The Chateau
by William Maxwell
On This Page
Description
It is 1948 and a young American couple arrive in France for a holiday, full of anticipation and enthusiasm. But the countryside and people are war-battered, and their reception at the Chateau Beaumesnil is not all the open-hearted Americans could wish for..
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The Chateau is part unscripted mystery, part travel journal, part piercing cultural study. The premise-- an American couple traveling in France after WWII only to find things less perfect and picturesque than expected-- is interesting enough. But, it is Maxwell's writing that really carries this book from a 3 star to a 4 1/2 star novel. He perfectly captures so many personal, yet universal moments in language that is subtle, moving, even ethereal.
The real treat of the book (besides the writing) is the very unconventional "Part II: Some Explanations" aka the last 50 pages of the book. Here, in an entirely different tone, which is a Q&A between himself and a reader, Maxwell explains the many stories behind the story-- the French story. show more Knowing this part was coming did help me through some of the more agonizing parts of the plot in Part I.
There are many passages in French, some long. you can make enough sense from the context to limp through, but if you can read French (or have a spouse who can) it does help. If you are hoping for an action packed plot, The Chateau will disappoint, but there is a plot; it is very carefully doled out much as life's plot is, and is delivered in such beautiful prose you won't want it to end. It is a pity that Maxwell's works seem to be largely unknown, particularly in the U.S. show less
The real treat of the book (besides the writing) is the very unconventional "Part II: Some Explanations" aka the last 50 pages of the book. Here, in an entirely different tone, which is a Q&A between himself and a reader, Maxwell explains the many stories behind the story-- the French story. show more Knowing this part was coming did help me through some of the more agonizing parts of the plot in Part I.
There are many passages in French, some long. you can make enough sense from the context to limp through, but if you can read French (or have a spouse who can) it does help. If you are hoping for an action packed plot, The Chateau will disappoint, but there is a plot; it is very carefully doled out much as life's plot is, and is delivered in such beautiful prose you won't want it to end. It is a pity that Maxwell's works seem to be largely unknown, particularly in the U.S. show less
The Chateau is, at first glance, somewhere in between Henry James' tales of American innocents abroad in wicked old Europe, and Nancy Mitford's comic tales of the duplicitous, but irresistable post war French aristocratic classes. Maxwell keeps his story of a young American couple, adrift in a Europe that veers from romantic to baffling, welcoming to resistant, fresh and light. The story focuses on the impossibility of communication between different cultures and languages, an America flexing its modern muscles partly in love and partly in hate with the 'old world'. Conversations and gestures, near misses and hits, ordering in restaurants and finding a bed in a hotel, French plumbing and French history, all slyly show a cultural gap show more that sometimes gapes as wide as the Atlantic, sometimes narrows to a kiss on the cheek. This is a wise and clever novel. show less
A really interesting read. The tension of the tourist is palpable. Not to mention the added tension of its post-WWII environment and all the feelings still raw and too new. The ending of the book falls away and part two should never have been: it showed a complete lack of faith in the reader. All the little gossipy stories of the people and character in the novel were never the point. It was the feelings that were evoked in themselves by the other(s) that was so spot on and insightful.
THE CHATEAU opens with some good:
'He sat up and looked through the porthole and there it was, across the open water,
a fact, in plain sight, a real place, a part of him because he could say he had seen it."
If only the book had offered more memorable scenes instead of devolving into insecure and timid half melancholy/half sadness:
why took a day to ask where the toilet was, why not set the twin beds next to each other, why not ask for heat? a tub? hot water?
Around page 150, the plot and characters were finally enlivened from the repetitive daily boredom of sitting around and talk-talk-talking
while fake pleasing each other, even the husband and wife, Harold and Barbara, when The Frenchman, Eugene B. asked frank American questions.
As my show more chosen AAC challenge book, I had decided to plow through and finish it until arriving at page 202: "I prefer a nigger to a Jew."
Zero response from Harold.
End reading. show less
'He sat up and looked through the porthole and there it was, across the open water,
a fact, in plain sight, a real place, a part of him because he could say he had seen it."
If only the book had offered more memorable scenes instead of devolving into insecure and timid half melancholy/half sadness:
why took a day to ask where the toilet was, why not set the twin beds next to each other, why not ask for heat? a tub? hot water?
Around page 150, the plot and characters were finally enlivened from the repetitive daily boredom of sitting around and talk-talk-talking
while fake pleasing each other, even the husband and wife, Harold and Barbara, when The Frenchman, Eugene B. asked frank American questions.
As my show more chosen AAC challenge book, I had decided to plow through and finish it until arriving at page 202: "I prefer a nigger to a Jew."
Zero response from Harold.
End reading. show less
This is one of the most affecting and beautifully written books I have ever had the pleasure to read. A gem.
Set in the Loire Valley in 1948 in the aftermath of WW2 the book sensitively evokes the atmosphere of a battered but still proud corner of France. Mme Vienot, the former chatelaine turned now proprietor of the Chateau Beaumesnil, struggles to restore the family's fortunes by taking in paying guests.
Harold and Barbara Rhodes, a young American couple, provide an anchor as the book's central characters whilst he fractured family and unlikely friends, guests and neighbours come and go creating a rich tapestry of mystery and romance.
The Chateau evokes romance in the true sense of the word, one worth reading again and again.
Harold and Barbara Rhodes, a young American couple, provide an anchor as the book's central characters whilst he fractured family and unlikely friends, guests and neighbours come and go creating a rich tapestry of mystery and romance.
The Chateau evokes romance in the true sense of the word, one worth reading again and again.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
The Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read
1,005 works; 550 members
Undiscovered Classics to Read
70 works; 15 members
Americans Abroad
11 works; 6 members
National Book Award Finalists - Fiction
377 works; 12 members
Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years
2,168 works; 606 members
Author Information
28+ Works 5,707 Members
Born in Lincoln, Illinois in 1908, William Maxwell is one of America's more prominent writers. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Book Critics Circle Award (1994), and the American Book Award (1982) for his novel "So Long, See You Tomorrow." Maxwell's fiction has been described as nostalgic. Most of his work takes place show more in simpler, gentler times in the small towns of the American Midwest. Two of Maxwell's novels, "They Came Like Swallows" (1937) and "So Long, See You Tomorrow" (1980), deal with characters who lose relatives in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Maxwell's own mother died in the epidemic when he was ten years old. Maxwell published his first novel, "Bright Center of Heaven," in 1934. He moved to New York City in 1936 and was hired by the New Yorker. His years as an editor there, 1936 to 1976, coincided with what many believe are the magazine's finest. This was the era that saw the publication of the works of many accomplished writers, such as J. D. Salinger, Eudora Welty, John Updike, and Mary McCarthy in the New Yorker's pages. Maxwell has published six novels, several collections of short stories, a family history, and numerous book reviews. He served as president of the National Institute of Arts and letters from 1969 to 1972. William Maxwell has been married for over 50 years to the former Emily Noyes. They met at the New Yorker when she applied for a job. The couple has two daughters. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Harvill (271)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1961
- People/Characters
- Barbara Rhodes; Harold Rhodes; Mme Viénot
- Important places
- Brenodville, Grand-Est, France; Paris, France
- Epigraph
- “... wherever one looks twice there is some mystery.”
Elizabeth Bowen,
A World of Love
“And there stand those stupid languages, helpless as two bridges that go over the same river side by side but are separated from each other by an abyss. It is a mere bagatelle, an accident, and yet it separates.... ”
... (show all) Rainer Maria Rilke,
letter to his wife, September 2, 1902,
from Paris
“... a chestnut that we find, a stone, a shell in the gravel, everything speaks as though it had been in the wilderness and had meditated and fasted. And we have almost nothing to do but listen.... ”
Rilke,
l... (show all)etter to his friend Arthur Holitscher,
December 13, 1905, from Meudon-Val-Fleury - Dedication
- For
E. B.
E. C.
M. O'D.
F. S.
W. S. - First words
- The big ocean liner, snow white, with two red and black slanting funnels, lay at anchor, attracting sea gulls.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Mme Viénot puts what happened to him, his harsh but beautifully dedicated life, between her and all silences, all creaking noises, all failures, all searching for answers that cannot be found.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 389
- Popularity
- 80,309
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 7
