So, The Garden Party and Other Stories is better than all the other short stories, everywhere, all the time. Katherine Mansfield was a modernist in all the best modernist ways- think Virginia Woolf meets Anton Chekhov. The book mostly concerns the upper middle class (with the odd exception of "The Lady's Maid," a heartbreaking story told from the point of view of an aging, lonely, delusional lady's maid). There's a lot of quiet desperation, which ups the Woolf-feel, but with more outright melancholy (hellooo Chekhov). This, of course, makes me want to dance a sad, sad jig.
Her stories are spare without crossing into Hemingway-esque "figure out what I'm not saying to figure out what I'm saying" territory, so if you have beef with Ernest's stoicism but still want some raging good short fiction, Katherine is your new lady friend. She's deeply concerned with subjects of class, and the realism of relationships. Her writing is tight and the subject matter can get a bit repetitive (I had the same sort of thought with Joyce's short stories...yadda yadda Ireland and the middle class, yadda yadda), but Mansfield somehow didn't feel as claustrophobic as Joyce. She's putting a microscope on middle class daily life, but it feels much grander, much more THIS IS THE HUMAN CONDITION.
To further my case, I will tell you that Virginia Woolf once said that Katherine Mansfield's writing was the only writing she was ever jealous of. So. Do with that what you will, by which I mean GO READ KATHERINE MANSFIELD OK THANKS. There's not much of it- she died of tuberculosis at 34- but I'm going to be dancing through her backlist. This collection is quiet but grand, the writing is precise without being heartless (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, FLAUBERT), and everyone needs a few more died-tragically-young authors in their library. Go forth!
Four stars out of your mom
Bizarre-ness! I am reading Katherine Mansfield's collected stories at this very moment and she's so awesome I'm taking a break to read Claire Tomalin's biography of her. She's freakin awesome in real life too. I'd recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI very briefly scanned her scant Wiki bio and LE DAMN that lady had a DRAMATIC existence. I am interested in this Tomalin book.
DeleteI'm REALLY excited about reading some Katherine Mansfield now. I love the Hemingway, but sometimes I'm just like SPIT IT OUT ERNEST.
ReplyDeleteMore important, you've just reminded me how weirdly attracted I am to BBC Moriarty.
I HEART MORIARTY'S CRAZY EYED FACE. His ringtone! I die.
DeleteOoh! I just got this on my kindle.
ReplyDeleteYAYAYAY!
Delete*looks warily at Mansfield*
ReplyDeleteI am and am not a Woolf fan...and of course I'm not crazy about Hemingway...so I feel like I have to check this out just to see where she falls on the spectrum for me.
But thanks for mentioning an author I've only vaguely known of. I shall now wikipedia her.
p.s. SHERLOOOOOCK! I thought I saw Benedict Cumberbatch in a cafe near Boystown yesterday, but I also thought I saw Justin Timberlake carrying a suitcase on the bus, so I SUSPECT it was not him.
DeleteYeah, I'm still trying to figure out your reading preferences, so I don't know how you'll feel about her. She's not as pretentious or difficult as Woolf (love me some Woolf, don't get me wrong), so that's a plus...?
DeleteThis gif. *dies*
ReplyDelete*revives you to make you look at it again, this time while wearing a sombrero*
DeleteMy favorite story of hers is "miss brill"--I think it's in the garden party. She quite an interesting writer. Woolf was very ambivalent (and snobbish towards) her.
ReplyDeleteRIGHT? Virginia Woolf was such a catty little thing. I was really surprised when I read Bell's biography of her. She was, to be blunt, a raging bitch.
DeleteAlso, I think Woolf modeled lily briscoe in to the light house after Katherine.
ReplyDeleteI've read Life of Ma Parker and The Young Girl and I loved them both. Especially Life of Ma Parker. I really must read more of Mansfield. I've heard a lot of praise for Miss Brill with some even calling it Mansfield's best story ever. Was it a part of the collection you read?
ReplyDeleteOooh, I love short stories (courtesy of Dorothy Parker) and I'm in need of some good short stories authors to add to my list.
ReplyDeletePlus: your litte dedication to Flaubert made me sit uptight and dance a little on my chair because IT IS SO TRUE AND THE DAMN HAT STILL GIVES ME NIGHTMARES.
Anyhow. I also wanted to say I tagged you. Feel free to let the tag wither, get lonely and die. I was trying to come up with 11 bloggers and I got desperate enough to tag people I've never really interacted with (but whose blogs I heart, ahem) so here I am with my rambling.
http://readingagainsttheclock.blogspot.com/2012/03/whole-bunch-of-elevens-tag-post.html
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ReplyDeletehow to bet
"So, The Garden Party and Other Stories is better than all the other short stories, everywhere, all the time." That is THE BEST thing anyone can ever say about Katherine Mansfield.
ReplyDeleteI seriously need to re-read me some Mansfield. I haven't read anything of hers since school and I barely remember them. And what's worse I lived around the corner from the house she grew up in in Thorndon for over a year and never visited it(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Mansfield_Birthplace). Massive regrets! Seriously I probably walked past it tonnes of times but sadly I was in my young, drinking, couldn't care less about history stuff days. Sigh. Now I'm an 8 hour drive away. Hopefully work will send me to Wellington one day and I can do a sneaky side trip!
ReplyDelete