Volume 46, Number 15 · October 7, 1999
The Camel at the Door
By Noel Annan
First Childhood
by Lord Berners
Turtle Point/Helen Marx Books, 233 pp., $14.95 (paper)
A Distant Prospect
by Lord Berners
Turtle Point/Helen Marx Books, 176 pp., $12.95 (paper)
Collected Tales and Fantasies
by Lord Berners
Turtle Point/Helen Marx Books, 434 pp., $16.95 (paper)
Lord Berners: The Last Eccentric
by Mark Amory
London: Pimlico (distributed in the US by Trafalgar Square), 274 pp., $24.95 (paper)
The English 'vogue novel' is by definition an ephemeral affair, as perishable as a spider's web. In its classic form the setting is a country house where the characters assemble and do little else except talk about themselves, their friends, and their ideas; and it is essential that the characters resemble the acquaintances of those who will buy and read the book—in other words members of the upper class who want to be amused and display the book first on the coffee table and ultimately in the lavatory. There is, however, a variation. The characters, or at least some of them, are still identifiable but caught up in a fantasy. Sometimes terrible, cruel events are described but deadpan, never in such a way as to turn the stomach. The vogue novel must sparkle, and success is guaranteed when there is a row—when someone identifies himself with one of the characters in the book, writes to protest, and is met by the incredulous denial. How could the aggrieved acquaintance believe he could be mistaken for the character in question when he does not have red hair or walk with a limp?
Review, 4193 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |