robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (07/02/84)
References: My wife and I have been reading (and greatly enjoying) a lot of Muriel Spark lately. I'd like to recommend her to you all out there, by giving a bit of my opinion of what you will find when reading her books. MS is a fine comedian with a truly original ability to develop plots, and a fine sense for conversation and certain kinds of human behavior. She tends to be a little hard on her characters, few of whom are truly lovable, but she keeps them in continually fascinating situations. I believe her masterpiece is 'Mandelbaum Gate'. (As with most of her books, the title gives hardly a clue as to what the book is about.) 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' is justly famous, and her books vary greatly so that there may well be some to fit most people's taste (and few a don't fit your taste, so give her a 2nd chance if the first book you try doesn't seem quite right). 'Hothouse on the East Side' (I don't have the title quite right) contains about 15 pages of the most hysterically funny farce I have ever read (with the silkworms, and the code-writing on shoes); basically however, it is an unutterably weird book. 'Loitering With Intent' presents a portrait of a protagonist from a higly unusual point of view. She is a new author striving for publication and recognition, full of an assortment of youthful emotions and attitudes that are presented in an attitude of joyfully naive innocence to us. 'Mandelbaum Gate' is set in Israel before the 6 day's war, and is especially fascinating to read in light of the political changes since then. It presents beautifully drawn characters wrestling with very serious problems in a beautiful Near-East land- and people-scape. (If you want to know why Freddy suffered from Amnesia, drop me a note and I will reply privately.) I was astounded by the techniques MS uses in this book to develop her plot. Although none are original, the various techniques rarelyy appear together, and keep the reader offbalance in a remarkably gently way. MS has written quite a number of novels, so you may be in for many hours of enjoyment when you discover her. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison