Muriel Spark poll

i went on a big spark jag at one point but it was like 15 years ago so i don't even remember which ones i read any more. i voted for "the comforters" bc i do remember the meta aspect of that book blowing my mind at the time.

too many masterpieces in too many different ways to vote. i'm split between the comforters and the driver's seat, both of which seem more or less perfect to me.

Yes. By the way, do you have a friend named clare quil?

I've read 10 of these, and actually have Aiding and Abetting on the top of my to-read pile at the moment. Of the ones I've read, The Driver's Seat is my favorite, would probably put The Girls of Slender Means or The Bachelors at #2.

The Comforters is also great and I'm happy to see it getting so much love here, didn't realize it was held in such high regard!

Been at them over the last week or two -

Hothouse by the East River - I mean this is what I want, cold, strange, spare nightmare farce, but it doesn't seem to quite come off. Feels like I'm reading a 50s absurdist play or something & there's something a bit 'oh ok' about where it goes.

Abbess of Crewe - that's the stuff. I don't really care about Watergate, but power forcing its self-contained system of control, oppression and surveillance into myth & thinking that it's stepping outside time… I mean I don't know what is going on in this book, so I'm happy and it's a contender for my vote. Will re-read.

A Far Cry from Kensington - This was very likeable and I can see why it gets a radio 4 adaption. But it seems less interesting than Loitering with Intent which iirc has a more satisfying game on Sparky's occult-fraud-art theme in the same milieu.

Just in the middle of The Comforters. No idea why I haven't read this before. I haven't been interested in novels doing meta things in a long time, but damn this just pulls it off.

Not to Disturb next maybe. Earliest one I won't have read, after I finish the comforters. I was thinking about slowly collecting the neat little Polygon hardbacks from a couple of years ago but threw that idea out when I realised I actually like the 70s penguins with slightly tacky photos of faces on the cover, and that was cheapest Not to Disturb option. New English Library feel to them.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

only ever tried miss jean brodie, which i could not really get into

picked up copies of The Only Problem (1984) & Reality and Dreams (1996) for cheap at a book sale this weekend
so now own those plus Memento Mori (1959) & Symposium (1990)...

...will try one of that bunch sometime this summer~

The Comforters fell apart a bit in the middle; there's some slackening when Caroline and Laurence go for a bit, the meta/madness slips out of focus and the pieces are just moving around.

Not to Disturb - these early 70s ones novellas of the already dead keep doing it for me. I keep seeing this one described as satire or parody,
that it's about servant problem or locked room novels, but as per it seems stranger than that - what I'm actually enjoying is hanging between the style (present-tense, hypnotic) and how uncomfortable the play with predestination makes the whole set-up. Wedding scene is something else again.

Voted for Abbess of Crewe in the end. May take a break, or move on to The Takeover.

woof, you're right about The Comforters.

the driver's seat absolutely slaps, thank you poll