Daren
Hard book to review (and rate) this one. I sought it out when the second in his "empire series" was recommended to me (The Siege of Krishnapur), and typically for me, I needed to start with book one.
This book is set from 1919 to 1921, in the fictional town of Kilnalough in Ireland, in and around the fading glory of the Majestic Hotel. The protagonist is Brendan Archer, former British officer, and supposed fiancé to Angela Spencer, the eldest daughter of the hotels owner, Edward Spenser, and aging Anglo-Irish Tory. Archer, referred to almost exclusively in the novel as 'the Major', is making a visit to Angela, who he met when on leave in Brighton during the war - he has no recollection of proposing to her, but her weekly letters while he was in service were all signed off as his fiancé! Through her letters, the Major knows much of the background to the hotel, its guest and Angela's family.
This is a pretty difficult book to assess, published in 1970, it is essentially historical fiction. It revolves around the Major's relationship with Angela , but it can't be judged a romance. Political satire, with its symbolism (more below)? A Fawlty Towers-like comedy in the crumbling hotel, with forgetful old ladies, Spencer's dogs and the rougue cats? There is also the Irish Situation always bubbling in the background - the Easter Rising having taken place in 1916, where the Irish rebelled against British Rule before being suppressed. Now events were moving back in the favour of the Irish, and as we know British rule in Ireland ended in December 1921 - but this is more of a background to the story. There is a bit of everything mentioned, all wrapped up in this book.
For large sections of the book, to story moves slowly - glacially you might even say. It is more a catalogue of existence within the hotel that a narrative that moves the story forward - likely intentional, as it exhibits the uncertainty the Major feels in his relationship.
There are metaphors or symbolism evident in this novel - I am usually not good at figuring these out, but as other reviewers have outlined - the dilapidated hotel (The Majestic!) represents the fading British Empire - literally falling apart, and the parallels with the narrative interrupted by reportage articles on the unrest in Ireland, India and South Africa. The upper floor of the hotel has been overtaken by ginger (orange) cats with green eyes - the Republicans? One of the cats which attacks an old lady is brutally put down, as the Irish resistance is dealt with by the British.
There is much to consider in this 450 pages, and much more to the plot than I have outlined here.
I enjoyed reading this, but would not be satisfied with the pace if I read another novel this slow in the next 10 or 15 books!
4 stars
Hard book to review (and rate) this one. I sought it out when the second in his "empire series" was recommended to me (The Siege of Krishnapur), and typically for me, I needed to start with book one.
This book is set from 1919 to 1921, in the fictional town of Kilnalough in Ireland, in and around the fading glory of the Majestic Hotel. The protagonist is Brendan Archer, former British officer, and supposed fiancé to Angela Spencer, the eldest daughter of the hotels owner, Edward Spenser, and aging Anglo-Irish Tory. Archer, referred to almost exclusively in the novel as 'the Major', is making a visit to Angela, who he met when on leave in Brighton during the war - he has no recollection of proposing to her, but her weekly letters while he was in service were all signed off as his fiancé! Through her letters, the Major knows much of the background to the hotel, its guest and Angela's family.
This is a pretty difficult book to assess, published in 1970, it is essentially historical fiction. It revolves around the Major's relationship with Angela , but it can't be judged a romance. Political satire, with its symbolism (more below)? A Fawlty Towers-like comedy in the crumbling hotel, with forgetful old ladies, Spencer's dogs and the rougue cats? There is also the Irish Situation always bubbling in the background - the Easter Rising having taken place in 1916, where the Irish rebelled against British Rule before being suppressed. Now events were moving back in the favour of the Irish, and as we know British rule in Ireland ended in December 1921 - but this is more of a background to the story. There is a bit of everything mentioned, all wrapped up in this book.
For large sections of the book, to story moves slowly - glacially you might even say. It is more a catalogue of existence within the hotel that a narrative that moves the story forward - likely intentional, as it exhibits the uncertainty the Major feels in his relationship.
There are metaphors or symbolism evident in this novel - I am usually not good at figuring these out, but as other reviewers have outlined - the dilapidated hotel (The Majestic!) represents the fading British Empire - literally falling apart, and the parallels with the narrative interrupted by reportage articles on the unrest in Ireland, India and South Africa. The upper floor of the hotel has been overtaken by ginger (orange) cats with green eyes - the Republicans? One of the cats which attacks an old lady is brutally put down, as the Irish resistance is dealt with by the British.
There is much to consider in this 450 pages, and much more to the plot than I have outlined here.
I enjoyed reading this, but would not be satisfied with the pace if I read another novel this slow in the next 10 or 15 books!
4 stars