In The Abbess of Crewe we follow a group of nuns who find themselves at the centre of a media furore when it becomes known that the abbess and her senior nuns are secretly recording everything that goes on in the abbey. The abbess demands very high standards from her charges, making sure they observe outdated practices such as 3am prayers which have long been abandoned by more modern religious establishments. But while she prefers old-fashioned methods in most things, she surprises officials in Rome by also requiring her nuns to take classes in electronics, where they unknowingly provide the equipment she then uses in her surveillance.The story shifts in time, is peppered with poetry and quotations and is full of bizarre characters and plot twists. Amongst other things, we encounter a dramatic break-in, a stolen thimble, a wayward nun who's having it off with one of the visiting jesuit priests, and a missionary who travels the world meeting cannibals and dispenses advice to the nuns through a mysterious "green" telephone line. It's all quite bonkers and I spent much of the book exclaiming "huh?".If it hadn't been for a remark from one of my Twitter buddies, I don't think I would have got this at all, being of entirely the wrong age and nationality to be familar with the Watergate scandal. The Abbess of Crewe is actually a piece of biting political satire, and if only I knew more about Watergate I'm sure there are great swathes of hidden meaning I would have delighted in. Although I found the book decidedly odd, I still enjoyed it. Plots are hatched during secret midnight meetings, the nuns' sewing circle is a hotbed of sedition; it's all deliciously Machiavellian, if a tad confusing, and it's certainly the funniest of the Muriel Spark books I've read so far. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to a Spark newbie, but it's so short there's really no reason not to give it a try.
Short novella but blasts like a dynamite. (Muriel Spark would have loved such expression!).I confess that I am addicted to Spark's language, her witty remarks, just-like-that satirical sayings, and her technique of developing a plot.This novella is about an abbey where the election for the new abbess is due because of the death of the previous abbess. There are two candidates. How they scheme against each other in getting elected is narrated in a funny satiric manner. A simple summary. But the way it is narrated is superb. For instance, the theme is developed using the prayer materials of the sisters (Psalms) in many of the places. On another instance, one of the possible candidates asks the help of a learned sister who is in abroad to win the election and to get rid of the other candidate. The other sister indirectly suggests Macchiavelli's The Art of War. Some of the witty statements that I loved: "Philosophers, when they cease philosophizing and take up action, are dangerous.""How can she truly love? She's too timid to hate well, let alone love.""Justice may be done but on no account should it be seen to be done. It's always a fatal undertaking."Muriel Spark on Faith:"There was a time I greatly desired not to believe, but I found myself at last unable not to believe."One for Humour:A nun asking the advice of the the learned sister (in abroad) about her predicament. It goes like this:Question: "But I have a man in my life now, Gertrude. What can a poor nun do with a man?"Gertrude's Answer: "Invariably, a man you feed both ends. You have to learn to cook and to do the other.An enjoyable read.
Do You like book The Abbess Of Crewe (1995)?
A while back I read Philip Roth's 'Our Gang,' which took the Watergate scandal and turned it into... not very much. Spark takes the Watergate scandal, adds to it a serious consideration of political, social and personal morality; a nice bit of nunsploitation; a lot of wit; and a prose style that everyone other than Roth would prefer to the one he cooked up for his aforementioned novel. Alexandra, the abbess, is a grand literary creation of evil, part Miltonic Satan, part Machiavel, and far greater than the petty stupidities of Nixon. Reading her tale is well worth your time.
—Justin Evans
Not my favorite Spark. It was just dull enough that I knew I was missing especially clever wit beyond my current comprehension. Alas, my mind is going (I swear it's true). Nevertheless, it was not an unpleasant read. Though I wouldn't characterize Spark as a "pretty words" writer, several passages in The Abbess are quite lovely, including: "Outside the rain pelts down on the green, on the gravel, on the spreading leaves; and inside the nuns rustle as if a small tempest were swelling up amongst them."
—Thomasin
The Abbess of Crewe (1974) is regarded as a satire on Watergate and the Nixon White House. I fear the 40 year gap since the actual events has dimmed my memory to the extent that this book no longer has the immediacy it might have had on its publication. Some very funny passages, but the whole doesn't do it for me.Fiction - It centers on the election of a new abbess. Candidate 1 recites her favorite (Protestant) English poetry rather than the Psalms, supports a strong sense of societal class, and uses electronic eavesdropping as a mere extension of listening to convent gossip as a way to maintain proper order. Candidate 2 is compulsive regarding order in her sewing box, maintains an all-too-public liaison with a young Jesuit (outdoors rather than linen closets), and leads the sewing nuns to dreams of freedom. Add to this a missionary nun using Machiavelli to deal with cannibal and vegetarian tribes, young Jesuits bungling break-ins, a nun cross-dressing to deliver hush money ... in a study in justification of means to insure one's "destiny".
—Ed
