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Barbara Pym (1913–1980)

Forfatter af Excellent Women

30+ Works 13,076 Members 541 Reviews 148 Favorited

Om forfatteren

Novelist Barbara Pym was born in Shropshire and educated at Oxford University. An editor of Africa, an anthropological review, for many years, she published her first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, in 1950. Since then, a number of popular works have been published. Often compared with the works of Jane vis mere Austen in both manner and subject, Pym's novels are apparently guileless evocations of the foibles of aging and isolated characters. She has a sure, if understated, sense of her characters' psychology and of their unintentionally comic revelations about themselves and their futile lives. After the publication of No Fond Return of Love (1961), all her books were out of print until she was cited, coincidentally by both David Cecil and Philip Larkin, as among the most underestimated novelists of the 20th century. She subsequently completed two successful novels, The Sweet Dove Died (1978) and Quartet in Autumn (1978), the latter a comic-pathetic study of two men and two women in their sixties who work in the same office but lead separate, lonely lives outside. Many of her earlier books have since been reprinted, including Excellent Women (1952) and A Glass of Blessings (1958), both perceptive psychological studies of aging women taken advantage of by others. A posthumous novel, A Few Green Leaves (1980), is a superb comedy of provincial village life. (Bowker Author Biography) vis mindre

Omfatter også følgende navne: Barbar Pym, Pym Barbara, Bárbara Pym, Barbara Pym Pym, Bárbara Pym

Værker af Barbara Pym

Excellent Women (1952) 2,679 eksemplarer
Quartet in Autumn (1977) 1,247 eksemplarer
Jane and Prudence (1953) 1,155 eksemplarer
Some Tame Gazelle (1950) 1,058 eksemplarer
A Glass of Blessings (1958) 917 eksemplarer
No Fond Return of Love (1961) 865 eksemplarer
Crampton Hodnet (1985) 846 eksemplarer
Less Than Angels (1955) 829 eksemplarer
The Sweet Dove Died (1978) 702 eksemplarer
An Unsuitable Attachment (1982) 685 eksemplarer
A Few Green Leaves (1980) 654 eksemplarer
An Academic Question (1986) 491 eksemplarer
Civil to Strangers (1987) 416 eksemplarer

Associated Works

The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Bidragyder, nogle udgaver544 eksemplarer
The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories (1994) — Bidragyder — 308 eksemplarer
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Bidragyder — 115 eksemplarer

Satte nøgleord på

Almen Viden

Juridisk navn
Pym, Barbara Mary Crampton
Fødselsdato
1913-06-02
Dødsdag
1980-01-11
Begravelsessted
Finstock churchyard, Finstock, Oxfordshire, England
Køn
female
Nationalitet
UK
Fødested
Oswestry, Shropshire, England, UK
Dødssted
Finstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Bopæl
Oswestry, Shropshire, England, UK
Finstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Uddannelse
Huyton College, Liverpool, UK
Oxford University (St. Hilda's College)
Erhverv
novelist
writer
author
editorial secretary (International African Institute, London)
Relationer
Amery, Julian (lover)
Pym, Hilary (sister)
Organisationer
Women's Royal Naval Service (WWII)
Agent
Laura Morris (Laura Morris Literary Agency) - estate
Kort biografi
Barbara Mary Crampton Pym was born to Frederic and Irena Pym on June 2, 1913, in the town of Oswestry, Shropshire. S In 1931, Barbara entered St. Hilda's College at Oxford. In 1940, Barbara joined the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service), and in 1944, she was posted to Naples until the end of the war. After the war, Barbara took a job at the International African Institute in London, and soon became the assistant editor for the journal Africa. In 1971 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy; in 1974 she suffered a minor stroke. She then retired from the Institute and went to live with her sister Hilary. She died at the Michael Sobell House, a hospice in Oxford, on January 11, 1980. She is buried in the churchyard at Finstock.

Medlemmer

Discussions

Barbara Pym Centenary - General discussion. i Virago Modern Classics (december 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary: Civil to Strangers i Virago Modern Classics (december 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary - An Academic Question i Virago Modern Classics (november 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary - An Unsuitable Attachment i Virago Modern Classics (november 2013)
Barbara Pym Centenary: Some Tame Gazelle i Virago Modern Classics (oktober 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary: Crampton Hodnet i Virago Modern Classics (oktober 2013)
Barbara Pym Centenary: A Few Green Leaves i Virago Modern Classics (august 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary: The Sweet Dove Died i Virago Modern Classics (august 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary: A Glass of Blessings i Virago Modern Classics (juli 2013)
Barbara Pym Centenary: Less than Angels i Virago Modern Classics (maj 2013)
Barbara Pym centenary: Jane and Prudence i Virago Modern Classics (marts 2013)
Barbara Pym Centenary: Excellent Women i Virago Modern Classics (marts 2013)
July: Reading Barbara Pym i Monthly Author Reads (juli 2010)
Jane and Prudence (with spoliers) i Barbara Pym (oktober 2009)

Anmeldelser

This was the first novel I'd read by Pym and I struggled with the first half of the book. It wasn't the focus on everyday occurrences or even the mundane that bugged me, but instead the snobby attitudes of many of the upper-middle class characters. I just didn't find them likable. The last six chapters in the book were its saving grace, as Pym tries to pull things together, interweaving moments of comic relief. I'm willing to try another Pym novel though.
 
Markeret
Ann_R | 37 andre anmeldelser | Nov 26, 2023 |
A dash of Wharton's prose, a flourish of Austen's wit, and a bit of spice from Gaskell's CRANFORD, this novel portrays the daily life of a well-to-do married woman living in 1950s London. Subtleness is key here as a complicated plot does not exist; mostly it reads like a well-developed diary of the life of Wilmet Forsyth trying to put meaning into her life. Pym also showcases a muted wit that satirizes the religion and society of the day. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
 
Markeret
crabbyabbe | 37 andre anmeldelser | Nov 21, 2023 |
This isn't my favourite of Pym's novels but I do find her views of village society so apt and often hilarious I still enjoyed every minute of reading it.
In this case, the main character, Emma, is a social anthropologist studying the village she resides in, surrounded by well-meaning ex-subjects of the manor house. Emma's mother is a professor of English literature (thus her name) and pops in every once and awhile to gesture with romance options at her daughter, who seems largely uninterested. Odd men wander through the text, all of them with some sort of unusual focus, whether food or antiquities or the need for a good walk (provided, if you are a woman, the doctor says it's okay). They're the sort of exasperating men seen often in novels but everyone puts up with their absurdities, just as they put up with the women polishing the church who never attend services. Everyone has a dream, most of them unrealized.
What I love best about Pym's books is that they are filled with women doing what is expected of them (often involving casseroles) while having internal caustic conversations with themselves about why they are even bothering. This is what goes on in my head all the time and thus I am very comfortable here. I also like the fact that people in her books still believe in duty to ones neighbours, no matter how onerous. A Poverty dinner is the scene for much hilarity, as all those invited whine gently for better bread and cheese while contributing a tiny amount to the cause. It's all so lovely and familiar and it even made me want to go back to church, simply for the framework of life that it provides. The efforts to make the world better, even in a smallish way. Heartwarming. While the gossips hang about, viperish, they still contribute a loaf or some sweets, endless cups of tea...
In these times of Sturm und drang, it's nice to leave a novel with a smile on one's face and a feeling of hope.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
Dabble58 | 27 andre anmeldelser | Nov 11, 2023 |
Absolutely hilarious, though you may already have to be a Pym fan to get into the jokes right away. I am, so within seconds of opening he book, I was giggling helplessly at the way she so masterfully presents (in an ever so slightly bitchy tone) the foibles of we kind and normal folk as we go about our day.
Life is everyday in Pym's stories, but everyday is immensely funny, when looked at through her magnifying glass.
Loved this book best of all I've read.
 
Markeret
Dabble58 | 38 andre anmeldelser | Nov 11, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Hazel Holt Editor, Foreword
Hilary Pym Editor
Jackie Schuman Cover designer
Jessie Ford Cover artist
Dora Winkler Translator
Katarzyna Klein Cover artist
Bernard Turle Translator
A. N. Wilson Introduction
Elif Uras Translator
Sabine Porte Translator
Debra McFarlane Illustrator
Orla Kiely Cover designer
Djuke Houweling Translator
Geri Halligan Narrator
Kaori Ashizu Translator
Jaime Zulaika Translator
Jilly Cooper Introduction
Mavis Cheek Introduction
Lidia Zazo Translator
John Bayley Introduction
Paul Binding Introduction
Louis de Bernieres Introduction
Nicoletta ROSATI Translator
Salley Vickers Introduction
Philip Larkin Foreword
Kate Saunders Introduction

Statistikker

Værker
30
Also by
3
Medlemmer
13,076
Popularitet
#1,782
Vurdering
3.9
Anmeldelser
541
ISBN
422
Sprog
12
Udvalgt
148
Om
2
Trædesten
1,355

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