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Harriet Hume
Harriet Hume’s unchanging beauty and commitment to her art stand in stark contrast to Arnold Condorex's more worldly goals. After a romantic tryst, she discovers that she can read his mind, but Arnold, with his sights set on moving up in the world, quickly parts from the mysterious lady. As they encounter each other over the years, Harriet's intuitive powers continue to unsettle Arnold, opening his eyes to the darker elements of his political and financial aspirations, even as he remains drawn to her. Beautifully drawn and filled with magical touches, West's fantasy explores innate and learned gender roles, as her characters uncover the mystery surrounding their otherworldly connection.
Dame Rebecca West (1892–1983) is one of the most critically acclaimed English novelists, journalists, and literary critics of the twentieth century. Uniquely wide-ranging in subject matter and breathtakingly intelligent in her ability to take on the oldest and knottiest problems of human relations, West was a thoroughly entertaining public intellectual. In her eleven novels, beginning with The Return of the Soldier, she explored topics including feminism, socialism, love, betrayal, and identity. West's prolific journalistic works include her coverage of the Nuremberg trials for the New Yorker, published as A Train of Powder, and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, her epic study of Yugoslavia. She had a son with H.G. Wells, and later married banker Henry Maxwell Andrews, continuing to write, and publish, until she died in London at age ninety.
Dame Rebecca West (1892–1983) is one of the most critically acclaimed English novelists, journalists, and literary critics of the twentieth century. Uniquely wide-ranging in subject matter and breathtakingly intelligent in her ability to take on the oldest and knottiest problems of human relations, West was a thoroughly entertaining public intellectual. In her eleven novels, beginning with The Return of the Soldier, she explored topics including feminism, socialism, love, betrayal, and identity. West's prolific journalistic works include her coverage of the Nuremberg trials for the New Yorker, published as A Train of Powder, and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, her epic study of Yugoslavia. She had a son with H.G. Wells, and later married banker Henry Maxwell Andrews, continuing to write, and publish, until she died in London at age ninety.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
About the author
Rebecca West
117 books406 followersCicely Isabel Fairfield, known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic, and travel writer. She was brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she attended George Watson's Ladies College.
A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of the twentieth century. She reviewed books for The Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Republic, and she was a correspondent for The Bookman. Her major works include Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), on the history and culture of Yugoslavia; A Train of Powder (1955), her coverage of the Nuremberg trials, published originally in The New Yorker; The Meaning of Treason, later The New Meaning of Treason, a study of World War II and Communist traitors; The Return of the Soldier, a modernist World War I novel; and the "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical novels, The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night, and Cousin Rosamund. Time called her "indisputably the world's number one woman writer" in 1947. She was made CBE in 1949, and DBE in 1959, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to British letters.
A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of the twentieth century. She reviewed books for The Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Republic, and she was a correspondent for The Bookman. Her major works include Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), on the history and culture of Yugoslavia; A Train of Powder (1955), her coverage of the Nuremberg trials, published originally in The New Yorker; The Meaning of Treason, later The New Meaning of Treason, a study of World War II and Communist traitors; The Return of the Soldier, a modernist World War I novel; and the "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical novels, The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night, and Cousin Rosamund. Time called her "indisputably the world's number one woman writer" in 1947. She was made CBE in 1949, and DBE in 1959, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to British letters.
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January 17, 2020
4.5 stars
This is my first Rebecca West and Harriet Hume is one of West’s lesser known novels. It has mixed reviews, possibly I think because it is not easy to see what West is doing. It is also an unusual modernist novel because it involves a fantasy element. It is a London novel and there are some good descriptions of London streets in the 1920s. The story is a double hander between two protagonists; Harriet Hume and Arnold Condorex. Harriet is a pianist with intuition and sensitivity, Arnold is a worldly aspiring politician. The book opens with them having a romantic tryst. Harriet discovers she can read her lovers thoughts and intentions and sees that his career and power is what motivates him and she is secondary. They part and meet again six years later by chance when again Harriet can see Arnold’s hidden motives and baser thoughts. The next meeting is over a decade later when Arnold has real political power and again Harriet can see through him; by this time her hates her as his political plotting is beginning to unravel and he has financial problems. The book draws to a close with a final meeting as Arnold’s career is in ruins.
The whole novel revolves entirely around the two main characters and sometimes they tend to talk in speeches which can be a trial. The ending is the fantasy part and to attempt to explain would give it away. I suspect most readers will guess by the end; but that’s not the point. The two characters are opposites; possibly the male and female principles. Victoria Glendinning (in the virago introduction) argues that the two are opposites. The female principle is artistic, unaggressive, unconventional, moral and subjective. The male principle being objective, conventional, aggressive and amoral. It is also suggested that Condorex is based on H G Wells (he gets everywhere; I’m reading about him as Hypo Wilson in Pilgrimage!); West had an affair with him. Glendinning’s conclusion is that West is making the point that neither can survive nor thrive in isolation.
However, West is doing more than this in her construction of opposites. Condorex represents power, the establishment and a masculine type of capitalism and so there is an element of political satire. Condorex’s values are pretty much those of the political class with a sense of hierarchy and entitlement which Hume finds repulsive: Condorex judging that revulsion to be because of her gender. Condorex has a drive for power and makes his name with an issue of Empire; West as part of her satire looks at Imperialism too. Condorex, although he seems to understand Hume’s point of view feels he cannot be other than he is:
“ “But a man must rise in the world!” ….(this) intention was unalterably a part of himself. He could not more remove it than he could uproot his own breath. … It dominated him, he was its instrument.”
Condorex abandons his lover to court other women who can assist with his career. Although Condorex comes across as reprehensible; West does give the impression that he is both perpetrator and victim. Arnold and Harriet become more distant over time and Arnold realises she is his opposite and wishes to destroy her. West rejects this type of dualism as too simplistic and the world is more complex; as she says herself at a later date;
“This refusal leaves man to indulge in some of his characteristically false logic. His mind, which is inadequate for the purpose of mastering his environment and therefore always oversimplifies, sees the universe in antitheses, in dichotomies. He says, foolishly enough, for one cannot cut into clean halves two substances that pass into each other by insensible gradation, that there is light and darkness, life and death, pleasure and pain.”
West is critiquing dualism whilst admitting we fall into the habit of accepting it. Condorex has rejected the imagination and the artistic sense that Hume has which leads to the sterile nature of his life and his lack of morals. However Hume as a musician has partially entered the masculine domain as a performer and owner of her own talents. It is also clear that Condorex has a choice whether to follow his heart and stay with Hume, when life would be very different, the question really is; does he have that choice or is he destined to follow the path he does because he is unable to follow his heart. West makes it clear there is a different path for Condorex to follow, it is less clear that he has the ability to follow it.
Although the novel is clearly a political satire, its subtitle is still A London Fantasy. West, through Harriet weaves fairy tales through the book and Harriet has the ability to transform her garden in some way which becomes clearer towards the end of the book as the novel enters more fully into the fantasy area. West uses fantasy to suggest an alternative reality using fantasy and fairy tales as a mirror to highlight faults in society. Harriet’s powers are celebratory and life-affirming. Many of the critics of this novel miss the point that West is not creating a linear and logical plot. More interesting analyses of the plot use Derridean ideas like jouissance and a celebration of heterogeneity, fecundity and excess; dealing with dualism by synthesis. Other interesting analyses of the novel follow ideas related to Foucault’s narrative of sovereignty and its relation to the modernist novel. There is a lot going on here; it’s an interesting and underrated novel.
This is my first Rebecca West and Harriet Hume is one of West’s lesser known novels. It has mixed reviews, possibly I think because it is not easy to see what West is doing. It is also an unusual modernist novel because it involves a fantasy element. It is a London novel and there are some good descriptions of London streets in the 1920s. The story is a double hander between two protagonists; Harriet Hume and Arnold Condorex. Harriet is a pianist with intuition and sensitivity, Arnold is a worldly aspiring politician. The book opens with them having a romantic tryst. Harriet discovers she can read her lovers thoughts and intentions and sees that his career and power is what motivates him and she is secondary. They part and meet again six years later by chance when again Harriet can see Arnold’s hidden motives and baser thoughts. The next meeting is over a decade later when Arnold has real political power and again Harriet can see through him; by this time her hates her as his political plotting is beginning to unravel and he has financial problems. The book draws to a close with a final meeting as Arnold’s career is in ruins.
The whole novel revolves entirely around the two main characters and sometimes they tend to talk in speeches which can be a trial. The ending is the fantasy part and to attempt to explain would give it away. I suspect most readers will guess by the end; but that’s not the point. The two characters are opposites; possibly the male and female principles. Victoria Glendinning (in the virago introduction) argues that the two are opposites. The female principle is artistic, unaggressive, unconventional, moral and subjective. The male principle being objective, conventional, aggressive and amoral. It is also suggested that Condorex is based on H G Wells (he gets everywhere; I’m reading about him as Hypo Wilson in Pilgrimage!); West had an affair with him. Glendinning’s conclusion is that West is making the point that neither can survive nor thrive in isolation.
However, West is doing more than this in her construction of opposites. Condorex represents power, the establishment and a masculine type of capitalism and so there is an element of political satire. Condorex’s values are pretty much those of the political class with a sense of hierarchy and entitlement which Hume finds repulsive: Condorex judging that revulsion to be because of her gender. Condorex has a drive for power and makes his name with an issue of Empire; West as part of her satire looks at Imperialism too. Condorex, although he seems to understand Hume’s point of view feels he cannot be other than he is:
“ “But a man must rise in the world!” ….(this) intention was unalterably a part of himself. He could not more remove it than he could uproot his own breath. … It dominated him, he was its instrument.”
Condorex abandons his lover to court other women who can assist with his career. Although Condorex comes across as reprehensible; West does give the impression that he is both perpetrator and victim. Arnold and Harriet become more distant over time and Arnold realises she is his opposite and wishes to destroy her. West rejects this type of dualism as too simplistic and the world is more complex; as she says herself at a later date;
“This refusal leaves man to indulge in some of his characteristically false logic. His mind, which is inadequate for the purpose of mastering his environment and therefore always oversimplifies, sees the universe in antitheses, in dichotomies. He says, foolishly enough, for one cannot cut into clean halves two substances that pass into each other by insensible gradation, that there is light and darkness, life and death, pleasure and pain.”
West is critiquing dualism whilst admitting we fall into the habit of accepting it. Condorex has rejected the imagination and the artistic sense that Hume has which leads to the sterile nature of his life and his lack of morals. However Hume as a musician has partially entered the masculine domain as a performer and owner of her own talents. It is also clear that Condorex has a choice whether to follow his heart and stay with Hume, when life would be very different, the question really is; does he have that choice or is he destined to follow the path he does because he is unable to follow his heart. West makes it clear there is a different path for Condorex to follow, it is less clear that he has the ability to follow it.
Although the novel is clearly a political satire, its subtitle is still A London Fantasy. West, through Harriet weaves fairy tales through the book and Harriet has the ability to transform her garden in some way which becomes clearer towards the end of the book as the novel enters more fully into the fantasy area. West uses fantasy to suggest an alternative reality using fantasy and fairy tales as a mirror to highlight faults in society. Harriet’s powers are celebratory and life-affirming. Many of the critics of this novel miss the point that West is not creating a linear and logical plot. More interesting analyses of the plot use Derridean ideas like jouissance and a celebration of heterogeneity, fecundity and excess; dealing with dualism by synthesis. Other interesting analyses of the novel follow ideas related to Foucault’s narrative of sovereignty and its relation to the modernist novel. There is a lot going on here; it’s an interesting and underrated novel.
April 24, 2022
This was a punishing read. Maybe the first part (it consisted of five parts) was halfway good and then it went to hell in a handbasket. One of those books I was so glad to finish because then I could move on to other books that I might perhaps like! 🙁
And this was a Virago Modern Classic re-issue (1980)...I generally go goo-goo-gah-gah over them! I liked one of her other novels, The Fountain Overflows (written in 1956, 4 stars from me), but was ‘meh’ (2 stars) about another (This Real Night, written in 1984).
Harriet Hume can read her lover’s mind, literally. All of his thoughts. Which initially he finds odd but not terribly bothered by it, but then as he moves up in the world of government and does some crooked things, he would rather not have his mind be read by his now former lover.
The book involves English politics of post-World War One...and as I am not well-versed in English politics I was lost on that count. And the rest of the book was long, long soliloquies on the part of either Arnold or Harriet and it was boring as all get-out to me. For most of the fifth and final part of the novel Arnold was speaking to a mirror which showed his reflection or was talking to himself as he walked the streets of London to do something foul (whether he actually did, I shan’t tell). Well, I guess I could tell in a spoiler
Victoria Glendenning wrote the Introduction in the VMC re-issue, and forewarned the reader to not read her Introduction until they read the novel and formed their own opinion of it, so as not to be influenced by her take on things. And her take was that it was “...the most mysterious book that Dame Rebecca West has written. Since fantasy art lends itself to the spectator’s answering fantasy, it cannot be definitively “explained”.”
Reviews:
• https://www.bookword.co.uk/harriet-hu...
• http://agirlwalksintoabookstore.blogs...
• https://thereadersroom.org/2015/04/23...
Note: for $1200 you can get a first edition (UK) of the book with a very cool dustcover (it accurately portrays what the story is about and is very detailed....done by Rex Whistler [Rex Whistler - Wikipedia] ).
And this was a Virago Modern Classic re-issue (1980)...I generally go goo-goo-gah-gah over them! I liked one of her other novels, The Fountain Overflows (written in 1956, 4 stars from me), but was ‘meh’ (2 stars) about another (This Real Night, written in 1984).
Harriet Hume can read her lover’s mind, literally. All of his thoughts. Which initially he finds odd but not terribly bothered by it, but then as he moves up in the world of government and does some crooked things, he would rather not have his mind be read by his now former lover.
The book involves English politics of post-World War One...and as I am not well-versed in English politics I was lost on that count. And the rest of the book was long, long soliloquies on the part of either Arnold or Harriet and it was boring as all get-out to me. For most of the fifth and final part of the novel Arnold was speaking to a mirror which showed his reflection or was talking to himself as he walked the streets of London to do something foul (whether he actually did, I shan’t tell). Well, I guess I could tell in a spoiler
Victoria Glendenning wrote the Introduction in the VMC re-issue, and forewarned the reader to not read her Introduction until they read the novel and formed their own opinion of it, so as not to be influenced by her take on things. And her take was that it was “...the most mysterious book that Dame Rebecca West has written. Since fantasy art lends itself to the spectator’s answering fantasy, it cannot be definitively “explained”.”
Reviews:
• https://www.bookword.co.uk/harriet-hu...
• http://agirlwalksintoabookstore.blogs...
• https://thereadersroom.org/2015/04/23...
Note: for $1200 you can get a first edition (UK) of the book with a very cool dustcover (it accurately portrays what the story is about and is very detailed....done by Rex Whistler [Rex Whistler - Wikipedia] ).
November 4, 2018
This novel is bout Harriet Hume and Arnold Condorex. It is set in London somewhere around the 1920s. From the start, when they meet, an attraction arises. They meet and then they part. He glimpses her four years later. They meet again six years after that and then finally after another five years. Where will that first attraction lead?
However, it is not the plotline but rather how the story is told that will determine your appreciation of the book. The telling moves forward chronologically but flipping between her telling of the story and his. Each character is very different and so are their words. Harriet is light and ethereal. You cannot pin her down. Arnold is in search of power, success and status. Over the intervening years each tells of events in a very different way. When they meet, we hear what each one says to the other and that initial attraction burns bright.
Harriet throws out words in a flurry of florid, flamboyant ideas. She speaks of fairy tales, nature, leaves, flowers and animals, what she sees and feels. She is able to read his thoughts, which he finds ridiculous and utterly absurd!
Arnold’s words reflect who he is—his dealings in attaining position and power and money. His talk of politicians, agreements related to British rule in India and crooked deals are as difficult to make sense of as Harriet’s magical world where trees are people!
As I said, you flip back and forth from one to the other. Where do you end? In a ridiculous, but also very funny scene with policemen and Arnold waiting outside Harriet’s window. To understand what has happened and what will happen you must read the book, which does end on a and amusing note.
Clearly, Rebecca West was a feminist but also a feminist of her time.
The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Lucy Scott. She does read it quickly, which bothered me until I understood it should not be read in any other way. Her narration is very good. Once you get the hang of the book’s set up and its message, you realize this.
The author has two messages. They are delivered in an amusing but also well thought out fashion. You see this at the end. The messages? One ponders if Harriet's abilities are magical or if she merely has a strong sense of intuition.
*********************************
Each of the books I have read by the author are very different; you cannot guess what one book will give you having read another.
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon 5 stars
The Return of the Soldier 4 stars
Harriet Hume 3 stars
The Fountain Overflows 1 star
The Judge TBR
However, it is not the plotline but rather how the story is told that will determine your appreciation of the book. The telling moves forward chronologically but flipping between her telling of the story and his. Each character is very different and so are their words. Harriet is light and ethereal. You cannot pin her down. Arnold is in search of power, success and status. Over the intervening years each tells of events in a very different way. When they meet, we hear what each one says to the other and that initial attraction burns bright.
Harriet throws out words in a flurry of florid, flamboyant ideas. She speaks of fairy tales, nature, leaves, flowers and animals, what she sees and feels. She is able to read his thoughts, which he finds ridiculous and utterly absurd!
Arnold’s words reflect who he is—his dealings in attaining position and power and money. His talk of politicians, agreements related to British rule in India and crooked deals are as difficult to make sense of as Harriet’s magical world where trees are people!
As I said, you flip back and forth from one to the other. Where do you end? In a ridiculous, but also very funny scene with policemen and Arnold waiting outside Harriet’s window. To understand what has happened and what will happen you must read the book, which does end on a and amusing note.
Clearly, Rebecca West was a feminist but also a feminist of her time.
The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Lucy Scott. She does read it quickly, which bothered me until I understood it should not be read in any other way. Her narration is very good. Once you get the hang of the book’s set up and its message, you realize this.
The author has two messages. They are delivered in an amusing but also well thought out fashion. You see this at the end. The messages? One ponders if Harriet's abilities are magical or if she merely has a strong sense of intuition.
*********************************
Each of the books I have read by the author are very different; you cannot guess what one book will give you having read another.
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon 5 stars
The Return of the Soldier 4 stars
Harriet Hume 3 stars
The Fountain Overflows 1 star
The Judge TBR
May 21, 2017
The central plot is fine but...overly florid and wordy
I think I was supposed to like this book. I really tried. I do not think I got the point of Ms West's Style.
The plot is fairly straight forward. Harriet Hume is a beautiful professional pianist. Her lover is Arnold Condorex. Arnold is what the English would call a striver. Born into middle class or less, he is determined, At All Costs to be not merely rich and powerful, but accepted by those born to be rich and powerful.
His great skill is as a negotiator (one who finds compromises). Because he chooses his career over Everything including his love for Harriet Hume (she is most often referred to by both names), he will over time compromise every value, marring into wealth not for love, building his career on an ethical compromise and so forth until he compromises one time too often. Ultimatly he finds himself financially ruined, livening in a loveless home, despised by even his man servant.
Harriet will develope magical abilities and will know his every misstep, from leaving her for his career to the final deal that will mean his total destruction. She will reappear in his life at each critical moment and try to warn him. He will always chose to act against her warnings.
I think I was supposed to like this book. I really tried. I do not think I got the point of Ms West's Style.
The plot is fairly straight forward. Harriet Hume is a beautiful professional pianist. Her lover is Arnold Condorex. Arnold is what the English would call a striver. Born into middle class or less, he is determined, At All Costs to be not merely rich and powerful, but accepted by those born to be rich and powerful.
His great skill is as a negotiator (one who finds compromises). Because he chooses his career over Everything including his love for Harriet Hume (she is most often referred to by both names), he will over time compromise every value, marring into wealth not for love, building his career on an ethical compromise and so forth until he compromises one time too often. Ultimatly he finds himself financially ruined, livening in a loveless home, despised by even his man servant.
Harriet will develope magical abilities and will know his every misstep, from leaving her for his career to the final deal that will mean his total destruction. She will reappear in his life at each critical moment and try to warn him. He will always chose to act against her warnings.
May 21, 2022
Che noia! Perchè ho letto questo libro?!?! Ah, già, l'ho inserito in due sfide di lettura e poi c'era il fatto che volevo leggere altro della West dopo la noia del primo volume della trilogia degli Aubrey.
Insomma ho provato a dare una seconda chance a questa autrice, ma no, decisamente non fa per me.
La storia è basata sul periodico incontrarsi/scontarsi di Harriet e Arnold. Lei pianista squattrinata, lui politico in carriera. Lei innocente e idealista, lui scaltro e carrierista. Ma... lei è grado di leggergli nel pensiero!
L'idea è carina, ma lo svolgimento è di una lentezza esasperante. Con dispiacere, perchè l'autrice scrive benissimo, ma per me è un no.
Insomma ho provato a dare una seconda chance a questa autrice, ma no, decisamente non fa per me.
La storia è basata sul periodico incontrarsi/scontarsi di Harriet e Arnold. Lei pianista squattrinata, lui politico in carriera. Lei innocente e idealista, lui scaltro e carrierista. Ma... lei è grado di leggergli nel pensiero!
L'idea è carina, ma lo svolgimento è di una lentezza esasperante. Con dispiacere, perchè l'autrice scrive benissimo, ma per me è un no.
April 18, 2016
"...he was struck by something familiar in the aspect of the wall by which he was walking. A pretty green creeper ran half the length of it, and at intervals drooped pale waving tendrils a fore-arm's length down into the street, so that it looked as if a harem had drugged their eunuchs in a body and had stolen to the confines of their prison to have their fingers kissed by a queue of lovers."
What a wonderfully evocative description; I nearly rated this 2 1/2 stars due to the fact that I didn't enjoy it all that much but it's been so beautifully written that I couldn't bring myself to value it as anything less than a full three stars.
The eponymously named Harriet Hume begins this book as a young lady nearly engaged to a young man, Arnold Condorex. After a rapturous day glorying in their love Harriet discovers that she has the ability to see into the mind and heart of her fiancée. That's probably the sort of gift you are going to want to return to the store! She doesn't see it that way, Arnold, after experiencing it, does and picks up his hat and departs. So much for romance.
Their paths cross occasionally over the years and each time Arnold, drawn to the spritely and beautiful Harriet, cannot help showering her with his delicate compliments, like 'You seem a little slut, but no one loves little sluts as I love you.' or 'dusty trull'. But he does think well of her and is solicitous of her health "Curse it, I had forgotten that you are only a silly slut who has walked too far in the heat, and that I had brought you here to rest!". Although even with these distinguishing marks of gentlemanly politeness he does occasionally let slip hints that, as he is a man of affairs, he is of greater value than herself "You are not a person of importance. I doubt if you have many appointments. You had better stay with me in this very pretty room. It will no be for long, since I am sure to weary of you soon, and will kindly send you home in my magnificent motor-car. So make the most of your time.". Ah, what exquisite generosity the man has.
At some point in each meeting though Arnold's thoughts turn to some unworthy deed or deception which he has lied to himself about and he finds, that in Harriets presence he can no longer do so, and his rage flames out against her. He blames her for exposing his true motivations and every meeting ends with his declaration of his hatred towards her. Poor Harriet to have let a prince like this slip through her fingers.
If there was any doubt remaining that Rebecca West wrote this as a commentary on the position of women in society it was removed by this:
"But why," his spirit asked itself, "is this more terrible than the other two discoveries she has made regarding me?"
Detestably, since he had not spoken aloud, she answered; "Because then you were outwitting women, and there has been such an immense deal of propaganda in favour of regarding this as a proof of high spirits in a gentleman, that it is neither here nor there. But now that you have turned against your own sex, where the obligation of honour is recognized, then perhaps things are going not so well with you."
This was definitely a peculiar little book and I didn't quite know what to make of it. Ms West has three other works on the combined list so I'll have more opportunities to evaluate her style in the future.
What a wonderfully evocative description; I nearly rated this 2 1/2 stars due to the fact that I didn't enjoy it all that much but it's been so beautifully written that I couldn't bring myself to value it as anything less than a full three stars.
The eponymously named Harriet Hume begins this book as a young lady nearly engaged to a young man, Arnold Condorex. After a rapturous day glorying in their love Harriet discovers that she has the ability to see into the mind and heart of her fiancée. That's probably the sort of gift you are going to want to return to the store! She doesn't see it that way, Arnold, after experiencing it, does and picks up his hat and departs. So much for romance.
Their paths cross occasionally over the years and each time Arnold, drawn to the spritely and beautiful Harriet, cannot help showering her with his delicate compliments, like 'You seem a little slut, but no one loves little sluts as I love you.' or 'dusty trull'. But he does think well of her and is solicitous of her health "Curse it, I had forgotten that you are only a silly slut who has walked too far in the heat, and that I had brought you here to rest!". Although even with these distinguishing marks of gentlemanly politeness he does occasionally let slip hints that, as he is a man of affairs, he is of greater value than herself "You are not a person of importance. I doubt if you have many appointments. You had better stay with me in this very pretty room. It will no be for long, since I am sure to weary of you soon, and will kindly send you home in my magnificent motor-car. So make the most of your time.". Ah, what exquisite generosity the man has.
At some point in each meeting though Arnold's thoughts turn to some unworthy deed or deception which he has lied to himself about and he finds, that in Harriets presence he can no longer do so, and his rage flames out against her. He blames her for exposing his true motivations and every meeting ends with his declaration of his hatred towards her. Poor Harriet to have let a prince like this slip through her fingers.
If there was any doubt remaining that Rebecca West wrote this as a commentary on the position of women in society it was removed by this:
"But why," his spirit asked itself, "is this more terrible than the other two discoveries she has made regarding me?"
Detestably, since he had not spoken aloud, she answered; "Because then you were outwitting women, and there has been such an immense deal of propaganda in favour of regarding this as a proof of high spirits in a gentleman, that it is neither here nor there. But now that you have turned against your own sex, where the obligation of honour is recognized, then perhaps things are going not so well with you."
This was definitely a peculiar little book and I didn't quite know what to make of it. Ms West has three other works on the combined list so I'll have more opportunities to evaluate her style in the future.
January 7, 2012
I read Harriet Hume to close out the set of novels whose characters personify Virginia Woolf's themes from "A Room of One's Own." All three novels - written by Woolf, Rebecca West, and Vita Sackville-West - contrast the feminine appreciation for beauty with the masculine urge to dominate.
This novel details a strange love affair in which the heroine inexplicably develops the ability to read the thoughts of her suitor. As one might imagine, it doesn't take long for things to sour. In this case, she withers to hear his preference for worldly pleasures - financial success and power - over the ethereal pleasure of loving Harriet and appreciating the simple beauty of nature. Realizing their incompatibility, he leaves her but then flails in the life he has pragmatically constructed as he cannot bear the glare of her witness to his ugly ambitions: "She had come between him and every human being's right not to know quite what he is doing."
Just as it was difficult to understand why Vita Sackville-West's characters were making such a fuss over the self-absorbed Lady Slane in All Passion Spent, it was insulting (as a woman) to see Harriet waste a minute over the disgustingly dull Arnold. At one point, Harriet gets up to leave and Arnold protests: "You are not a person of importance. I doubt if you have many appointments. You had better stay with me in this very pretty room. It will not be for long, since I am sure to weary of you soon, and will kindly send you home in my magnificent new motor-car. So make the most of your time. And to tell you the truth, oh, my love, I find great joy in having you here among all my treasures!"
While all three authors are riffing on Woolf's expressed frustrations about gender inequality, and using their admirable powers of expression to trump up the case for women as the superior sex while they're at it, only To the Lighthouse manages to escape caricature and infuse her observations with enough empathy to make a great novel.
This novel details a strange love affair in which the heroine inexplicably develops the ability to read the thoughts of her suitor. As one might imagine, it doesn't take long for things to sour. In this case, she withers to hear his preference for worldly pleasures - financial success and power - over the ethereal pleasure of loving Harriet and appreciating the simple beauty of nature. Realizing their incompatibility, he leaves her but then flails in the life he has pragmatically constructed as he cannot bear the glare of her witness to his ugly ambitions: "She had come between him and every human being's right not to know quite what he is doing."
Just as it was difficult to understand why Vita Sackville-West's characters were making such a fuss over the self-absorbed Lady Slane in All Passion Spent, it was insulting (as a woman) to see Harriet waste a minute over the disgustingly dull Arnold. At one point, Harriet gets up to leave and Arnold protests: "You are not a person of importance. I doubt if you have many appointments. You had better stay with me in this very pretty room. It will not be for long, since I am sure to weary of you soon, and will kindly send you home in my magnificent new motor-car. So make the most of your time. And to tell you the truth, oh, my love, I find great joy in having you here among all my treasures!"
While all three authors are riffing on Woolf's expressed frustrations about gender inequality, and using their admirable powers of expression to trump up the case for women as the superior sex while they're at it, only To the Lighthouse manages to escape caricature and infuse her observations with enough empathy to make a great novel.
November 26, 2020
Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume di Rebecca West (Fazi editore) è la storia di un'affascinante e stravagante donna dalle umili origini, innamorata di Arnold Condorex un politico dalla dubbia moralità.
Quando Fazi mi ha proposto il titolo, non ho avuto dubbi. Ho amato così tanto La famiglia Aubrey, anche se non ho ancora finito la trilogia (LEGGI QUI la mia recensione) volevo incontrare ancora Rebecca.
Non ho amato Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume come gli altri romanzi ma ho potuto abbandonarmi alla penna di West e godermi questa storia d'amore sui generis.
Quando i due protagonisti si conoscono Harriet è una giovane pianista che vive della sua arte mentre Arnold vuole diventare un politico di successo, a qualunque costo.
Non potrebbero essere più diversi, eppure come spesso accade, gli opposti si attraggono e non riescono a star lontani. Almeno finché Arnold non si allontanerà vigliaccamente dall'amata per inseguire il suo sogno ambizioso.
Ma al destino non si sfugge e i due si rincontreranno nel corso degli anni diverse volte. La trama è tutta qui, custodita in queste poche righe. Ancora una volta West, seppur con un registro più frizzante rispetto a quello usato per La famiglia Aubrey, non ha bisogno di grossi elementi per costruire una storia interessante.
Arnold è affascinato da Harriet e dalle sue capacità, per lui è una figura eterea, esattamente il suo opposto.
RECENSIONE COMPLETA: https://www.lalettricecontrocorrente....
Quando Fazi mi ha proposto il titolo, non ho avuto dubbi. Ho amato così tanto La famiglia Aubrey, anche se non ho ancora finito la trilogia (LEGGI QUI la mia recensione) volevo incontrare ancora Rebecca.
Non ho amato Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume come gli altri romanzi ma ho potuto abbandonarmi alla penna di West e godermi questa storia d'amore sui generis.
Quando i due protagonisti si conoscono Harriet è una giovane pianista che vive della sua arte mentre Arnold vuole diventare un politico di successo, a qualunque costo.
Non potrebbero essere più diversi, eppure come spesso accade, gli opposti si attraggono e non riescono a star lontani. Almeno finché Arnold non si allontanerà vigliaccamente dall'amata per inseguire il suo sogno ambizioso.
Ma al destino non si sfugge e i due si rincontreranno nel corso degli anni diverse volte. La trama è tutta qui, custodita in queste poche righe. Ancora una volta West, seppur con un registro più frizzante rispetto a quello usato per La famiglia Aubrey, non ha bisogno di grossi elementi per costruire una storia interessante.
Arnold è affascinato da Harriet e dalle sue capacità, per lui è una figura eterea, esattamente il suo opposto.
RECENSIONE COMPLETA: https://www.lalettricecontrocorrente....
August 9, 2016
Coming to this through some kind of Bloomsbury lens, and flush with my enjoyment of The Fountain Overflows, I needed some adjustment to the fabulous (as in 'like a fable') aspect of the narrative, but I suppose one could draw a few comparisons to Orlando. About 3/4s of the way through, I was losing patience as the characters felt like they were becoming purely puppets representing the preposterous ideas men and women form about one another (though the antithesis is also art vs. commerce as well as male vs. female). The ending won me over by entirely abandoning all dreary verisimilitude, and is actually reminiscent of Flann O'Brien. Quite an oddity and well worth reading.
April 1, 2024
Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume di Rebecca West è la storia di un’affascinante e stravagante donna dalle umili origini, innamorata di Arnold Condorex un politico dalla dubbia moralità.
Ho amato così tanto La famiglia Aubrey, anche se non ho ancora finito la trilogia volevo incontrare ancora Rebecca.
Non ho amato Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume come gli altri romanzi ma ho potuto abbandonarmi alla penna di West e godermi questa storia d’amore sui generis.
Quando i due protagonisti si conoscono Harriet è una giovane pianista che vive della sua arte mentre Arnold vuole diventare un politico di successo, a qualunque costo.
Non potrebbero essere più diversi, eppure come spesso accade, gli opposti si attraggono e non riescono a star lontani. Almeno finché Arnold non si allontanerà vigliaccamente dall’amata per inseguire il suo sogno ambizioso.
Ma al destino non si sfugge e i due si rincontreranno nel corso degli anni diverse volte. La trama è tutta qui, custodita in queste poche righe. Ancora una volta West, seppur con un registro più frizzante rispetto a quello usato per La famiglia Aubrey, non ha bisogno di grossi elementi per costruire una storia interessante.
Arnold è affascinato da Harriet e dalle sue capacità, per lui è una figura eterea, esattamente il suo opposto.
Di tutte le donne che aveva conosciuto lei era la più eterea. Amarla era come avvolgersi in una lunga sciarpa di puro spirito. E tuttavia, per quel che concerne l’amare, com’era umana!
In realtà l’elemento stravagante c’è: un pomeriggio, precisamente quello in cui Arnold e Harriet si lasceranno, succede qualcosa di inspiegabile: lei riesce a leggere i pensieri dell’amato. Inspiegabile, inquietante e sicuramente spaventoso, Arnold non potrà che abbandonare la casa e il giardino fiorito di Harriet.
Nonostante conoscesse Harriet molto bene e gli ci fosse voluto un periodo di tempo non trascurabile per arrivare a quella conoscenza, non sapeva quasi nulla di lei, nemmeno il luogo, nel senso più ampio, il luogo in cui era nata.
Dopo sei anni i due si rincontrano quasi casualmente e ancora una volta Harriet sarà in grado di leggere nella mente di quell’uomo che negli ultimi anni ha riempito le cronache dei giornali. Peccato però che tra i piani di Arnold, non tutti siano per aiutare il prossimo. Questo turba Harriet e crea un’altra frattura tra i due.
Ma un uomo deve farsi strada nel mondo! Santo cielo, lei non lo capiva! Un uomo deve farsi strada nel mondo!
Rebecca West in questa Londra degli anni Venti mette in scena intrighi e ipocrisie di una classe che dovrebbe occuparsi degli altri, e non di solo del proprio tornaconto. Ma fa qualcosa di ancora più importante: mostra la ribellione di Harriet. Una donna che vive del sua arte (diventata professione) e non vuole incasellarsi nel ruolo di madre e moglie.
Una storia d’amore raccontata con un pizzico di magia. Non vi ho detto molto perché durante il romanzo succedono poche cose e il vero viaggio lo si fa gustandosi la penna di West che ci trascina nella mente e nel cuore di due personaggi destinati, nonostante tutto, ad amarsi per sempre.
Oh, Harriet, Harriet, ammetti che tra noi c’è un legame così forte che nel Giorno del Giudizio, se dovessi essere spedito all’inferno, tu ti sdraierai a pancia in giù dal bordo del pavimento del paradiso e stenderai verso il basso il braccio, che per un miracolo si protenderà ben oltre la sua lunghezza perfetta, e mi solleverai di peso accanto a te.
Consigliato per gli amanti delle storie d’amore per chi predilige i racconti introspettivi, per chi forse conosce già la penna di West. Io partirei comunque da La famiglia Aubrey.
Ho amato così tanto La famiglia Aubrey, anche se non ho ancora finito la trilogia volevo incontrare ancora Rebecca.
Non ho amato Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume come gli altri romanzi ma ho potuto abbandonarmi alla penna di West e godermi questa storia d’amore sui generis.
Quando i due protagonisti si conoscono Harriet è una giovane pianista che vive della sua arte mentre Arnold vuole diventare un politico di successo, a qualunque costo.
Non potrebbero essere più diversi, eppure come spesso accade, gli opposti si attraggono e non riescono a star lontani. Almeno finché Arnold non si allontanerà vigliaccamente dall’amata per inseguire il suo sogno ambizioso.
Ma al destino non si sfugge e i due si rincontreranno nel corso degli anni diverse volte. La trama è tutta qui, custodita in queste poche righe. Ancora una volta West, seppur con un registro più frizzante rispetto a quello usato per La famiglia Aubrey, non ha bisogno di grossi elementi per costruire una storia interessante.
Arnold è affascinato da Harriet e dalle sue capacità, per lui è una figura eterea, esattamente il suo opposto.
Di tutte le donne che aveva conosciuto lei era la più eterea. Amarla era come avvolgersi in una lunga sciarpa di puro spirito. E tuttavia, per quel che concerne l’amare, com’era umana!
In realtà l’elemento stravagante c’è: un pomeriggio, precisamente quello in cui Arnold e Harriet si lasceranno, succede qualcosa di inspiegabile: lei riesce a leggere i pensieri dell’amato. Inspiegabile, inquietante e sicuramente spaventoso, Arnold non potrà che abbandonare la casa e il giardino fiorito di Harriet.
Nonostante conoscesse Harriet molto bene e gli ci fosse voluto un periodo di tempo non trascurabile per arrivare a quella conoscenza, non sapeva quasi nulla di lei, nemmeno il luogo, nel senso più ampio, il luogo in cui era nata.
Dopo sei anni i due si rincontrano quasi casualmente e ancora una volta Harriet sarà in grado di leggere nella mente di quell’uomo che negli ultimi anni ha riempito le cronache dei giornali. Peccato però che tra i piani di Arnold, non tutti siano per aiutare il prossimo. Questo turba Harriet e crea un’altra frattura tra i due.
Ma un uomo deve farsi strada nel mondo! Santo cielo, lei non lo capiva! Un uomo deve farsi strada nel mondo!
Rebecca West in questa Londra degli anni Venti mette in scena intrighi e ipocrisie di una classe che dovrebbe occuparsi degli altri, e non di solo del proprio tornaconto. Ma fa qualcosa di ancora più importante: mostra la ribellione di Harriet. Una donna che vive del sua arte (diventata professione) e non vuole incasellarsi nel ruolo di madre e moglie.
Una storia d’amore raccontata con un pizzico di magia. Non vi ho detto molto perché durante il romanzo succedono poche cose e il vero viaggio lo si fa gustandosi la penna di West che ci trascina nella mente e nel cuore di due personaggi destinati, nonostante tutto, ad amarsi per sempre.
Oh, Harriet, Harriet, ammetti che tra noi c’è un legame così forte che nel Giorno del Giudizio, se dovessi essere spedito all’inferno, tu ti sdraierai a pancia in giù dal bordo del pavimento del paradiso e stenderai verso il basso il braccio, che per un miracolo si protenderà ben oltre la sua lunghezza perfetta, e mi solleverai di peso accanto a te.
Consigliato per gli amanti delle storie d’amore per chi predilige i racconti introspettivi, per chi forse conosce già la penna di West. Io partirei comunque da La famiglia Aubrey.
February 11, 2016
Not being a fan of fantasy I disliked the fantastical elements, such as the tale the aponymous Harriet wove about three trees in her garden being three historical sisters joined by garlands of flowers. The only bit I enjoyed was the description of the garden itself, and some descriptions of London that West rendered beautifully. Harriet was tiny, beautiful and an accomplished pianist. She was a symbol of the arts, rather than a real woman. She dressed always in the colour of parchment. Was this symbolic of a page yet to be written on? I don't know. Arthur was ambitious, jealous of those born with more advantages than he had himself, and prepared to be unprincipled in his incessant search for power and prestige. As a political satire this book worked much better. That Arthur had invented the kingdom of Mondh (la Monde - the world, perhaps?) to gain importance was quite clever, it reminded me of Wag the Dog, although, of course, this was written in the 1920's, so West could be credited with prescience. I was uncertain about the end. Arthur realised his faults, but did he destroy beauty in the process? He had dismissed Harriet as a woman and therefore unimportant. He had called her all kinds of derogatory names, but was he protesting too much? She returned to haunt him throughout his life. It was really the story of Arthur Conderex and the perils of ambition rather than that of Harriet Hume, the lover of beauty. West spends a lot of time talking about opposites, I would have preferred a more nuanced approach.
December 23, 2017
3.5 stars. It's an original story about two people who initially meet and fall in love, but events happen to affect the relationship. The location is London in the 1920s and a lot of time is spent in Harriet's place of residence. The story centres on Harriet Hume, a young pianist and Arnold Condorex, a young politician. Over the next ten or more years we are provided with commentary on Arnold's career and life and to a lessor extent, Harriet's career and life. The writing is clever and an interesting commentary on male / female relationships and roles. This is an unusual book in that we never fully know who Harriet and Arnold are. I enjoyed the reading experience, though there was a part in the second half of the novel that I found a particular day in the life of Arnold a little dull. This is my first Rebecca West novel and probably not the best place to start reading West books. It's a thought provoking read. I will certainly be reading more of Rebecca West.
January 13, 2009
A young man, Arnold Condorex, has an affair with Harriet Hume, a beautiful piano player. Then he leaves her to have a successful career in politics, but she shows up at different stages of his life to make him see how his life is going wrong. The book is also called "A London fantasy" and every time he meets Harriet again something fantastical happens, such as all the statues in London coming to life or three young women turning into trees. The writing is wonderful and I love the London that is portrayed in here and really enjoy the fantastical element, but I never really cared for the characters. It's very distracting when Arnold keeps calling Harriet "trollop" and "bitch" and it's not supposed to be insulting, and I have no idea why Harriet cared for him at all. She wasn't a real person but rather some sort of symbol of femininity.
June 9, 2017
I thought I was going to like/love this book. I failed and failed miserably. Perhaps if the book had been a mere 150 pages rather than 300, perhaps if I had found the characters even somewhat believable as fantasies, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.........
The plot, if there is one, is that of a man with high expectations of his future drifting in and out of the life of an exquisite & mind reading sprite of a lovely but poor pianist.
He wishes to be rich and powerful at any cost and she seems content with her lot. He marries into money, compromising any ethics he may have in building his career and in the end finds himself a ruined man. Harriet remains the same.
The book is written in a sweet, flowery manner and I could have enjoyed it in a brief novella but was unable to in full book form.
I don't know that I can recommend this one and that makes me sad.
The plot, if there is one, is that of a man with high expectations of his future drifting in and out of the life of an exquisite & mind reading sprite of a lovely but poor pianist.
He wishes to be rich and powerful at any cost and she seems content with her lot. He marries into money, compromising any ethics he may have in building his career and in the end finds himself a ruined man. Harriet remains the same.
The book is written in a sweet, flowery manner and I could have enjoyed it in a brief novella but was unable to in full book form.
I don't know that I can recommend this one and that makes me sad.
December 27, 2009
This is an odd book, and I would have rated it rather more lowly, but I really liked the tone. There's something about British books written between the wars. They have kind of a sweet sadness that almost has a desperate hope that nothing bad will even happen again. Sometimes you can tell they are firmly ignoring the signs of impending war. Not in this book, but sometimes. And I sometimes wonder if letting go of some dreams isn't better than railing against the world because you can't achieve them.
March 17, 2016
I really enjoyed "Harriet Hume: A London fantasy." As this isn't considered one of Rebecca West's best novels, I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Harriet is a young woman with a strange connection with her lover Arnold Condorex -- she can see into his mind and knows what he is thinking and hiding from even himself. She pops up into his life at critical moments and shakes his world.
I really liked the build up of the story and West's use of language and the landscape. This was a fun read.
Harriet is a young woman with a strange connection with her lover Arnold Condorex -- she can see into his mind and knows what he is thinking and hiding from even himself. She pops up into his life at critical moments and shakes his world.
I really liked the build up of the story and West's use of language and the landscape. This was a fun read.
March 28, 2009
Tinted with fantasy romance. The heroine's a recital of Harriet Cohen, concert pianist 'n' muse to Elgar, Sibelius, DH Lawrence, H.G. Wells...
"works of art feel towards human beings exactly as we do towards ghosts."
"works of art feel towards human beings exactly as we do towards ghosts."
February 23, 2013
Appropriately subtitled 'A London Fantasy', this is a dreamy novel about ambitious Arnold Condorex and his love for independent, ethereal Harriet Hume. They meet five times over the course of several years, in which Arnold's rise to and fall from power is traced, all foreseen and predicted by Harriet, with whom he shares an almost supernatural connection. In the end, Harriet is all that is left to him. Bittersweet.
December 19, 2011
Short easy to read story which follows the male character through his life. The book jumps several years but keeps coming back to Harriet and her ability.
Loved West's style of writing and the book's unusualness. It could have been written as a common love story but the element of fantasy thrown in raises it above that.
Loved West's style of writing and the book's unusualness. It could have been written as a common love story but the element of fantasy thrown in raises it above that.
June 5, 2016
I enjoyed this book - it's a magical, mystical love story. It reminded me of Jeanette Winterson or Angela Carter, in being quite timeless and outside of reality, although it is set firmly in 1920s London. It was also funny and comical, although the language was extremely archaic and bizarre.
February 1, 2010
The rarified language got on my nerves. But I loved Harriet's fairy tales of women turning into trees and sphinxes padding down the streets of London.
October 26, 2013
The plot is interesting but the execution is poor. It is very verbose for a 20th century novel. The style is closer to a 19th century book.
Want to read
May 13, 2017Mentioned in, The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield.
August 10, 2019
Rebecca West is where the fun dies...
November 12, 2020
Ho amato molto la trilogia della famiglia Aubrey di Rebecca West (“La famiglia Aubrey“, “Nel cuore della notte“, “Rosamund“), ma molti lettori hanno faticato a leggerla per il ritmo particolarmente lento e l’azione dilatata.
A quei lettori posso dire che “Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume” ha uno registro diverso: lo stile è brioso, “leggero”, conservando quell’acume, quel lirismo delle descrizioni, e quella sottile quanto intensa riflessione psicologica che caratterizzano i romanzi di questa autrice.
Una differenza importante rispetto alla trilogia, improntata molto sulle figure femminili, è che questa volta l’autrice dà voce a un uomo, con tutto ciò che questo comporta, mostrando al lettore di sapersi calare bene nei panni di un protagonista maschile.
Arnold Condorex è davvero un bel tipo. “Non avrò pace fino a quando tutti gli uomini mi considereranno loro pari; anzi, fino a che non imploreranno me di ritenerli miei pari”, ammette. È convinto di meritare molto più di quanto i suoi natali gli abbiano offerto ed è disposto a fare di tutto per cambiare il suo stato sociale. Ma ha un punto debole.
Perché ogni passo in avanti della carriera di Arnold Condorex era stato conquistato grazie al suo talento per la negoziazione, e con nessuno era in grado di negoziare meglio che con se stesso.
Arnold e Harriet li incontriamo da giovani e innamorati. Harriet è una pianista che cerca di mantenersi con la sua arte, ma Arnold sa che non è quella la vita che vuole. Anche a costo di sacrificare quello che ha di più caro, ovvero l’affetto della sua amata.
Le cose cambiano bruscamente un pomeriggio, quando Harriet capisce di poter entrare nella testa di Arnold e ascoltare i suoi pensieri. Da qual momento, il rapporto smette di essere equilibrato: Arnold non riesce a fare i conti con questa capacità di Harriet, rifiutandola e al contempo cercandola.
Per saperne di più: https://www.silenziostoleggendo.com/2...
A quei lettori posso dire che “Quel prodigio di Harriet Hume” ha uno registro diverso: lo stile è brioso, “leggero”, conservando quell’acume, quel lirismo delle descrizioni, e quella sottile quanto intensa riflessione psicologica che caratterizzano i romanzi di questa autrice.
Una differenza importante rispetto alla trilogia, improntata molto sulle figure femminili, è che questa volta l’autrice dà voce a un uomo, con tutto ciò che questo comporta, mostrando al lettore di sapersi calare bene nei panni di un protagonista maschile.
Arnold Condorex è davvero un bel tipo. “Non avrò pace fino a quando tutti gli uomini mi considereranno loro pari; anzi, fino a che non imploreranno me di ritenerli miei pari”, ammette. È convinto di meritare molto più di quanto i suoi natali gli abbiano offerto ed è disposto a fare di tutto per cambiare il suo stato sociale. Ma ha un punto debole.
Perché ogni passo in avanti della carriera di Arnold Condorex era stato conquistato grazie al suo talento per la negoziazione, e con nessuno era in grado di negoziare meglio che con se stesso.
Arnold e Harriet li incontriamo da giovani e innamorati. Harriet è una pianista che cerca di mantenersi con la sua arte, ma Arnold sa che non è quella la vita che vuole. Anche a costo di sacrificare quello che ha di più caro, ovvero l’affetto della sua amata.
Le cose cambiano bruscamente un pomeriggio, quando Harriet capisce di poter entrare nella testa di Arnold e ascoltare i suoi pensieri. Da qual momento, il rapporto smette di essere equilibrato: Arnold non riesce a fare i conti con questa capacità di Harriet, rifiutandola e al contempo cercandola.
Per saperne di più: https://www.silenziostoleggendo.com/2...
November 17, 2020
Secondo me non è allo stesso livello della trilogia della Famiglia Aubrey ( che adoro alla follia), ma questo resta comunque un buon libro che si lascia leggere facilmente e velocemente. Forse mi aspettavo un po’ di più, non mi ha catturato come la trilogia familiare, ma la scrittura della West resta una delle mie preferite
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2021
Recensione completa -> https://thebooksblender.altervista.or...
May 31, 2024
4.5. This is a rather brilliant and deeply peculiar novel. A love story to London, a political satire and a kind of witchy ghost story all rolled into one.
February 28, 2024
Not my favourite book by West - didn't enjoy the characters but I did enjoy Wests elegant style writing.
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December 18, 2018This is a strange story about a woman who is able to read her lover's mind, and knowing his thoughts is in the end what saves her life. Harriet is a concert pianist who lives in a Kensington House apartment. Arnold Condorex is a man whose ambitions lead him to corrupt politics in a quest for power. Together this couple is made of polar opposites and at the same time seems drawn together by magnets. Harriet's apartment has a beautiful courtyard where she tends the trees and lilacs with care. While strolling there with Arnold after a midday rendezvous, she shares with him fairytales and revelations about his inner thoughts. This is unsettling to Arnold, whose thoughts are not the purest. He can't face himself in the mirror, so to say. Arnold realizes he has to leave Harriet in order to reach his aspirations in life. She reminded me of Jiminy Cricket … supplying a conscience for Arnold that he doesn't want. He knows that ruthlessness will get him where he wants to be and doesn't need Harriet's judgement to slow him down. The story stops and starts as the couple reunites every few years. While they are apart, Arnold achieves his goals whiles sacrificing his morals along the way. With each reunion, I think Harriet hopes he has changed, or hopes she can change him. Instead her intuitive powers prove Arnold's thoughts are still self-serving and not always flattering to her. Along with burgling Arnold's mind, she can also predict his actions. As the story progresses, his actions become more erratic and Arnold tries to make sense of his fatal attraction to Harriet, “You yourself once explained that there was a mystical confusion of substance in us.”
While researching Rebecca West, I discovered a 1968 interview with her on YouTube, conducted by William F. Buckley Jr., where she talked about the subject of treason. It was an interesting talk about the Cambridge Five and their involvement in passing on information to the Soviet Union as double agents. In listening to her views about spies, traitors, McCarthyism, communism and the John Birch Society, I wondered what she would say about today's politics. One of her noted published works was The Meaning of Treason, where she dissects the moral struggles of those involved in spy rings and conspiracies. This interview also helped me make some connections to what motivated Arnold Condorex in his affair with Harriet Hume. He was obviously attracted to Harriet, although he spoke in flippant terms when professing his love, but the underlying problem he had in other areas of his life prevented him from being the sort of chivalrous sort of lover I wished he could have been. I think West illustrated the human weakness of Arnold’s worldly desires and the difficulty he had with ethics.
Throughout the novel, West's vocabulary may seem archaic for modern readers, but as quoted by William Shawn, editor of the New Yorker, on announcement of her death (March 15, 1983). “No one in this century wrote more dazzling prose, or had more wit, or looked at the intricacies of human character and the ways of the world more intelligently."
While researching Rebecca West, I discovered a 1968 interview with her on YouTube, conducted by William F. Buckley Jr., where she talked about the subject of treason. It was an interesting talk about the Cambridge Five and their involvement in passing on information to the Soviet Union as double agents. In listening to her views about spies, traitors, McCarthyism, communism and the John Birch Society, I wondered what she would say about today's politics. One of her noted published works was The Meaning of Treason, where she dissects the moral struggles of those involved in spy rings and conspiracies. This interview also helped me make some connections to what motivated Arnold Condorex in his affair with Harriet Hume. He was obviously attracted to Harriet, although he spoke in flippant terms when professing his love, but the underlying problem he had in other areas of his life prevented him from being the sort of chivalrous sort of lover I wished he could have been. I think West illustrated the human weakness of Arnold’s worldly desires and the difficulty he had with ethics.
Throughout the novel, West's vocabulary may seem archaic for modern readers, but as quoted by William Shawn, editor of the New Yorker, on announcement of her death (March 15, 1983). “No one in this century wrote more dazzling prose, or had more wit, or looked at the intricacies of human character and the ways of the world more intelligently."
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