FURQUITS BOOKSWAP ROUND 2 - Simpson's Book - TCL by MW

[Wheelybug]

Discuss !

I read this one when it was first published and I didn't enjoy it very much then, although it did inspire me to create a camomile lawn (more of a patch) years later.

That wasn't a good idea because although camomile smells gorgeous, it makes a terrible lawn plant and the slugs ate it despite all my tender care.

Anyway, I liked having the opportunity to re-read TCL and to see whether my assessment differed with the perspective of an added couple of decades, and yes, I did enjoy it much more because it is well paced, very readable, funny and I think it does convey a real flavour of the period.

My main reason for disliking this when I first read it was that I really couldn't feel much sympathy for any of the characters. I still think Calypso's a horror and Helena's wish that Pauli had been killed in the camps because he turned out to be a money-grubbing Philistine is monstrous.

But, on the whole, I found the other characters, warts and all, a lot more sympathetic than I did when I was younger.

And I'll have another shot at growing camomile too, but in a pot this time!

I am with Moomin on this one - read this book many years ago and was not keen on it then, but was happy to read it again and see if maturity of years had changed my perspective!

It would be fair to say that my perspective on life has changed since I read the book many years ago, but I still did not really like 'The Camomile Lawn'second time around.

Since finishing reading I've wondered why and concluded that I did not like any of the characters enough to care about what happened to them. Does it sound old-fashioned to say that they all seem unecessarily promiscuous? As if its really only sex that binds them all together? There does not seem to be any real loyalty between Sophy, Calypso, Polly, Oliver, Max, Helena and the twins.

Also, as Moonin has hinted at, there is almost a dismissal of the real horrors of the war, making the women seem very shallow, comforting themselves with nights out and shopping whilst their menfolk were away risking their lives.

Sometimes I found it irritating that the plot of the book is mooved along almost entirely by dialogue, with very little in the way of description or scene setting. There was nothing of the Cornish atmosphere, although war-time London was captured slightly better.

So, glad I have revisited this book but still not one I would rate as a favourite for me. Thanks for reminding me about it though, Simpson.

I too read this book when I was younger as my mum went on a bit of a Mary Wesley bender when I was still living at home. I had forgotten about it so can't really compare to what I thought then but really enjoyed it this time round. I like the fact that the plot is very dialog driven and I also like how spare it is at times. I think you learn as much from what is left unsaid as is said.

Maybe I am filling in the gaps too much but I found sympathy for many of the characters, and especially Sophy and Polly and even developed a fondness for Richards ridiculousness. Yes they are all flawed but then thats more true to life than just having some really nice people to read about and proves you don't have to like people to find them interesting. I think the whole point of the book was that they became very callous and selfish to survive and used the situation of the war to their own advantage and to break out of the constraints that convention would have put upon them under normal circumstances. It also captured that they really didn't have much of a clue about what went on outside of England while the war was on and were just trying to get on with life as best they could. The 2nd world war was a game changer for a whole generation, especially women and this book showed that at work on an individual and personal basis.

Only disappointment was Sophy and Oliver getting together at the end. I imagine I would have liked that when younger but just felt it was a bit too much of a stretch of the imagination and a bit obvious really.

Thanks Simpson, great read all in all. I think I might hunt out some more Wesley for my holiday reading.

Thanks Rocket - I really found your comments helpful, and agree with you about the war alowing the characters to behave in ways which they would have normally.

Funny we've all had the same history here - I too read this years ago and remember just being a bit baffled by how empty their lives seemed to be apart from sexual encounters but it wasn't in the bodice ripper category. I enjoyed it more this time as a novel and appreciated her style and the way she implies much about her characters with really very little description. But I agree with above, I still didn't like them very much.

I do think, though, that it's an attempt to describe the war from a more upper middle class perspective. It makes me realise that my exposure to personal perspectives of WW2 has either been the men fighting or quite working class. This group had more in the way of contacts, land and wealth to make the sheer practicalities easier and therefore there is less focus on rationing and more on social constructs and collapse.

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down (was on hols so that helped !). Its a book I've always wanted to read and never got round to.

I agree most of the characters were totally unlikeable - Calypso and Helena in particular and some of the relationships were a bit questionable. I definitely felt sorry for Sophy and quite warmed to Richard.

I found some of the atttudes interesting - the attitudes at the beginning to Hitler (the men admiring him, even though they'd been through war themselves) and believing that concentration camps would do some good. I guess its easy to see them for what they were with the benefit of hindsight.

I'm another one that found the thought of 50/60 year old Sophy/Oliver getting together a bit unnecessary.

Thanks Simpson !