Specify Books In Favor Of A Far Cry from Kensington
| Original Title: | A Far Cry from Kensington |
| ISBN: | 0811214575 (ISBN13: 9780811214575) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Agnes 'Nancy' Hawkins, Hector Bartlett, Wanda |
Muriel Spark
Paperback | Pages: 192 pages Rating: 3.85 | 4127 Users | 478 Reviews
Details Epithetical Books A Far Cry from Kensington
| Title | : | A Far Cry from Kensington |
| Author | : | Muriel Spark |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 192 pages |
| Published | : | September 17th 2000 by New Directions (first published 1988) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. European Literature. British Literature. Classics. Audiobook |
Description Supposing Books A Far Cry from Kensington
Set on the crazier fringes of 1950s literary London, A Far Cry from Kensington is a delight, hilariously portraying love, fraud, death, evil, and transformation. Mrs. Hawkins, the majestic narrator of A Far Cry from Kensington, takes us well in hand and leads us back to her threadbare years in postwar London. There, as a fat and much admired young war widow, she spent her days working for a mad, near-bankrupt publisher ("of very good books") and her nights dispensing advice at her small South Kensington rooming house. At work and at home Mrs. Hawkins soon uncovered evil: shady literary doings and a deadly enemy; anonymous letters, blackmail, and suicide. With aplomb, however, Mrs. Hawkins confidently set about putting things to order, little imagining the mayhem that would ensue. Now decades older, thin, successful, and delighted with life in Italy--quite a far cry from Kensington--Mrs. Hawkins looks back to all those dark doings and recounts how her own life changed forever. She still, however, loves to give advice: "It's easy to get thin. You eat and drink the same as always, only half...I offer this advice without fee; it is included in the price of this book."Rating Epithetical Books A Far Cry from Kensington
Ratings: 3.85 From 4127 Users | 478 ReviewsWrite Up Epithetical Books A Far Cry from Kensington
Ive done with Muriel Sparks. Shes bonkers. How about thisThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie pretty good, very coolThe Drivers Seat an insult to the readers intelligenceThe Girls of Slender Means lovely frail wisp of a novel, poignant and memorableA Far Cry from Kensington absolute toshAli Smith says in her introductionThis is a fiction about what happens when you speak the plain truth out loud Actually this is a fiction about a woman who has a compulsion to insult a particular man (who deservesFrom a Grub Street bed-sit, Spark's blissful heroine stalksthe pretentions of UK publishing w its dim editors, preeningwriters, fatuous hangers-on. The devilish situation is personal to Spark. The first 2/3ds are pungent, timeless and seriously funny.Then, something happens: Spark seems exhausted, eager to end her book. Absurd plot tanglements push her into a corner. As in other novels she gloms onto a suicide and, from nowhere, a slapdash romance. Suggested by editor, agent, confidante? In
This book is a hard one to rate. At one point, the protagonist, who is an editor, says, "'You are writing a letter to a friend. . . . And this is a dear and close friend, real - or better - invented in your mind like a fixation. Write privately, not publicly; without fear or timidity, right to the end of the letter, as if it was never going to be published, so that your true friend will read it over and over, and then want more enchanting letters from you.'"That is exactly how it is written. The
3.5 starsHere's what New York Times' reviewer Michiko Kakutani wrote about this author: Here is the recipe for a typical Muriel Spark novel: take a self-enclosed community (of writers, schoolgirls, nuns, rich people, etc.) that is full of incestuous liaisons and fraternal intrigue; toss in a bombshell (like murder, suicide or betrayal) that will richochet dangerously around this little world, and add some allusions to the supernatural to ground these melodramatics in an old-fashioned context of
For years, in times of peril, I have been asking myself "What would Mrs. Hawkins do?" Dame Muriel Spark is one of my favourite authors of all time, and her 1988 novel "A Far Cry from Kensington," one of my favourite books. Here, I pass on a small portion of the wit and wisdom of the story's protagonist, Mrs. Hawkins. If you like what you read here, then I recommend you get your own stack of Muriel Spark novels, as they are easily and inexpensively available on-line from used booksellers. Then
2.5 stars rounded upOne of Sparks later novels (late 1980s, but set in the mid1950s), this takes a look at the publishing industry of mid 1950s London. The analysis is sharp and well written, as is usually the case with Spark. The protagonist is Mrs Hawkins, a war widow in her late 20s. Spark portrays her as being obese with a strong physical presence. It appears that because of her size people come to her for advice and support, which she is happy to give, sometimes rather acerbically. She
Just finished this fine book, which I found both clever and compelling. It was my first Muriel Spark and a nice new copy from the library.Characters were interesting and they developed superbly as the book went on. I liked the way Muriel Spark wove the story amongst the people of the book subtly using observation and humour, and what might seem at first, benign description of objects and situations, to progress events, and then gently remind the reader of key pieces of information or influences
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