Guardian Newspaper 1000 Novels discussion

In September we will be reading Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark for our Comedy category - who's in?

me for a change, I think, for one...

I'll catch this one the next time it comes around

I’m in, I’ll be starting at the weekend.

I read it at the end of last month so I can't wait to see what others think.

I read it in the past also, so I'll be interested in what you think!

Looking forward to starting it soon.

Okay, just finished it and enjoyed it greatly. My question: how unreliable a narrator do you think Fleur Talbot is?

Dennis wrote: "Okay, just finished it and enjoyed it greatly. My question: how unreliable a narrator do you think Fleur Talbot is?"

I think she's reasonably reliable. She's egotistical and not very likeable in general but the warts and all attitude of her narrative bends me to believe her.
How about you?

I wondered whether she was deluding herself when the manuscript disappeared and people started acting in ways that she had previously imagined, in her novel, but it seems that Sir Quentin was in fact influenced by it. Am I right?

Dennis wrote: "I wondered whether she was deluding herself when the manuscript disappeared and people started acting in ways that she had previously imagined, in her novel, but it seems that Sir Quentin was in fa..."

That's what I got from it too. It was a book about about whether art imitates life or art imitates life.
Fern had a healthy dose of self-confidence and was a great believer in her own talents. She spoke about her "craft" and inspiration in terms of her writing things and then noticing them about her but Sir Quentin did in fact use her novel as a basis for a fiendish plot to control other people.
I wonder how much of Muriel Spark was in Fern?

I just finished this, it wasn’t my favourite Spark novel although I did like Fleur and Dottie, with their constant battles.

I also felt Fleur was reliable, and through her Spark has a dig at frauds like Sir Quentin and also the publishing industry, which is seen as limiting artistic expression.

These themes come up in most of Spark’s novels, along with the slimming pills which also turned up here. I just read The Girls of Slender Means which has a lot of the same themes, but which was both a funnier and more moving book in my opinion.

Pamela wrote: "I just finished this, it wasn’t my favourite Spark novel although I did like Fleur and Dottie, with their constant battles.

I also felt Fleur was reliable, and through her Spark has a dig at fraud..."

I read the girls of Slender Means a couple of months ago and I have to say that although I enjoyed both I preferred this one. I do enjoy how unfemale in their femininity Sparks' characters are.

Fay wrote: "I do enjoy how unfemale in their femininity Sparks’ characters are..."

I agree, especially if they’re writers. The female writers seem to sacrifice their femininity and their love lives to their art.

Interesting that you preferred this one, I felt it ended a bit tamely, but there was a lot I liked about it.

Pamela wrote: "Fay wrote: "I do enjoy how unfemale in their femininity Sparks’ characters are..."

I agree, especially if they’re writers. The female writers seem to sacrifice their femininity and their love live..."

Do you know, I think that's exactly why I preferred it? I think that the premise of Loitering was so far fetched that the tamer almost anti-climatic ending as a juxtaposition was exactly what it needed.
In Slender Means, the build up was dark and portentous all through. Every chapter started with the grim news spreading through the girls so I expected catastrophe. That's not to say that if I ever read both of them again my mood wouldn't dictate a change in preference ;-)

Just finished and while I enjoyed it (Spark is never less than entertaining) I felt it was rather too light and insubstantial. He cast of characters at the Autobiographical Association were fun, but weren’t fleshed out anything like enough - although I enjoyed the “where are they now” bit right at the end.

So, a good read but I question whether it justified a spot on the list.