Loving • Living • Party Going

Of this volume, I read only Loving, which is tremendous. The other two titles are not on any of my blasted lists but if I can get through my next two bookclub books before this is due, I'll happily read Living and Party-Going as well.

It requires a lot of attention. It's told mostly in dialogue, and has dialogue tags, but if you don't pay attention to who said what how and to whom, all the time, you miss the tension and undercurrents. I went back and reread and rechecked a few times. Also, the servants refer to both their employers and Hitler without names but with only pronouns or referents. When they worry that he'll invade, and use Ireland (where the book is set) as a stepping stone and staging ground to England, okay, it's evident they're talking about Hitler.

Like the movie "Gosford Park," it has two points of view, from above and below stairs. (My mental pictures of Edith and Kate, the housemaids, were strongly colored by Emily Watson and whoever played Mary Maceachran--Kelly Macdonald, since I had to look up how to spell the character's name anyway.) Again like an Altman movie, the perspective changes fluidly. There's a scene with the two maids in their attic bedroom, looking out the window, and the perspective slips down to follow the characters they're gossiping about.

The plot, of servants' internecine squabbling and parrying with their employers, and the family's own troubles and fears of the servants dying or leaving to join up, plus everyone's fear of the Irish, the IRA, and Germany, was little more than a trellis to support the burgeoning, twisting ivy of masterful narrative technique.

A great read.

[Loving]

Charley Raunce has just moved up in the world, assuming the position of Head Butler with the passing of Mr. Eldon, and things are going to change in the Tennant Irish country estate. For starters, Raunce refuses to allow Mrs. Tennant to call him Arthur, as she has called every other Head Butler for decades, regardless of their name. But the changes are not confined to the upstairs world of Mrs. Tennant. Downstairs, amongst the servants, Raunce’s free-wheeling and lusty leadership throw the household staff into chaos, as the nanny retires to her sick-bed, the cook’s young son murders a peacock, and the housemaids vie for Raunce’s romantic attention. Outside, World War II threatens to invade the quiet countryside and the IRA lurks at the back door.

First off, as I described the book for my wife, a fan of the wildly popular Downton Abbey, she told me I must be reading the book the series was based upon. So, any Downton Abbey fans should probably find a copy of the book to hold you over between seasons. From what I know about the BBC series, there is a similarity – upstairs/downstairs intrigue in the shadow of World War II.

That said, Henry Green’s novel [Loving] is focused more on the downstairs side of the equation, examining the predicaments and ambitions of the servant class in the absence of all normal authority and rules. Interestingly, Green introduces blossoming love and bohemian beauty in equal parts to the anarchy and chaos that emerge with the departure of the employers and the death of the old butler regime.

[Loving] was mostly a surprise. Told primarily in dialog and devoid of much of a plot, the story was still an interesting read. This is a testament to Green’s skill in producing fascinating characters, no easy task when depending almost completely on what the character says or what someone else says about them.

Bottom Line: Deftly written and interesting character study that will appeal to fans of the British upstairs/downstairs phenomenon.

3 ½ bones!!!! ( )

I have only read the first novel in the book Loving, and by rating is based on it alone, at this point. It was magnificent. ( )

After reading these, I wanted to read everything Green had ever written. He is so wide-ranging in his perceptions and so original in his style--there is no one to compare him to. ( )

You're left with the distinct impression that you've been in the hands of an author who is in complete control of his material: the three novels here are subtle, if not downright oblique.

Updike's intro (worth reading in itself): "From recognition of this supreme importance (of "simply everything") flow Green's infinite subtlety and untiring tenderness." ( )