About book The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls Of Slender Means, The Driver's Seat, The Only Problem (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics) (2004)
The embarrassing admission first: I read Muriel Spark's books because her name is close to my own. (I really hate it when people call me Muriel, though. I dislike being called Ariel only slightly less.) Other people might have heard of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie because of the famous film starring Maggie Smith. All are good reasons to stumble onto a gem. It's really cool when you can find some cool thing by surprise. Like having a cool teacher to tell you about something great...It's a great little horror story about knocking down your heroes, influences good and bad, trying to stop time, ego of the young, ego of the old. Spark packed a lot of one-two punches in this little book. The best part is that there's a third punch when it's over. I kinda longed for the dreamy days of Brodie's classroom, too. Not for Brodie herself, but for the chance to feel like you're in a conversation golden age. That sharing this stuff is really going to lead somewhere honest. When they lose that faith, they lose that too. The third punch is the feeling that you can't go back.I don't know if I've ever agreed with the common sentiment that one needs to destroy one image to erect themselves into another. I feel that people need things. The more you have, the more you have to draw from when you need it. It's a mistake to cast off the old when the new shiny thing comes by. Like Morrissey said in 'Rubber Ring' by The Smiths: "They were the only things that ever stood by you."I do love the movie. It came on tv one night when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I was immediately sucked in. The teacher's pet turned wrong, Sandy, was played by Pamela Franklin. Movie fans might recognize her from her part as Flora in the Truman Capote adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents (starring one of my favorite actresses ever, Deborah Kerr). I don't think Franklin did much else of note. Still, two classic films is not bad. Something to tell your grandkids. Then those grandkids will one-up you and star in a string of runaway hits!The end scene of Brodie crying out "Murderer!" down the hallway was pretty awesome. She should have flown less on the wing power of others and more on her own steam.
I picked this book for discussion as my choice this month, and I'm most embarrassed that I did! Based on the blurb on the back, I was expecting something more along the lines of a literary Dead Poet's Society. But I found this book to be so dull and repetitive that I was loathe to pick it up, despite initially thinking I'd read it in one sitting. And I got thoroughly fed up of hearing about Miss Brodie being in her prime. Check out page 44. The word 'prime' is used 5 times in the first 9 lines. And it was grating on me before this. I'd love to know how often that word appears throughout the entire book (which, thankfully, isn't too long). I think the author wants us to know that Miss Brodie is in her prime. Just incase you didn't get it from the title. As one review I've read put it, it made her sound like she was on heat. And maybe she was! I'm sure that there was a literary point to this, but it went over my head. The characters were not likeable, mainly because they are so one dimensional, nor could you make any connection with them. That said, I did fleetingly worry for their patchy education, which largely consisted of having Miss Brodie's opinions rammed down their impressionable throats. Why this book is considered to be a classic is a mystery to me. There is no plot to speak of, the writing is nothing special, and it's certainly no page turner. To me, it's the kind of book you are made to read at school because someone somewhere thinks it an important book. It's book club tonight. I've still not been bored enough to finish it.................
Do You like book The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls Of Slender Means, The Driver's Seat, The Only Problem (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics) (2004)?
Sandy's tiny eyes, Sandy's tiny eyes, Sandy's tiny eyes, Sandy's tiny little screwed-up eyes. Despite the book's habit of repeating its chosen character details with maddening frequency, I still enjoyed its deftness and wit. But I read it because it was on both the Modern Library and TIME Best-of lists, and I hoped I was getting my hands on my favorite kind of book -- the "lost" classic. Instead I read it wondering "is this all this is about?" and hoping for a final revelation that was, as the quote from The Spectator promised, "like the stab of a stiletto." Meh. The stab felt like an offhanded poke in the stomach with the butt-end of a magic marker. I was a little disappointed.
—Chris
I find it interesting how British Roman Catholics used to be the best satire/humor writers. Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark. The girls of slender Means I read a while ago and is my favorite by Spark thus far, a light breezy and despairing book. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was good but I liked the Girls of Slender Means better, Currently I am in the middle of the driver's seat. Generally Spark is unclear in a pleasant way about what's going on but which can leave one a little confused but adds to the impact and power of these works.
—Jail
Well written (of course) and pretty damn dark given the time in which it was written and the subject matter.Essentially, and not to give anything away, this book is about a teacher at a Scottish girl's school and her relationship with six of the girls specifically.This book has a great deal to say about faith, trust, lust, jealousy, curiosity, and strength. It was presented to me as a work of feminist literature, but I've never really understood exactly what people mean when they say things like that. In my opinion, what happened in the book would have happened the same way if it was about a man teaching at a boy's school.I could be wrong, though.Not a bad story. A classic, so call it. And, while it probably doesn't need to be mentioned I'm going to say it anyway: read the book before you see the movie.
—Jen3n
