322. Quartet

Quartet
Jean Rhys
1928
Around 200 pages

Frequent readers will know that I appreciate hot goss, especially when it has to do with the authors on this blog. This is a semi-autobiographical novel based on Jean Rhys' affair with Ford Madox Ford while her husband was in jail, which was briefly tolerated by Ford's wife, Stella Bowen. Man, it would have been delicious to watch the various creepos on this blog be Me Tooed. 

Stephan and Marya are living hand to mouth in Paris, relying on Stephan's shady art deals to sustain their lifestyle. Stephan is arrested and sentenced to one year in jail. Marya moves in with H.J. Heidler and his painter wife Lois. Heidler has a well-known habit of inviting young women to lodge in his spare room, and taking advantage of them while his wife turns a blind eye. 

I love Jean Rhys, she really tackles perspectives that are rare in this era of the List. I particularly enjoyed The Wide Sargasso Sea (justice for Mrs. Rochester), but we have awhile before we reach that entry. I loved Marya as a character. She trusted the men in her life, as she had been taught to, and gets screwed by their selfishness and egoism. Sounds about right.

Short and sweet. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to a film in 1981 with Maggie Smith.

UP NEXT: The Childermass by Wyndham Lewis. This is a hard book to track down, but I haven't been thwarted yet!

321. Decline and Fall

Decline and Fall
Evelyn Waugh
1928
Around 300 pages

And we are back to fussy Englishmen. I like this one okay; he's a memorable quote machine. If only he had lived in the Twitter era. As droll (and that's the only word for it) as Evelyn Waugh can be, his writing leaves me a little wanting.

Paul Pennyfeather (yes, he's a fop) is one of those bumbling characters who stumbles through a story and doesn't incite much action by himself. Things happen to him. I prefer when the protagonist is driving the narrative, but oh well. He gets caught up in a wacky human trafficking scandal. 

It's amusing, but to me Waugh never reached the comic heights of people like Dorothy Parker, Douglas Adams, P.G. Wodehouse. I like that he is commenting on the absurdity of the world he lives in. Oxford is a weird place.

I also don't think he writes women well, but that's a topic for the Brideshead Revisited post.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Waugh's first published novel. He had a previous manuscript that he destroyed and was basically suicidal over the criticism it received from his friend. Girl, I get it.

Dedicated to Harold Acton, a member of the Bright Young Things.

UP NEXT: Quartet by Jean Rhys

320. Quicksand

Quicksand
Nella Larsen
1928
Around 190 pages
 

Quicksand. The crippling fear of every child suddenly becomes relevant again. I know I'm a broken record, but I'm happy to have another woman of color appear on the List, considering there are more men named Henry than Latinas present. 

Helga Crane is an educated biracial woman trying to find her place in the 1920s. Obviously, it's a complete nightmare and the past was a vile hellscape. Helga has one foot in both worlds, with a white mother and absentee black father. She teaches at all-Black school in the South, but she feels like she doesn't belong. Lin-Manuel Miranda could write a Disney "I Want" banger for Helga.

This is a very different perspective than we are used to on this List, which is that of a stuffy closeted English man. The tone isn't exactly hopeful. Larsen is a powerful writer, and you immediately feel for the protagonist.

I rarely say this, but I wish this was a bit longer to ruminate deeper on the themes instead of leaving us in such a dark place. Still worth a read.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Largely assumed to be autobiographically.

UP NEXT: Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. 

319. Nadja

Nadja
Andre Breton
1928
Around 160 pages

I guess we are going to be riding the wave of surrealism for the next decade or so. Which sucks. I enjoy coherent narratives where trippy shit isn't happening every other page and the characters feel like real human beings. 

In between surrealist ramblings, Andre details his experience with a young woman named Nadja. She belongs in a sanitarium, but he is fascinated by her vision of the world. 

For me, reading surrealism is as much fun as being the only sober person in a shroom party. Is that the proper vernacular for those gatherings? I've never been invited.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Based on his own interactions with a young woman named Leona over the course of ten days.

UP NEXT: Quicksand by Nella Larson