generous with what they do have. One of the other school-aged characters is Nancy. Nancy's family life spirals out of control (I won't tell you how in case you read the book), and the Aubreys bring Nancy and her Aunt Lily to come live with them until the next thing can be figured out. The Aubreys love Nancy and Aunt Lily, but the addition of these two also turns their world upside down.
With that as background, here is one of my favorite passages, edited a little for length:
"But Papa and Mamma were further tormented by Aunt Lily's garrulity. She talked all the time... In her world silence was suspect. With us it was taken for granted that a person who did not speak was thinking, or needed to rest, or, quite simply, had nothing to say at the moment; but to her such a person must either be sad (in which case he was described as 'moping') or nourishing some resentment. In both cases it was the duty of the well-intentioned to distract the affected person by a flow of cheerful conversation, and Aunt Lily was above all dutiful."
poachedeggs's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a wonderful book - completely unexpected and charming in a way that a book about precocious children and music is, but also heartbreaking in a way that a book about the relentless threat of poverty can be.
Choice quotes:
"'Then Rose got into one of her states,' she said. I heard the announcement with surprise. Had I got into a state at the party? I had felt very cross, but I did not think that I had got into a state. Indeed I was unaware that I ever got into 'states', yet the expression had evoked sounds of recognition from both Mamma and Constance." (pg 208)
-
"To us [such a girl:] had passed into the world of Shakespearean tragedy, and we wanted to help her to exercise the functions she would find it necessary to discharge now that she had suffered this abrupt translation from the ordinary. We had imagined that unless she were allowed to walk up and down a room, shedding tremendous tears and uttering cries which would purge her heart of its grief, there would be just such a hole in the universe as would have been left had Lady Macbeth been deprived of her sleep-walking scene." (pg 227)
-
The family, while speaking of another family that has no idea how to keep themselves occupied in their spare time, whether it be with reading, work, play or music:
"'What did they do all day, sitting in that house?' I heard Mamma asking Papa one evening at this time, horror in her voice, as if she spoke of naked savages, pent in their darkened huts while filth and tropical disease and fear of jungle gods consumed them.
'God knows, God knows,' he answered. 'This is the new barbarism.'" (pg 235)
-
Of Mamma's old sealskin jacket:
"'Mamma,' said Richard Quin, 'that jacket is not sealskin any more, it is just a bit of a dead seal. There is a difference.'
'Nonsense,' said Mamma testily. 'Of course the seal died. Otherwise I would not be wearing its skin.'
'No, Mamma,' said Richard Quin, 'there have been two deaths. First the seal died, and then its skin went to the funeral and heard the will read, and of course it had been left everything, and then it sold the house and chose to make its home with you. But now in the fullness of time it too has died.'" (pg 358-9)
Choice quotes:
"'Then Rose got into one of her states,' she said. I heard the announcement with surprise. Had I got into a state at the party? I had felt very cross, but I did not think that I had got into a state. Indeed I was unaware that I ever got into 'states', yet the expression had evoked sounds of recognition from both Mamma and Constance." (pg 208)
-
"To us [such a girl:] had passed into the world of Shakespearean tragedy, and we wanted to help her to exercise the functions she would find it necessary to discharge now that she had suffered this abrupt translation from the ordinary. We had imagined that unless she were allowed to walk up and down a room, shedding tremendous tears and uttering cries which would purge her heart of its grief, there would be just such a hole in the universe as would have been left had Lady Macbeth been deprived of her sleep-walking scene." (pg 227)
-
The family, while speaking of another family that has no idea how to keep themselves occupied in their spare time, whether it be with reading, work, play or music:
"'What did they do all day, sitting in that house?' I heard Mamma asking Papa one evening at this time, horror in her voice, as if she spoke of naked savages, pent in their darkened huts while filth and tropical disease and fear of jungle gods consumed them.
'God knows, God knows,' he answered. 'This is the new barbarism.'" (pg 235)
-
Of Mamma's old sealskin jacket:
"'Mamma,' said Richard Quin, 'that jacket is not sealskin any more, it is just a bit of a dead seal. There is a difference.'
'Nonsense,' said Mamma testily. 'Of course the seal died. Otherwise I would not be wearing its skin.'
'No, Mamma,' said Richard Quin, 'there have been two deaths. First the seal died, and then its skin went to the funeral and heard the will read, and of course it had been left everything, and then it sold the house and chose to make its home with you. But now in the fullness of time it too has died.'" (pg 358-9)
genizah's review
5.0
Utterly enchanting. This is the book I expected I Capture the Castle to be and was so disappointed that it wasn't.
maplessence's review
4.0
4.5★
There is such a lot to digest in this very accomplished book, where at least some of the characters are based on Ms West (born Cicily Fairfield) and her family.
I don't think there would be any account that would make Ms West's father (Piers Aubrey in the book, Ms West is Rose) seem anything but an awful person. In both real life and in this novel, heIn the book anyway, Mother seems determined to look on the bright side of life, to the point of foolishness and by the end of the book I wanted to shake her really hard. However, there was a twist at the end, which I really enjoyed.
The book is dedicated to West's sister Letitia, who is the model for Cordelia. The swipes at Cordelia become extremely repetitive and after reading Letititia's Wikipedia page, I can't help wondering if they were motivated by jealousy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_Fairfield If that is so, that is very sad as West's literary gifts are so remarkable. Understandably Letitia didn't like this book.
The most enjoyable passage for me was Rose & her twin sister Mary's first journey in a motor car. The description was just so vivid and witty! (it would have been quicker for the girls to walk!) But throughout the book there was plenty to keep one reading, even if this one sometimes became exasperated with the characters, I don't mind being exasperated for a family and large caste of characters who are so vividly realised.
Definitely recommended.
There is such a lot to digest in this very accomplished book, where at least some of the characters are based on Ms West (born Cicily Fairfield) and her family.
I don't think there would be any account that would make Ms West's father (Piers Aubrey in the book, Ms West is Rose) seem anything but an awful person. In both real life and in this novel, he
Spoiler
abandons the family, after being the cause of a lot of their extreme poverty.The book is dedicated to West's sister Letitia, who is the model for Cordelia. The swipes at Cordelia become extremely repetitive and after reading Letititia's Wikipedia page, I can't help wondering if they were motivated by jealousy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_Fairfield If that is so, that is very sad as West's literary gifts are so remarkable. Understandably Letitia didn't like this book.
The most enjoyable passage for me was Rose & her twin sister Mary's first journey in a motor car. The description was just so vivid and witty! (it would have been quicker for the girls to walk!) But throughout the book there was plenty to keep one reading, even if this one sometimes became exasperated with the characters, I don't mind being exasperated for a family and large caste of characters who are so vividly realised.
Definitely recommended.
kristinana's review against another edition
5.0
So far this year, I seem to only be reading books in which there is a failed father: first Dickens, then Bronson Alcott, and now Piers Aubrey, the brilliant but irresponsible (to put it mildly) father of The Fountain Overflows. As with Bronson Alcott in Marmie and Louisa, Piers is a background figure, but because of his tendency to put his work before his family--to disastrous effect--and his complete inability to hold onto money, he still has an oppressive hold on his family that held me as a reader in a state of fear for how he would next endanger them. Interestingly, though, they adore him.
I should say from the outset that this novel, which I absolutely love, has no real plot. It's not like a set of short stories, either. It's just chapters from a family's life, with the only defining thread being the question of the girls' futures: the younger girls, Mary and Rose, the narrator, are destined to follow in the footsteps of their mother, who had a brilliant career as a concert pianist before having a nervous breakdown, while the eldest, Cordelia, is determined to be a concert violinist despite her mother's insistence that she has no musical talent whatsoever. This probably sounds like a strange plot, and I must say I can't think of a novel that has anything like that plot. This conflict results in some surprisingly funny writing, which eventually turns sad as the novel progresses. Along the way, the family has a great many adventures, including banishing a poltergeist and getting mixed up in a murder. Does this sound eccentric and directionless? In a sense it is, but I found it all very entertaining, amusing, and moving. It's also one of the best books about childhood I have ever read. Here is how Rose describes meeting her cousin Rosamund:
"She did not look at all silly, as grown-ups like children to be. [...] I knew from everything about her that she was in the same case as myself, as every child I liked, she found childhood an embarrassing state. She did not like wearing ridiculous clothes, and being ordered about by people we often recognized as stupid and horrid, and we could not earn our own livings or, because of our ignorance, draw fully on our own powers." (101)
I had never read anything by Rebecca West before and was particularly struck by the beauty of her writing. She has a way of taking something small and describing it so as to make it profound one minute, while the next minute discussing something extraordinary (like the paranormal or the ability to read minds) in a matter-of-fact way. She has a way, too, of writing about childhood in a way that is not at all nostalgic. She also makes beautiful use of the comma splice--I now have a terrible feeling I am going to use comma splices all the time on purpose. But unfortunately, no one would know I was doing it on purpose in imitation of this wonderful writer.
I should say from the outset that this novel, which I absolutely love, has no real plot. It's not like a set of short stories, either. It's just chapters from a family's life, with the only defining thread being the question of the girls' futures: the younger girls, Mary and Rose, the narrator, are destined to follow in the footsteps of their mother, who had a brilliant career as a concert pianist before having a nervous breakdown, while the eldest, Cordelia, is determined to be a concert violinist despite her mother's insistence that she has no musical talent whatsoever. This probably sounds like a strange plot, and I must say I can't think of a novel that has anything like that plot. This conflict results in some surprisingly funny writing, which eventually turns sad as the novel progresses. Along the way, the family has a great many adventures, including banishing a poltergeist and getting mixed up in a murder. Does this sound eccentric and directionless? In a sense it is, but I found it all very entertaining, amusing, and moving. It's also one of the best books about childhood I have ever read. Here is how Rose describes meeting her cousin Rosamund:
"She did not look at all silly, as grown-ups like children to be. [...] I knew from everything about her that she was in the same case as myself, as every child I liked, she found childhood an embarrassing state. She did not like wearing ridiculous clothes, and being ordered about by people we often recognized as stupid and horrid, and we could not earn our own livings or, because of our ignorance, draw fully on our own powers." (101)
I had never read anything by Rebecca West before and was particularly struck by the beauty of her writing. She has a way of taking something small and describing it so as to make it profound one minute, while the next minute discussing something extraordinary (like the paranormal or the ability to read minds) in a matter-of-fact way. She has a way, too, of writing about childhood in a way that is not at all nostalgic. She also makes beautiful use of the comma splice--I now have a terrible feeling I am going to use comma splices all the time on purpose. But unfortunately, no one would know I was doing it on purpose in imitation of this wonderful writer.
capercaillie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cehknight's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
hooksforeverything's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
And from the sample of the sequel,
'Mamma is saying that people are good and bad because they are born like that,' explained Richard Quin, 'and Kate is saying that they are good and bad because they choose to be, she thinks they only do it to annoy because they know it teases.'
"Oh, that is what they are arguing about, are they!' exclaimed Mr Morpurgo. 'I can myself make only one small contribution to that argument. I can tell you that it is most unlikely that you will settle it before luncheon. It has been going on elsewhere for some time now. Come, we must start.'
editrix's review
Not quite domestic fiction or a coming-of-age novel in the traditional sense, this felt best appreciated as a semi-autobiographical look back at a collection of often bizarre, often mundane episodes from one woman’s destitute-adjacent childhood in turn-of-the-century England (written when the author was in her sixties). It was long and dedicated to small historical details (a first ride in a motorcar; the constant patching of old clothes and making food stretch; the sensitivity to class barriers and the uncertainty of adolescent girls who worry they don’t have the right connections/money to ever win a husband), and I’d say in pacing/plotting it reminded me a little of the Streatfield Dancing Shoes books and maybe even “Little Women.” I found it pleasant reading overall, but probably not the best use of time in 2021, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who wants their books to feel like a purposeful choice rather than incidental background music.