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Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark
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Aiding and Abetting (original 2000; edition 2018)

by Muriel Spark (Author), Louise Welsh (Introduction), Alan Taylor (Series Editor)

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5852440,795 (3.33)86
In Aiding and Abetting," "the doyenne of literary satire has written a wickedly amusing and subversive novel around the true-crime case of one of England's most notorious uppercrust scoundrels and the "aiders and abetters" who kept him on the loose. When Lord Lucan walks into psychiatrist Hildegard Wolf's Paris office, there is one problem: she already has a patient who says he's Lucan, the fugitive murderer who bludgeoned his children's nanny in a botched attempt to kill his wife. As Dr. Wolf sets about deciding which of her patients, if either, is the real Lucan, she finds herself in a fierce battle of wills and an exciting chase across Europe. For someone is deceiving someone, and it may be the good doctor, who, despite her unorthodox therapeutic method (she talks mainly about her own life), has a sinister past, too.Exhibiting Muriel Spark's boundless imagination and biting wit, Aiding and Abetting""is a brisk, clever, and deliciously entertaining tale by one of Britain's greatest living novelists.… (more)
Member:jonathankws
Title:Aiding and Abetting
Authors:Muriel Spark (Author)
Other authors:Louise Welsh (Introduction), Alan Taylor (Series Editor)
Info:Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited (2018), Edition: Centenary, 176 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:Muriel Spark 100, Polygon Books, Lord Lucan, mystery, London, Paris, read 2024

Work Information

Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark (2000)

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» See also 86 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 24 (next | show all)
Great story, told in Spark’s classic, spare style. ( )
  TTAISI-Editor | Oct 30, 2022 |
What is Muriel Spark doing in this novel? On the surface it appears to be a fictional account of the real-life absconder, Lord Lucan, the infamous British murderer. Here he is living in Paris with a near-double. Both of them have sought the help of a psychiatrist. Though it quickly emerges that they’ve sought her aid with the aim of blackmail since she is herself an absconder, having run a fraudulent stigmata-based cure-all. Blood, certainly, abounds. And everyone is either aiding or abetting or positively chasing but without a real desire to capture. If it wasn’t so absurdly odd and funny, it would be just odd. Of course, since this is Muriel Spark, it is entirely possible that it is far, far cleverer than I’ve comprehended. And possibly even funnier.

It seems impossible not to recommend this novel even if I remain utterly bemused by it. ( )
  RandyMetcalfe | Apr 6, 2022 |
一九七四年十一月七日,發生在英國的魯坎七世伯爵宅邸保母謀殺案,逾三十年懸而未決。涉嫌殺人及殺人未遂的魯坎伯爵,誤殺保母,其妻重傷,案發後即行蹤不明,遭終身通緝。今案情傳出有重大發展。

據報,當年魯坎在漆黑的地下室裏,錯把保母當成他的太太。警方調查保母命案,以「遭魯坎爵爺殺害」偵結,對他發出了逮捕令。至於魯坎夫人,就案發當晚所作的陳述,完全符合警方蒐集到的相關事證。不過,警方表示:失蹤的魯坎於案發之後的行蹤,一直有人予以暗助和教唆。那些上流社會的朋友,暗助這位嫌犯脫逃,還協助湮滅行蹤。這些人嘲弄警方,阻撓辦案。

法國巴黎執業多年的著名心理醫生希德嘉•伍爾夫指出,日前有兩位自稱魯坎的男子分別前往就診,她直覺此例非屬一般詐欺伎倆,而是真假魯坎冒險一搏的瞞天大計。詳見記者絲帕克獨家採訪報導……

作者簡介:
絲帕克,英國著名的作家,他篤信天主教,曾創作出許多膾炙人口的作品,包括榮登二十世紀百大英文小說的《布羅迪小姐的青春》(The Prime of Miss Jean Brodi)與以聖經約伯記為主體寫的小說《最重要的問題》(The Only Problem),皆為世界各地的讀者帶來無限的閱讀樂趣。絲帕克創作路線多元,也寫作劇本、詩、童書及傳記。畢生獲獎無數,為英國文壇舉足輕重的作家。於二○○六年離世,享年八十八歲。
  CCCClibrary | Dec 10, 2021 |
This is a shockingly poor book and no one should take it as representative of Muriel Spark's work, even her later work. She never seems to have decided what plot structure she wanted: we know the identity of the murderer at the outset; there are no 'imagined facts' to add to the murder itself; no character grows, learns, realises, or changes in any way; the 'aiders and abetters' make only the briefest appearances and contribute nothing to the plot. She apparently intended for 'blood' (Wolf's, the nanny's) to tie things together, but it's impossible to see any coherence in the different 'blood stories'. This is basically a book in which wooden characters move around for no discernible literary reason. Sometimes those characters meet each other by utter, unbelievable coincidence – and then nothing is made of the meeting. Long passages of dull exposition. The writing is lazy, and worse, breezy. Every other book by Muriel Spark is better than this one.
  messpots | Aug 14, 2021 |
This novel is based on the 1974 real-life murder of Lord Lucan's nanny and Lucan's disappearance shortly thereafter. Much speculation has ensued over what his actual final fate was, and whether he was the murderer or not. Author Muriel Spark imagines him reappearing 25 years later (after his disappearance) at the doorstep of a psychiatrist with a secret past. This is a whirlwind of a novel.

Even though Spark‘s introduction to Aiding and Abetting stated that the book is based on "Lord 'Lucky' Lucan", I thought at first it was a fake intro with imaginary characters, if that makes sense. But being American (and also being a child in 1974), I guess I missed the news back in the day. About halfway through this novel, something -- I don't recall what exactly -- made me consult "google" and I ended up falling into a rabbit hole learning about this real life mystery. That made me more appreciative of Spark's take on the mysterious case of Lord Lucan. ( )
  ValerieAndBooks | Jul 1, 2021 |
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» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Muriel Sparkprimary authorall editionscalculated
Porter, DavinaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Taylor, AlanForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Welsh, LouiseIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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The receptionist looked tinier than ever as she showed the tall, tall Englishman into the studio of Dr. Hildegard Wolf, the psychiatrist who had come from Bavaria, then Prague, Dresden, Avila, Marseilles, then London, and now settled in Paris.
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In Aiding and Abetting," "the doyenne of literary satire has written a wickedly amusing and subversive novel around the true-crime case of one of England's most notorious uppercrust scoundrels and the "aiders and abetters" who kept him on the loose. When Lord Lucan walks into psychiatrist Hildegard Wolf's Paris office, there is one problem: she already has a patient who says he's Lucan, the fugitive murderer who bludgeoned his children's nanny in a botched attempt to kill his wife. As Dr. Wolf sets about deciding which of her patients, if either, is the real Lucan, she finds herself in a fierce battle of wills and an exciting chase across Europe. For someone is deceiving someone, and it may be the good doctor, who, despite her unorthodox therapeutic method (she talks mainly about her own life), has a sinister past, too.Exhibiting Muriel Spark's boundless imagination and biting wit, Aiding and Abetting""is a brisk, clever, and deliciously entertaining tale by one of Britain's greatest living novelists.

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