tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post6103710862079560905..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: Curriculum Vitae - Muriel Spark's autobiographyStuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-3844974843896212012-04-29T08:00:46.838+01:002012-04-29T08:00:46.838+01:00It's a breathtaking painting, but Sparks descr...It's a breathtaking painting, but Sparks description is a bit hasty - still, I like her notion that the painter represented Job and his wife as a very loving couple: in the Book of Job love between them seems to have cooled a little, owing to all the disasters. Well, who could blame them? I'm reading the book of Job now, and I can imagine how it struck Sparks imagination: great dialogue, incredible disaster - just the ticket.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-18348146808685507342012-04-28T21:39:15.503+01:002012-04-28T21:39:15.503+01:00I believe it wasn't allowed to be published in...I believe it wasn't allowed to be published in her life... not sure!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-24776557368794933502012-04-28T21:38:54.469+01:002012-04-28T21:38:54.469+01:00Oh, is it known for that? I should have been bett...Oh, is it known for that? I should have been better prepared! Although I did rather expect this sort of off-kilter autobiog from Spark.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-79404677455363891552012-04-28T21:38:22.513+01:002012-04-28T21:38:22.513+01:00Thanks Dan! I must get the Stannard biog off the s...Thanks Dan! I must get the Stannard biog off the shelf sometime.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-62567425366103145562012-04-28T21:37:59.481+01:002012-04-28T21:37:59.481+01:00I never doubted she would be an extraordinary pers...I never doubted she would be an extraordinary person, and she was! And she writes about the links between her life and her novels really well.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-12481569028772397712012-04-28T21:37:12.462+01:002012-04-28T21:37:12.462+01:00thanks Mum :)thanks Mum :)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-18255958420409336052012-04-28T21:35:28.866+01:002012-04-28T21:35:28.866+01:00I did go and look up the painting when I read the ...I did go and look up the painting when I read the book - not what I expected, from Spark's writing, at all!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-55406933479744790172012-04-28T21:35:02.042+01:002012-04-28T21:35:02.042+01:00Oh you must, Harriet!Oh you must, Harriet!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-79516175900787896882012-04-28T21:34:50.169+01:002012-04-28T21:34:50.169+01:00It definitely is - and, like everything else Spark...It definitely is - and, like everything else Spark wrote, very economical. It's only about 200pp.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-75224975392014572272012-04-28T21:34:19.387+01:002012-04-28T21:34:19.387+01:00It has, hasn't it? Great fun!
I really admir...It has, hasn't it? Great fun! <br />I really admire a writer who can be so original, from her earliest work onwards.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-6966491860715342622012-04-28T21:33:48.556+01:002012-04-28T21:33:48.556+01:00Yes, when I read your review I was surprised by wh...Yes, when I read your review I was surprised by what similar thoughts we'd had! Well, we can't both be wrong, can we? ;)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-25224059702862517692012-04-27T19:33:00.889+01:002012-04-27T19:33:00.889+01:00The book sounds fascinating - thanks for the revie...The book sounds fascinating - thanks for the review!<br /><br />Oddly enough, Martin Stannard is one of my daughter's tutors at University and she referred to him as "the guy who wrote the biography of Muriel Spark that she hated" - I wonder if that's true?!Kaggsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348319724492250546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-11088829510904997172012-04-27T13:44:06.086+01:002012-04-27T13:44:06.086+01:00I'd like to read this alongside the biography ...I'd like to read this alongside the biography that was recently published. This autobiography is known for being slyly elusive and for all the things it doesn't say. It would be interesting to compare the two!<br /><br />And my contribution to the week is here:<br />http://litlove.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/muriel-spark-week/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-45376391199333533262012-04-27T11:27:47.710+01:002012-04-27T11:27:47.710+01:00Great review. This sounds interesting! She had a f...Great review. This sounds interesting! She had a fascinating life - I've read Martin Stannard's biography, but I'd love to get this perspective from Spark herself.Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-48684059006003585682012-04-27T10:50:37.201+01:002012-04-27T10:50:37.201+01:00Oh, she is a rather interesting person, isn't ...Oh, she is a rather interesting person, isn't she? I'll put this on the list as well.<br />Thanks for your reviewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-1559465191260891532012-04-27T10:46:24.922+01:002012-04-27T10:46:24.922+01:00The Abbess of Crewe, Symposium, Reality & Drea...The Abbess of Crewe, Symposium, Reality & Dreams - a meander on http://apthomas.wordpress.com/<br />AKA Our Vicar's Wife<br />What fun!OVWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-61082460475963094172012-04-27T07:58:47.819+01:002012-04-27T07:58:47.819+01:00That should have been 'to wonder about', s...That should have been 'to wonder about', sorry!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-49700736202492129692012-04-27T07:49:03.846+01:002012-04-27T07:49:03.846+01:00I was just starting to wander about Spark's li...I was just starting to wander about Spark's life and autobiography, so thank you for this! It's funny, I just posted about the painting Job and his Wife by Georges de la Tour, which plays a central part in The Only Problem (not that it 'does' anything, it just hangs in the museum of Epinal)- Spark is very perceptive, and yet she describes the figure of Job as a young man, which he clearly isn't. Those kind of shifts happen a lot when writers describe paintings in their novels :-)http://leenhuet.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/het-enige-probleem/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-31437947419735087092012-04-27T07:45:04.685+01:002012-04-27T07:45:04.685+01:00Fascinating. Must read!Fascinating. Must read!harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04470091985662379182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-54311806949220314472012-04-27T05:27:40.801+01:002012-04-27T05:27:40.801+01:00I'm going to have to hunt this down, sounds li...I'm going to have to hunt this down, sounds like one of the more interesting author autobiographies out there!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-57928897130733215722012-04-27T04:07:51.232+01:002012-04-27T04:07:51.232+01:00Thank you very much for this post. So informative....Thank you very much for this post. So informative.Mysticahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10941269615559681014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-30595949054735209092012-04-27T03:51:58.160+01:002012-04-27T03:51:58.160+01:00Oh, I can't wait to read this. Muriel Spark i...Oh, I can't wait to read this. Muriel Spark is fascinating. And, as you said, she was an original thinker and writer. Thanks so much for your review. This week has been a lot of fun and a real learning experience.Sunday Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13148090705938196599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-70072772039348494072012-04-26T21:44:03.998+01:002012-04-26T21:44:03.998+01:00Lovely to see we were having some of the same thou...Lovely to see we were having some of the same thoughts independently. I can confirm <em>The Abbess of Crewe</em> is one of her odder books...Garethhttp://somewhereboy.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com