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الكاتدرائية
كتب المؤلف سير هوج والبول رواية " الكاتدرائية " عام 1922، ولأن والده كان أسقفًا لمدينة أدنبرة بإنجلترا، فإن له خبرة كافية فى هذا المجال. وهذه الرواية من كلاسيكيات الأعمال الروائية الإنجليزية التى ظهرت فى بدايات القرن العشرين، فيها يمكن لنا أن نتلمس ذلك الصراع المحتدم بين العاملين فى مكان واحد، الكل يريد أن يكون هو الأول حتى لو كان مسرح هذا النشاط هو الكاتدرائية. وقد حولها الكاتب إلى مسرحية 1937.
524 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2010
13 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Walpole
413 books85 followersSir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 1, 2023
Hugh Walpole’s 1922 novel The Cathedral is one of the best works of this, now sadly and unjustly neglected, author. Regular readers of my blog hopefully haven’t missed the December 2022 release of his short ghost story The Snow, available there as a free e-book.
One of the things these two titles have in common is that, like many other of Walpole’s works, they are both set in the fictional English town of Polchester: an out-of-the-way, somewhat isolated locale sitting on the river Pol, dominated by the large cathedral in its very centre. The other commonality is the gloomy atmosphere—less pronounced in The Cathedral due to differences in genre, but still strongly felt throughout.
Ghosts populating this novel are of a different kind. It’s the things that come to haunt the haughty and the arrogant, echoing the biblical ‘how are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle’ (2 Sam. 1:25). The arrogant one, in this case, is the mighty Archdeacon Brandon, a conservative, somewhat tyrannical, churchman who single handedly controls the affairs of the cathedral, and by extension, the town. A deeply devout man—at the same time deeply self-absorbed—he lives in complete assurance of his wife’s devotion, his children’s respect, and his peers’ unquestioning loyalty; last but not least, he trusts in God’s personal favour.
The year is 1897 and the town, much like the rest of the country, prepares for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Brandon, however, has little cause for celebration: somehow he finds himself on a downward path, his clout and reputation crumbling by the day. His family implodes under the weight of betrayal and adultery; his position in the church gets undermined by the arrival of Canon Roper and the rise of opposition to his rule over church matters. Within six months, Brandon’s whole life is upended: nothing is as it was; nothing was as it seemed. He becomes but a shadow of his previous self.
Even though Brandon’s role is central to the narrative, there’s a reason why the book is titled The Cathedral. His rise and ultimate fall are both inextricably connected to the church, and the Polchester cathedral in particular. Things Brandon did were in loyal service to it, his personal sacrifices a glad offering. His demise, while the product of human machinations against him, seemed to have been willed by the Cathedral as a conscious, supernatural entity of its own.
Some have asserted that the characters in The Cathedral are too stereotypical and one dimensional. My impression is the exact opposite: the way characters develop and reveal themselves, seen from different angles and perspectives, makes them quite complex. The motivation driving their choices is equally interesting: Walpole masterfully shows just how thin the lines are between devotion and hatred, stoicism and despair, sanity and madness. He is also very good at pointing at the complex web of external influences that make us do what we do, even when we falsely believe to be in full control of our own volition.
Apart from various themes explored in the book (dysfunctional family dynamic, late 19th / early 20th century church controversies, oppressiveness of small-town isolation, and others), it’s Walpole’s writing style that made this book a page-turner for me. Sometimes described as dated and anachronistic, I thought it wonderful and very much contributing to creating a proper 19th century mood. Walpole’s discrete addition of gothic elements, with just a touch of the supernatural, was just the ticket!
The novel has left me wanting to visit Polchester, roam its streets, explore its old bookstores, go to the town fair—and, of course, attend Evensong at the Cathedral. I can’t wait to read more of this exceptional writer.
(You can access the original blog post, which contains additional resources, by clicking here.)
One of the things these two titles have in common is that, like many other of Walpole’s works, they are both set in the fictional English town of Polchester: an out-of-the-way, somewhat isolated locale sitting on the river Pol, dominated by the large cathedral in its very centre. The other commonality is the gloomy atmosphere—less pronounced in The Cathedral due to differences in genre, but still strongly felt throughout.
Ghosts populating this novel are of a different kind. It’s the things that come to haunt the haughty and the arrogant, echoing the biblical ‘how are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle’ (2 Sam. 1:25). The arrogant one, in this case, is the mighty Archdeacon Brandon, a conservative, somewhat tyrannical, churchman who single handedly controls the affairs of the cathedral, and by extension, the town. A deeply devout man—at the same time deeply self-absorbed—he lives in complete assurance of his wife’s devotion, his children’s respect, and his peers’ unquestioning loyalty; last but not least, he trusts in God’s personal favour.
The year is 1897 and the town, much like the rest of the country, prepares for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Brandon, however, has little cause for celebration: somehow he finds himself on a downward path, his clout and reputation crumbling by the day. His family implodes under the weight of betrayal and adultery; his position in the church gets undermined by the arrival of Canon Roper and the rise of opposition to his rule over church matters. Within six months, Brandon’s whole life is upended: nothing is as it was; nothing was as it seemed. He becomes but a shadow of his previous self.
Even though Brandon’s role is central to the narrative, there’s a reason why the book is titled The Cathedral. His rise and ultimate fall are both inextricably connected to the church, and the Polchester cathedral in particular. Things Brandon did were in loyal service to it, his personal sacrifices a glad offering. His demise, while the product of human machinations against him, seemed to have been willed by the Cathedral as a conscious, supernatural entity of its own.
Some have asserted that the characters in The Cathedral are too stereotypical and one dimensional. My impression is the exact opposite: the way characters develop and reveal themselves, seen from different angles and perspectives, makes them quite complex. The motivation driving their choices is equally interesting: Walpole masterfully shows just how thin the lines are between devotion and hatred, stoicism and despair, sanity and madness. He is also very good at pointing at the complex web of external influences that make us do what we do, even when we falsely believe to be in full control of our own volition.
Apart from various themes explored in the book (dysfunctional family dynamic, late 19th / early 20th century church controversies, oppressiveness of small-town isolation, and others), it’s Walpole’s writing style that made this book a page-turner for me. Sometimes described as dated and anachronistic, I thought it wonderful and very much contributing to creating a proper 19th century mood. Walpole’s discrete addition of gothic elements, with just a touch of the supernatural, was just the ticket!
The novel has left me wanting to visit Polchester, roam its streets, explore its old bookstores, go to the town fair—and, of course, attend Evensong at the Cathedral. I can’t wait to read more of this exceptional writer.
(You can access the original blog post, which contains additional resources, by clicking here.)
January 19, 2025
I really enjoy Hugh Walpole's style of writing, I know it isn't every ones cup of tea, he is quite old fashioned these days, but to my mind a good book is a good book no matter when it is written, although tastes change.
This particular book is about the Cathedral and its officials and also the people of Polchester in which the Cathedral is situated. It comes with a message I suppose in that pride comes before a fall!
Don't get to full of yourself because there are always people around to bring you down a peg or two!
Archdeacon Brandon is one such person, puffed up with his own importance, too full of being an official in the church than to really look into his own family life which is slowly and quietly falling apart. By the time he realizes (but at least he does realize)it is far far too late to change it.
Quite sad really, and by the end you are really sorry for all concerned.
This particular book is about the Cathedral and its officials and also the people of Polchester in which the Cathedral is situated. It comes with a message I suppose in that pride comes before a fall!
Don't get to full of yourself because there are always people around to bring you down a peg or two!
Archdeacon Brandon is one such person, puffed up with his own importance, too full of being an official in the church than to really look into his own family life which is slowly and quietly falling apart. By the time he realizes (but at least he does realize)it is far far too late to change it.
Quite sad really, and by the end you are really sorry for all concerned.
August 13, 2024
Poor old Hugh Walpole’s present day unpopularity at least means I’m able to pick up his novels for a song. I regularly spy vintage copies of his books which are always great value for money given their size.
Most recently I found an early edition of his novel from 1922, “The Cathedral”, in the pound box outside a bookshop in Norwich. It’s the heavy-weight story of the rise and fall of Archdeacon Adam Brandon, the all-powerful clerical king-pin of Polchester, Walpole’s fictitious Cathedral City in the rural South West of England which appears as the picturesque backdrop in several of his novels.
The curious thing about Hugh Walpole is that everything around him involves heft. The book itself is a weighty 530 pages. Archdeacon Brandon is larger than life, both literally and metaphorically. And virtually all the characters are meticulously described by their girth.
In fact, I’ve noticed that the word “stout” crops up with surprising frequency in Walpole’s writing. “Stout” is positive, denoting a cheery, honest and straightforward disposition. “Fat”, on the other hand, isn’t a good thing in Walpole’s world. Archdeacon Brandon’s sworn enemy and nemesis is fat Canon Frederick Ronder - even his name sounds rotund - who plots and schemes under his Machiavellian layers of chubby blubber.
The story itself is the pretty simple account of the downfall of a man with hopeless self awareness. With his singleminded drive and boundless energy, he really doesn’t notice just how much he manages to alienate everyone around him. But he’s misguided rather than evil - and you can tell that he’s still a favourite with Walpole (not least because he’s always described as “stout” and never “fat” … )
A hundred years on, I actually found Walpole’s depiction of Adam Brandon’s character surprisingly contemporary. These days we would probably talk about his being on the spectrum. Walpole’s description of the decline of Brandon’s mental health is particularly powerful and very sensitive.
Archdeacon Brandon fills the book with his sturdy stature and larger-than-life doings. But the breadth of the novel means that there’s a substantial cast of characters around him. And I have to admit that sometimes I felt I’d be more interested in their lives than in Brandon’s ecclesiastical battles.
For example, there’s the intriguing character of Amy Brandon, the Archdeacon’s colourless, diminutive and repressed wife - at least that’s the way we’re forced to see her through Brandon’s own eyes. And yet she actually has the astonishing strength of character to throw up everything and run off with an impoverished clergyman. I would have loved the novel to have been all about her.
And then there’s the circle of posh ladies who feud passive-aggressively over afternoon tea. The tweedy Mrs Combermere with a hairy upper lip, a deep bass voice and “a company of barking dogs at her heels”. Ellen Stiles who bitches poisonously until she’s flooded with guilt for her victims. And enigmatic Miss Ronder who’s the only person to comprehend the true evil of her nephew.
In fact, I found it rather disappointing that so many characters introduced in the first chapters faded away as the novel progressed. I suppose there just wasn’t room for them all. It’s rather like watching a film where you find the supporting actors more sympathetic, more intriguing, than the star players themselves …
But I would definitely have read another 530 pages, if this meant I could have found out more about what happened next to all these other people in Polchester …
Most recently I found an early edition of his novel from 1922, “The Cathedral”, in the pound box outside a bookshop in Norwich. It’s the heavy-weight story of the rise and fall of Archdeacon Adam Brandon, the all-powerful clerical king-pin of Polchester, Walpole’s fictitious Cathedral City in the rural South West of England which appears as the picturesque backdrop in several of his novels.
The curious thing about Hugh Walpole is that everything around him involves heft. The book itself is a weighty 530 pages. Archdeacon Brandon is larger than life, both literally and metaphorically. And virtually all the characters are meticulously described by their girth.
In fact, I’ve noticed that the word “stout” crops up with surprising frequency in Walpole’s writing. “Stout” is positive, denoting a cheery, honest and straightforward disposition. “Fat”, on the other hand, isn’t a good thing in Walpole’s world. Archdeacon Brandon’s sworn enemy and nemesis is fat Canon Frederick Ronder - even his name sounds rotund - who plots and schemes under his Machiavellian layers of chubby blubber.
The story itself is the pretty simple account of the downfall of a man with hopeless self awareness. With his singleminded drive and boundless energy, he really doesn’t notice just how much he manages to alienate everyone around him. But he’s misguided rather than evil - and you can tell that he’s still a favourite with Walpole (not least because he’s always described as “stout” and never “fat” … )
A hundred years on, I actually found Walpole’s depiction of Adam Brandon’s character surprisingly contemporary. These days we would probably talk about his being on the spectrum. Walpole’s description of the decline of Brandon’s mental health is particularly powerful and very sensitive.
Archdeacon Brandon fills the book with his sturdy stature and larger-than-life doings. But the breadth of the novel means that there’s a substantial cast of characters around him. And I have to admit that sometimes I felt I’d be more interested in their lives than in Brandon’s ecclesiastical battles.
For example, there’s the intriguing character of Amy Brandon, the Archdeacon’s colourless, diminutive and repressed wife - at least that’s the way we’re forced to see her through Brandon’s own eyes. And yet she actually has the astonishing strength of character to throw up everything and run off with an impoverished clergyman. I would have loved the novel to have been all about her.
And then there’s the circle of posh ladies who feud passive-aggressively over afternoon tea. The tweedy Mrs Combermere with a hairy upper lip, a deep bass voice and “a company of barking dogs at her heels”. Ellen Stiles who bitches poisonously until she’s flooded with guilt for her victims. And enigmatic Miss Ronder who’s the only person to comprehend the true evil of her nephew.
In fact, I found it rather disappointing that so many characters introduced in the first chapters faded away as the novel progressed. I suppose there just wasn’t room for them all. It’s rather like watching a film where you find the supporting actors more sympathetic, more intriguing, than the star players themselves …
But I would definitely have read another 530 pages, if this meant I could have found out more about what happened next to all these other people in Polchester …
August 24, 2012
I found this book odd. And unpleasant. It reminded me somewhat of Anthony Trollope's "The Warden", which I read last year and disliked. Both books are set in cathedral cities and involve a great deal of cathedral politics. About there, though, the similarity ends.
Trollope's writing style infuriates me. Walpole's is inoffensive.
Trollope's plot is predicated upon characters behaving stupidly. Walpole's, upon characters behaving peculiarly.
Trollope's story, in the end, is pleasant enough. Walpole's is nasty.
I disliked "The Warden" because the characters were stupid and the writer's style annoyed me. I found I disliked "The Cathedral" far more, because the writer's style was clean enough, the characters' behaviour drew me in (admittedly, somewhat in the manner of watching a train crash, but still...) - and the story turned out to be the chronicle of the destruction of a man, and it was not in any way a pleasing thing to witness. Almost all of the characters (including he who was destroyed) are smug, and narrow, and only semi-capable (at best) of considering that they may be wrong. This book left me, when I finished it, shuddering all over to shake the yuckiness off.
Trollope's writing style infuriates me. Walpole's is inoffensive.
Trollope's plot is predicated upon characters behaving stupidly. Walpole's, upon characters behaving peculiarly.
Trollope's story, in the end, is pleasant enough. Walpole's is nasty.
I disliked "The Warden" because the characters were stupid and the writer's style annoyed me. I found I disliked "The Cathedral" far more, because the writer's style was clean enough, the characters' behaviour drew me in (admittedly, somewhat in the manner of watching a train crash, but still...) - and the story turned out to be the chronicle of the destruction of a man, and it was not in any way a pleasing thing to witness. Almost all of the characters (including he who was destroyed) are smug, and narrow, and only semi-capable (at best) of considering that they may be wrong. This book left me, when I finished it, shuddering all over to shake the yuckiness off.
March 21, 2024
The Cathedral is a modern gothic update of those 19th Century novels (Trollope, Mrs. Oliphant) about Church of England politics. In Walpole’s version, polite deacons are replaced by scheming, selfish, egotistical churchmen, who are driven by the dark forces that emanate from the medieval Cathedral. The church is an almost living force caring, neither for man or God, only its own needs. It’s also a novel about loneliness as almost none of the characters have good relationships with others. There is a lot of longing, marriages without love, children alienated from the affections of their parents, and the promise that we will all die alone.
June 14, 2018
Walpole was a master storyteller. He evokes the overheated atmosphere of the Cathedral community, brings to life the clerics who infest it, while placing the whole in the context of Victoria's Jubilee and the city's celebrations - the fair in particular is a brilliant set piece of description. I can quite see why Walpole was such a popular author in the days when people had longer attention spans and fewer options for leisure activities.
July 26, 2021
I loved this book until I got to the end. The ending was just too stark for me. I did love the various characters in the book, the religious leaders and their families. The conflict between Bishop Brandon and the Canon Ronder was the engine that ran the story, but the problems of the other characters like the Bishop's wife, his son, and his daughter made the plot so interesting.
August 14, 2018
It's more dark than light, revealing some of the ugly underbelly of human nature even (or especially?) in a religious setting. One does feel for the characters. I found myself sympathizing with each of the main characters in turn, even when initially disliking some of them.
April 11, 2021
An odd one. The plotting is fine and well done and Walpole can certainly write. So why just the two stars? I think it is an issue of pacing. For me it lingers, when it should be sharp and concise, and also makes far to little of the intrigue. A real curate’s egg.
April 12, 2021
Oh my goodness, the author takes a character, smashes him, rips him to pieces and destroys him.
Then the book ends abruptly leaving me wondering about all the other characters.
A highly revengeful story.
Then the book ends abruptly leaving me wondering about all the other characters.
A highly revengeful story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2016
A mediocre writer in comparison to Anthony Trollope.
February 14, 2022
I found this an intriguing story. Written in an unfamiliar style to me but I found it impactful and quick to read.
I liked the way he pulled out the characters personalities and motivations and the hints that they were actually deceiving themselves about their own motives. Quite thought provoking on how each of us perceives the world.
Also gave a good insight into English society at the end of the 19th century.
I liked the way he pulled out the characters personalities and motivations and the hints that they were actually deceiving themselves about their own motives. Quite thought provoking on how each of us perceives the world.
Also gave a good insight into English society at the end of the 19th century.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews