Invidia

The bookshelves constitute the review. Though I paid only $2.98 for this smug little nugget of crap, I'm tempted to sue the estate of Muriel Spark just on principle. The characters don't even rise to the level of caricature; they are stick figures that Dame Muriel pushes around her chessboard for a

In this last rousing comedy by Spark, writ when she was 86, she confronts jealousy and hypocrisy with rapier-sharp results..."What is jealousy? I hate you because you have got what I have not got and desire." ~ "Is it difficult to be a hypocrite?" The reply: "Not very much. We do it in civilized soc Leggi tutto

I loved Muriel Spark's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" which was written earlier in her long career. This was her last novel written two years before her death. While not as deep and detailed as "Jean Brodie", I found this to be a fun, frisky read. The contentious relationship between writers who no Leggi tutto

Although I like Muriel Spark, I found this one lacking. It was certainly the thinnest of her books I've read; the page margins seemed much larger than an inch. I found the plot--Rowland, medium-skanky teacher "trying" to finish his "novel", is stupefyingly jealous of his prolific student, Chris--to

Spark’s swansong is a brief and inoffensive re-re-tread over old territory—obnoxious posh people have neuroses and behave in a silly manner amidst a lush European backdrop. Humour-wise, Spark’s well of cutting descriptions and scimitar-sharp dialogue is bone-dry—here she merely moves Sparkian archet Leggi tutto

This is shocking for me to admit but I forgot I had read this book previously. The plot was that boring. If I didn't have to read this for a friend's book club I would have probably just stopped and chosen another book. Instead I found an audiobook copy that was narrated by a narrator, Nadia May, I

Muriel Sparks last book. As the introduction says ‘Muriel Spark’s books may be short but, like a good dram, they have a long finish’. The plot is set in Switzerland at a finishing school that is not really a school but a way for Nina and Rowland to make money in a fun way. They care little for the pu Leggi tutto