Good grief, this has been my second and possibly third reading of this work (This is over quite a number of years and my long term memory is beginning to fail me...sigh), and I must say that I enjoyed it as much this go-around as I did the first. There is something about this work that simply appeals to me.
Now this is not to say that it will be on every readers most favored list - no, far from it, and this is how it should be. For me thought it is an excellent read and if I last longer I will most likely read it again on down the road.
This is one of those tales that touches on a wide range of the general overall human condition. It should also ne noted here that the time element covered by this novel is 1908 which is pre WWI and it IS NOT taking place during the `Victorian era' of which several reviewers have stated. No, we are talking the Edwardian era in England and while some of the morals and morays of Victorian times still linger, it is never the less a different age completely. This must be understood to understand the story.
Anyway, back to the subjects covered in this work: Love, prejudices, betrayal, strong but understated humor, a snapshot of a previous era, sociological observation of the English upper middle class and of course the clashes of culture; of the rather painful differences between the perceived social classes in England at that time. It also investigates the dilemma of `self' v/s the expectations of society and family. All in all, if you look at it a certain way, not much has changed over the years and the issues addressed in this classical work are still strongly among us even to this day. It takes a long, long time for attitudes in society to fade. I know in my own case that I was raised very closely to grandparents who were as about as Edwardian as you can get and there is no doubt that their influence had a great deal in molding my personality and attitudes...for better or for worse. (Hey, I am old and yes, I can remember people of that generation quite well).
We have a young lady; a young lady with brains, even though she does not realize it at the time, who is motivated and pulled apart by her true feelings and those feelings that she is either suppose to have or not suppose to have in a number of situations.
Yes, the author has used a number of what we could consider stereotypes of the time but he has used them to good effect and used them to tell his story quite well. While this may bother some folks, I found it to make the overall story more understandable and easier to `go down.'
This work starts in Italy and drifts back to England and again, to understand the story, you have to have some understanding of the cultural gap between England and the continent in those days. Good or bad, it was what it was.
Few will deny that this is a well written work...it may not be to every ones taste, as I have stated, but good is good by most standards. I can get quite lost in the author's narrative prose and descriptive writing.
I was delighted to see that this work is now free via your reading machines...it was about time.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
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