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Cargando... The Man in the Wooden Hat (2009 original; edición 2009)por Jane Gardam (Autor)
Información de la obraThe Man in the Wooden Hat por Jane Gardam (2009) Top Five Books of 2020 (226) Best Love Stories (13) » 7 más Books Read in 2020 (446) Top Five Books of 2018 (699) Books Read in 2017 (2,188) Books Read in 2018 (2,798) Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Here's what I wrote in 2013 about this read: "2nd in "Old Filth" Trilogy but was just fine to read first. (Wife) Betty's story. ( ) One of my favorite authors has written another book on Old Filth (Failed in London, Try Hong Kong), this tale from the viewpoint of his wife, Betty, a poignant portrayal of their lives together and apart. As the New Statesman says of Gardam "she explores the corrosive loneliness of being alive and the courage it takes to continue." But there is humor and compassion and lovely writing. Betty Can Jump In this co-quel (is that a word?) to Old Filth we see the marriage of Edward and Elizabeth largely through the eyes of Elizabeth (Betty). I read "Old Filth" first and am not sure how I would have viewed Betty had I first met here here in "Man in the Wooden Hat". Certainly she's admirable here. Coldly lovable. I recommend this novel but feel that "Old Filth" is the better novel. There is a little too much undeserved sentimentality in Wooden Hat. The relationship between Betty and Terry Veneering is a bit understand. But perhaps, like Sir Edward, I'm just a little too old for it all.... I have held off on reviewing this second book in the trilogy until I had finished the third, so as to have a clear view of where it sits in terms of quality and my general level of satisfaction with the narrative. While still an exceptional read - the quality of the authorship guarantees that - this falls shy of Old Filth's knockout punch, the clear masterpiece in the series with an elegant tightness belying the complexity of the Sir Edward Feathers' redemptive arc, and the satisfaction of the well-seasoned stew of related characters by which Last Friends brings an end to Gardam's fictional cycle. I suspect at base my dissatisfaction stems from the character of Betty Feathers, née Macintosh. While both Betty and Edward have secrets in their past, Betty lacks the will and/or the opportunity to reconcile with hers. Old Filth saw Edward Feathers respond to sudden and shocking loss with a somewhat mad road-trip, taking him from disintegration of character to reintegration and reconciliation with his "self" and his past. Betty's similar loss leads to introspection and not a lot else. Is this a reversal of Old Filth's path? He begins fractured and ends mended while Betty begins whole and loses impetus/will/individuality? Perhaps. I would not hesitate to recommend The Man in the Wooden Hat as part of an excellent trilogy and, in the course of writing this review, have raised my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. Well may my feelings towards Betty be the antithesis of the affection engendered towards Old Filth, but the ability to evoke such a strong emotional response is testament to brilliant writing.
On its own, “The Man in the Wooden Hat” is funny and affecting, but read alongside “Old Filth,” it’s remarkable. Gardam has attempted to turn a story inside out without damaging the original narrative’s integrity — moving from black to white without getting stuck with gray. Little here is as it seemed in “Old Filth,” and both books are the richer for it. "While "Old Filth" is principally about the man, his dark boyhood at the mercy of a distant, unfeeling father, with the wife a rather shadowy character in the background, "The Man in the Wooden Hat" fills in her side of the story, in the process revealing itself to be an astute, subtle depiction of marriage, with all its shared experiences and separate secrets." What Gardam is particularly good at – and what made Old Filth so compelling – is creating for her characters façades of complete conventionality, which are then chipped away to reveal strange internal workings. Pertenece a las seriesOld Filth (2) Contenido en
The New York Times called Sir Edward Feathers one of the most memorable characters in modern literature. A lyrical novel that recalls his fully lived life, Old Filth has been acclaimed as Jane Gardam's masterpiece, a book where life and art merge. And now that beautiful, haunting novel has been joined by a companion that also bursts with humor and wisdom: The Man in the Wooden Hat. Old Filth was Eddie's story. The Man in the Wooden Hat is the history of his marriage told from the perspective of his wife, Betty, a character as vivid and enchanting as Filth himself. They met in Hong Kong after the war. Betty had spent the duration in a Japanese internment camp. Filth was already a successful barrister, handsome, fast becoming rich, in need of a wife but unaccustomed to romance. A perfect English couple of the late 1940s. As a portrait of a marriage, with all the bittersweet secrets and surprising fulfillment of the 50-year union of two remarkable people, the novel is a triumph. The Man in the Wooden Hat is fiction of a very high order from a great novelist working at the pinnacle of her considerable power. It will be read and loved and recommended by all the many thousands of readers who found its predecessor, Old Filth, so compelling and so thoroughly satisfying.
Tells the story of the fifty-year marriage of barrister Filth and his wife Betty, which is filled with secrets and hidden desires. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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