Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym - 10 out of 10

 Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym

10 out of 10

 

 

Less Than Angels is the Perfect Novel for the under signed and it comes at the right moment, for after finishing The Wasp Factory a few days ago, a feeling of unease, anxiety has been amplified by both the horror in that book and the pandemic that is raging again, prompting this and surely millions of other readers to try and find solace, equanimity and why not, humor in that volumes we take in our hands – of the Kindle that yours truly uses daily – and this fabulous Magnum opus provides the divine mixture of amusement, accessibility, human, relatable stories – as opposed to sheep and dogs on fire in the Wasp Factory and the Fire and Fury raging in the world, the United States of Erica is just one of the important examples.

 

We could say that this book is no Less Than Angelic because it has reached an exquisite balance between the normality – and how desperately we need ‘ordinary events’ in a world that is turned upside down and we have to see what happens after this Tuesday, November 3^rd, when we may find that it is really havoc we have to brace for, or, Insha’Allah, there is a modicum of sense that is finally restored – of the interconnected lives of the characters we get so attached to and the introduction of subtle, but erudite, deep, philosophical and social observations made by wondrous Barbara Pym, using the voices of Catherine Oliphant, considered to be the paradigm of the author, though the personage writes mostly sweet romantic stories and does not venture over to the deep end and the anthologists present in the narrative.

Catherine Oliphant writes for women’s magazines, invents recipes, offers advice on how to organize a soiree on a small budget, thinks up questionnaires and is very intelligent, both in the conservative, long accepted sense and the more important one, having a high EQ, emotional intelligence, albeit it does not help her in the relationship with Tom Mallow, an esteemed anthropologist that is expected to return from a two year study in Africa, concentrated on the important role of the mother’s brother in the tribes he has been studying…

 

Tom Mallow had arrived to the flat of the writer, stayed for a night, since he was in somewhat dire straits, and then settled there, although he is detached, superior, vague enough not to desire and commit to a long term relationship – not that this would matter in the long term and let us just leave it at that and not reveal much, in the hope that someone reads this far and would like to read the marvelous chef d’oeuvre and might be restrained by eventual spoilers – neither with Catherine, nor with Elaine, his first love, the one who appears in his thoughts quite often – the first love is always special and remembered, or so we are told – and who is breeding dogs now, golden retrievers and has never thought of anybody else once Tom left her…

Deidre Swan is only nineteen, one of a rather large group of anthropologists that populate this exquisite narrative – by the way, it is sad and hard to believe that only a little over three thousand volumes have been sold in the first ten years after it had been published and even now, though it is on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list it does not appear to be very popular…well, this not will surely change all that, don’t you think

 

She is living with her mother, aunt and brother, Malcolm, in what Catherine feels might be the balanced, peaceful, comforting home and environment that is so desirable – indeed, when facing adversity and trauma, she would find some refuge staying with them for a fortnight and since this episode is mentioned, we can note that studies made with the happiest people reveal that what they have in common is not large sums of money – money affluence is less important than time affluence and yours truly is so fortunate here, though it must be said that extreme paupers do not relish their destitution – but strong bonds with family and friends.

When she meets Tom Mallow, it is love at first sight, unless of course we would think of Thomas Mann…the Master has a short story in which characters argue over the use of words like ‘love and friendship’ and one of them is appalled by the frequency with which people resort to ‘there are no words to tell you how much I love you’, when in reality, the meaning of the word does not have correspondence in real life and we can only find real love in art, fiction, where it is really to the end, forever…

 

All the personages that come to the fore are more than interesting, some are amusing and positive, others suffer from solitude, anxiety, and such is the case of Alaric Lydgate, returned from Africa, where he has been an official and ‘He often thought what a good thing it would be if the wearing of masks or animals heads could become customary for persons of a certain age how restful social intercourse would be Eve the face did not have to assume any expression the strained look of interest the simulated delight or surprise the anxious concern one didn't really feel’

Tom Mallow is also infatuated with Deidre, albeit his manner is different, he would not think of staying in England, once his PHD thesis is finished, he longs to return to Africa, so his affection for the young woman would not probably qualify as one of the most intense, effervescent, arduous, flaming emotions that we have heard about and though he talks with Catherine – but only after the latter will have seen him holding hands with the anthropology student in ‘their restaurant’ prompting her to analyze the use of the term ‘their’ and seeing it is wrong – about moving out, it would still be a very enticing study to watch the dynamic of this love triangle playing out, that is if we leave out the figure of Elaine.

 

If suffering, Catherine might find solace in the rapprochement that would comfort her, seeing Alaric Lydgate as a ‘Easter Island’ figure, interesting, lonely, different and a potential partner…the writer is not happy that Tom abandons her, but the attitude is one of restraint, this is a period of change anyway, the social fabric is undergoing transformation and the older characters see the new norms with stupefaction at times, and the astonishment adds spice and humor, as in the scene in which Tom’s upper class aunt visits Catherine, as it happens, just after the man has left her, and she is there to address the inappropriateness of their living together, only to end with the information that she could invite to her daughter’s’ debutante ball one of the anthropology students – and we have extraordinary gems of analysis, like the one connected with this ritual…what could be more primitive than the idea of a ceremony to launch a naïve young girl on the market – though this word is not used – probably more primitive than whatever custom the African tribes could have…

 

This reader has been enthused, exhilarated by Less Than Women and before this, by the equally glorious, phenomenal Excellent Women, by the same fantastic Barbara Pym http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/04/excellent-women-by-barbara-pym-10-out.html