Barbara Pym centenary: A Glass of Blessings

I know I'm early - again, but as I will be only reading people born in May during May (long story) - I have read AGofB early - finished it earlier this afternoon, a lovely book, I hadn't remembered it all that well - though I did begin to remember things as I read. Lots of characters from previous novels referred to - always fun spotting them.

I'll be reading AGofB in May, but first I'm going to read Atkinson's Life After Life. I just can't hold off any longer.

Gosh, you are organised Ali! I will try to read this soon!

I remember that story from another thread Ali and I love it. I will be doing the same come November. Enjoy your May.

Love love love this novel and looking forward to having some time to enjoy rereading it along here!

I read this one a couple of years back, so I'm not sure if I'm ready for a re-read. On the other hand, if there are mentions of other characters from previous books to spot, perhaps I shall after all, since I read this one in isolation before and the names would not have meant anything to me.

I read this two years ago too, and wasn't sure about rereading it but have decided to for precisely that kind of reason. I remember nothing at the moment, even the names of the characters.

Yes, this is the only Pym I had read before this year and I wasn't planning to re-read but now I wonder about spotting characters that have appeared in other books. I think my final decision will be affected by the time I have available as much as literary curiosity!

Funny, I'd previously read the books for Feb, Mar, & Apr but happily not this one -- and I'm ready for a Pym fix!

Oh my goodness - SO many references to previous characters that I ran out of little scraps of post-it note (out in the garden) and had to TURN DOWN THE CORNERS OF PAGES! Fun, though ...

Starting AGofB.

My review is here (not really any spoilers) http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/book-reviews-54/

I found that I've enjoyed my Pym rereads even more than the first read, this time, and they're not very long.

My review of AGofB:

Wilmet Forsyth is a 1950s housewife in her early 30s. Mildly disappointed with her aimless existence, she gets more involved with her parish, wards off clumsy advances from a friend's husband, and fancies herself in love with the friend's brother, Piers.

The more times I read this book, the more I dislike Wilmet. She really is a terrible snob. For me, it's the minor characters that make this book come alive, plus the little tidbits of information about characters from previous books.

I am ready to start the book now. I'm traveling on Monday & Thursday and am looking forward to Ms. Pym as my in-flight companion. :)

I'm 3/4 of the way through the book and, while I'm enjoying it immensely (my fellow commuters must wonder what I'm smiling about all the time), I agree with Robertgreaves about Wilmet. She is incredibly self-absorbed, seeing herself as vital to those with whom she comes into contact, while at the same time missing things about them that are obvious to the reader. Piers' mysterious flatmate is a case in point; she has convinced herself that he lives with a colleague and tunes out his blatant evasiveness on the subject. However, the supporting characters are marvellous - the three priests, Sybil, Bason and Coleman (who reminds me very strongly of our own Head Server!) among others. I expect I will finish this on the way home tonight - I'm very much looking forward to it.

I finished and REVIEWED the book. Unlike Pym's usual excellent women, I thought Wilmet was a veritable woman without a cause, except herself of course. But I loved, loved, loved the references to prior characters, especial the characterization of Catherine Oliphant (Less Than Angels and her magazine story. and the reference to Rocky Napier and of course Prudence Bates. I really loved this one, even though Wilmet was not a typical excellent woman, and really was rather unlikeable.

>17 brenzi:: interesting, Bonnie. I'm about 30 pages from the end and find it hard to get past Wilmet's obnoxiousness. I think it's because of the first-person narration -- I expect to like or identify with a first-person narrator. It's a little easier if I think of her as a parody, or perhaps an unreliable narrator.

17, 18: I'm 30 pages *in* and struggling because I really don't like Wilmet at all (nor her rather stupid husand). I like mother-in-law Sybil a lot and am hoping the subsidiary characters will save it. So far, Wilmet is incredibly self-obsessed and although Pym has used first person narrators before, they haven't been so unpleasant and haven't dominated the story quite so much. We shall see.......

I'm enjoying everyone's comments, and think I will do a re-read of this, if I can squeeze it in this month after all. I recall when I read this one a couple of years ago that I didn't enjoy it as much as the couple I'd read about 20 years before (can't remember which ones), so it's interesting to see people's reactions, the general dislike of Wilmet rather confirming my memories. If I'm correct, she is one of the very few of Pym's central characters who is married (the vicar's wife in Jane and Prudence so far being the only other one).

Having finished the book, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it despite Wilmet. She improves slightly towards the end, when she realises how mistaken she has been about those around her, and finally accepts them for who they are beneath the surface instead of continuing to base her opinions on appearances. If not for her rueful self awareness, I fear she would be not unlike the ghastly Flora in Elizabeth Taylor's The soul of kindness. Is that too harsh?

Did anyone else notice Wilmet's observation about books, when (I think) she is at Piers' flat? She says how disappointed she is that he has books instead of other personal possessions, because books are so commonplace; "Everyone one knows has them" and she doesn't think that they tell one anything about the person who owns them. As one of those people who immediately gravitates towards the bookcases when visiting someone's home, I have to disagree strongly!

I finished the book last night and gave it 3 stars -- a respectable read, but didn't have the spark I usually get from Pym. Although things perked up for me when Keith came on the scene. If I read between the lines correctly, that was an interesting plot twist!

Just managed another chapter in my lunch break (the one about the visit to Rowena in the country and the dreadful cocktail party). It's improving actually, despite Wilmet!

21: Couldn't agree more - books are not commonplace any more and I actually think they tell you a *lot* about a person!!

>21 Sakerfalcon:: I thought that was an odd observation as well. Just one more reason to throttle Wilmet :)

I didn't like Wilmet much either really - though I think she does improve by the end of the novel.

The two of Pym's works that I have reread a few times, happily, are Glass of Blessings and Excellent Women. It might be a tie between which I think is the better written book.

I think it was a bold move for Pym to write a novel with Wilmet as the first person narrator. Having sympathized so openly with excellent women in her canon up to now, she took a jump and gives a perspective from a less-than-excellent woman's perspective. I, who am feeling less-than-excellent these days, appreciate a different view, though I may be less-than-excellent in ways other than Wilmet is. I love that she is given this name from Charlotte Yonge, which does tell, but not much about. (She does read Ivy Compton-Burnett and Katherine Mansfield!) She is contrasted with the excellent woman of the book, Mary Beamish, whom she doesn't quite like yet she does try to help Mary out in the best way she knows -- helping her buy attractive clothes.

The novel seems a gentle exploration about self-delusion. Wilmet, Rodney, Father Thames, and Wilf Bason are all characters thinking they are concealing certain things but instead read like open books. The preoccupation with worldly manners in the church environment is particularly telling -- squabbles over which gowns are nicer, gourmet meals planned for the clergy house. There is also a sardonic, ironic self-awareness some characters have of their own importance or lack thereof. Wilmet says, "'How wonderful if it were the answer to all our prayers,' I said. 'Father Thames might announce it from the pulpit one Sunday morning. How proud I should feel -- as if there were some justification for my life after all!'"

That some things get revealed, get slightly glossed over, and then incorporated (Wilmet and Keith become pals, rather like long-lost friends) I think is where the power of this book lies. People get on with life. Yes, men live together as lovers, but that's just not earth-shattering. Life goes on and Wilmet again is home for supper with Rodney and Sybil, though Arnold, Sybil's new husband, gets incorporated there. "No reason why my own life should not be a glass of blessings too."

Finally got my review up here:

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/virago-volumes-a-glass-o...

Loved the supporting characters, loathed Wilmet!

I'm just through Chapter 15, and finding all these comments very interesting. I guess I'm in the minority in not finding Wilmet quite so despicable as many of you...I feel rather sorry for her, as it seems she doesn't quite get what it is that's missing in her life while she's out hunting for a romantic interest (rather half-heartedly), and seeking something from the church (without much passion there, either), and looking for good worthwhile things to do (like any excellent woman should). All the spark has gone out of her life, and she needs something to ignite it again; she just has no idea what that something could be. There's her mother-in-law (isn't Sybil just wonderful?) quietly showing by her example the way to live fully, and none of it penetrates. I believe I'm enjoying this novel the most of any of the Pyms I've read so far.

>29 laytonwoman3rd:: wow, that's a great perspective Linda!

I found I enjoyed the book more on this second reading - partly because of recognising the many cameo appearances of other characters from the previous books, and partly because this time I felt more compassion for Wilmet. In some ways it reminded me of my experience of reading Emma - the first time (in my teens) I didn't much enjoy it because I couldn't stand the character of Emma, but on later readings I came to enjoy it much more, and appreciated how Emma is shown to come to greater self-awareness, just as Wilmet does here. Not that there are many similarities between the characters of Emma and Wilmet, apart perhaps from the way they both take in hand a female acquaintance whom they regard as inferior, and try to sort out their lives for them.

I've been reading A Lot to Ask and Holt quotes a letter from BP to Philip Larkin in 1964. Larkin had written that a female friend of his found Catherine her favourite heroine of all BP's books. BP replies: "Catherine used to be quite a favourite heroine of mine but she now seems less real to me than Wilmet and Prudence (my own favourites)."

Earlier in the book, Holt says that Prudence was probably the character most like Barbara herself, and Jane was modeled after Barbara's mother, Irena.

I do love all these little titbits. Thanks.

June thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/154763#

Finished Glass last night, and as usual, things worked out just as they should, with life going more or less quietly and contently forward... I found the characters in this one quite distinctive (if once in a while verging on stereotypes, although perhaps they weren't so 50+ years ago...I mean Keith? Right out of a TV sit com), and I expect to remember them by name and qualities a bit longer than some from other Pym novels. This is definitely my favorite so far (having read Excellent Women, Some Tame Gazelle, Jane and Prudence--2nd place in my affections)--and Less Than Angels).

I think this is my favorite Pym novel, and it's because I absolutely adore Wilmet! I see I am greatly in the minority in this opinion, but I find her obliviousness hilariously amusing--most of Pym's books are not so funny to me, but this one made me laugh out loud numerous times. I love that Wilmet never clues in to the relationship between Piers and Keith, that she never guesses the possibility of an affair between Rowena and Rodney, that she has little realization of the seriousness of Harry's passes at her, and that she is perfectly content to be a "less-than-excellent" woman. It doesn't seem to me at all that she is actively seeking a love affair with Piers to brighten her existence (as the blurbs and reviews suggest), but rather that she enjoys the titillating feeling she gets when he's around and wants to indulge herself in feeling it as often as possible. She doesn't analyze her thoughts or feelings, and would probably be horrified if anyone told her that she was acting in a way that could be construed as adulterous. She's very childish and naive despite being in a more worldly situation than many of Pym's other heroines.

Well, I have a new favorite Pym and the only one to receive 5 stars from me as well. I love, love, loved this little novel and while I agree that Wilmet is certainly not an 'excellent woman' she did have her good traits and of the others in the novel, I could name you at least one person in my life who plays each part. Loved the references to characters from other books & also to the many authors, etc.
This one was very fine. I don't know why I didn't get around to it in May but am so happy that I read it now.