Carmen Callil (1938–2022)

A decent if idiosyncratic view of novels - and some short story collections - of the second half of the 20th century. Apparently the only politician worth vilifying in that span is Margaret Thatcher and doing so is a path to at least one of these authors' heart. I doubt any even partially well read person who was reading for up to 30 of those 50 years won't have books they agree with including, books they would never have included, and books that darned well should be, but were not, included.

Meh. I grabbed this one from the library on a whim, and have been perusing it for the past month or so.

I have a serious love-hate relationship with guides like this. They can be fun to browse if your to-read list is in need of some additions (believe me, mine is not), but obviously any list of "must reads" or "most important/influential books" is biased and everyone's going to have a different opinion on what should or shouldn't be included. The authors at least acknowledge this in the show more introduction, as well as explaining a little about how they chose the books to include. Whatever. Despite having some worthy inclusions I agreed with, a good portion of these I hadn't even heard of, and the authors generally did a lousy job of convincing me to pick them up. Their summaries/reviews are totally inconsistent, tending towards uninteresting, and some of them include major spoilers -- unforgivable for a guide of this type, in my opinion. Believe me, you will find much better reviews here on GoodReads from random internet people. show less

This isn't a review but a warning, one that I sorely wish I'd had before buying the book: The footnotes are online rather than in the book, which is especially ridiculous given that it's the sort of book that leaves a reader wanting not only the explanatory notes but, at least occasionally, notes that simply cite the source. (In fact, the notice of this lark in the front matter promises only the explanatory notes online.) My copy is published by Vintage, who I hope should there be subsequent show more editions have resolved to stop acting the eejits and to put footnotes inside the damned book for freak's sake. show less

This is a fascinating but ultimately disappointing book. It begins well, is scrupulously researched, and fluently written. The author was a patient of psychoanalyst Anne Darquier at the time of her death in 1970, and only then discovered that Darquier’s father had been Commissioner for Jewish Affairs in Vichy France. The narrative traces Anne Darquier’s parents from South-West France and Tasmania respectively, through their earlier years as impecunious would-be aristocrats in London, and show more on to increasingly anti-Semitic pre-war France. The problem is that the clarity of purpose at the beginning of the book becomes lost in later chapters. None of the character depictions are convincing, which is particularly frustrating with the unpleasant central couple, who often seem to be little more than a collection of ugly ideas and traits. Myrtle’s alcoholism and Louis’ sexual promiscuity are often mentioned in passing; but not demonstrated. It is as though the author began to write an investigative dual biography hoping to discover what had gone wrong with her friend’s parents, but became engrossed in the details of her research, and distracted by righteous anger. Callil herself, the Australian publisher who created Virago press, is actually the most intriguing character in this excellent, flawed book. show less