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The Roman Catholic Russian ancestors of Aunt Irene, the central character in Alice Thomas Ellis's new novel, were persecuted and forced to flee to the Ukraine, Lithuania, Austria or as the story-tellers would have it, across 27 lands and 30 countries until they came to the 27th Kingdom. For the good, kind and infinitely friendly Aunt Irene, her handsome but wicked nephew, Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, this is Dancing Master House, a minute dwelling in the Chelsea. Two gossips, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Mason, one dead common with criminal connections, the other an impoverished lady of the upper classes, clean for and take care of the needs of Aunt Irene and Kyril. From Wales, Irene's sister, the Mother Superior, sends Valentine, a beautiful, young West Indian postulant, ostensibly to test her vocation but really because of the embarrassing discovery that Valentine has miraculous powers. The story runs between angels and demons in a style which epitomizes the refreshing eccentricities of English humor.… (plus d'informations)
The blurb describes this as a 'wickedly dark comedy' which examines the lives of oddball outsiders. When I finished the book, I thought "What was that?". I didn't find anything comedic (dark or otherwise) in this novel (or more realistically, novella) The only relatable character was the cat! ( )
I give this book 5 stars not because it is Literature with a capital L but because it succeeds in being a work of comic genius. From the very first page we are made acquainted with a cast of eccentric characters who have been antagonizing each other in small ways for years. If you like Muriel Spark you will like this, which is equally roughly told, but with more whimsy. The ending is disappointing, yes, but not ruiniously so. This is a book that can be read in one sitting, and once you get started you will have very little reason to stop reading. Delightfuly wicked! ( )
A mixed-race postulant is sent to stay with her Mother Superior's sister, ostensibly to test her vocation.
Although there are flashes of humour throughout, it wasn't as funny as the first chapter led me to think it would be. The ending was very strange and inconclusive. ( )
As someone else stated, when I finished the book I thought "What was that?" The term "stream of consciousness" kept popping into my head as I read. Entertaining, but for me, not memorable. ( )
Spoiler Alert! The title alone was enough to make me want to read this book. It was rewarding and annoying and humorous by turns. I only wish she'd have wrapped up a few of those loose ends...what happens to Valentine, Kyril, Mrs. Mason, and why did Mr. Sorocco have to kill himself, and what did the feathers in his room signify, and why did the apple wither. ( )
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
For Lillian Cingo with love
Premiers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
The story I shall tell begins like this.
Citations
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
It had occurred to her ... that possibly it was only the good who were able to believe in God—that the wicked, being hideously narcissistic, could see only themselves reflected in whatever they looked upon; could believe only in their own desires and inadequacies, were quite incapable of seeing the truth of a different person or deity. ... The only answer was for these people to practise virtue, no matter what they felt like. To do good things until it became clear to them that good things could be done. And perhaps in the end the snake scales would fall from their eyes, and they would be able to see the limpidity of God.
Little Mr Sirocco moved out that evening, permitting himself to be rehoused as obediently as a guinea pig, and they all helped carry his cases.
Aunt Irene really inclined to the view [of the creation of the world] expressed so cogently in the book of Genesis, which explained everything with appealing clarity. This was the only view that explained, for instance, mayonnaise. It was patently absurd to suppose that mayonnaise had come about through random chance, that anyone could ever have been silly or brilliant enough to predict what would happen if he slowly trickled oil on to egg yolks and then gone ahead and tried it. An angel must have divulged that recipe and then explained what to do with the left-over white. Meringues--there was another instance of the exercise of superhuman intelligence. To Aunt Irene the Ten Commandments seemed almost insignificant compared with the astonishing miracle of what you could do with an egg. As the angel had left in his fiery chariot he must have added, "And don't forget omelettes, and cake and custard and souffles and poaching and frying and boiling and baking. Oh, and they're frightfully good with anchovies. And you can use the shells to clarify soup--and don't forget to dig them in round the roots of your roses," the angelic tones fading into the ethereal distance.
Derniers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
As for me, the story-teller, I was in the pub by the river at the time, and drank beer and mead, but it all ran down my chin and none went down my throat.
Références à cette œuvre sur des ressources externes.
Wikipédia en anglais
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▾Descriptions de livres
The Roman Catholic Russian ancestors of Aunt Irene, the central character in Alice Thomas Ellis's new novel, were persecuted and forced to flee to the Ukraine, Lithuania, Austria or as the story-tellers would have it, across 27 lands and 30 countries until they came to the 27th Kingdom. For the good, kind and infinitely friendly Aunt Irene, her handsome but wicked nephew, Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, this is Dancing Master House, a minute dwelling in the Chelsea. Two gossips, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Mason, one dead common with criminal connections, the other an impoverished lady of the upper classes, clean for and take care of the needs of Aunt Irene and Kyril. From Wales, Irene's sister, the Mother Superior, sends Valentine, a beautiful, young West Indian postulant, ostensibly to test her vocation but really because of the embarrassing discovery that Valentine has miraculous powers. The story runs between angels and demons in a style which epitomizes the refreshing eccentricities of English humor.
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▾Description selon les utilisateurs de LibraryThing
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(3.5)
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