Mrs Palfrey all'hotel Claremont
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All'Hotel Claremont vive un gruppo di eccentrici anziani che hanno in comune due grandi nemici: la noia e la morte. Rimasta vedova, Mrs Palfrey decide di andare a passare i suoi ultimi anni in albergo e così approda al Claremont, dove intende rimanere almeno un mese, ma forse, si dice, per sempre. Un bel giorno, in seguito a una caduta durante una passeggiata, viene soccorsa da Ludo, un giovane che si guadagna da vivere in tanti modi in attesa di diventare uno scrittore. Tra i due sboccia una simpatia e ciascuno vede nell'altro un motivo di interesse. Mrs Palfrey lo presenta ai suoi compagni d'albergo come il nipote, acquisendo in tal modo una certa considerazione da parte degli altri, che vivono nello spettro della solitudine e dell'abbandono. Ludo vuole farsi un'idea della vecchiaia e infatti, alla fine, scriverà un romanzo dal titolo Non era concesso morire lì. Ma nel corso della loro relazione entrambi rifioriscono, Mrs Palfrey ricordando la propria vita, e Ludo cominciando a capire cosa significhi l'amore. Il passare del tempo, l'invecchiamento, i compromessi che facciamo, il nostro continuo bisogno di essere accettati sono alcuni dei temi che risuonano in questo romanzo inusuale e ironico, che ci mostra come la vecchiaia sia una fase della vita in cui ricompense e felicità sono più importanti dell'inevitabile conclusione.
- ISBN: 8898713770
- Casa Editrice: astoria
- Pagine: 208
- Data di uscita: 26-10-2017
Recensioni
Life can be cruel. I think we all can agree on that. Cruel, at all stages. Childhood (kids can be the worst , can't they?). Don't forget high school (oh, the agony and awkwardness of puberty and finding one's place!). Young adulthood (the first broken heart, the first bounced cheque, what, I'm suppos Leggi tutto
As I closed the back cover of this little British beauty published in 1971, a new reading category (and shelf) was born: books that I could read forever. Let me clarify: not books that I'd like to jump into, or live in. Books that I could read forever. I could have gladly visited with the elderly resid Leggi tutto
Re-read in January 2016 It hasn't lost any of its shine. It was this author's inevitable fate to be known as the other Elizabeth Taylor, especially as her first novel appeared a year after the twelve year old star of National Velvet blanketed all associations with the name. In this review of Nicola B Leggi tutto
Old middle-class people mouldering away bleakly in a London residential hotel around 1968 (nice Beatles reference, Union Jack carrier bags and political demonstrations on the telly every night). It’s a black comedy which it has to be otherwise you would slit your wrists. The reader will have a suppr Leggi tutto
La novela más conmovedora que leí en mi vida. Creo que su efecto tuvo que ver con el arte de Elizabeth Taylor para volver a los personajes bien reales a partir de la observación de detalles de la vida cotidiana. ¿La historia? Simple pero no por eso deja de ser genial. Una mujer se aloja en un hotel Leggi tutto
"It was hard work being old. It was like being a baby, in reverse. Every day for an infant means some new little thing learned; every day for the old means some little thing lost. Names slip away, dates mean nothing, sequences become muddled, and faces blurred. Both infancy and age are tiring ti
Reading Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1971) I realised how much I love interesting well written novels that deal with tedium and boredom. Set in the early 1970s, when hotels would frequently have older permanent residents, widowed Laura Palfrey goes to to live at the Claremont Hotel in Cromwell Road Leggi tutto
Elizabeth Taylor is another writer who was virtually unknown to me, but was brought to my attention by The Mookse and the Gripes group. This is a very entertaining book, but ultimately quite a poignant one. Mrs Palfrey is a widow who has chosen to spend her retirement in a London hotel which is popul Leggi tutto
This is Elizabeth Taylor’s penultimate novel and with this one I have read all of her eleven novels. The plot is very simple. Mrs Palfrey has lost her husband; she does not want to be a burden to her daughter (nor does her daughter). She decides to take residence in a London hotel, The Claremont, wh Leggi tutto
Often described as hilarious, this book is anything but. Maybe I am overly sensitive, but just as I was saddened by clowns as a child, so now I felt saddened by the elderly residents of the Claremont Hotel. While Mrs. Palfrey displayed a little bit of spunk, the other residents of the hotel had basi Leggi tutto
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