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The Novel Chapter 36: Enchantment and Disenchantment
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What Members Thought

Death, death death death death, death death death death death death death death, DEATH death death, death death, death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death, deeeeaaaaattttthhhhhhhhhhhhh...

An early novel, this really fell short of the other two I'd previously read. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is scathing and weird, The Driver's Seat is feverish and weird, but Memento Mori is just boring and weird. There are mentions of scandal and secrets, but like in The House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett, it's all too obliquely rendered to be effective. The characters are numerous and tied to one another in complex configurations, but almost all of the intriguing heft of their stories i
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A group of old people begins to receive anonymous telephone calls. The message is always the same 'Remember you must die'. The panic that ensues triggers a number of revelations, arguments and plots, as Death inexorably advances on the group.
This is an amusing and macabre look at old age, but underneath the farce lies a thoughtful examination of human frailty. Most of the characters are self-centred and self-deluding, they obsess about the weakness of the others while trying to ignore the inevit ...more
This is an amusing and macabre look at old age, but underneath the farce lies a thoughtful examination of human frailty. Most of the characters are self-centred and self-deluding, they obsess about the weakness of the others while trying to ignore the inevit ...more

This was my first read of Muriel Spark.
The audio version was quite enjoyable. I do think that it may be difficult to track the characters in print though. There were so many and they hopped around so much.
The author must surely have spent time among many elderly people to catch all of the dynamics involved with aging. Quite a few of the characters, especially the younger ones, were just detestable. Most of the elderly characters, especially when relating tales of their younger years, were quite ...more
The audio version was quite enjoyable. I do think that it may be difficult to track the characters in print though. There were so many and they hopped around so much.
The author must surely have spent time among many elderly people to catch all of the dynamics involved with aging. Quite a few of the characters, especially the younger ones, were just detestable. Most of the elderly characters, especially when relating tales of their younger years, were quite ...more

Like The Driver's Seat this one was weird. However, despite some amusing moments, overall I found this a rather convoluted slog.
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Dec 25, 2008
Erika
marked it as to-read

Oct 04, 2015
Zadignose
marked it as for-my-consideration

Oct 28, 2015
Jennifer
marked it as to-read


Oct 05, 2016
Karen Michele Burns
marked it as to-read


Oct 24, 2016
Dianne
marked it as to-read


Jan 25, 2024
Nike
marked it as to-read