Customer Reviews

No Signposts in the Sea (Virago Modern Classics)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Vita Sackville-West had a colorful, interesting life. It might have been a better idea for me to read her autobiography, if she ever wrote one. Some people say that this novel is indeed quite autobiographical, but I would reply, "only in a limited way." This novel features some rather stuffy Victorian poetry, Orientalist descriptions of places that never existed, but are rather tutti-frutti composites of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, all seen with a naturally condescending eye, and the whole unpleasant gamut of upper class English manners and attitudes. Her characters are so careful not to intrude, not to reveal their own ideas or preferences, that they miss love, they miss life itself. The two main characters long for human contact-more especially, Edmund Carr, the chief protagonist, who is suffering from an invisible but terminal illness-but their carefully cultivated aloofness prevents it. I include this sentence as a single example---"....she added, as though fearing that her question might have been too personal, too indiscreet, and also that my answer might involve her into betraying her own opinion..." These are two people falling in love ??

While NO SIGNPOSTS IN THE SEA is cleverly constructed, it is ultimately too sentimental, too Hollywood-ish, and too marked by class prejudices to rate as good literature. I would call it light-weight romance by a woman who should have been capable of much better. Three stars is pretty generous, I believe.

This novel is the story of Edmund Carr, a man who is dying and chooses to spend his final days on an ocean going cruise so he can be close to Laura, the woman he loves from afar. The book is filled with the story of his journey, both physical and metaphysical. There are some genuine well-written and touching passages on the fragility of life, ambition and joy. It also covers, in admirable fashion, the difficulties of human interaction; for example, at one stage Edmund says of the Colonel, the man he sees as his competition for the affections of Laura "For the hundredth time I wish that I could dislike the man I hate."

And I wish I could love a book like this that has some beautiful small pieces - but there are too many gaps to make a very good whole. As is stated in the forward of my Virago edition "No Signposts in the Sea is not a great novel." It has a lot hat could be improved - none of the characters are fully fleshed out; Edmund too often slips into self-pity; the main characters are glib stereotypes - the Edmund is the stiff upper-lip buttoned up Brit, Laura is a cool still-waters-run-deep unattainable perfect woman; and the Colonel is a hard on the outside, soft on the inside military man - all characters we have seen before; and if by halfway through you haven't guessed the ending, there is something very wrong.

Though this book is no stylistic masterpiece on a par with anything by Woolf or Bowen, I think it does encapsulate what Sackville-West was all about as a writer. Though it is not her best work, it is autobiographical and contains some of her most illuminating insights on love and marriage. Some very good period poetry is included throughout the novel, which is written in the style of a diary/journal composed by the protagonist, Edmund Carr, who is dying of cancer I believe.

The writer of the introduction, Victoria Glendinning, observes that there is an error in the characterization of Edmund Carr because there is no credible connection between the person he was as a controversial and influential columnist, and the person who is composing the journal. I have to disagree with her here. I think that the novel rather showcases the person that Edmund Carr has become and is becoming after learning he has only a few months to live. This "new" Edmund violently contrasts with the Edmund Carr who was the aggressive columnist unafraid to state matters plainly and realistically. Once on the journey, we see an Edmund Carr full of poetry, and in love with a woman. I think this was rather insightful of Sackville-West, and I hold it to be the mark of a great writer to know that a round character has a personality that is not static, but that can change and change quickly, no matter what the expectations.

Edmund himself often comments on how he has changed, particularly when he considers the very philosophical thoughts he is entertaining while on the ship, thoughts he never entertained before. English reticence and manners do interfere with this love he is feeling for Laura. He is unable to tell her what he is going through, unable to share the burden, which would have made the story more poignant, and perhaps less painful or at least more merciful for Laura, who has to break it to Edmund that she has fallen in love with him too. Edmund had blinded himself to that possibility, although to the reader it is rather obvious. The very next day after her admission, Edmund has died and nothing else is possible. One is left feeling very awful for Laura, and rather disgusted with Edmund to keep such a thing from her, the woman he professed to love so much in the pages of the book.

The novel contains some very valuable insights on love and marriage, and what these things meant to Sackville-West. It struck me that what comes through in this novel is the personality that Virginia Woolf loved so much. After reading this book, I could see why Virginia Woolf loved Vita Sackville-West.

Tip: This is an excellent book to read after a romantic break-up.

This is the first Sackville-West that I've read and I think that it's unfortunate that I began with her last book. It tells the story of a journalist who discovers he only has a short time to live and decides to take a sea voyage in the company of a widow. The book felt rushed and a little slight-- one can't help but think about the fact that Sackville-West died the year following publication-- but there were so many good things in it that I will be going back to pick up an earlier work.