Customer Reviews

Pomp and Circumstance: A novel (Coward Collection)

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I first read this book twenty years ago and it is still one of my favorites.

The book (written in the early 60s) is told from the point of view of Grizel Craigie, who is married to a plantation owner in the fictional British colony of Samolo. Grizel and her husband are persuaded by their friend Bunny Colville (a charming womanizer) to act as a front for him, allowing him to invite the Duchess of Fowey, with whom he is having an affair, to visit Samolo. The hoped for illicit romance falters through a series of hilarious accidents and mishaps. A secondary plot is provided by a royal visit to Samolo by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, which throws British society on the island into a frenzy of social competition and discontent.

Coward, who himself lived in British colonies during this time, no doubt based his characters on people whom he knew. He expertly and comically paints a picture of the various expatriate residents of Samolo.

This is a very funny book. One of the final scenes, which describes a fiasco of a dramatic public performance in honor of the royals still makes me cry with laughter. If you've ever seen an amateur dramatic performance, you will collapse with laughter at reading this.

The downside to this book is that it reflects many attitudes and opinions that are no longer accepted in our day and age. Coward was a terrible snob and this is a very snobby book. Some of the things the characters say about "the natives", the "lower classes", etc. make me uncomfortable. The worst of Coward's scorn was reserved for lesbians, on whom he poured insults and clichés of every kind. This strikes me as odd, as Coward himself has many homosexual relationships (including with the Queen of England's uncle!). However, I think we should accept the book as a period piece and enjoy it for its very real greatness.

Everything you'd expect from Noel Coward and then some. Political intrigue, social satire, witty writing, and enough depth to make it really satisfying. Takes place on an unnamed piece of the British Empire, an island in the West Indies, before a visit by Her Majesty.

Noel Coward is a delightful and entertaining writer. Although he's best known for his many witty and sophisticated plays, he also wrote numerous short stories and this novel. The novel IS funny, as another reviewer has said, but it's also very old-fashioned.

The narrator, Grizel Craigie, is a married woman with three children. Her husband, Robin, owns and runs a banana plantation on a fictitious tropical island owned by the British. A male friend asks the Craigies to house his visiting and married paramour, which the couple is reluctant to do because of the possible scandal involved, even though they are friendly with both a homosexual male couple and a homosexual female couple, which fazes them not at all. Today one would have to ask, What scandal?

Grizel seems overwhelmed by her social obligations in spite of having three servants and a nanny to care for her children and no job outside the home. She's always looking for an opportunity to take a nap to relieve her frazzled nerves. When does the mother of today have time even to think about a nap?

If one can manage to take her predicament as seriously as she does, one can enjoy her humorous descriptions and dialogue.

This is Coward at his hilarious best, tongue stuck firmly in cheek and outlandish circumstances occurring head over heels. Too good to miss, and a must to repeat!! A THINKER'S book!