Customer Reviews

A Very Private Eye: Diaries, Letters and Notebooks

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First of all, let me say that if you have not read any novels by Barbara Pym, then you should remedy that quickly. Not because of this book, exactly, but because I tend to believe that most people's lives are richer for having at least read Sweet Dove Died (as one choice). Certainly if you have any interest in reading Pym's letters and diaries, it would be better to first read one of her books.

I haven't read just one of her books. I have read most of them. (I had originally planned to write that I read all of them, but I realize that this isn't true-- I've never gotten around to either Some Tame Gazelle or A Few Green Leaves. I also love to read diaries and letters. I was a natural to read this book and it didn't disappoint me. I really enjoyed it-- a rare treat to look a little ways into the mind of one of my favorite writers.

The book spans the years between 1932, when Pym was at Oxford, and 1979, when she sadly died of breast cancer. Her sister, Hilary Pym, provides a biographical sketch of her early life. As the title of the book suggests, the material is arrange chronologically and drawn from Pym's diaries, notebooks, and letters.

As is normal in a case like this, there is more material for some years than others. This can make the pacing a bit odd if one tries to read it as a narrative-- I wished for more in some places and (honestly) less in others. I love her tone, and I added quite a few novels to my reading list based on what she recommended. I was most struck by her sense of time passing-- it never left her, not all the way through her life.

I am not sure how much I would recommend this book if a reader did not like nor was not familiar with Pym as a novelist. I can recommend it wholeheartedly for her already established fans.