Сляпа любов

by V.S. Pritchett, Николай Попов (Translator)

A collection of stories by a British "outsider".

Genres: Short Stories, British Literature, Fiction

212 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Victor Sawdon Pritchett was the first of four children of Walter Sawdon Pritchett and Beatrice Helena (née Martin). His father, a London businessman in financial difficulties, had come to Ipswich to start a shop selling newspapers and stationery. The business was struggling and the couple were lodging over a toyshop at 41 St Nicholas Street where Pritchett was born on 16 December 1900. Beatrice had expected a girl, whom she planned to name after the Queen. Pritchett never liked his first name, which is why he always styled himself with his initials; even close friends would call him VSP.

Pritchett's father was a steady Christian Scientist and unsteady in all else. Walter and Beatrice had come to Ipswich to be near her sister who had married money and lived in Warrington Road. Within a year Walter was declared bankrupt, the family moved to Woodford, Essex, then to Derby, and he began selling women's clothing and accessories as a travelling salesman. Pritchett was soon sent with his brother Cyril to live with their paternal grandparents in Sedbergh, where the boys attended their first school. Walter's business failures, his casual attitude to credit, and his easy deceit obliged the family to move frequently. The family was reunited but life was always precarious; they tended to live in London suburbs with members of Beatrice's family. They returned to Ipswich in 1910, living for a year near Cauldwell Hall Road, trying to evade Walter's creditors. At this time Pritchett attended St. John's School. Subsequently Pritchett attended Alleyn's School, Dulwich, and Dulwich College but he stayed nowhere for very long. When his father went to fight in World War I, Pritchett left school. Later in the war Walter turned his hand to aircraft design, of which he knew nothing, and his later ventures included art needlework, property speculation, and faith healing.

Pritchett was a leather buyer from 1916 to 1920, when he moved to Paris, where he worked as a shop assistant. In 1923 he started writing for the Christian Science Monitor, which sent him to Ireland and Spain. From 1926 he wrote reviews for the paper and for the New Statesman, which later appointed him literary editor.

Pritchett's first book described his journey across Spain (Marching Spain 1928) and Clare Drummer (1929) was about his experiences in Ireland. Whilst in Ireland he met his first wife, Evelyn Vigors, but it was not to be a happy marriage.

Pritchett published five novels but he claimed not to enjoy their creation. His reputation was established by a collection of short stories (The Spanish Virgin and Other Stories (1932)).

In 1936 he divorced his first wife, and married Dorothy Rudge Roberts; they had two children. The marriage lasted until Pritchett's death, although they both had other relationships. His son is the journalist Oliver Pritchett and his grandson (son of Oliver) is the cartoonist Matt Pritchett.

During World War II Pritchett worked for the BBC and the Ministry of Information whilst continuing to submit a weekly essay to the New Statesman. After the war he wrote widely and he started taking teaching positions at universities in the United States: Princeton (1953), the University of California (1962), Columbia University and Smith College. He was fluent in German, Spanish, and French, and published successful biographies of Honoré de Balzac (1973), Ivan Turgenev (1977) and Anton Chekhov (1988), although he did not know Russian and had never visited the Soviet Union.

Pritchett was knighted in 1975 for his services to literature and became Companion of Honour in 1993. His awards include Heinemann Award (1969), PEN Award (1974), W.H. Smith Literary Award (1990), and Golden Pen Award (1993). He died of a stroke in London on 20 March 1997.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._S._Pr...

Reviews

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Blind Love," the title story from this 1969 collection. A blind man, Mr Armitage, functions very well in the legal world with the help of a secretary. He hires Mrs Johnson as a live-in secretary. She is hiding her own secret--something which Mr Armitage is unable to see. The story is about deception, pride, fear, and making a connection.

Thanks to Melanie for sending the story to me.

[Federica Rampi · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’amore che fa rivivere i difetti in tutto il loro pathos e la loro impossibile bellezza. Un incontro tra due esseri umani spinti al limite dall'amore, dalla sfiducia, dall'incomprensione , dalla credulità.
Nella precisione sfumata di ogni frase, nelle osservazioni apparentemente banali dei protagonisti, c’è il tempo che racconta la quotidianità, diventando il simbolo di una narrazione che si reinventa in ogni frase

[Jaqueline Franco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un relato, de esos que te deja pensando...
El amor es siempre ciego, con esos recovecos personales? ...

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a re-read actually. Read it first in the late 70s. I chose it to take with me on a train journey (to see my old man - 85 yesterday) mainly because it fitted in my inside pocket, but really glad I did. Pritchett is just great. Perhaps the greatest English (as opposed to British) short story writer of the last century. His grasp of character and motive and the fun of his dialogue and his quirky plots are simply lovely. If you want to compare with anyone around now, I'd go Alice Munro.

I put up the cover image. Hate to see that blank thingie.

...actually this isn't Pritchett's greatest collection (try A Careless Widow), and some seem a little slight. Still leaving it at 5 stars though because there are 3 or 4 great stories here and even the lesser ones have lovely dialogue and descriptions...

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In these stories, the characters feel somewhat monstrous, distorted. A woman has a tangled relationship with her wealthy blind employer, two sisters find their own ways of dealing with the damage of their childhoods, a woman deals with her complicated feelings for her unexpectedly returned husband, aging men quarrel with servants, employees, and people from their past. The prose is very good. Pritchett was widely admired for his short stories (as well as his nonfiction); he seems to have been one of those fiction writers with a natural affinity for the short story rather than the novel.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro... interesante. No fue como pensé, pero no me disgustó en lo absoluto. Algunas historias fueron más interesantes que otras, pero asumo que eso depende de la persona que las lea y el momento de su vida en el que se encuentre. En lo personal me llamó mucho la atención pues no se limitó a mostrarnos un amor de pareja como en un inicio pensé que sería el formato del libro. Por el contrario, nos muestra algunas de las diferentes maneras de amar que tiene el ser humano y como en cada una de ellas el amor puede ser ciego.

[Lisa]

I was recommended to read the short story 'Blind Love'...

[Dave Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought a couple of Pritchett's collections after enjoying one of his short stories years ago. I had forgotten that original story, so these came as a surprise. Not the subtle sketches of ordinary 20th century life I expected, but strange and heightened scenarios, with quiet desperation, veiled passion and savagery, verging at times on a kind of fever-dream intensity. The prose is exquisite, but next time I think I should just dip in and read one story at a time; the effect is dissipated if you plough through ten Pritchett stories in quick succession.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 buenos cuentos

[GLORIA SCALA · Rating 2 out of 5]

felt like one of those cheap books about love that are easy to find in any news kiosk in the lowest shelf of the shop, but with some sparkle in it.

[Leslie Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just not a short story person. This collection had a theme of unrequited love, failed love, and general unhappiness within relationships. There were a few successes, but overall, it seems only marginal success in love is possible and then, only when it occurs between odd pairs. There was an enjoyable wit about the book and a dry humor, but I too often found myself just reading along without being engaged - generally a sign that I'm not captivated. I'd read more by the author, but couldn't see myself teaching or writing about these stories.