📚 'Rather Dated' September: Barbara Pym's An Academic Question. 📚

[MotherofPearl]

I'll add the usual introduction and links in a moment.

I agree, @cassandre , Crampton Hodnet is much meatier (and much funnier).

@StellaOlivetti , I belatedly realised that I said almost exactly the same thing you did about the novel being less good because it was put together posthumously. Sorry, I should read the thread properly!

One thing that impresses me about Crampton Hodnet was that Pym was so young when she wrote it, but she manages to depict the lives of older women so convincingly.

I agree cassandre with your comment about the manuscript. It was kind of brushed under the carpet. That aspect of the story was a bit thin. I'm still bemused about Caro pinching it without a single scruple.

I think Coco would be a good guest to have at a dinner party but both of them, mother and son, would be wearying to deal with on a daily basis.

I wouldn't give this book a bold on my list as it falls short, but I'm interested in reading another Pym at some stage.

I think someone on here mentioned the Barbara Pym biography, which prompted me to get it out of the library. She was a very interesting woman, and it’s a fascinating read.

@StellaOlivetti Is that the biography by Paula Byrne? I would love to read it, but I tried her one about the Kennedy sister, Kit, and it was so unbelievably badly written I had to stop reading it. It's put me off reading any of the other biographies she's written which is annoying as she seems to do people I'm very interested in!!

@thelongroad yes, it was! I didn’t notice it was badly written. Perhaps I’m just undiscriminating. It was an interesting read. Worth a shot, I’d say.

Thank you, I'll give it a try!