Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett

You wouldn't recognize it at first glance but I have a little competitive streak.  I rate Elizabeth Bowen as the highest and Simon hasn't yet seen the light although he has as much as issued a pledge to try one day.  Knowing I had a book on my shelves that he trumpeted about I issued a teensy challenge to see who would read from the other camp first.  "Game on" was his reply.  So unless Simon is prepared to share his views on To the North or any other title by Bowen within the next few hours, I think it's fair to say "I won, I won!"

Knowing absolutely zilch about Compton-Burnett other than her writing is an acquired taste I was expecting something a bit odd or eccentric.  And this book is ever so slightly that....but in a good way.  Luckily for me I love dialogue because Manservant and Maidservant is completely stuffed with quotation marks.  Line after line, page after page - it reads more like a play.  Well actually, in a play you would have more description of scenery than you get with this intriguing production.  What is lacking in descriptive phrases about wood panelling, threadbare carpets and views from the windows is made up for in the intensity of characterization.  Although, a little warning that a couple of days had gone by before starting the next conversation would have been most welcome at times.  Every now and then I had to double back a few lines when I realized we had left the kitchen and were now in the garden listening in on a completely different family.

Published in 1947, this story is about the Lamb family living in a draughty ramshackle house bustling with children and servants.  At times I had images as rustic as those in I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.  Horace married the money they do have but keeps a tighter than tight rein on the family budget.  His meanness and strict disciplinarian ways have turned his children against him...

"Is there a candle?" said Marcus.  "I need one for my private purposes."
"You may fetch one from your room," said Nurse, "if you are not going to waste it."
"It will melt," said Avery, as his brother set the candle near the fire, and Nurse watched him without confidence.
Marcus took the candle and moulded the wax, and a recognisable image of a man took shape in his hands.
"Now where are the pins?" he said, with a twitch of his lips.
"They will not be wasted.  It is an honorable purpose for them."
Jasper drew near at the sight of a practical measure.
"Why are you doing it?" said Avery.
"If you put pins into an effigy of someone, the person feels pain."
"But you don't know who this is," said Tamasin.
"It is Father," said Marcus, in an incidental manner.

Some people might find this scene slightly demonic but I laughed my head off!  And there were plenty more scenes every bit as witty.  Which is not to say that Manservant and Maidservant is altogether humourous, there are issues of infidelity, theft and even some premeditation of  misadventure, shall we say, found within its pages.  Another character, Miss Buchanan, can't read, the poor thing.  My heart broke for her with each instance that presented itself in which she was called upon to quickly disguise her handicap.

Despite writing that she had had an uneventful life, Compton-Burnett's life was quite sad in parts.  Her favourite brother died of pneumonia, another brother was killed on the Somme and two of her sisters killed themselves in a suicide pact on Christmas Day, 1917.  Interestingly, of the eight girls in her family none ever married which at a time when it was almost expected seems extraordinary.  A biography might be an interesting next stop if I can find a good one, any recommendations?

You can read Simon's review of Manservant and Maidservant here.  He may write a lovely review but I won this reading smack down...no pressure, Simon!

14 comments:

  1. Well done! First for beating Simon and second for finishing this novel. I tried -- I really did -- but I just couldn't get on with it. I'm quite cross with myself for not being able to love ICB but I'm afraid it just got too boring for me. Perhaps I should try again sometime. Your review certainly makes it sound more fun than I had thought.

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    1. Right book, wrong mood I think, Harriet. It happens all the time. There are so many things to love about this book so do try again at some point. This might sound a bit strange but if I read in the evening with my bifocals on I would find myself drift ever so slightly. So I would take off my glasses and hold the book six inches away from my face and the story came to life. My brain was working too hard and spoiling all the fun! Mind you, I do have a bit of a pea brain so it doesn't take much...

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  2. And by the way, I too adore Elizabeth Bowen, and Simon, if you are reading this, you honestly must get to grips with her. To the North -- yes, Darlene, that is the most wonderful novel.

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  3. I love the comment from Simon's mum - which sums up how I felt on my one and only attempt at ICB many years ago. Can't even remember which novel it was. But rigor mortis set in. That was back in my student days so maybe I should have another try.

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    1. If you're strolling through your public library one day you could try signing this one out and see how you get on, Mary. Perhaps it won't be your cup of tea but perspective is everything and what you didn't enjoy as a student just might appeal now....or perhaps not! I also loved that the paper in this first edition, printed a couple of years after the war, is so fine that you can just about read words on the other side. It actually tore a bit where my thumb was holding it when the wind blew a page over. I'm pretty sure that Harriet isn't Simon's mum but I bet she would be happy with the situation if that were the case.

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    2. I think Mary is referring to the comment my Mum put on my review of it! My Mum is a renowned ICB hater...

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    3. Whoops, I meant the comment from Simon's mum on Simon's blog ... I'm sure Harriet doesn't want to adopt him and his piles of his books! Or maybe she does. He's very nice!

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    4. Hee, too funny. This is how rumours get started!

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  4. You win, you win! (unless you count that I read The Last September a couple of years ago?) But I have to confess, since the challenge was laid down I haven't so much as pulled a Bowen from the shelf... but you have spurred me on!

    And I'm so delighted that you enjoyed Manservant and Maidservant! A lovely review, Darlene, that really captures the humour in ICB (which so many people don't seem to appreciate.)

    In terms of biogs, I loved the memoir her typist and friend Cicely (or Cecily?) Grieg wrote (just called Ivy Compton-Burnett: a memoir) but for a fuller look at her life, I've heard that Hilary Spurling's two volume biography is very good. Ivy When Young and Secrets of a Woman's Heart - both are on my shelf, unread.

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    1. Thanks so much for the introduction, Simon! I have really enjoyed being exposed to so many interesting authors with different sorts of literary talent. I was so afraid I wouldn't 'get' this book but the humour was an excellent bonding agent for me. How strange that so many people missed out on it!

      Well, in order to find out where Bowen has failed to rope you in, heart and soul, I will make The Last September my next Bowen read. So you're in for either a good talking to or a session of empathy...keep you posted!

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  5. I was put off for life by Pastors and Masters Darlene, but you have intrigued me by that quoted passage - it sounds hilarious! Well done you on beating Simon too - he gave me hell last time we had a bet!!

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    1. That passage gets even more hilarious, Rachel, when Dad walks into the nursery looking for ointment as his joints are aching him.
      We have to get Simon to see the light so if you're on another book browsing trip out and in his company, stuff a Bowen into that honking huge bag of his!

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  6. I love Ivy Compton-Burnett ... I have, after some effort and expense managed to purchase nearly all of her novels .... turning my head to see them in a row on the cabinet behind me ... SO pleased to see her here ... I also do like her voice which can be heard in a Studs Terkel interview ... available on-line ...

    Anne in Cambridge (the UK one)

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    1. Hi Anne, lovely of you to drop by! I'm cursing myself for not picking up a second-hand copy of goodness knows which title by Ivy recently while browsing in a shop. Usually my rule is that if I have an unread copy of a book by an author on my shelves I won't indulge in another purchase in case I don't like them. But now look what happens!

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