Monday 3 November 2008

Not my cup of tea

It took me a while to realise that Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey was a black comedy and it certainly had its amusing moments, but I didn't engage with any of the characters and if you're not rooting for a character it's difficult to care about the book.

I also thought that the motif of a bride who gets drunk on her wedding day has been done before (and better) in The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.

Ah well, time to browse through the Persephone catalogue again - I knew I should have ordered the Katherine Mansfield Journal!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aw, what a shame! And I was so happy to learn that it will be published as a Classic coming April. Oh well. I may have to reconsider now.

Vintage Reading said...

Hi lethe, I don't much like posting negative reviews, but it's best to be honest. Strachey's writing style is a little like Virgina Woolf, so if you like her, you may like this. Nicola

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about the character thing, but sometimes I find that I like detestable characters - e.g. Javert, from Les Miserables. Maybe I'm just strange that way :)

Tara said...

This never appealed to me, but I was reconsidering now that it's coming out as a classic. Now I'm not so sure, I think I'll pass.

kristina said...

So glad I'm not the only one. I found Cheerful Weather rather disappointing, too. Not one of my favorite Persephones... K x

Anonymous said...

And now the balance tips in her favour again, because I do love Woolf!

But it won't be published until April, so I don't have to decide just yet.

What was the other Persephone you didn't like?

Vintage Reading said...

lethe, the other one I wasn't keen on was Miss Pettigrew, I didn't hate it, I just that it was a bit of a flimsy story.

Cheerful Weather reminds me of the Woolf novel - I can't remember which one - where all the action takes place in one day and according to the intro (which is very interesting) Woolf was the first to publish Strachey's novel. The only other reservation I have about Cheerful Weather is that it cost £12.00 and is really a novella, not much longer than a short story!

StuckInABook said...

I've just read this, and linked to your thoughts, but I actually had the opposite reaction. Loved it, and found it hilarious! I do love Woolf, but I actually thought it was rather closer to PG Wodehouse, though not nearly as exquisitely exaggerated as his humour is.

Not often a Persephone divides people so much (I don't know anyone else who loves it like I do, actually) but best to warn others who might not be interested!