Herself Surprised, the first volume of Joyce Cary's remarkable First Trilogy, introduces Sara Monday, a woman at once dissolute and devout, passionate and sly. With no regrets, Sara reviews her changing fortunes, remembering the drudgery of domestic servitude, the pleasures of playing the great lady in a small provincial town, and the splendors and miseries of life as the model, muse, and mistress of the painter Gulley Jimson.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Mr. Cary...has actuality like Defoe, humor and energy like Dickens, hand-made prose and improvisation like both these great writers. -- New York Times
About the Author
Joyce Cary (1888-1957) was born in Ireland and studied to be a painter before serving in the British military and civil service in West Africa. In 1920 he returned to England and devoted himself to writing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cary's triptych,
By A Customer
This review is from: Herself Surprised (New York Review Books) (Paperback)
I have just reread Cary's three novels, Herself Surprised, To Be a Pilgrim and The Horse's Mouth. It is amzing that books written during the second world war should be so secure in their tone about a vanishing England and its history. Cary uses his three entirely diffeent voices - tricky sensuous woman, nervy religious dirty old man, obsessed manipulative artist- better than anyone else i know uses the limitations of the first person to show what we do and don't know about each other. His descriptions of places and things are delicious. Also I shd like to say what beautiful books the New York Review paperbacks are to handle and read. Most people know The Horse's Mouth, and many know Herself Surprised . I'm not sure To Be A Pilgrim isn't the best and most surprising of the three- which is saying something.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is truly a great book,
By
This review is from: Herself Surprised (New York Review Books) (Paperback)
My take on Sara Monday is very different from what I'm reading here. I believe that she loved life and indulged herself in its pleasures. At the same time she was a nurturing soul. Read it for yourself to decide about her character. Gulley Jimson is also a great character. The descriptions in this book are wonderful. She describes the sea as being like oven glass one day and the edges of knives another. It is so good that I didn't want it to end, and now I'm going to read the other two books in the trilogy.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Enjoyable,
By Mark from Freehold (Freehold, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Herself Surprised (New York Review Books) (Paperback)
I am giving this book 4 stars because it does not rank among the best books I have ever read, which would deserve a 5 star, but certainly better than a mediocre book which would merit only a 3 star. Amazon.com only gives us 5 stars, so I hand them out sparingly.
I enjoyed this old-fashioned read. I laughed at times, felt sympathy and frustration for Sara, and looked forward to where the story was taking her along with the reader. The story line reminds me of the book "Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood. I am not about to run out and order the other two books in the Joyce Cary trilogy just yet; but some day when I am book dry I know they are there and I can go back to them.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The judge, when he sent me to prison, said that I had behaved like a woman without any moral sense. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Clary, Miss Slaughter, Miss Maul, Gulley Jimson, Craven Gardens, Miss Yonge, Miss Blanche, Rose Cottage, Garden of Eden, Madame Loftus, Miss Rodwick, National Gallery, Ranns Park, Upper Road New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The judge, when he sent me to prison, said that I had behaved like a woman without any moral sense. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Clary, Miss Slaughter, Miss Maul, Gulley Jimson, Craven Gardens, Miss Yonge, Miss Blanche, Rose Cottage, Garden of Eden, Madame Loftus, Miss Rodwick, National Gallery, Ranns Park, Upper Road New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- To Be a Pilgrim (New York Review Books) by Joyce Cary in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- PILLARS OF THE HOUSE V1 by Charlotte Mary Yonge on page 10, and page 213
- The House as a Symbol: Joyce Cary and 'the Turkish House' (Costerus NS 55) (Costerus New Series) by Barbara Fisher on 15 pages
- Philosophy of Literature: An Introduction by Christopher New in Front Matter, and page 46
- Philosophy of Literature: An Introduction by Christopher New in Front Matter, and page 46
- The Horse's Mouth (New York Review Books Classics) by Joyce Cary in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom by Leonard S. Marcus on page 32
See all 100 books citing this book
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