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Strangers and Brothers #3
The Conscience of the Rich
1964. Reprinted. 332 pages. Paperback book with pictorial cover. Pages and binding are presentable with no major defects. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptions, inserts, light foxing, tanning and thumb marking. Overall a good condition item. Paper cover has mild edge wear with light rubbing and creasing. Some light marking and tanning.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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About the author
C.P. Snow
94 books124 followersKnown British scientist Charles Percy Snow, baron Snow of Leicester, wrote especially his 11-volume series
Strangers and Brothers
(1940-1970).
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Snow
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Snow
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 15, 2011
The first person narrator of C.P. Snow's 1958 novel The Conscience of the Rich is Lewis Eliot, a poor young man who has scrimped his way through Cambridge and become a lawyer. He befriends another new Cambridge lawyer, Charles March, scion of one of the great Anglo-Jewish banking families. (The time period of the novel is 1927 to about 1936.) Early on Charles becomes disenchanted with law, and drops out of the Bar, much to his father Leonard's horror. Lewis becomes very close to the March family, including younger sister Katherine, spending lots of time at their Bryanston Square, London, mansion, and their country house. Charles falls in love with a young Jewish woman, Ann Simon, and marries her; Katherine marries a gentile, Francis Getliffe. Leonard March isn't entirely satisfied with his children's choices, as he wants them to marry not only Jewish, but well. As it turns out, Charles's spouse is the more problematic one for the family; she is a devoted Communist, while the Marches are very Tory. Leonard's brother Philip sits in the House of Lords. The climax of the novel involves a political scandal in which Philip March is rumored to have profited illegally from insider knowledge of government armaments sales and purchases; a muckraking Communist newspaper Ann Simon is associated with prints the various rumors, which turns her father-in-law against her.
Jewishness is central to the novel, yet the "problem" of being Jewish in the 1930s is only barely hinted at. A possible war with Hitler is mentioned once. The oldest March daughter, Margaret, mentions at a dinner party that she would hesitate to have children, "when you think of what the world may be." Leonard March responds, "I suppose you mean the world may not be a tolerable place for people of our religion?" Yes. Mr. March cries, "I wish the Jews would stop being news!"
The characters, and the narrative, are strangely bloodless. In this, Snow's style reminds me of Ward Just. The action, what there is of it, and the emotions, seem to be happening behind a scrim, at a remove. We should feel some kind of bond with our first person narrator, but Lewis feels more like a ghost than a real person. He is omniscient, in every scene and at every March family gathering, but we almost never find out what his emotions are. He tells us twice that he has been in love with a woman named Sheila, but we never meet her. Abruptly, on page 215, Lewis narrates, "Since my marriage four years before..." The romantic relationships of the two March offspring are thoroughly investigated, so this narratorial detachment comes across as bizarre. This novel is one in a series, so perhaps Lewis's interior life is examined more thoroughly elsewhere. Still, it presents an oddness and an emotional vacuum in this novel.
Critic Michael Wood wrote in the March 11, 1971 New York Review of Books that Snow "set out to be the George Eliot, or at least the Galsworthy, of his generation, to write nineteenth-century novels for a later day—a slightly alarming ambition but not in itself a silly one, since a case can be made for conventional forms so long as there are conventional realities left to be explored.
What goes wrong, then, apart from the failure of tact? The answer is Lewis Eliot, the heavy-footed hero and narrator of these novels. The “inner design” of the whole work, Snow wrote in a note to The Conscience of the Rich (1958), does not lie in the “attempt to give some insights into society,” although that is important. It lies in a “resonance between what Lewis Eliot sees and what he feels.” This is unfortunate, since Eliot doesn’t see half as much as he thinks he sees, and what he feels is severely circumscribed by his complacency."
Jewishness is central to the novel, yet the "problem" of being Jewish in the 1930s is only barely hinted at. A possible war with Hitler is mentioned once. The oldest March daughter, Margaret, mentions at a dinner party that she would hesitate to have children, "when you think of what the world may be." Leonard March responds, "I suppose you mean the world may not be a tolerable place for people of our religion?" Yes. Mr. March cries, "I wish the Jews would stop being news!"
The characters, and the narrative, are strangely bloodless. In this, Snow's style reminds me of Ward Just. The action, what there is of it, and the emotions, seem to be happening behind a scrim, at a remove. We should feel some kind of bond with our first person narrator, but Lewis feels more like a ghost than a real person. He is omniscient, in every scene and at every March family gathering, but we almost never find out what his emotions are. He tells us twice that he has been in love with a woman named Sheila, but we never meet her. Abruptly, on page 215, Lewis narrates, "Since my marriage four years before..." The romantic relationships of the two March offspring are thoroughly investigated, so this narratorial detachment comes across as bizarre. This novel is one in a series, so perhaps Lewis's interior life is examined more thoroughly elsewhere. Still, it presents an oddness and an emotional vacuum in this novel.
Critic Michael Wood wrote in the March 11, 1971 New York Review of Books that Snow "set out to be the George Eliot, or at least the Galsworthy, of his generation, to write nineteenth-century novels for a later day—a slightly alarming ambition but not in itself a silly one, since a case can be made for conventional forms so long as there are conventional realities left to be explored.
What goes wrong, then, apart from the failure of tact? The answer is Lewis Eliot, the heavy-footed hero and narrator of these novels. The “inner design” of the whole work, Snow wrote in a note to The Conscience of the Rich (1958), does not lie in the “attempt to give some insights into society,” although that is important. It lies in a “resonance between what Lewis Eliot sees and what he feels.” This is unfortunate, since Eliot doesn’t see half as much as he thinks he sees, and what he feels is severely circumscribed by his complacency."
July 3, 2018
Not as good as the previous two installments. But that’s a rather subjective assessment. I’m not that interested in rich people's (non-)problems. Considering the time the story is set (1927-1936) and the fact the March family is Jewish the imminent danger for Jews in Europe is downplayed too much. Still, I’ll continue with the series. Those are good books to read in bed as they prevent troubled dreams.
new words for my ESL vocabulary: unassuageably, unsalubrious, jejune, and lorgnon [three of which even the spellchecker doesn’t know]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
new words for my ESL vocabulary: unassuageably, unsalubrious, jejune, and lorgnon [three of which even the spellchecker doesn’t know]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
May 12, 2021
(The Penguin edition I read was different to the one pictured. Dated 1964 it cost 4/- – four shillings.)
Seventh in the series for me as I'm reading it in the order of publication. This is a significant improvement on the previous one Homecomings. Here Lewis Eliot focuses on his relationship with Charles March and the wider March family.
The book starts with a misunderstanding in that March hasn't made it clear to Eliot from the start that he is a Jew. The way Snow describes it, Eliot feels betrayed that his friend didn't 'admit' this early on and only 'confesses' after they had been friends for a while when March invited Eliot to 'see the inside of a Jewish family'. The March family doesn't follow many of the religious observances and Eliot admits to being puzzled when he goes down to breakfast and there is no dish of bacon on the sideboard. He has to make do with fried tongue.
As with all the books in the series, Snow's commentary about the conduct of relationships between social groups is what makes this story tick and here the class, money and religious differences make for a complex and interesting tale. I have noted before that the writing is noticeably more modern in each book and this is particularly apparent here making for a much more relaxed read.
It is strange that Snow makes no reference to the March family or the wider Jewish community
being aware of the gathering storm in Germany. Indeed none of the March family makes any references to overt anti-semitism. Although, Snow cleverly creates an atmosphere around them of implied slights against their people that they seem to regard as no more than an unwelcome fact of life.
A reader of the series will know that the story of this book runs concurrent to that in The Masters and also overlaps with the early years of The Light and the Dark. This means that Lewis Eliot is splitting his time between Cambridge, London and the March's country house Haslingfield. It would be interesting to know whether CP Snow put together Eliot's diary for this period because it is hard to believe that he could have been so present in every location that he had time to discharge his obligations to all of the characters across the three novels.
Seventh in the series for me as I'm reading it in the order of publication. This is a significant improvement on the previous one Homecomings. Here Lewis Eliot focuses on his relationship with Charles March and the wider March family.
The book starts with a misunderstanding in that March hasn't made it clear to Eliot from the start that he is a Jew. The way Snow describes it, Eliot feels betrayed that his friend didn't 'admit' this early on and only 'confesses' after they had been friends for a while when March invited Eliot to 'see the inside of a Jewish family'. The March family doesn't follow many of the religious observances and Eliot admits to being puzzled when he goes down to breakfast and there is no dish of bacon on the sideboard. He has to make do with fried tongue.
As with all the books in the series, Snow's commentary about the conduct of relationships between social groups is what makes this story tick and here the class, money and religious differences make for a complex and interesting tale. I have noted before that the writing is noticeably more modern in each book and this is particularly apparent here making for a much more relaxed read.
It is strange that Snow makes no reference to the March family or the wider Jewish community
being aware of the gathering storm in Germany. Indeed none of the March family makes any references to overt anti-semitism. Although, Snow cleverly creates an atmosphere around them of implied slights against their people that they seem to regard as no more than an unwelcome fact of life.
A reader of the series will know that the story of this book runs concurrent to that in The Masters and also overlaps with the early years of The Light and the Dark. This means that Lewis Eliot is splitting his time between Cambridge, London and the March's country house Haslingfield. It would be interesting to know whether CP Snow put together Eliot's diary for this period because it is hard to believe that he could have been so present in every location that he had time to discharge his obligations to all of the characters across the three novels.
Read
November 28, 2021Ultimately, I think, more about being Jewish than being rich, but there is a main spinal cord running throughout the book which continuously partakes of both. I find Lewis Eliot (the narrator) more sympathetic in this novel because, for the most part, he’s focussed outside, concentrating on the March family much more than on himself. I’m beginning to think after all these years that this is a game changer, a dealbreaker for me in these lengthy first-person novels: how much is it about the narrator, and how much is it about the narrator‘s perception of life going on around him or her? I find it easier to engage and sympathize with the narrator who is outward-focussed and spends comparatively little time examining his/her own mental processes. Read this time with special attention to the relationship of Charles and Ann, particularly how it relates to the left-wing politics of the 1930s.
April 28, 2023
I’m strangely obsessed with the “Strangers and Brothers” series, and hope to start book 4 shortly. I love the way the stories intertwine from book to book, giving you a slightly different angle on the individuals or plot points. There are great set pieces, like dinner at the March house in this volume, full of evocative writing that makes you feel like you’re right there at the table. The characters are almost Dickensian, just a little more realistic, but equally memorable. Anyway, only 9 more volumes to go ….
September 14, 2014
All of Snow's "Strangers and Brothers" novels are like literary soap operas set in upper-class London. Not upper upper class, mind. There's always a lot of striving, but with barely a look down. The outside world peeps in, of course, but the main focus is always on the inner circle of family and class. The ironies are subtle. The characters are drawn with a full brush. Always a joy to read - one every couple of months.
June 4, 2025
How refreshing to read what might now be called an old-fashioned novel, one that enjoys a linear timeline and focuses on the presentation of character.
Snow’s novel has a first person narrator, Lewis Eliot, who tells the story of his experiences with the March family. The Marches are Jewish and have made their money in banking. The head of the family, Philip, has sought and achieved ministerial status. The bulk of the novel is given over, however, to an account of Lewis’ friendship with Charles March and Charles’ relationship with his father, Leonard. Referred to generally as Mr March (or Mr L. by his children), Mr March lives on his investments, and is patriarchal in a rather charming way, though not so charming for his children if they choose to cross his wishes for them. Those wishes are concerned largely with his family’s social standing and reputation, but mostly with his children’s status within the March family as a whole, so when Charles decides to forsake his job as a barrister and to retrain as a GP, all hell breaks loose March-family-style. Mr March is relentless in pursuing his own way, but Charles has his father’s obstinacy and determinedly follows his preferred path in a role more suited to his wish to be socially useful than those offered either by banking or the law.
This way also involves his marrying Ann Simon. Mr March does not approve, if only because Ann’s Communist politics are so obviously different to Mr March’s Conservatism. Her passionate political commitment, though quietly carried on, is one of the narrative threads that Snow develops into a significant seam of the plot. It affects Philip March in particular, and Snow uses his understanding of how the upper echelons of the Jewish and political elites work to good effect.
Such a delightful piece of artistry, this novel. Mr March is drawn as a garrulous, genial, hospitable, emotionally volatile man whereas Charles and Philip are more measured in their manner. The wider March family provide a source of entertainment, especially at family gatherings; the worlds of law and politics are intelligibly articulated; the world of the Establishment in the 1920s and 1930s is depicted vividly. I shall read more of Snow’s work, and I’m rather sorry I haven’t read his work before: - I always thought it would be too-clever-by-half for me. It isn’t: it’s very accessible.
Snow’s novel has a first person narrator, Lewis Eliot, who tells the story of his experiences with the March family. The Marches are Jewish and have made their money in banking. The head of the family, Philip, has sought and achieved ministerial status. The bulk of the novel is given over, however, to an account of Lewis’ friendship with Charles March and Charles’ relationship with his father, Leonard. Referred to generally as Mr March (or Mr L. by his children), Mr March lives on his investments, and is patriarchal in a rather charming way, though not so charming for his children if they choose to cross his wishes for them. Those wishes are concerned largely with his family’s social standing and reputation, but mostly with his children’s status within the March family as a whole, so when Charles decides to forsake his job as a barrister and to retrain as a GP, all hell breaks loose March-family-style. Mr March is relentless in pursuing his own way, but Charles has his father’s obstinacy and determinedly follows his preferred path in a role more suited to his wish to be socially useful than those offered either by banking or the law.
This way also involves his marrying Ann Simon. Mr March does not approve, if only because Ann’s Communist politics are so obviously different to Mr March’s Conservatism. Her passionate political commitment, though quietly carried on, is one of the narrative threads that Snow develops into a significant seam of the plot. It affects Philip March in particular, and Snow uses his understanding of how the upper echelons of the Jewish and political elites work to good effect.
Such a delightful piece of artistry, this novel. Mr March is drawn as a garrulous, genial, hospitable, emotionally volatile man whereas Charles and Philip are more measured in their manner. The wider March family provide a source of entertainment, especially at family gatherings; the worlds of law and politics are intelligibly articulated; the world of the Establishment in the 1920s and 1930s is depicted vividly. I shall read more of Snow’s work, and I’m rather sorry I haven’t read his work before: - I always thought it would be too-clever-by-half for me. It isn’t: it’s very accessible.
September 3, 2015
I have never quite had a friend like Charles March. I wonder how different my life could have been if I had. I wonder how different the life of Lewis Eliot would have been if he hadn't. These are all quite interesting counter-factual speculations that weave in and out of fact and fiction. If only ...
Charles March, in my opinion, was quite instrumental in the life of Lewis Eliot. He provided a guiding hand at an early stage of Eliot's career. One could even argue that he got Eliot started. He provided the inspiration, encouragement, and - most importantly - the introductions. It is a shame that Charles March didn't have quite such insight over his own life.
He is one of those characters who is weighed down by the load of his own destiny. He carries the hopes and expectations of his family. It would have been fine if they had coincided with his own, but they didn't. The family expectations were that he would advance the position of the family in British society. By being a Jewish family, the March clan was positioned as not quite inside, and not quite outside either. They were phenomenally rich, but their wealth had not conferred an appropriate degree of social position. That was the role assigned to Charles.
Charles, on the other hand, wanted to be useful. He wanted to make a contribution to society beyond the aggradisement of the family. The family needed him as a lawyer - the gateway to political influence and beyond. He ended up choosing to be a doctor - a means of justifying his life. As I read this, I had to consciously remember how closed British society had been between the Wars. Far more closed than it is now. I have met the offspring of very rich families. I have even worked with some. This has allowed me to see the conscience of the rich at close hand.
For the conscience of the rich to have an impact, it requires the deference of those around them. In this novel, Charles March receives it. However, I am not totally at sympathy with him. At times, he comes over as a spoiled rich kid, one who relies on his allowance from his father, but who is not made independent by his father. I found this to be an interesting theme. Mr March uses his money as a means of controlling his children, but his son refuses to be controlled in this way and ultimately suffers for it. The daughter, by way of contrast, complies, and has a happy ending in the book because of it.
I found the book to be very well written and very closely observed. Parts of the narrative chime with what I have seen and experienced in my lifetime. It describes a world that didn't really survive the Second World War, although aspects of it do show through even today. I quite enjoyed reading the book, and I would recommend it to others.
Charles March, in my opinion, was quite instrumental in the life of Lewis Eliot. He provided a guiding hand at an early stage of Eliot's career. One could even argue that he got Eliot started. He provided the inspiration, encouragement, and - most importantly - the introductions. It is a shame that Charles March didn't have quite such insight over his own life.
He is one of those characters who is weighed down by the load of his own destiny. He carries the hopes and expectations of his family. It would have been fine if they had coincided with his own, but they didn't. The family expectations were that he would advance the position of the family in British society. By being a Jewish family, the March clan was positioned as not quite inside, and not quite outside either. They were phenomenally rich, but their wealth had not conferred an appropriate degree of social position. That was the role assigned to Charles.
Charles, on the other hand, wanted to be useful. He wanted to make a contribution to society beyond the aggradisement of the family. The family needed him as a lawyer - the gateway to political influence and beyond. He ended up choosing to be a doctor - a means of justifying his life. As I read this, I had to consciously remember how closed British society had been between the Wars. Far more closed than it is now. I have met the offspring of very rich families. I have even worked with some. This has allowed me to see the conscience of the rich at close hand.
For the conscience of the rich to have an impact, it requires the deference of those around them. In this novel, Charles March receives it. However, I am not totally at sympathy with him. At times, he comes over as a spoiled rich kid, one who relies on his allowance from his father, but who is not made independent by his father. I found this to be an interesting theme. Mr March uses his money as a means of controlling his children, but his son refuses to be controlled in this way and ultimately suffers for it. The daughter, by way of contrast, complies, and has a happy ending in the book because of it.
I found the book to be very well written and very closely observed. Parts of the narrative chime with what I have seen and experienced in my lifetime. It describes a world that didn't really survive the Second World War, although aspects of it do show through even today. I quite enjoyed reading the book, and I would recommend it to others.
March 6, 2014
2) 'The Conscience of the Rich'
blurb - It is April 1936 and Lewis is now 31 years old. While the facists and the Republicans fought it out in Spain, Lewis navigated his way through the lower echelons of the British establishment. From obscure Midlands poverty he has risen to a fellowship in law at Cambridge University. He had a pretty wife who no one except his closest friends knew was useless. He had never been to University and learned his basic law at night school. He had never been in business and imbibed the vocabulary of management in the atheneum and the manners of privilege at the Friday night dinners of his closest friend's family - the fabulously wealthy Marches. The trick had worked. He was taken seriously and lived on the penumbra of the 300 or so people who actually run the country.
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway from C. P. Snow's 1958 novel, "The Conscience of the Rich". With Adam Godley [Lewis Eliot], Anastasia Hille [Sheila Knight], Jamie Glover [Charles March], John Standing [Leonard March], David Horovitch [Philip March], Adam Levy [Roy Calvert], Emma Woolliams [Ann Simon], Michael Culkin [Ronald Porson], Clive Merrison [Godfrey Winslow], Philip Franks [Arthur Brown], Andy Taylor [Francis Getliffe] and David Haig [The Narrator]. 60 minutes
blurb - It is April 1936 and Lewis is now 31 years old. While the facists and the Republicans fought it out in Spain, Lewis navigated his way through the lower echelons of the British establishment. From obscure Midlands poverty he has risen to a fellowship in law at Cambridge University. He had a pretty wife who no one except his closest friends knew was useless. He had never been to University and learned his basic law at night school. He had never been in business and imbibed the vocabulary of management in the atheneum and the manners of privilege at the Friday night dinners of his closest friend's family - the fabulously wealthy Marches. The trick had worked. He was taken seriously and lived on the penumbra of the 300 or so people who actually run the country.
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway from C. P. Snow's 1958 novel, "The Conscience of the Rich". With Adam Godley [Lewis Eliot], Anastasia Hille [Sheila Knight], Jamie Glover [Charles March], John Standing [Leonard March], David Horovitch [Philip March], Adam Levy [Roy Calvert], Emma Woolliams [Ann Simon], Michael Culkin [Ronald Porson], Clive Merrison [Godfrey Winslow], Philip Franks [Arthur Brown], Andy Taylor [Francis Getliffe] and David Haig [The Narrator]. 60 minutes
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2019
As seen through the eyes of Lewis Elliot, a domestic saga unfolds to reach its inevitable end.
Early into this novel I was disappointed that so little was happening and the series' protagonist was reduced to being a fly on the wall, I wanted the story to be written from Charles' perspective instead (and be a book in a different series for that matter). However, this narrative style (strikingly different to the preceding volumes) is the principal device for developing the names into characters in this truly human story of how ones personal principles conflict with those we love.
Whilst Lewis remains relatively detached from the developments, this conveys the truth of the situation; he is (and will always be) a guest and visitor in the high circles of London life. Despite his professional successes, he is still a nobody throughout these years of his life, he is unable to bring anything to the March household except himself (which is often merely an ear to hear the March's discuss their affairs).
This would be a 3 star review but there are a handful of observations made about the human condition that are so accurate this is surely a 4 star read.
Early into this novel I was disappointed that so little was happening and the series' protagonist was reduced to being a fly on the wall, I wanted the story to be written from Charles' perspective instead (and be a book in a different series for that matter). However, this narrative style (strikingly different to the preceding volumes) is the principal device for developing the names into characters in this truly human story of how ones personal principles conflict with those we love.
Whilst Lewis remains relatively detached from the developments, this conveys the truth of the situation; he is (and will always be) a guest and visitor in the high circles of London life. Despite his professional successes, he is still a nobody throughout these years of his life, he is unable to bring anything to the March household except himself (which is often merely an ear to hear the March's discuss their affairs).
This would be a 3 star review but there are a handful of observations made about the human condition that are so accurate this is surely a 4 star read.
May 1, 2022
The Conscience of the Rich by C.P. Snow had been presented as a brilliant family saga of acculturation and assimilation, of veiled anti-Semitism, and of many other processes and human behaviors. Unfortunately, it simply seemed to be yet another family of intergenerational strife with unlikeable characters (other than the father, who I found quite compelling), and spoiled children both rejecting and taking advantage of the position into which they had been born.
March 29, 2013
I adore the entirew Strangers and Brothers series by C.P. Snow, but possibly the third is my favorite. Or the fourth, The Light and the dark ;-)...I have always said that no one constructs a sentence so perfectly and so consistently perfectly as C.P. Snow.
I also highly recommend his wife's body of work, the equally talented but less known Pamela Hansford Johnson.
I also highly recommend his wife's body of work, the equally talented but less known Pamela Hansford Johnson.
October 2, 2016
Story about a law student in London, from a lower class familly, making friends with the upperclass through a fellow student from a rich Jewish family. I didn't enjoy the read, which was flat and cold. Little points of recognition/interest. Not a story I could enjoy or learn something from.
March 15, 2015
Best of the series so far. Terrific portrait of family relations and a more moving moral dilemma than in the earlier books.
December 22, 2020
One of the less successful books in this series. It traces the breakdown in relationship between narrator Lewis Eliot's friend Charles March, and Charles' father Leonard. It begins well: Leonard is wonderfully eccentric, vivid and funny; Charles is serious, intelligent and driven by his conscience. But whenever did a family speak to itself in such a stilted, formal fashion? Disputes around a dinner table sound more like diplomatic negotiations between strangers. And in order to follow the story, Eliot has to be shoe-horned into situations where he simply doesn't belong, invited as a houseguest when it would be far more believable for the rows to happen behind closed doors.
Make some allowance for them all being moneyed, and for the story taking place in the 1920s and 30s, but it still feels unconvincing.
Make some allowance for them all being moneyed, and for the story taking place in the 1920s and 30s, but it still feels unconvincing.
February 14, 2023
By this book, the third in the Strangers and Brothers series, C.P. Snow has developed the characters, their houses and their social backgrounds to be microcosms of early to mid-20th Century London.
The use of coffee shops and formal Friday night dinners set scenes for some very tense and, at times humourous dialogue. The friendship between Lewis and Charles is at the core of the book.
The book builds on the previous books in the series as the characters mature and develop their careers while the political landscape of Europe changes subtly in the background.
The use of coffee shops and formal Friday night dinners set scenes for some very tense and, at times humourous dialogue. The friendship between Lewis and Charles is at the core of the book.
The book builds on the previous books in the series as the characters mature and develop their careers while the political landscape of Europe changes subtly in the background.
June 19, 2018
I'm beginning to care about the Strangers and Brothers series. At least this installment was much more likable than George Passant. But still, this is a long way from being another Dance to the Music of Time. I will hang in for a few volumes more at least. The people that love this series really love it, and many of them are people I respect. But so far I'm wondering what they found about it to love.
February 11, 2023
Got real boring toward the end. Some nice, classic, pre-television writing. It centers heavily around Jewish family stuff. It felt very confined, seeing through Lewis' eyes, but obsessive about Charles and especially his father Mr. March. As if Mr. March's domineering ways were actually dominating the whole book. Every character seemed to care only about what Mr. March thought, and this became oppressive after a while and I just wanted to wrap up the book.
February 21, 2019
I quite like CP Snow, he has a direct yet engaging way of story telling. This is an interesting description of a between the wars wealthy Jewish family. Half way through it so far. Maybe a somewhat dated style, but I like that.
December 30, 2021
I'm reading this because the 11 novel sequence is listed as one on Anthony Burgess's 99 Novels. So far, I've enjoyed reading through novel #3.
August 21, 2022
Not as good as I was hoping it would be.
April 16, 2022
The Conscience of the Rich by C.P. Snow had been presented as a brilliant family saga of acculturation and assimilation, of veiled anti-Semitism, and of many other processes and human behaviors. Unfortunately, it simply seemed to be yet another family of intergenerational strife with unlikeable characters (other than the father, who I found quite compelling), and spoiled children both rejecting and taking advantage of the position into which they had been born.
September 2, 2011
Much better than anticipated, full review to follow.
November 15, 2013
I can't read anymore British society dramas. I'm done.
June 22, 2013
A novel of conflict exploring the world of the great Anglo-Jewish banking families between the two World Wars.
Working from a list of books I read years ago.
Working from a list of books I read years ago.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews