"Rather Dated" November: Anita Brookner, A Start in Life 📚

[frustratedacademic]

Come and join the chat from over in the "Rather Dated" thread (📚The Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group - All welcome to join📚 | Mumsnet), where we established that there's a thirst for reading books by women from the past 50 years or so that are too frequently written off as dated.

November's choice is Anita Brookner, A Start in Life. We'll start discussions in full from the 25th, but feel free to jot your thoughts down here earlier.

Spoilers allowed, but not on the main thread please.

Thanks for posting that Julian Barnes essay which has just helped me fill a train journey. Brookner sounds pretty formidable, and so interesting.

Yes I've finished

Great book

Helen was particularly annoying and a real spoilt sponger

Assuming the book was based in the early 60s and I felt sorry for Ruth

Mrs Cutler wasn't much of a housekeeper

Mrs Cutler was the real sponge, woodhill.
She didn't* *do a tap and she didn't do Helen any favours either. She was a terrible influence on her. They were an unlikeable lot, weren't they. I think 'grotesque' describes them well; Helen, Mrs Cutter and to a lesser extent, George.

Cutler !

George was slightly better in some ways as he was kinder to Ruth but Helen just annoyed me so much. Ultimate CF

Very odd when she suddenly died

It was a good read and even though the majority of the characters were unlikeable and Ruth could potentially be frustrating - I didn't dislike any of them.

It had a bit of a Matilda vibe for me - v studious daughter completely misunderstood by her parents who were almost caricatures.

I guess in the end Ruth chose a life of virtue. She had tried a bit of vice (sleeping with Hugh, about to start an affair with Duplessis). That's probably why I didn't feel it was too bleak, she did have a choice. She had made a life for herself, moving into the Parisian flat without letting her parents know. And she sort of fell into the marriage with Roddy 'almost as a matter of course' so I wonder if in a different way she was passive like her parents. Only Mrs Cutler seemed quite assertive.

I also loved Molly who 'found that she needed to spend a good deal of time on her own if only to keep her philosophy of life a going concern'. Lots to think about there (and elsewhere).

Thanks to whoever suggested ASIL!

I enjoyed the book. It's the first Anita Brookner I have read so I didn't know her major theme is disappointment. Until pretty near the end I was hoping Ruth would escape! I can see that some people might find it depressing or bleak, but for me the author's humorous tone prevented this, as well as the fact it was written in the third person. It seemed like the narrator was quite distanced from the characters and was both laughing at them while also having compassion for them. I admired how the writer was able to do that. I think the aspect I enjoyed most was her skill in characterisation - even some of the minor characters like Richard and Molly were very vividly drawn.

I've never read Balzac so there are probably a whole bunch of plot and thematic resonances that I've missed. I think it was mentioned in the book that the title is also taken from Balzac: Un début dans la vie? As someone familiar with academia I do think that for some people it can be a bit of a refuge from the real world, and I thought that was accurately portrayed in Ruth's case.

Definitely, IceandIndigo. Academia did serve as a refuge for Ruth and Brookner portrayed it well.

I thought the last line was significant; 'the section on the life of Eugénie Grandet has turned out rather longer than expected. Do you think anyone will notice?' I haven't read Balzac either, but I surmised that there was a parallel between Ruth's life and Eugénie's, but that Ruth saw this as a stage in hers and that once her father died, that she would be free to live her own life.

The marriage to Roddy was odd and then he conveniently died; I felt the last bit of the book was rushed

Yeah I found that an odd twist too, I didn’t feel it served any narrative purpose.

It was a strange one, so late in the story.
Did she marry him to please her father as her father liked Roddy? She didn't seem happy in her marriage. It seemed impulsive on her part.

This was my first Brookner and I really enjoyed this, I have a couple others on my shelf including Hotel du Lac which I think will read some rather than later.

Like other posters I didn't find this that depressing, the parents were so awful but they were so over the top and not like real people that I found them more funny than anything.

I wanted Ruth to escape and stay in Paris but ultimately she was a very passive character. She had a great career which she seemed engaged and interested, she didn't seem like she particularly enjoyed her marriage and yet it felt as if something was missing. Maybe she didn't count on becoming her fathers carer?

Just finished. I didn't like this at first but I persevered and in the end I loved it. Such amusing, clever characterisation. The dialogue and black humour was great. Loved Mrs Cutler. The short marriage to Roddy seemed to sum up Ruth's luck. I have read a few Balzac novels but I have since had 12 years of rubbish sleep so can't say it helped me understand it.