I'd never heard of Henry Green or his novel Loving until I ran across it on the list of the top 100 novels in English of the 20th century as chosen by the Modern Library's editorial board. (Re: the reader's list? Step away from the Ayn Rand -- she's a crazy lady!) I decided a few years ago that I was going to try and read all 100. This one obviously deserves to on be the list. It's a story about English people living in a mansion in Ireland during World War II. Most of the story is about the servants' lives and loves, and the tension between them and their employer. It's a visual book, almost cinematic. The action moves smoothly from one place to another -- you can almost see how it would be framed on screen. The characters have depth. So I don't know why I didn't enjoy it more. It is only 200 pages, but it took me forever to read. I kept looking to see what page I was on. I do believe that you have to be in the mood for books, and often when I really enjoy one, I think it's because it happened along at the right time. Your timing must be off, Mr. Green. OK.
Sounds interesting...since it is short, I might suggest it for our book club. Do you think it would be okay for that or would you put the kibosh on it?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great for a book club. I can tell that it really is lovely, but I'm just not in the right place to appreciate it. It's pretty straightforward, not a dense read or anything.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds interesting. I could be up for a short book.
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