RIP Muriel Spark

But the NYT reviewer called it a "lumpy mattress of a biography".

New Yorker none too fond of if either.

well, if you haven't read muriel's own autobio, it's a great read. Curriculum Vitae.

At the risk of generalizing, god, the Brits are so much better at autobiography.

I agree!

OK, I dropped by the library on the way home to pick up Curriculum Vitae and will wait for them to get a copy of the Stannard bio.

I'm ready to resume.

The Takeover.

Admittedly I hear you delivering that a la Jay-Z.

That was fun. The ending was sloppy though.

I'm starting The Only Problem when I get home.

Read Territorial Rights. Plot is a mess but she's a treasure.

which one is that? I was doing odds and sods of late work circa last christmas

Thought The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was perfect. Too close for comfort: as a teacher, I was definitely guilty of constructing a cult of personality. We'll cover as much science and social studies as we need to--enough that I can write a report card--but I'll show you all this other stuff, Jackson Pollock and Willie Mays and strange film clips where someone sees the universe in a cup of coffee, and even though I can't say so outright, this stuff is much more important, just like (again, implied but not spoken) you'll have many other teachers as you go on, but no will ever again show you things so interesting. Watched the film directly afterwards: got some things right, and Maggie Smith's very good, but they really flubbed the ending, and--typical--made sure to spell out everything and underline twice.

That was the first of her books that I read and I remember liking but not loving it, but she has since gone on to become one of my favorite authors, so probably due for a re-read!

Same.

One of the nice touches in the novel was the unspoken but clear affinities between Jean's creepy admiration for Mussolini and the way she ran her own classroom. In the film, they decide to have Sandy say "It's like Miss Brodie has her own Fascista!"