| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out of Control Laughter,
By
This review is from: The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels (Paperback)
For anyone sick of the ramifications of political correctness, Mitford's books are the antidote. Moreover, they give good reason as to how we came to need the concept. These slices of aristocratic, self assured, lunacy have made me laugh so hard and loud that my family came to check on me, certain that I'd gone mad. It is hard for me to imagine that they would not affect everyone that way, but having followed what others considered their favorite humor, I no longer assume that mine is the universal touchstone.The attitude of racial and class determination, is no where more honestly expressed than in this semi autobiographical two novel collection. The wife of a very dull former secretary to India put it well,"I think I may say we put India on the map. Hardly any of one's friends in England had even heard of India before we went there, you know." If you don't find that funny, you probably won't enjoy the book, which is very sad, because if it works, it's an absurdist's dream come true.
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love in a not-so-cold climate,
This review is from: The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels (Modern Library) (Hardcover)
This pair of novels certainly don't exude coldness, in any way. They represent the 'autobiographical' novels of Nancy Mitford, and she spins her tales in a very warm and hysterically funny manner, demonstrating her unique skills as a novelist in a period when men tended to dominate the best-sellers lists. A contemporary of writers such as Waugh, Huxley, Greene, and other important names in the 'canon' of twentieth-century literature, Mitford's novels are far too often neglected. Which is a shame, as her richly coloured fictional tapestries reveal a great deal about the lives of the upper-classes, and from a genuinely humourous standpoint. These novels will be enjoyed by readers who like the light social novels of Wodehouse, and more importantly, those of Evelyn Waugh. Waugh and Mitford were very close friends, and in his later years, Mitford was Waugh's primary object of correspondance, and their letters have since been collected and compiled in a single edition. Waugh's influence on Mitford is obvious - as her work is indeed in the same satiric vein as much of his - but less obvious and more intriguing is her influence on his work. Mitford's sharpness and quickness rival that of Waugh, and in these novels she almost outshines him, in the warmth and jollity of her satire.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Light, funny, and engaging,
By
This review is from: The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels (Paperback)
Linda, the main character of The Pursuit Of Love, muses when she hears at long last from her lover, "Life...is sometimes sad and often dull, but there are currants in the cake and here is one of them." She might have been talking about this book. In contrast, these novels are rarely sad and never dull and are generously fruited with some delightfully comic moments.A literary masterpiece? Not really. No great ideas are discussed, no dramatic themes explored. But for those who appreciate Wodehouse and Waugh, there is much here to enjoy.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
See all 8 books this book cites
See all 6 books citing this book
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
|
|
