Reading the 20th Century discussion

Welcome to our June 2024 group read of....



Memento Mori (1959)

by

Muriel Spark


All are welcome

Come one, come all



A brilliant, daring and darkly funny novel by Muriel Spark, 'mistress of the highest high comedy' (The Times). Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the 40th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics.

'Remember you must die.'

Dame Lettie Colston is the first of her circle to receive insinuating anonymous phone calls. Neither she, nor her friends, wish to be reminded of their mortality, and their geriatric feathers are thoroughly ruffled. As the caller's activities become more widespread, old secrets are dusted off, exposing post and present duplicities, self-deception and blackmail. Nobody is above suspicion.

Witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more.

G wrote:


"I just finished Memento Mori in audiobook, and found myself thinking of the Osman Thursday Murder Club series as I listened. Really, I guess I was thinking how little I have run across that takes an unflinching look at old age. Also, how very different books, read adjacent to each other in time, cross pollinate. This is one of the reasons I always have multiple books in progress."

Yes, old age is not that common in literature

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym is another example and one we have discussed in this group

The wonderful Anita Brookner often features middle aged or old aged protagonists too - and then there's the fab Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor which is superb and is another cleared eyed look at old age.


I am looking forward to rereading this book having enjoyed it first time round in Jan-Feb 2017

I already have a library copy that I have to start soon or risk losing it but I'm holding off as long as possible

I have found that there tend to be a lot of older readers at bookish events, which did concern me and make me feel there was no place for younger readers. However, having recently taken to my daughter to a talk by YA author Holly Jackson, I was delighted to find hundreds of young readers, which really made me feel optimistic about the future of reading.

Still, yes, age. It comes to us all. I think one of the best novels I have read about old age is Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley

Matilda Poliport, recently widowed and largely estranged from her four adult children, has decided to End It All. She has cleaned her cottage, given away her beloved pet goose and burnt any incriminating letters. Now all that remains for her to do is eat her picnic, take her pills and swim out into the ocean. But her meticulously planned bid for graceful oblivion is interrupted when she foils the suicide bid of another lost soul - Hugh Warner, on the run from the police - and life begins again for them both.

Life, however, is never that simple and awkward questions demand answers. What, for example, was Matilda's husband Tom doing in Paris? Why does Matilda's next door neighbour see UFOs in the skies of Cornwall? And why did Hugh kill his mother?

Susan, I have read all Mary Wesley’s books, but years ago. You’ve reminded me how good she is. I’m going to revisit her work, starting with this one.

She is good indeed, SueLucie. I remember being very impressed when I read this.

Just starting it. I love the writing, and trying to get a handle on all the characters.

I have also started this, Ben. It's very waspish so far!

Have my copy. Will start when I finish rereading My Cousin Rachel. I read and enjoyed it as a teenager, but am now finding it very tedious.

Just started this


I read this first in 2017 and remember it pretty well

I really enjoyed it then and so look forward to revisiting it

I just started too. Great writing--I was swept up right away.

I've read three other books by Spark (Kensington, Driver's Seat and of course Brodie), and so far (30%) this strikes me as very different from the others, less focused on one or two characters and more on a broader situation or scene.

Onward I go!

Yep


This is peak Spark

Imagine being told henceforth you’re Granny [Your Surname]

I can't resist Spark and already started reading it last evening. I am curious - how is Charmian pronounced in England? I came across three different pronunciations but still not sure which one is the standard for an English name (UK).

I finished it yesterday and am doing my usual mulling before posting a review. I agree it's peak Spark, right up there with Brodie although very different in structure.

Great question, Vesna. I never dare guess on such an English subject!

Vesna wrote: "I can't resist Spark and already started reading it last evening. I am curious - how is Charmian pronounced in England? I came across three different pronunciations but still not sure which one is ..."

Listening to the beginning of the story on BBC iplayer it sounds like Charm e an. I don't want to watch anymore until I have read the book.

Yes, it’s as Sonia says, pronounced Shar-mee-unn. I knew someone with this name once and she would be incensed when people pronounced it as Shar-mayne. Always telling them her name came from Antony & Cleopatra - one of Cleo’s two handmaidens.

I've had a busy week so have only read a few pages of my reread. I think I'm going to have to start again as it needs a bit of attention to keep track of all the characters and how they connect

I am reminded how much I loved this book first time round though

This was my second Spark and I have subsequently discovered her work is quite variable but when she's good she's really really good

A Far Cry from Kensington is another winner. It's probably my favourite Spark novel. Here's my spoiler free, five star review...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thank you, Sonia and SueLucie. I wasn't sure about the first consonant, if it should be 'tch' or 'sh'. It's a very interesting name and,(view spoiler)[besides Miss Taylor, I loved her character except that I was a bit ambivalent about her toward the end (Spark was such a master in the subtleties of mind games). I look forward to see what others make of her relationship with Godfrey, all those secrets and unspoken emotional ransoms for decades. (hide spoiler)]

I've read The Girls of Slender Means, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Loitering with Intent (my favorite so far). Like Ben, I felt her Memento Mori was somewhat different, although, as the novel progressed, some of the great hallmarks of her writing became recognizable.

I thought it sounded like a ch as in lucky charm, but I didn't want to watch too much, so maybe my hearing listening it on my tablet didn't pick it up properly.
The Spark I want to read is The Girls of Slender Means which I remember from the 1970s tv series with Miriam Margolyes. I think I was seduced by the reciting of the Wreck of the Deutschland by Gerard Manley Hopkins whom we were studying for A level.

Sonia wrote: "I thought it sounded like a ch as in lucky charm, but I didn't want to watch too much, so maybe my hearing listening it on my tablet didn't pick it up properly.
The Spark I want to read is The Girl of Slender Means..."

I don't have access to the BBC iPlayer from the US but someone posted it on YT. Indeed, they pronounce it with "tch" as in charm.

The Girls of Slender Means was my first Spark and I instantly fell in love with her writing. Looking back into my notes/review, "multiple dark thematic undertones that are searing underneath Spark’s deliciously witty and deceptively light prose". Yes, I think the same can be said about Memento Mori (and her other novels I read so far). It's not just about the old age but she covered the entire kaleidoscope of the ways people relate to death and much more.

Ooh, maybe I am wrong. I remember it being pronounced with a ‘sh’ as in Charlotte.

I am also not far in. It is interesting the way Jean Taylor, a former servant and living in the public ward, is both visited by Lettie and Alec Warner and so often at the forefront of Charmian's mind.

This has a good cast of very strange characters. Godfrey visiting Olive was a very odd scene...

Memento Mori is tremendous fun, and a very unusual, quirky, unsentimental, wise, funny, and enjoyable read. There’s plenty of sly humour, and Muriel Spark is wonderfully unsympathetic towards her motley crew of characters

I am not a fan of Mrs Pettigrew.

Susan wrote: "I am not a fan of Mrs Pettigrew."

Yes, all the characters have their flaws and their schemes, but Mrs. Pettigrew tops them all.

I'll disagree with you on the lack of sympathy, Nigeyb. I see Spark as clear-sighted and not soft-hearted, but also not unsympathetic.

I loved Sparks's realism about old age. Her characters are all at least slightly infirm. Their bodies ache, they're slow, their minds may wander, but they're still fully human and active. It's a great accomplishment to put them all in on centre stage in London.

All good points Ben - and yes, plenty of life left in them yet

Serendipity


The latest episode of Backlisted is about Memento Mori

Nigeyb wrote: "Serendipity


The latest episode of Backlisted is about Memento Mori"

Fantastic! I just listened to their episode on The Stone Angel--so illuminating.

Okay, so this is my second time at trying Spark, and again, I'm feeling ambivalent. With the first two or three chapters, I was all in, loving the snark especially, feeling like this was going to read itself. But then a chill set in. I'm in Chapter 6 now, and it feels so cold, and going significantly slower. Will have to see how many times I bounce back and forth before the end!

The Memento Mori Backlisted episode seems to come from 2017? I think they mentioned last week someone was unwell, so they put out a Locklisted episode for subscribers, so maybe this is a fill in, but still useful as we are reading it.

Thanks Susan


I did wonder

Still an interesting listen which added to my enjoyment of the book. Now I realise I had already heard it before but my goldfish brain had all but forgotten it 🤠

I am struggling a bit with this one so I will try to listen (probably re-listen) to it later on to see if I can reignite my interest. I don't dislike it, but I am finding myself listening to something else, rather than this.

I'm about 20% in, I think. I find it a little discomforting. At 73, you don't really like to be reminded too much about that which is yet to come, barring the unforeseen.

But, maybe this is the reason I haven't slept well the last few nights. So maybe I should do my reading of it during the day. Which is what I did with The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle. But for different reasons.

Love the " granny " scene . Reminds me of the scolding my Aunt gave me when I called her " Auntie " , the generic prefix in our street for any woman who demonstrated motherly traits while not being your own mother.

Or indeed any friend of your parents


I had loads of "Aunties" who weren't relatives

Has everyone finished? So much to discuss!

Susan, Kathleen, Hester and Jan all appear to still be reading it


Sonia doesn't appear to have started yet

Ok. I'll be patient.

The Backlisted podcast is very good, but beware of spoilers.

Ben, I’m just about to start.

I am nearly finished. Working today, but hoping to finish my Audible version by tomorrow and then maybe listen to the podcast.

I'm likely to finish in a couple of weeks. I am listening to an audiobook , as I love the sharp dialogue .

Take your time everyone - and keep us posted with your thoughts and reactions as you work through the novel

I don't mind spoliers, so chat away when you want. I am still savouring the Rosamund Tea Rooms.

Thanks! I should be done by this weekend.

Like Susan, I'm struggling a little with this on and off. It's an uncomfortable world. Reminds me of when my parents were getting up there and sometimes during a visit I just had to get away!

And like Jan C said, now that it's me aging, it's a little too close to home sometimes. Perhaps a book best read when you're young. :-)

Perhaps that's the point. Ageing and death will come to us all if we are lucky. Over the years I am sure we have all known people who died too early, so I do try to remind myself that living into later years is a positive.

Charmian is one character who seems to embrace what comes and do her best to protect herself.

I'm liking it so far . I've kept track of all the characters names as there's been quite a few and they're often knitted together by their past . Spark makes a point of telling us their ages as part of their thumbnail , something I've not come across before . I've noticed that anyone under fifty is shifted quickly to the background . What with the emphasis on wills , inheritance and alliances, scheming and plotting it's reminding me of a royal court drama. Especially the " locking up " in the geriatric ward of all the knowledgeable old women ....

Susan wrote:


"Perhaps that's the point. Ageing and death will come to us all...."


Exactly that Susan


"Death, when it approaches, ought not to take one by surprise. It should be part of the full expectancy of life. Without an ever-present sense of death life is insipid."



Hester wrote:


"I've noticed that anyone under fifty is shifted quickly to the background"

Yes indeed Hester. Nicely subverts the norm eh?

I have finished this now. Ready for spoilers when others reach the end.

I've finished too. Very interested to hear everyone's thoughts. Still gathering my own ...

Yes, me too, Kathleen. I am pleased I read this though - it has made me want to read more Spark. I remember I read her biography and didn't warm to her at all, which kind of put me off her books for a while. Silly really, as there are lots of authors I love who behaved abominably!