I Capture the Castle
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE (Dodie Smith) - Four Stars
Cassandra Mortmain and her family live in penniless poverty in a dilapidated castle in between-the-wars England. Her father is a famous author who released one sensational book (which, we are led to imagine, is something of a stylistic cross between Finnegan's Wake and Pale Fire) and then came down with an all-time case of writer's block. Her stepmother is an artist's model who loves being naked. Her older sister is a reclusive beauty who daydreams about becoming high society. Cassandra herself is an aspiring author who starts writing journals to become a better writer (the book is presented as a series of journals). A wealthy American family with two eligible bachelor sons becomes their new landlords and the scheming commences.
If you can make it through the first hundred pages of this novel, you've got it made. The book starts off terribly slowly, with rough character sketches and lots of descriptions of scenery (tangent... Descriptions of scenery do not bother me like they do Mo, but I'm finally beginning to understand her viewpoint: scenery seems to be a default "fall-back" for lesser authors when they can't think of anything better to write, excepting those stories where the scenery is so important to the plot that it can practically be considered an additional character, such as in the "Lord of the Rings" series). Once the Cotton family moves into Scoatney Hall, the book picks up steam and becomes very good (sometimes great) all the way to the end. In retrospect, I see that this was just another of Smith's numerous clever subtleties: the "writing" in the book gets better and better as the book progresses because it's supposed to reflect Cassandra's improving skill from practicing in her journals.
The book is very good because the characters are great. The characters are all very well-defined, with separate and distinct personalities. The plot requires no suspensions of disbelief: the characters act as people would act; the complexities of human relationships aren't always logical and rarely finish "neatly." The book is a must read for Anglophiles, full of British personality and particularly the dry, "arched eyebrows" style of British humor (which Smith occasionally deviates from with pointed bluntness, usually to surprising and humorous effect). In the end, however (and this is not meant to be a sexist comment), I think female readers will get more out of it than male readers. It does, after all, deal with a teenage girl's coming of age (complicated family life, first love or loves, etc.); and, even with as well I would consider myself at empathizing with women, there were several passages where I couldn't help but think I was missing out on some of the impact simply because I was male.
Cassandra Mortmain and her family live in penniless poverty in a dilapidated castle in between-the-wars England. Her father is a famous author who released one sensational book (which, we are led to imagine, is something of a stylistic cross between Finnegan's Wake and Pale Fire) and then came down with an all-time case of writer's block. Her stepmother is an artist's model who loves being naked. Her older sister is a reclusive beauty who daydreams about becoming high society. Cassandra herself is an aspiring author who starts writing journals to become a better writer (the book is presented as a series of journals). A wealthy American family with two eligible bachelor sons becomes their new landlords and the scheming commences.
If you can make it through the first hundred pages of this novel, you've got it made. The book starts off terribly slowly, with rough character sketches and lots of descriptions of scenery (tangent... Descriptions of scenery do not bother me like they do Mo, but I'm finally beginning to understand her viewpoint: scenery seems to be a default "fall-back" for lesser authors when they can't think of anything better to write, excepting those stories where the scenery is so important to the plot that it can practically be considered an additional character, such as in the "Lord of the Rings" series). Once the Cotton family moves into Scoatney Hall, the book picks up steam and becomes very good (sometimes great) all the way to the end. In retrospect, I see that this was just another of Smith's numerous clever subtleties: the "writing" in the book gets better and better as the book progresses because it's supposed to reflect Cassandra's improving skill from practicing in her journals.
The book is very good because the characters are great. The characters are all very well-defined, with separate and distinct personalities. The plot requires no suspensions of disbelief: the characters act as people would act; the complexities of human relationships aren't always logical and rarely finish "neatly." The book is a must read for Anglophiles, full of British personality and particularly the dry, "arched eyebrows" style of British humor (which Smith occasionally deviates from with pointed bluntness, usually to surprising and humorous effect). In the end, however (and this is not meant to be a sexist comment), I think female readers will get more out of it than male readers. It does, after all, deal with a teenage girl's coming of age (complicated family life, first love or loves, etc.); and, even with as well I would consider myself at empathizing with women, there were several passages where I couldn't help but think I was missing out on some of the impact simply because I was male.
Ivy had on a pale grey suit, tight white gloves, and the brightest blue hat I ever saw, which accentuated the red in her cheeks. She is a good-looking girl. Enormous feet, though.
posted by Kevin at 11:35 AM
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