An upper-class English family strolls through a series of scandals and disasters, displaying a cool sense of irony and self-possession. English novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett has a reputation as an expert dissector of middle-class family life, possessed of a savage wit. Her admirers are legion, although like Proust and Joyce, she seems to be more talked about than read. Pushkin Press now publish two of her novels, More Women Than Men and A House and Its Head. The Edgeworth family comprises patriarch Duncan, his wife Ellen, and two daughters, Nance and Sibyl. Duncan’s nephew, Grant, also lives with the family. It’s 1885 and the family live in excellent circumstances, with staff attending to their needs. They also live in a well-to-do street, with busy neighbours doing their constant rounds. Duncan, the father, is somewhat of a tyrant, but none of the children, or neighbours for that matter, take him too seriously. Suddenly Ellen falls ill and takes to her bed. A doctor is called and despite his intervention, she starts fading fast. This illness will start a whole series of queer occurrences: unlikely re-marriages, adulterous affairs and finally, the killing of a child in his cot. A House and Its Head is heavy on dialogue and light on the inner psychology of its characters. Often concentration is required to keep up with the many different speakers, their names and relationship to each other. Indeed, the writing is so intricate, almost Byzantine, that re-reading over certain puzzling passages is a must. Fans of Compton-Burnett laud her razor sharp wit. And yes, she is often funny, but it’s a beguiling sense of humour. It can be hard to figure out if she’s making a zinger, being cynical, or worse. In sum, however, the total makes for a truly original, even bizarre experience. Her writing is the triumph of surface over the mess and disorder of life. Even when the killer of a young child is revealed, none of the characters experience any trauma, but simply prattle on in their clever, witty ways. The stagey aspects of A House and Its Head are similar to Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Jean Genet’s The Maids. The exotic, avant garde novels of Ronald Firbank also come to mind. To highlight Compton-Burnett's artificial style, it's also worth recalling that essayist Susan Sontag listed her novels as the epitome of camp. A rich and strange literary byway, an acid trip of a novel, definitely worth a look at. A House and Its Head, by Ivy Compton-Burnett. Published by Puskin Press. $19.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
|
AuthorNorth Melbourne Books Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|