Reading: The Light Years

[white_hart]

I first heard of Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles when they were dramatised on Radio 4 a few years ago. (They appear to have been a major TV series in the early 2000s, but I don't recall that at all, probably because I've never been a fan of costume drama.) I quite enjoyed what I heard of the radio adaptation but only heard bits of it and couldn't keep track of all the characters, so I bought the first book in the series to try.

I enjoyed this a lot. It's not a book where a great deal happens, or at least what is happening tends to happen offstage - the second half is set in the late summer of 1938, against the background of the Sudetenland crisis and the looming spectre of World War 2; Howard's novel is much more inward-looking, focused on the three generations of the Cazalet family and their servants, and their reactions to events in the world and within their own family. The delight of the book is in the way the characters are drawn, and the depth in which Howard portrays their feelings; the charactisation is subtle enough that, with one possible exception, by the end of the book even the characters who initially seemed unsympathetic revealed their more likeable sides. I was particularly taken by the children of the family, especially Polly and Clary, in whom I could see a lot of myself as a child, and also by the couple who continually end up doing things neither of them wants to do because both of them think the other would really like to, and I also enjoyed the insight into the politics and popular feelings of the time; I've read a lot of novels set in WW2, and a lot of novels from the 1930s, but the only other one I can think of that really deals with the transition from the one to the other is The Chalet School in Exile.

I will certainly be buying the others, although I'm not sure whether to get the kindle editions as I did for this one or seek out paper copies; the kindle edition has obviously been produced by scanning and there are a number of what are obviously OCR errors (”lean” instead of "I can", "we'll" instead of "well" and so on), particularly towards the latter part of the book, which was a bit annoying. (I find myself going off the kindle a bit now I'm reading more, though it's obviously great for very long books and holidays, and impulse buys. And I really don't have room for lots of new books. Still, I do like paper books.)

Comments

Cazalets

[callmemadam]

I love these books and it's great to splurge on a read straight through the lot. EJH's autobiography Slipstream is interesting and shows how much the books were based on her own early life.

My editions are a mixture. The Book People did have a uniform set selling very cheaply; not sure if it's still available.

Re: Cazalets

[white_hart]

I'm definitely looking forward to reading the others! I'll have a look at the Book People, though I may just hold out for second-hand copies.

Re: Cazalets

[perennialanna]

They do still have it - all five for £4.99, in the current pretty covers.

http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?productId=503805&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&searchTerm=cazalet

Re: Cazalets

[white_hart]

Thank you! I have ordered them :-)

[nineveh_uk]

I've got them (the first four, not the late sequel) if you'd like to borrow paper copies.

[white_hart]

Thanks, I might take you up on that, though I think I will also keep an eye our for second-hand copies of my own.

[perennialanna]

I had the second one on Kindle while I waited for a paper copy to arrive, and had to give up over the OCR errors. Polly was Tolly for quite a lot of it, and sometime Rolly. They frequently turn up in charity shops.

[white_hart]

Oh dear, that sounds even worse! I will definitely go for paper copies, then. I'm sure I've seen them in the Oxfam bookshop before so they will doubtlessly turn up there again.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

I could be totally wrong about this and apologies if so, but I still think you might like Mapp and Lucia. They are bilious, it's true, and if you'll hate that then don't read. But they are beautifully written and drawn, and very funny.

[white_hart]

I did try it once and didn't get on with it, though I may just not have been in the right mood.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

I could be completely wrong - often am. Just seemed like it could be a good match.