Vainglory, Inclinations, Caprice
by Ronald Firbank
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So cleverly and wittily are the stories told that we sense we belong in the charmed cafe society of post-1918 Britain, and life seems, as Ernest Jones says in his critical introduction, a Nirvana in which homosexuals are the ultimate chic and in which... almost everyone turns out to be at least bi-sexual." In Vainglory, Mrs. Shamefoot, who "almost compels a tear," embraces the quest for a cathedral stained-glass window "that should be a miracle of violet glass." In Inclinations, Miss show more Brookomore, filled with longing for her companion, the "sunny" Miss Mabel Collins, travels to Greece where Mabel, rather treacherously, acquires a husband and baby. And in Caprice, Miss Sinquier flees her rural parents and the comfort of her black slippers ("all over little pearls with filigree butterflies that trembled above her toes") to pursue an acting career in bohemian London. To quote Mrs. Shamefoot describing a novelist clearly meant to be Firbank: "He has such a strange, peculiar style. His work calls to mind a frieze with figures of varying heights trotting all the same way. If one should by chance turn about it's usually merely to stare or to sneer or to make a grimace. Only occasionally his figures care to beckon. And they seldom really touch." Originally published in 1951, Three More Novels by Ronald Firbank is now reissued as a New Directions Paperbook. " show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Another book bought for me by my supervisor, though it had been previously recommended to me by certain extracted quotes that made it seem an appealing read, as well as by mentions of it in [b:The Swimming-Pool Library|30106|The Swimming-Pool Library|Alan Hollinghurst|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388450054s/30106.jpg|2776591]. But I really struggled with the writing. I feel like I only half-heard anything and kept losing my attentiveness, which is what all the characters are doing to each other when anyone talks but which is also something I don't really go in for when I'm reading. And the back says that Auden and Forster and Waugh adored Firbank and sets it up as if to not like his work is to be a fake Forster fan or show more something, which I rather resent. Greg wanted to buy me [b:Valmouth|17453514|Valmouth|Ronald Firbank|/assets/nocover/60x80.png|24342400], I think, or [b:The Flower Beneath the Foot: Being a Record of the Early Life of St. Laura de Nazianzi|917917|The Flower Beneath the Foot Being a Record of the Early Life of St. Laura de Nazianzi|Ronald Firbank|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348732066s/917917.jpg|902991], but they couldn't be found.
Maybe I was reading it all wrong, but it was simply something I couldn't properly enjoy however much I tried. show less
Maybe I was reading it all wrong, but it was simply something I couldn't properly enjoy however much I tried. show less
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wilfully eccentric little england (cosy read novels, england)
45 works; 15 members
posh people behave badly
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Author Information
52+ Works 1,289 Members
Born in London, the son of a wealthy businessman, Ronald Firbank was educated at Uppingham and Cambridge University. In 1909 he converted to Roman Catholicism and left the university without taking a degree. Instead, he embarked on extensive travels in Spain, Italy, the Middle East, and North Africa. By nature he was a rather solitary individual, show more perhaps because of his rather delicate health and his homosexuality. Firbank's first novel, Vainglory (1915), was originally published privately, as were other early works. He wrote his novels on blue postcards. Though slight, these works were innovative and prefigured the works of such writers as Ivy Compton-Burnett and Evelyn Waugh. Elements in the work of Aldous Huxley, Angus Wilson, and Iris Murdoch can also be attributed to Firbank's creativity. Firbank's original and subtle novels have appealed to a small but appreciative audience, and, during the 1950s and early 1960s, he posthumously acquired a band of devoted disciples. Firbank had a fine disdain for plot and a taste for eccentric characters. The world he created was small and creditable. The Complete Ronald Firbank (1961), with a preface by Anthony Powell, is a worthwhile edition of his works. Still a young man, Ronald Firbank died in Rome in 1926. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
New Directions Paperbook (614)
Work Relationships
Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Vainglory, Inclinations, Caprice
- Disambiguation notice
- This work contains the novels Caprice, Vainglory, and Inclinations. Please do not combine with other collections of Firbank's novels.
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- Members
- 154
- Popularity
- 212,835
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 4
