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The Comforters
In Muriel Spark's fantastic first novel, the only things that aren't ambiguous are her matchless originality and glittering wit.
Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys and the strange, detached narration of her every thought and action. She has an unusual problem - she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence, her former lover, finds diamonds in a loaf of bread - could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? And Baron Stock, her bookseller friend, believes he is on the trail of England's leading Satanist.
Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys and the strange, detached narration of her every thought and action. She has an unusual problem - she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence, her former lover, finds diamonds in a loaf of bread - could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? And Baron Stock, her bookseller friend, believes he is on the trail of England's leading Satanist.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1957
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4590 people want to read
About the author
Muriel Spark
222 books1,289 followersDame Muriel Spark, DBE was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
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April 26, 2019It seems appropriate to use the dictation teach you (feature) on my iPad to write this with you (review). I've never tried dictating before always preferring to use a keyboard. But why not, I thought, since this book is about a woman who intermittently hears someone dictating a novel based on thoughts she herself has just had. The disappointed (disembodied) voice she hears is accompanied by the clicked attack (cliquety clack) of typewriter keys.
What I hear as I dictate these sentences is the pink (ping) of the dictation key as it cuts out when I paws (pause) too long before continuing my thought. That, and the fact that I'm going to have to edit some of the words that have appeared on the screen, makes me think I ought to switch back to the keyboard though I am a little curious to see if dictation will change the dial (style) of my writing as it did with Henry James who wrote his longest and most complicated sentences after he began dictating his novels to his secretary because of pain in his wits (wrists) from typing his already long and complicated sentences though I now think I will leave that impediment (experiment) to another day.
Muriel Spark briefly mentions Henry James in this, her first book, but it's worth pointing out that her own sentences are short, and that her style generally tends towards the compact. However, when you begin one of her books and are introduced in the first chapter to a bunch of odd characters, and then find that the next chapter is about an entirely different set of odd characters, you could be fooled into thinking that her style is rather the opposite of compact.
Believe me, you will be wrong. Everything and everybody serves a purpose in the end, the disembodied voice dictating to the typewriter most of all. It's true that it eventually required editing, but without it there would have simply been no book for me to dictate-review in the first place.
What I hear as I dictate these sentences is the pink (ping) of the dictation key as it cuts out when I paws (pause) too long before continuing my thought. That, and the fact that I'm going to have to edit some of the words that have appeared on the screen, makes me think I ought to switch back to the keyboard though I am a little curious to see if dictation will change the dial (style) of my writing as it did with Henry James who wrote his longest and most complicated sentences after he began dictating his novels to his secretary because of pain in his wits (wrists) from typing his already long and complicated sentences though I now think I will leave that impediment (experiment) to another day.
Muriel Spark briefly mentions Henry James in this, her first book, but it's worth pointing out that her own sentences are short, and that her style generally tends towards the compact. However, when you begin one of her books and are introduced in the first chapter to a bunch of odd characters, and then find that the next chapter is about an entirely different set of odd characters, you could be fooled into thinking that her style is rather the opposite of compact.
Believe me, you will be wrong. Everything and everybody serves a purpose in the end, the disembodied voice dictating to the typewriter most of all. It's true that it eventually required editing, but without it there would have simply been no book for me to dictate-review in the first place.
April 27, 2019
Sly wit and subtle humor abound in these pages. This author was brought to my attention by GR friend Fionnuala, thank you. Very different from my usual reading material, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Georgina Hogg is a veritable beast of a woman, mean-spirited and unforgiving, with an ample bosom that threatens all in her path. Worse yet, she "suffers from chronic righteousness."
Caroline Rose is quite a character, but in what way? A recent convert to the Catholic faith, she begins hearing an unseen typewriter clacking away, followed by voices. Is this a religious experience, or could she be going mad?
Laurence Manders has a predilection for snooping, fancies himself a sleuth. With his knack for glomming onto absurd details, he's not all the way wrong. While nosing around in his grandmama's kitchen, Laurence comes across a loaf of bread that yields more than typical wholemeal goodness. It may be that granny is mixed up in some very questionable activities.
As an aside, the edition I checked out from the library is a 1957 copy. Our library did not have this title, but was able to locate one at the Washington University library in St. Louis through the wonderful Mobius program. It was ensconced in some sort of a cardboard protective package that had a sticker on it saying "This book is fragile. Please use it carefully and return it to the box when finished." I figured it would be falling apart in my hands, but it was in remarkably good condition and had that wonderful old book smell that wafted from the pages as they were turned.
Georgina Hogg is a veritable beast of a woman, mean-spirited and unforgiving, with an ample bosom that threatens all in her path. Worse yet, she "suffers from chronic righteousness."
Caroline Rose is quite a character, but in what way? A recent convert to the Catholic faith, she begins hearing an unseen typewriter clacking away, followed by voices. Is this a religious experience, or could she be going mad?
Laurence Manders has a predilection for snooping, fancies himself a sleuth. With his knack for glomming onto absurd details, he's not all the way wrong. While nosing around in his grandmama's kitchen, Laurence comes across a loaf of bread that yields more than typical wholemeal goodness. It may be that granny is mixed up in some very questionable activities.
As an aside, the edition I checked out from the library is a 1957 copy. Our library did not have this title, but was able to locate one at the Washington University library in St. Louis through the wonderful Mobius program. It was ensconced in some sort of a cardboard protective package that had a sticker on it saying "This book is fragile. Please use it carefully and return it to the box when finished." I figured it would be falling apart in my hands, but it was in remarkably good condition and had that wonderful old book smell that wafted from the pages as they were turned.
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May 4, 2019True to the saying nomen est omen this is a sparky novel, unfortunately my senses have been blunted by reading The Secret, I suspect I need a diet of sensible non-fiction and fresh air to restore my reading sensibilities before I can appreciate Muriel Spark again. However I reassure you, gentle reader, that this is a comic novel. While I didn't fall off any chairs holding my aching ribs, my smile to page ratio seemed to be high . In any you have any doubts that this is a comic novel there is also an absurd sub plot about a smuggling gang headed by a Granny who relies on pigeons for communicating with her merry men.
In comparison with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the only other Spark I've read, this is very much a first novel. A first novel that sticks to the principle of write what you know. What does a person writing their first novel know about? They know about writing their first novel. So the central character is a young woman, a Catholic convert, writing a book on twentieth century British literature and having a problem with the chapter on realism. She comes to be haunted by a phantom typewriter which she identifies as someone in another dimension writing about her and eventually it turns out that .
However the other characters try to kick against the implications of this, one theme then is seeking to escape the restrictions of definition and description that other characters attempt to impose on them. Unfortunately since this is a novel they have no real existence and tend to disappear when the author has no further need of them .
One of the problems that the characters have is that because they are only characters rather than people, their efforts to comfort others run awry. They are too caught up with their own hobby horses to ever be helpful to each others, except accidentally.
Another theme is Catholicism. In my mind I'm beginning to create a reading list of Catholicism in twentieth century British writing from Evelyn Waugh via Graham Greene and Muriel Spark to David Lodge . Still after a while this came to blend together with the predominant meta fictional game. The novelist is a creator god who expresses themselves through rituals and formulae. The readers and characters can join in the responses at the expected moments knowing that the villain must die and that the heroine and hero must marry for the sacred history to repeat itself with divine precision.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a very different novel, quite how Spark gets there from here is unclear to me as a reader, that path is shrouded in mist. Though path plainly there was since she did write both! I remember once seeing an exhibition about the riddle of the development of Rembrandt as an artist. A row of drawings were arranged chronologically from very early apprentice works with no discernible Rembrandt style to works although early in his career that had an unmistakable personal style. Yet in this long row there was no smooth transition, rather an abrupt, jagged, change. The riddle of his development remained, perhaps I might also find this to be the case for Spark's novels.
In comparison with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the only other Spark I've read, this is very much a first novel. A first novel that sticks to the principle of write what you know. What does a person writing their first novel know about? They know about writing their first novel. So the central character is a young woman, a Catholic convert, writing a book on twentieth century British literature and having a problem with the chapter on realism. She comes to be haunted by a phantom typewriter which she identifies as someone in another dimension writing about her and eventually it turns out that .
However the other characters try to kick against the implications of this, one theme then is seeking to escape the restrictions of definition and description that other characters attempt to impose on them. Unfortunately since this is a novel they have no real existence and tend to disappear when the author has no further need of them .
One of the problems that the characters have is that because they are only characters rather than people, their efforts to comfort others run awry. They are too caught up with their own hobby horses to ever be helpful to each others, except accidentally.
Another theme is Catholicism. In my mind I'm beginning to create a reading list of Catholicism in twentieth century British writing from Evelyn Waugh via Graham Greene and Muriel Spark to David Lodge . Still after a while this came to blend together with the predominant meta fictional game. The novelist is a creator god who expresses themselves through rituals and formulae. The readers and characters can join in the responses at the expected moments knowing that the villain must die and that the heroine and hero must marry for the sacred history to repeat itself with divine precision.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a very different novel, quite how Spark gets there from here is unclear to me as a reader, that path is shrouded in mist. Though path plainly there was since she did write both! I remember once seeing an exhibition about the riddle of the development of Rembrandt as an artist. A row of drawings were arranged chronologically from very early apprentice works with no discernible Rembrandt style to works although early in his career that had an unmistakable personal style. Yet in this long row there was no smooth transition, rather an abrupt, jagged, change. The riddle of his development remained, perhaps I might also find this to be the case for Spark's novels.
December 14, 2013
Spark’s debut is a sizzling multi-character romp with an unexpected metafictive subplot and an unexpected Grandma’s-smuggled-diamonds-into-loaves-of-bread subplot, amongst other sub and foreplots. Read the Ali Smith preface in this edition then find an edition with a less revolting cover to read the actual novel. The pace sags but the novel sings. Metafictioneers take note of this one: Spark predates Barth et al by a decade.
May 14, 2024
Another Muriel Spark novel. I had read already some five books by her. And she is one of my favourite writers. I knew what I expected when I began the novel and I was not disappointed. Only that I was surprised to find out in the curse of reading The Comforters was Spark's debut. When I learned that fact, few things easily fell into places. For instance, the themes of conversion (She became a Catholic in 1954) and writing a novel (a character in the novel, who is also meditating to write a novel, is obsessed with a thought that she is part of a plot written by a disembodied spirit).
About the theme of Conversion:
I expect the theme of religion (specifically Catholicism) in Spark's novels. She was an unorthodox kind of a Catholic. This novel being a debut, we get a glimpse into Spark's own reasoning into her own conviction that led her to Catholicism. She clearly states that it was not easy way to salvation that led her to Catholicism. She writes in the novel in a tongue in cheek manner of a recent convert who justifies his conversion in the following manner: "The wonderful thing about being a Catholic is that it makes life so easy. Everything easy for salvation and you can have a happy life. All the little things that the Protestant hate, like the statues and the medals, they all help us to have a happy life."
This is a shallow level. Any Christian, irrespective of the denomination that he belongs to, who has such a shallow opinion is deceiving himself. She writes rather forcefully: "The demands of the Christian religion are exorbitant, they are outrageous. Christians who don't realize that from the start are not faithful. They are dishonest; their teachers are talking in their sleep. "Love one another ... brethren, beloved ... your brother, neighbours, love, love, love" - do they know what they are saying?"
This thought is expressed by a character who is a recent convert who is haunted by a muse that at last succeeds in making the character to write a novel. Surely that character in the novel must be Spark. The autobiographical elements add flavour and I love them. For I love Spark.
About the theme of Writing:
As I said earlier, the writer is to be haunted. The character in the novel hears voices preceded by sound of someone typing the keys on a typewriter. No one else hears. When she shares it with the friends they mistake her for suffering from delusion. In fact, that may be right too. But that is the way with the writer. To escape the torment, advice given is to take short notes and organize them later into a novel. I think, that is what Spark must have decided. The autobiographical elements thus spotted till then in the novel get justified. She (Spark) must have consulted herself and others as she began contemplating the idea of being a novelist. The advice she received must have been: "Make it straight old fashioned story, no modern mystifications. End with the death of the villain and the marriage of the heroine." This is the advice given to the character in the novel by a senior character. And I think Spark stuck to such advice.
Finally:
The above two views on the novel are my obsessions. I expect them in Spark. But that should not cancel out other elements. She is a writer for everyone. She is a master story teller. You begin a detached reader and then suddenly you are caught in the hypnotic words of Spark. Spark will look at you teasingly and you will want her to go on narrating (turning furiously the pages). This story is not so different. There are interesting characters - 76 year old lady who is the Queen of a Diamond smuggling ring, a full breasted woman who is hated by all, a man who is obsessed with diabolism/black magic without he himself realizing it, a business tycoon who is fond of making retreats, etc.
Spark entertained me. And I am thankful.
About the theme of Conversion:
I expect the theme of religion (specifically Catholicism) in Spark's novels. She was an unorthodox kind of a Catholic. This novel being a debut, we get a glimpse into Spark's own reasoning into her own conviction that led her to Catholicism. She clearly states that it was not easy way to salvation that led her to Catholicism. She writes in the novel in a tongue in cheek manner of a recent convert who justifies his conversion in the following manner: "The wonderful thing about being a Catholic is that it makes life so easy. Everything easy for salvation and you can have a happy life. All the little things that the Protestant hate, like the statues and the medals, they all help us to have a happy life."
This is a shallow level. Any Christian, irrespective of the denomination that he belongs to, who has such a shallow opinion is deceiving himself. She writes rather forcefully: "The demands of the Christian religion are exorbitant, they are outrageous. Christians who don't realize that from the start are not faithful. They are dishonest; their teachers are talking in their sleep. "Love one another ... brethren, beloved ... your brother, neighbours, love, love, love" - do they know what they are saying?"
This thought is expressed by a character who is a recent convert who is haunted by a muse that at last succeeds in making the character to write a novel. Surely that character in the novel must be Spark. The autobiographical elements add flavour and I love them. For I love Spark.
About the theme of Writing:
As I said earlier, the writer is to be haunted. The character in the novel hears voices preceded by sound of someone typing the keys on a typewriter. No one else hears. When she shares it with the friends they mistake her for suffering from delusion. In fact, that may be right too. But that is the way with the writer. To escape the torment, advice given is to take short notes and organize them later into a novel. I think, that is what Spark must have decided. The autobiographical elements thus spotted till then in the novel get justified. She (Spark) must have consulted herself and others as she began contemplating the idea of being a novelist. The advice she received must have been: "Make it straight old fashioned story, no modern mystifications. End with the death of the villain and the marriage of the heroine." This is the advice given to the character in the novel by a senior character. And I think Spark stuck to such advice.
Finally:
The above two views on the novel are my obsessions. I expect them in Spark. But that should not cancel out other elements. She is a writer for everyone. She is a master story teller. You begin a detached reader and then suddenly you are caught in the hypnotic words of Spark. Spark will look at you teasingly and you will want her to go on narrating (turning furiously the pages). This story is not so different. There are interesting characters - 76 year old lady who is the Queen of a Diamond smuggling ring, a full breasted woman who is hated by all, a man who is obsessed with diabolism/black magic without he himself realizing it, a business tycoon who is fond of making retreats, etc.
Spark entertained me. And I am thankful.
April 30, 2025
Tap-Click-Tap. Caroline Rose was hearing voices, but she remained uncertain of their source. She had recently converted to Catholicism, and shortly following her stay at the Pilgrim Centre of St. Philumena's, the voices narrating her life and others had begun, accompanied by the sound of a typewriter.
Will Ferrell's character in the 2006 film Stranger than Fiction also experiences this phenomenon. I saw that movie first, years ago, but this, Muriel Spark's metafictional debut novel, was the original. Catholicism, the occult, diamond smuggling, blackmail, and an upending of the novel form. Much—including a religious miracle—is never confirmed or denied, which only adds to the fun. One of the minor characters is a gay man and portrayal is beautifully sympathetic—in later novels Spark can be a bit vicious with her gays. It is the book that launched a thousand quips, and it ranks among Spark's best (the plot slackens somewhat in the second half).
Will Ferrell's character in the 2006 film Stranger than Fiction also experiences this phenomenon. I saw that movie first, years ago, but this, Muriel Spark's metafictional debut novel, was the original. Catholicism, the occult, diamond smuggling, blackmail, and an upending of the novel form. Much—including a religious miracle—is never confirmed or denied, which only adds to the fun. One of the minor characters is a gay man and portrayal is beautifully sympathetic—in later novels Spark can be a bit vicious with her gays. It is the book that launched a thousand quips, and it ranks among Spark's best (the plot slackens somewhat in the second half).
May 22, 2022
(4.5) Often sublime, always entertaining and dizzyingly masterful debut. A bit like a slightly more deranged, metafictional Ealing comedy. What a gift Muriel Spark was.
April 12, 2020
Just before the libraries closed, I borrowed the longest Muriel Spark novels that I hadn't read yet: this and The Mandelbaum Gate. 'The Comforters', as it turns out, was her first published novel. I doubt I'd have realised that without it being pointed out in the introduction, as Spark already has her assured narrative voice and arch wit fully developed. The plot is perhaps not as tight as some of her later, shorter novellas, though. There is also a central conceit more explicitly experimental than I've found in her other fiction: one of the main characters becomes aware that she's in a novel. This meta twist is treated in characteristically deadpan fashion. Caroline, the character experiencing it, unsurprisingly assumes at first that she is delusional and receives a variety of unhelpful advice from friends, relatives, and her boyfriend Laurence. I found Laurence a very entertaining character, essentially a Useless Sherlock Holmes. He is very nosy and has a remarkable eye for detail, but by temperament and inclination doesn't draw useful conclusions from what he discovers. When he does uncover something interesting, like a smuggling ring involving his grandmother, he cannot keep it to himself.
The darkly farcical plot of 'The Comforters' revolves around secrets incompetently concealed and blackmail ineptly attempted. The dramatic climaxes are sudden, apparently random events that appear dropped in by the novelist, who Caroline can sometimes eavesdrop on. As usual with Spark, Catholicism is a running theme, the dialogue is witty and tart, and several characters are convincingly unbearable people. Georgina Hogg and the Baron are especially memorable creations and Louisa is magnificently enigmatic. Mental illness is a more significant theme here than in other Spark novels. My favourite moments tended to centre upon this:
Muriel Spark's writing is a balm in troubled times, definitely recommended as lockdown reading.
The darkly farcical plot of 'The Comforters' revolves around secrets incompetently concealed and blackmail ineptly attempted. The dramatic climaxes are sudden, apparently random events that appear dropped in by the novelist, who Caroline can sometimes eavesdrop on. As usual with Spark, Catholicism is a running theme, the dialogue is witty and tart, and several characters are convincingly unbearable people. Georgina Hogg and the Baron are especially memorable creations and Louisa is magnificently enigmatic. Mental illness is a more significant theme here than in other Spark novels. My favourite moments tended to centre upon this:
"I'm sure, Willi," said Caroline, "that you are suffering from the emotional effects of Eleanor leaving you. I am sure, Willi, that you should see a psychiatrist."
"If what you say were true," he said, "it would be horribly tactless of you to say it. As it is I make allowances for your own disorder."
"Is the world a lunatic asylum then? Are we all courteous maniacs discreetly making allowances for everyone else's derangement?"
"Largely," said the Baron.
"I resist the proposition," Caroline said.
"That is an intolerant attitude."
"It's the only alternative to demonstrating the proposition," Caroline said.
"I don't know," said the Baron, "really why I continue to open my mind to you."
Muriel Spark's writing is a balm in troubled times, definitely recommended as lockdown reading.
March 25, 2012
Meta-literary novels are boring (though not as boring as meta-filmic movies), and if they don't bore you by now (2012)... well, you need to think about something else for a while. Which makes this novel particularly notable, since it is meta-literary and also not boring. It's not hard to work out why, though: Spark isn't out to subvert our expectations or undermine the authority of the Author or anything like that. Instead, she draws a wonderful analogy between faith in God and faith in art, and, therefore, human beings. There is no physical evidence that art is any good, or even that it exists (you can't prove that something is a novel by pointing to a thick wad of paper); there's certainly not much evidence that human beings are any good.
And yet. Here we have a very good novel, written by a narrator with whom I would love to spend time. I would love to spend time with the characters. The plot is self-consciously convoluted and based on coincidence and unlikely events and... fabulous for all that. Spoiler: the evil woman dies. The end is happy, despite the omnipresent creepiness of the whole thing. And all this in the 'fifties, back when nobody was thinking about meta-literary themes, right? Well, no. Spark was thinking about them, writing about them, and doing it more coherently, more interestingly, and more profoundly than any of your favorite writers from the seventies, eighties and today (I wonder how that radio station advertizes itself now? I'm getting old). As a special bonus, the book isn't about 'literature'. It's about life. What a thought.
And yet. Here we have a very good novel, written by a narrator with whom I would love to spend time. I would love to spend time with the characters. The plot is self-consciously convoluted and based on coincidence and unlikely events and... fabulous for all that. Spoiler: the evil woman dies. The end is happy, despite the omnipresent creepiness of the whole thing. And all this in the 'fifties, back when nobody was thinking about meta-literary themes, right? Well, no. Spark was thinking about them, writing about them, and doing it more coherently, more interestingly, and more profoundly than any of your favorite writers from the seventies, eighties and today (I wonder how that radio station advertizes itself now? I'm getting old). As a special bonus, the book isn't about 'literature'. It's about life. What a thought.
April 11, 2024
adored the first half, slightly let down by the second half, but such an intriguing piece of metafiction. 3.5 stars
October 20, 2023
به معنی واقعی کلمه هذیون بود. به سختی حتی میتونم یک ستاره بهش بدم. از خوندنش سردرد گرفتم.
November 20, 2007
I liked this book in that it was sometimes very dry and funny, sometimes quite shocking, and often made me feel like a complete idiot for not being sure about what was going on.
October 12, 2024
'Is the world a lunatic asylum then? Are we all courteous maniacs discreetly making allowances for everyone else's derangement?'Or... how did this thing get published? Ugh.
If this had been the first book I'd read by Muriel Spark, my interest may very well have ended here. That wasn't the case. I started with what appears to be one of her best: 'Loitering with Intent'. I then searched back a bit to the earlier 'The Public Image'; more of a fluff piece but at least it holds together.
Then going back further, I found myself with this debut work. Following the instincts of all good novelists, Spark starts out well, introducing a few narrative threads and interweaving them. Midway, however, she moves into automatic writing: not particularly knowing where she's going with what she has set up, but continuing to write.
I gave her the benefit of the doubt at that point. My mistake. Talent pokes out early on, then runs and hides. This is just awful.
January 30, 2021
Firstly, I have to thank Fionnula’s excellent review last year that caused me to add this to my To Read list. I recently saw it on my local library shelves, and decided to read it – I am so glad I did.
There are few writers that come out of the barriers fully fledged with a distinctive style and ideas, as Muriel Spark did. Fortunately, she had literary friends who read the manuscript and championed it, and a new literary star was born. Excluding The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Spark consistently broke the novel conventions of the day. In this one, she breaks the 4th wall, but instead of the characters talking to the audience, the audience (ie the writer) talks to the characters, well, one in particular. WE don’t find it disconcerting (well, we shouldn’t), but our character Caroline does, just as an audience can feel uncomfortable when we are confronted by an actor on staff deliberately talking to us when we aren’t supposed to be there.
So much is squeezed into this book, and all covered well. Overall, this book is taking a big laugh at contemporary trends in literature of the day. It has “realism” (the Angry Young Men were at their height), a mystery that hints at Cold War paranoia, and religion – particularly the parallels of Anglicanism and Catholicism. Both plot and dialogue are witty, and somewhat caustic. The novel is also partly autobiographical.
Spark had recently converted to Catholicism and was exploring the nuances and the people who flocked to it; she had experienced a nervous breakdown and was recovering; and one of the medications during her breakdown induced hallucinations. Astutely, she worked all this into the novel without making it feel overloaded.
The characters are well rounded and often colourful and eccentric. Many of them resemble the different people Spark associated with in her life – literary and bohemian types, those born into Catholicism as compared to converters, and the wealthy that like to “help” others.
I didn’t understand the title until I encountered Ali Smith’s 2017 review where she explained the title – The Comforters are from the Book of Job. As Job’s trials become more severe, there are people who try to comfort him during this trying time. The same thing is happening here – everyone in Caroline’s social circle are concerned about her mental suffering. And, just as in the Bible, the “comforters” for Job were ineffectual in alleviating his ordeals. Caroline’s friends are all useless too; in fact, they tend to use Caroline’s distress to further themselves – be it having cache in spreading gossip, or to try and manipulate her for their personal gain. I felt a bit dim in not getting what Spark was trying to achieve it, because she does manipulate the title exceedingly well.
What is apparent is the ineptitude of the friends. Laurence is a busybody, and thus one would feel would make a clever detective, but even with all the “clues” surrounding the mystery of his grandmother, and of which we, the reader, see very clearly (Hell! Gran practically tells him), he still isn’t absolutely sure what he has is the truth. Laurence’s mother likes to help people using her influence, but she consistently places inappropriate applicants resulting in disastrous and comic outcomes.
Mrs Jepp the grandmother and her gang are a perfect foil to satirise the Cold War spy novels and in the then contemporary media. The convolutions and passwords are excessive, unnecessary, and complicated to get the stolen goods from her hands to the detailer. All the time the people smuggling the items into Britain repeat the same procedure such that any detective with any intelligence would be able to catch them in the process. This is of course making a mockery of the popular spy thrillers appearing on the screen and in fiction at the time.
This is a clever, satirical novel working on many levels and attacking the popular literary styles and themes of the day. Although an easy book to read, it would not be satisfying to readers who are not familiar with the themes that Sparks pillories.
There are few writers that come out of the barriers fully fledged with a distinctive style and ideas, as Muriel Spark did. Fortunately, she had literary friends who read the manuscript and championed it, and a new literary star was born. Excluding The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Spark consistently broke the novel conventions of the day. In this one, she breaks the 4th wall, but instead of the characters talking to the audience, the audience (ie the writer) talks to the characters, well, one in particular. WE don’t find it disconcerting (well, we shouldn’t), but our character Caroline does, just as an audience can feel uncomfortable when we are confronted by an actor on staff deliberately talking to us when we aren’t supposed to be there.
So much is squeezed into this book, and all covered well. Overall, this book is taking a big laugh at contemporary trends in literature of the day. It has “realism” (the Angry Young Men were at their height), a mystery that hints at Cold War paranoia, and religion – particularly the parallels of Anglicanism and Catholicism. Both plot and dialogue are witty, and somewhat caustic. The novel is also partly autobiographical.
Spark had recently converted to Catholicism and was exploring the nuances and the people who flocked to it; she had experienced a nervous breakdown and was recovering; and one of the medications during her breakdown induced hallucinations. Astutely, she worked all this into the novel without making it feel overloaded.
The characters are well rounded and often colourful and eccentric. Many of them resemble the different people Spark associated with in her life – literary and bohemian types, those born into Catholicism as compared to converters, and the wealthy that like to “help” others.
I didn’t understand the title until I encountered Ali Smith’s 2017 review where she explained the title – The Comforters are from the Book of Job. As Job’s trials become more severe, there are people who try to comfort him during this trying time. The same thing is happening here – everyone in Caroline’s social circle are concerned about her mental suffering. And, just as in the Bible, the “comforters” for Job were ineffectual in alleviating his ordeals. Caroline’s friends are all useless too; in fact, they tend to use Caroline’s distress to further themselves – be it having cache in spreading gossip, or to try and manipulate her for their personal gain. I felt a bit dim in not getting what Spark was trying to achieve it, because she does manipulate the title exceedingly well.
What is apparent is the ineptitude of the friends. Laurence is a busybody, and thus one would feel would make a clever detective, but even with all the “clues” surrounding the mystery of his grandmother, and of which we, the reader, see very clearly (Hell! Gran practically tells him), he still isn’t absolutely sure what he has is the truth. Laurence’s mother likes to help people using her influence, but she consistently places inappropriate applicants resulting in disastrous and comic outcomes.
Mrs Jepp the grandmother and her gang are a perfect foil to satirise the Cold War spy novels and in the then contemporary media. The convolutions and passwords are excessive, unnecessary, and complicated to get the stolen goods from her hands to the detailer. All the time the people smuggling the items into Britain repeat the same procedure such that any detective with any intelligence would be able to catch them in the process. This is of course making a mockery of the popular spy thrillers appearing on the screen and in fiction at the time.
This is a clever, satirical novel working on many levels and attacking the popular literary styles and themes of the day. Although an easy book to read, it would not be satisfying to readers who are not familiar with the themes that Sparks pillories.
September 19, 2023
تسلیدهندگان، اولین رمان موریل اسپارک، نویسنده و رماننویس اسکاتلندی است. رمان برای اولین بار در سال ۱۹۵۷ به توصیه گراهام گرین به عنوان اثری اصیل که تا سالها خوانده خواهد شد توسط انتشارات مکمیلان منتشر شد. اثری که انفجاری درخشان در برابر مُد رئالیستی زمان خود بود. دیوانگی، خیر و شر، مضامین و پیرنگ اصلی رمان را تشکیل میدهند که نویسنده در سرتاسر رمان به شیوهای دقیق و در عین حال شوخطبعانه به آنها پرداخته است. نظم و تکنیک اسپارک در رماننویسی و استفاده از مسئله واقعیت در مقابل حقیقت با ایجاد دوگانه رمان در رمان و هنر و مهارت او در ساخت و پرداخت یکپارچه شخصیتها برای خواننده جذاب و قابل توجه است.
October 14, 2021
Muriel Spark is a strange writer for me. Despite giving the vast majority of the books I've read by her a three, I'll still pick up any book with her name attached, because when she's good, she completely knocks it out of the park. See Memento Mori. Or The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
The Comforters is, I believe, her debut, but then again, I've read a few other novels by her that claim to be her debut so I'm not entirely sure which was her first. If it is in fact her debut, then her hallmarks have a writer have already been established. A large cast of quirky individuals, all terrible people in their own right. Catholicism (Even though I am not a Catholic, I have noticed a tendency to connect with Catholic writers- Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Flannery O'Connor, Muriel Spark. Strange). Blackmail. A tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Satanism/the Occult. They're all there in The Comforters, and yet there is a lack of polish here that the novels by her written in her golden age have.
The characters, with the except of Caroline, who I quite liked, feel a bit cardboard. Helena, the jilted-wife-turned-religious-fanatic, who is straight out of a Victorian Gothic novel. The Baron, who makes me think of a cut character from a Waugh novel. Louisa, the quirky criminal grandma and the most stock of all the characters. I enjoyed reading about them all, but they weren't the most original or memorable.
I did, however, enjoy the metafiction aspects. I liked Caroline's slow realization she was a character in a novel. I liked the satirical elements, the mocking of spy novels, Laurence's inept detectivetude (I really liked Laurence, by the way). I liked how the metafictional aspect made the cliche plot contrievances okay (perhaps John Boyne should take notes). And it's very funny. Another reviewer compared this to a Wes Anderson picture and I have to agree. The humor is quirky, everything turns out okay, but you're left with this lingering creepiness after you turn the last page.
I don't think I would start with this Spark novel, however, if you're already a Spark fan and looking for something to read, I recommend it. I just wish it had more mental staying power.
The Comforters is, I believe, her debut, but then again, I've read a few other novels by her that claim to be her debut so I'm not entirely sure which was her first. If it is in fact her debut, then her hallmarks have a writer have already been established. A large cast of quirky individuals, all terrible people in their own right. Catholicism (Even though I am not a Catholic, I have noticed a tendency to connect with Catholic writers- Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Flannery O'Connor, Muriel Spark. Strange). Blackmail. A tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Satanism/the Occult. They're all there in The Comforters, and yet there is a lack of polish here that the novels by her written in her golden age have.
The characters, with the except of Caroline, who I quite liked, feel a bit cardboard. Helena, the jilted-wife-turned-religious-fanatic, who is straight out of a Victorian Gothic novel. The Baron, who makes me think of a cut character from a Waugh novel. Louisa, the quirky criminal grandma and the most stock of all the characters. I enjoyed reading about them all, but they weren't the most original or memorable.
I did, however, enjoy the metafiction aspects. I liked Caroline's slow realization she was a character in a novel. I liked the satirical elements, the mocking of spy novels, Laurence's inept detectivetude (I really liked Laurence, by the way). I liked how the metafictional aspect made the cliche plot contrievances okay (perhaps John Boyne should take notes). And it's very funny. Another reviewer compared this to a Wes Anderson picture and I have to agree. The humor is quirky, everything turns out okay, but you're left with this lingering creepiness after you turn the last page.
I don't think I would start with this Spark novel, however, if you're already a Spark fan and looking for something to read, I recommend it. I just wish it had more mental staying power.
May 4, 2019
Written in 1957, The Comforters is a curious and fun mix of English manners, mystery, and a post-modern writer’s examination of writing that reminded me of Sophie's World without the philosophy.
I read this on the strength of a review by Zoeytron, who really should be paid to write cover copy.
I read this on the strength of a review by Zoeytron, who really should be paid to write cover copy.
Read
March 12, 2023I think I shall review this like an old man writing a film review for the guardian and say it was RIOTOUSLY GOOD FUN
June 23, 2025
I don't usually care for postmodernism / metafiction and I usually care for Spark, and Spark won here, because being by Spark this is a human book and one does not give the same feeling of lifeless self-congratulatory "cleverness" that you sometimes do from other authors working in this direction.
"The narrative could never become coherent to her until she was at last outside it, and at the same time consummately inside it"
"The narrative could never become coherent to her until she was at last outside it, and at the same time consummately inside it"
May 18, 2018
Having loved The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and inspired by the centenary of Muriel Spark's birth, I decided to tackle this, her debut novel.
It is a very odd book - but I mean that in a good way. There is some of the acerbic humour of Jean Brodie, but this is a very meta book. Remarkably so, given this is a first novel, and one published in 1957. Coming straight from Brodie, you could easily be wrong-footed.
Its offbeam style is present from the get-go. From the moment we meet Laurence and his grandmother Louisa, we know there are going to be plenty of eccentrics in the novel.
But the most subversive part of the plot focuses on Laurence's fiancee Caroline, who begins to be plagued by the noise of typewriter keys, and realises she can hear her actions and those of everyone around her being narrated.
She appears to be in a novel; but it's up to the reader to decide how much of this is a genuine piece of metafiction, and how much is purely in Caroline's mind.
There are other strands to the novel too though. Could Louisa be running a ring of spies, or perhaps even be a criminal mastermind? And then there's family friend Baron Stock's pursuit of Britain's most notorious Satanist.
In fact, when you write those bare details down, the book sounds utterly deranged, but it's Spark's genius that she marries the mad with the mundane courtesy of a light and skilled touch that prevents the whole conceit crashing and burning.
There is also plenty of humour, and it is skilfully and playfully constructed. I am sure when I read more of here work, these skills will be even better employed, but The Comforters is still a remarkable beginning.
Ali Smith, no stranger to metafiction herself, has sung its praises, and the influence and reputation of Muriel Spark is justifiably growing. I will be reading more.
It is a very odd book - but I mean that in a good way. There is some of the acerbic humour of Jean Brodie, but this is a very meta book. Remarkably so, given this is a first novel, and one published in 1957. Coming straight from Brodie, you could easily be wrong-footed.
Its offbeam style is present from the get-go. From the moment we meet Laurence and his grandmother Louisa, we know there are going to be plenty of eccentrics in the novel.
But the most subversive part of the plot focuses on Laurence's fiancee Caroline, who begins to be plagued by the noise of typewriter keys, and realises she can hear her actions and those of everyone around her being narrated.
She appears to be in a novel; but it's up to the reader to decide how much of this is a genuine piece of metafiction, and how much is purely in Caroline's mind.
There are other strands to the novel too though. Could Louisa be running a ring of spies, or perhaps even be a criminal mastermind? And then there's family friend Baron Stock's pursuit of Britain's most notorious Satanist.
In fact, when you write those bare details down, the book sounds utterly deranged, but it's Spark's genius that she marries the mad with the mundane courtesy of a light and skilled touch that prevents the whole conceit crashing and burning.
There is also plenty of humour, and it is skilfully and playfully constructed. I am sure when I read more of here work, these skills will be even better employed, but The Comforters is still a remarkable beginning.
Ali Smith, no stranger to metafiction herself, has sung its praises, and the influence and reputation of Muriel Spark is justifiably growing. I will be reading more.
July 10, 2024
You live two lives: one before knowing Muriel Spark and then after reading her.
The former seems futile and incomplete, devoid of a serendipity. The latter is different: nothing that you had known before.
You can't figure out what sorcery her words are up to. You feel being drawn deeper and deeper, with your mind being rewired in a mysterious way. Cryptic and uncanny.
Muriel Spark makes you grateful to be alive.
The former seems futile and incomplete, devoid of a serendipity. The latter is different: nothing that you had known before.
You can't figure out what sorcery her words are up to. You feel being drawn deeper and deeper, with your mind being rewired in a mysterious way. Cryptic and uncanny.
Muriel Spark makes you grateful to be alive.
April 21, 2024
Quando si rende conto che sente delle voci, delle voci che conoscono i suoi stessi pensieri e le persone che la circondano, Caroline Rose si spaventa, crede di essere matta, di aver perso la ragione, anche se, al contempo, si sente tremendamente lucida.
Il rumore della macchina da scrivere precede le voci con il suo familiare tap-tic-tap e Caroline stringe il taccuino a sé e stenografa tutto quello che sente con precisa frenesia. Cosa sta succedendo? Da dove arrivano quelle voci che sembrano raccontare la sua storia, quasi come se la sua vita fosse solo un’invenzione fantastica, parte di un romanzo che uno scrittore trasfigurato, proveniente da un’altra dimensione, ha deciso di scrivere?
Ma Caroline non può accettare di essere un personaggio di finzione, non può rimanere inerte mentre la storia si dipana intorno a lei, lotta contro di essa con tutte le sue forze, anche quando la narrazione sembra decisa a relegarla in un angolo. Ma anche gli altri personaggi, in tutta la loro eccentricità, reclamano l’attenzione del lettore, che ne segue le vicende divertito e affascinato: vediamo Louisa Jepp coinvolta in chissà quali attività clandestine, mentre Laurence – suo nipote – vorrebbe tanto poterla cogliere con le mani nel sacco, dimostrando, ancora una volta, quanto sia incredibilmente acuto e sagace.
I presunti complici di Louisa, poi, vengono abbozzati con pochi precisi tratti, in grado di darcene un’immagine chiara e ironica: Mervyn e Andrew Hoggarth, padre e figlio, e il signor Webster, il fornaio del piccolo paesino nel quale Louisa vive modestamente; per non parlare di sua figlia Helena, sposata al magnate dei fichi sciroppati sempre in ritiro spirituale, preoccupata per la madre così sola e in evidenti ristrettezze economiche.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
Il rumore della macchina da scrivere precede le voci con il suo familiare tap-tic-tap e Caroline stringe il taccuino a sé e stenografa tutto quello che sente con precisa frenesia. Cosa sta succedendo? Da dove arrivano quelle voci che sembrano raccontare la sua storia, quasi come se la sua vita fosse solo un’invenzione fantastica, parte di un romanzo che uno scrittore trasfigurato, proveniente da un’altra dimensione, ha deciso di scrivere?
Ma Caroline non può accettare di essere un personaggio di finzione, non può rimanere inerte mentre la storia si dipana intorno a lei, lotta contro di essa con tutte le sue forze, anche quando la narrazione sembra decisa a relegarla in un angolo. Ma anche gli altri personaggi, in tutta la loro eccentricità, reclamano l’attenzione del lettore, che ne segue le vicende divertito e affascinato: vediamo Louisa Jepp coinvolta in chissà quali attività clandestine, mentre Laurence – suo nipote – vorrebbe tanto poterla cogliere con le mani nel sacco, dimostrando, ancora una volta, quanto sia incredibilmente acuto e sagace.
I presunti complici di Louisa, poi, vengono abbozzati con pochi precisi tratti, in grado di darcene un’immagine chiara e ironica: Mervyn e Andrew Hoggarth, padre e figlio, e il signor Webster, il fornaio del piccolo paesino nel quale Louisa vive modestamente; per non parlare di sua figlia Helena, sposata al magnate dei fichi sciroppati sempre in ritiro spirituale, preoccupata per la madre così sola e in evidenti ristrettezze economiche.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
July 17, 2024
یک ستاره هم "به نظر من" براش اضافی بود. بهسختی خودم رو مجاب کردم که تمومش کنم. تا آخرین صفحه متوجه نشدم که مخاطب قراره چه چیزی رو از این کتاب دریافت کنه؛ اینکه همه ما شخصیت یک قصه هستیم؟
داستان کرکترهای اضافی زیادی داشت و همزمان اصرار میکرد درباره زندگی همشون حرف بزنه.
شاید اگر هدیه نبود، هیچوقت نمیخوندمش.
داستان کرکترهای اضافی زیادی داشت و همزمان اصرار میکرد درباره زندگی همشون حرف بزنه.
شاید اگر هدیه نبود، هیچوقت نمیخوندمش.
August 20, 2021
4/5
A cualquier escritor le gustaría tener una primera novela como esta.
Y es que M. Spark, con una historia que aúna toques de humor, extravagancia, misterio y personajes carismáticos, consigue una trama diferente y bastante peculiar que mantiene la atención del lector de una manera constante a lo largo de la misma.
"[...] Caroline recuperó la comodidad que sentía en compañía del sacerdote, que jamás la trataba como alguien muy distinta a quien era en realidad. La trataba no solo como a una niña, no solo como a una intelectual, no solo como a una mujer nerviosa, no solo como a una rara; parecía asumir sin más que ella era como era."
He de reconocer que cuando comencé a leer el libro, no esperaba encontrarme con un estilo tan marcado y único como el de Muriel, pero justo eso, su forma de llevar la novela, las interacciones tan caóticas y surrealistas entre los personajes, y la relación de los mismos con los sucesos que ocurren en una historia en la que nada es lo que parece, es lo que hace de "Las voces" una novela de la que no te puedes despegar como lector, queriendo continuar leyendo a Muriel en sus próximas publicaciones para ver que nos depara.
"¡Una solución temporal! Vosotros los católicos os las sabéis todas. No tenéis más que hacer alguna visitilla que otra al confesionario entre soluciones temporales y todo arreglado."
Por otra parte, llama mucho la atención como, tras un suceso de bastante importancia, el peso argumental pasa de los personajes principales iniciales a otros. ¿Un recurso arriesgado? Sí, para que mentir, pero contado como lo cuenta la autora no lo parece, ya que consigue que el lector continúe descubriendo el misterio de la historia sin perder en ningún momento el interés por la misma, ya que, a su vez, sigue proporcionando información sobre estos personajes hasta que reaparecen.
"No ¿por qué? Estar un poquito mal de la chaveta no es pecado -y añadió-: ya sé que no estoy muy cuerda."
En lo que respecta a "Las voces", título del debut y que hace honor a uno de los desencadenantes más importantes de la trama, he de confesar que me parece todo un acierto la forma en que son introducidas y llevadas, al igual que los dos giros más importantes (e inesperados).
Espero que, si todavía no habéis leído a Muriel, os haya convencido con esta reseña ¡No os va a defraudar!
Nos leemos :)
Gracias a Blackie Books por el ejemplar.
Reseña en la web de El Imperio de los Libros: https://www.elimperiodelibros.com/not...
A cualquier escritor le gustaría tener una primera novela como esta.
Y es que M. Spark, con una historia que aúna toques de humor, extravagancia, misterio y personajes carismáticos, consigue una trama diferente y bastante peculiar que mantiene la atención del lector de una manera constante a lo largo de la misma.
"[...] Caroline recuperó la comodidad que sentía en compañía del sacerdote, que jamás la trataba como alguien muy distinta a quien era en realidad. La trataba no solo como a una niña, no solo como a una intelectual, no solo como a una mujer nerviosa, no solo como a una rara; parecía asumir sin más que ella era como era."
He de reconocer que cuando comencé a leer el libro, no esperaba encontrarme con un estilo tan marcado y único como el de Muriel, pero justo eso, su forma de llevar la novela, las interacciones tan caóticas y surrealistas entre los personajes, y la relación de los mismos con los sucesos que ocurren en una historia en la que nada es lo que parece, es lo que hace de "Las voces" una novela de la que no te puedes despegar como lector, queriendo continuar leyendo a Muriel en sus próximas publicaciones para ver que nos depara.
"¡Una solución temporal! Vosotros los católicos os las sabéis todas. No tenéis más que hacer alguna visitilla que otra al confesionario entre soluciones temporales y todo arreglado."
Por otra parte, llama mucho la atención como, tras un suceso de bastante importancia, el peso argumental pasa de los personajes principales iniciales a otros. ¿Un recurso arriesgado? Sí, para que mentir, pero contado como lo cuenta la autora no lo parece, ya que consigue que el lector continúe descubriendo el misterio de la historia sin perder en ningún momento el interés por la misma, ya que, a su vez, sigue proporcionando información sobre estos personajes hasta que reaparecen.
"No ¿por qué? Estar un poquito mal de la chaveta no es pecado -y añadió-: ya sé que no estoy muy cuerda."
En lo que respecta a "Las voces", título del debut y que hace honor a uno de los desencadenantes más importantes de la trama, he de confesar que me parece todo un acierto la forma en que son introducidas y llevadas, al igual que los dos giros más importantes (e inesperados).
Espero que, si todavía no habéis leído a Muriel, os haya convencido con esta reseña ¡No os va a defraudar!
Nos leemos :)
Gracias a Blackie Books por el ejemplar.
Reseña en la web de El Imperio de los Libros: https://www.elimperiodelibros.com/not...
January 15, 2018
The Comforters was Muriel Spark’s first novel published when she was nearly forty, she had only begun writing seriously after the Second World War. Spark, had previously suffered from hallucinations, and she brings this experience and her recent conversion to Catholicism to her extraordinary debut. It is a debut that is remarkably assured, in this her first novel, Spark really has set out her stall, showing her readers that they are in the hands of a different kind of writer. While the book was still in proof it was read by Evelyn Waugh, who praised it, the novel’s success meant that Muriel Spark could then afford to write full time.
The central character in the novel is Caroline Rose, although it is with her boyfriend Laurence Manders that the novel opens. Laurence is staying with his part gypsy grandmother Louisa Jepp.
“On the first day of his holiday Laurence Manders woke to hear his grandmother’s voice below.
‘I’ll have a large wholemeal. I’ve got my grandson stopping for a week, who’s on the BBC. That’s my daughter’s boy, Lady Manders. He won’t eat white bread, one of his fads.’
Laurence shouted from the window, ‘Grandmother, I adore white bread and I have no fads.’
She puckered and beamed up at him.
‘Shouting from the window,’ she said to the baker.”
It is a wonderfully light comedic opening, and just the first of the ways in which Spark leads up the garden path. The Comforters is not strictly a comedy, though are plenty of flashes of humour in it. There are two plots in the novel – both involve the same characters, though there isn’t any other obvious overlap between the subplots. One of the stories is pretty much straightforward, though there is a delicious improbability in it; there is something going on with Louisa. While the second story, focusing largely on Caroline, is what I have seen others refer to as being typically Sparkian. As this is just the fourth Spark novel I have read, I’m not sure if I could fully appreciate these traits, yet I was able to recognise that oddness that I have found in those other novels. Muriel Spark takes the every day and twists it, so we are not altogether certain what is going on. However, the writing is glorious, and the storytelling such that the reader is compelled to read on
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
The central character in the novel is Caroline Rose, although it is with her boyfriend Laurence Manders that the novel opens. Laurence is staying with his part gypsy grandmother Louisa Jepp.
“On the first day of his holiday Laurence Manders woke to hear his grandmother’s voice below.
‘I’ll have a large wholemeal. I’ve got my grandson stopping for a week, who’s on the BBC. That’s my daughter’s boy, Lady Manders. He won’t eat white bread, one of his fads.’
Laurence shouted from the window, ‘Grandmother, I adore white bread and I have no fads.’
She puckered and beamed up at him.
‘Shouting from the window,’ she said to the baker.”
It is a wonderfully light comedic opening, and just the first of the ways in which Spark leads up the garden path. The Comforters is not strictly a comedy, though are plenty of flashes of humour in it. There are two plots in the novel – both involve the same characters, though there isn’t any other obvious overlap between the subplots. One of the stories is pretty much straightforward, though there is a delicious improbability in it; there is something going on with Louisa. While the second story, focusing largely on Caroline, is what I have seen others refer to as being typically Sparkian. As this is just the fourth Spark novel I have read, I’m not sure if I could fully appreciate these traits, yet I was able to recognise that oddness that I have found in those other novels. Muriel Spark takes the every day and twists it, so we are not altogether certain what is going on. However, the writing is glorious, and the storytelling such that the reader is compelled to read on
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
February 17, 2018
Muriel Spark's debut novel is experimental and witty, an early example of meta fiction as Caroline Rose finds herself hearing the tapping of a typewriter and voices speaking the words of a novel that she then sets out to write. Caroline's ex-boyfriend Laurence is worried about his grandmother who appears to have become involved in a criminal gang. Their friend Baron Stock is showing an interest in demonology and the unpleasant Mrs Hogg appears to be keeping a close eye on them all.
The novel has a strong Catholic theme, exploring ideas of conversion and moral integrity. However, Spark plays around with her ideas with the wit and imagination that became a hallmark of her work. Her characters are eccentric and original, and they are quick to seize on the delusions of the others, while ignoring or justifying their own. There is a sinister undertone to the plot that is kept in check by the sheer craziness of events until some surprisingly dramatic scenes at the end of the novel.
This is probably my favourite of the four Spark novels I have read so far, it has a freshness and zest that is really appealing, and a cast of memorable and skilfully drawn characters.
The novel has a strong Catholic theme, exploring ideas of conversion and moral integrity. However, Spark plays around with her ideas with the wit and imagination that became a hallmark of her work. Her characters are eccentric and original, and they are quick to seize on the delusions of the others, while ignoring or justifying their own. There is a sinister undertone to the plot that is kept in check by the sheer craziness of events until some surprisingly dramatic scenes at the end of the novel.
This is probably my favourite of the four Spark novels I have read so far, it has a freshness and zest that is really appealing, and a cast of memorable and skilfully drawn characters.
December 16, 2019
It is a hit or a miss with Muriel Spark for me. But that doesn't take away the fact that she is a brilliant writer. Despite me not getting fully hooked into a book of hers, I cannot deny the brilliant writing.
What's with Catholicism and writers? I feel I understand so little of it all (and sometimes I am thankful). The effect of religion on writing and themes. Well that's what I feel the obsession of the 70s were for a lot of authors, as today race is perhaps. The fine tuning and hair splitting. The similarities and the differences. How am I different from you.
But the basic plot is interesting. There is a novel that's being dictated (by who, not sure). It starts off in Caroline's head as a postscript of events that have already happened, complete with the clacking of typewriter keys. Then it moves on in her head as a glimpse of what will happen in the future. Enough to drive a girl mad. And it does so to Caroline who's already battling her recent conversion to Catholicism and (hence) her split with a longtime boyfriend Laurence.
The many characters as delightful and very Sparkesque. It is her first book and in it you see the promise of the writer she goes on to become.
What's with Catholicism and writers? I feel I understand so little of it all (and sometimes I am thankful). The effect of religion on writing and themes. Well that's what I feel the obsession of the 70s were for a lot of authors, as today race is perhaps. The fine tuning and hair splitting. The similarities and the differences. How am I different from you.
But the basic plot is interesting. There is a novel that's being dictated (by who, not sure). It starts off in Caroline's head as a postscript of events that have already happened, complete with the clacking of typewriter keys. Then it moves on in her head as a glimpse of what will happen in the future. Enough to drive a girl mad. And it does so to Caroline who's already battling her recent conversion to Catholicism and (hence) her split with a longtime boyfriend Laurence.
The many characters as delightful and very Sparkesque. It is her first book and in it you see the promise of the writer she goes on to become.
January 19, 2023
Pretty average, not good but not bad
June 26, 2019
This simply was not for me. I actually struggled to finish the last 1/4 and tbh, I only read the last 50 pages out of stubbornness. I picked this up at the bookstore on a whim: pretty cover, prologue by Ali Smith and meta-literature? Sign me up. The premise of a character realizing she was part of a novel seemed really interesting, but it wasn't carried out the way I thought it would be. I think I can appreciate the things this book does, but I got bored with it. I didn't really care about any of the characters, and I just wish the meta aspect of it had been explored further. I enjoyed the writing style, but that simply wasn't enough to keep me interested. Maybe I should have DNFd it, but it is over now, so I am off to read something else that hopefully I will enjoy a bit more.
February 23, 2016
Touted as an experimental novel, this book is replete with oddities. A gem-smuggling gang led by an elderly grandma, a young woman who hears the words we read on the page in her head and begins to believe she is a character in a novel, a nosy biddy-body who professes to be a devout Catholic while behaving in abominable behavior. Spark's first novel shows her to have a marvelous way with words - witness this sentence: "Louisa's mirth got the better of her and though her lips were shut she whinnied through her nose like a pony." One occasionally must read paragraphs several times to be sure the correct concept is understood but it is a good read.
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