Upon opening this work by Ms. Pym I was delighted with the directness of the novel. Some of the other qualities it has are its’ artificial nature and lightness of touch. I will admit that it is rather dark in some spots. Particularly the handling of Leonora Eyre irks me sometimes. Ned too is an amoral melange of ebullience. But what he possesses Ms. Eyre could only dare to dream for. She is constantly tired and falling behind the character she most wants to own. While Ned is so much far advanced than the sensitive class-conscious James who “would be no exception to the rule that nobody tired of Ned before he tired of them.”
Phoebe one must feel some compassion for since she is so obviously below James’ level and with her wine bottle lamp she cuts a pathetic figure compared to the “something remarkably sympathetic about Leonora, even if he was not yet quite sure how to cope with her.” James feels at ease with the older Leonora, and yet there is a quaint uneasiness when it comes to the status of their relationship. With Phoebe it is as though he has taken in an orphan and doesn’t want to love it properly. Ned has basically seduced him with his charms. Humphrey doesn’t seem to mind about any of these three, he only really wants James to study some aspect of antiques so he can take over the business in the right manner.
What an intriguing book it was. The anti-loftiness of the treatment and the plainness of the characters would seem to make for uninteresting reading but that is utterly untrue. I would suggest a Pym novel to anyone who can read.
