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Finally, as there's so little information about Memoirs of a Midget , I thought I might as well post a short extract: I held out my hand. His sent a shiver down my spine. It was clammy cold, as if he had just come out of the sea.
Thrusting our way between the denser clumps of weeds, we pushed on cautiously until we actually stood under the creature's enormous oak. So elusive and deceitful was the throbbing croon of sound that it was impossible to detect on which naked branch in the black leafiness the bird sat churring. The wafted fragrances, the placid dusky air, and, far, far above, the delicate, shallowing deepening of the faint-starred blue - how I longed to sip but one drop of drowsy mandragora and forget this fretting, inconstant self. We stood, listening; and an old story I had read somewhere floated back into memory.
I read of it in a book. And when it was asked: There now, would you like me to go like that? Oh, if I were a moth, I would flit in there and ask that old Death-thing to catch me. Even if I cannot love you, you are part of all this. You feed my very self. Mayn't that be enough? I leaned nearer, as if to raise the shadowed lids above the brooding eyes.
I do assure you it is yours. But I haven't the secret of knowing what half the world means. Is it not all a mystery?
It is beautiful and truly original. Anon behind her back. There Fanny visits her and accuses her of having betrayed her by breaking her promise not to gossip about the past. View all 6 comments. She later learns Mr. In addition to casting a fairy tale-like veil over the narrative, Miss M. They arrange for Mr.
Oh, I know it, even though they jeer and laugh at me. I beseech you to be merciful, and keep me what I am. Jul 07, Claire rated it it was amazing. Tattered, in hardcover, in the dark, and with the kind of title that begs to be examined. I read three pages and was enamored, and bought the book without question. Looking back, I now realize this was unusual behavior. I only buy books I've been meaning to read, and have read about, or did read, and have been meaning to find.
I had never heard of Walter de la Mare, and neither has anyone I've spoken to since meeting him. He is, like Miss M, his own kind of curio, which I hope does not mean that I learned nothing from his work. This beautiful, sad, twisted novel resonated with me to a frightening degree. At once her universe is too large for her to wade in and too small for her to breathe in. And when do we ever come upon obscure novels in original print these days? That which is a good friend. Nov 04, Sonia rated it liked it Shelves: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here. Someone recommended de la Mare and when I saw the title Memoirs of a Midget , I just couldn't pass it up. The idea is intriguing. The memoirs of a little person before technology could overcome most of their obstacles and further, written by a man! I finished this book and the first words out of my mouth, "this is stupid". Is it really stupid? No, of course not. First off, de la Mare showed some amazing insight when imagining Miss M's world and he perfectly captured the torturous t Someone recommended de la Mare and when I saw the title Memoirs of a Midget , I just couldn't pass it up.
First off, de la Mare showed some amazing insight when imagining Miss M's world and he perfectly captured the torturous thought circles to which most women are prone. Additionally he managed to capture the loneliness that is a staple of Miss M's life and to perfectly capture in her thoughts her changes in attitude towards the different individuals she encounters. I expected this book to be a little less memoir and a little more thriller - in the spirit of Wilkie Collins' Woman in White perhaps, and honestly I might have enjoyed this book more had I not expected more mystery.
The novel does have a pall, but it wasn't particularly dark - excepting Crimble's suicide and Mr. Other than that, we spend a lot of time exploring Miss M's thoughts and feelings, which at times grew a bit boring, was often chaotic, and a little frustrating, particularly in regard to her hot and cold relationship with Franny - who I loathed. The language is beautiful, but the novel was just too odd for me. The scenes and language between Miss M and Franny are perhaps the greatest testament to the surreality that often suffuses the novel.
It is often vague to the point of incomprehension.
Not what I anticipated when I picked it up, but very good nonetheless. She is really just a young girl who has been isolated because her physical proportions excite alarm and sensation whenever she goes out, and who is emotionally hungry for friendship or kinship of any kind. Strangely, I thought there was a lot about growing up that I could personally relate to - I have to give de la Mare credit for making the theme universal in that respect.
I didn't particularly enjoy his almost Henry James-ish style of saying everything but what is really going on - but I do see the purpose in it, as that is what life is really like, and it's only later, if at all, that we figure out what happened to us as we were growing up. Anyway, loved Miss M's struggle out of being forced to be a pet, a curiosity, and somehow not fully human, to taking action for herself and taking control of her own identity regardless of outside perceptions.
Oct 18, Carla rated it really liked it. A forgotten gem, poetic and strange -- if not as successful as his short fiction, still very beautiful. I love the writing style; it somehow reminds me of intricate pretty old-fashioned things.
It's very introspective and the book's real strength is that it's one of those that really get across an individual's experience; the particular way they think and interpret the world. The descriptions felt very vivid to me. There's a heavily hinted romantic fascination with another woman, and that's quite good if you like beautiful, enigmatic, existentially angsty and spiteful characters. What I didn't lik I love the writing style; it somehow reminds me of intricate pretty old-fashioned things. What I didn't like -- Mr Anon.
Really annoying character bringing the melodrama. The novel could easily have had him cut out. And also the title makes you think the book will cover more of the character's life and basically involve more things happening than it does. It really only covers a year of Miss M's life when she is 20 during which nothing much happens except what I guess is actually quite realistic, ie she angsts about people she knows and how to deal with her crush on Fanny and Mr Anon's crush on her.
Aug 29, michelle rated it it was ok Shelves: The 4 star title lured me in, but the story disappointed. And the writing style is often confusing Read here for free First line - Some years ago a brief account of me found its way into one or two country newspapers Cannot work out if this is or first publication year as there is conflicting information on the net.
Acute inflammation of the tonsils and the surrounding tissue, often leading to the formation of an abscess. But Memoirs of a Midget is a triumphant work of fiction: Jun 20, Jim Smith rated it it was amazing. Uniquely strange, haunting, dizzying, funny and moving piece of uncanny fiction. I remember finishing Walter de la Mare's The Return and feeling that, while quietly devastating and profoundly moving, the form of the thing lacked polish.
No such qualms here. As usual Walter de la Mare's writing is among the closest you'll find to a waking, shifting dream, but here, despite the often quiet restraint of the narrative, the prose was so subtly coruscating in its suggestion that I had to reread some pa Uniquely strange, haunting, dizzying, funny and moving piece of uncanny fiction. As usual Walter de la Mare's writing is among the closest you'll find to a waking, shifting dream, but here, despite the often quiet restraint of the narrative, the prose was so subtly coruscating in its suggestion that I had to reread some paragraphs over and over to soak in the beauty and strangeness of it all.
This novel and the finest twenty or so of his short stories showed that de la Mare was not only a great poet, but also a titan of prose fiction worthy of the utmost respect. May 25, Carbon rated it it was amazing. This is a wonderful book. I didn't want it to end. I have made progress in conquering my addiction to reading novels. I don't read nearly so many of them anymore, for which I thank God.
But I bought this about twenty years ago. Recently I turned it up and decided to have a look. It is beautiful and truly original.
It's so strange that I can't describe it in a way that would do it justice. I originally bought it because of his poem The Listeners, which I also love, and the titl This is a wonderful book. I originally bought it because of his poem The Listeners, which I also love, and the title. The poem and novel both capture the eerie strangeness of life, a feeling that this world is a surface which connects with another world, that "reality" is not as straightforward as some may think. A contemporary, reductionist technology addict wouldn't get it at all, but there are a still a few other types of people left in the world.
They might like it. Mar 09, Karyl rated it it was ok. From all the positive reviews, I was expecting to be lured into an existence not quite real and regaled with visions of a slightly altered world. I suppose I thought it would be like watching Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge , but for me, this book was so vague I had a hard time following exactly what was happening. It didn't help that the most crucial exchanges all seemed to be written in French, a language of which I am completely ignorant.
I felt this novel to be lacking in plot as well; I couldn't see a true resolution at the end. The book just sort of I have to admit I am really very disappointed. I read a rather early version of this book, dating to probably the late s. Dec 19, Mark rated it it was amazing.
A perfectly uncanny novel. Subtle, too, as evidenced by the sheer number of complete misreadings it's accumulated over the years see, for instance, the laughably crap review in Rain Taxi from a couple years back. Jan 11, Isabel Bustos rated it it was amazing. Like almost every long book I love and rate 5 stars Weak ending but so, so close to perfect. Jul 23, John rated it it was amazing. Bowater, for her part, likes Mr. She speculates he may be the son of a lord, "Stranger things have happened," but fears he is unwell and may be tubercular. She rejects him and tells him she resents his watching over her.
Monnerie, "the youngest daughter of Lord B. Monnerie is a stout, mushroom-shaped woman of middle age who collects unusual objects and people. Highly intelligent, she is attracted as much by Miss M. Monnerie is likewise intrigued by Fanny Bowater's combination of beauty and cynicism and invites her into the household to be her personal companion.
Unaware that everyone has read about it in the newspapers, Fanny makes Miss M. Disgusted with her life in captivity as a living bibelot and wounded by Fanny's coldness, Miss M. Her sourness offends her patroness and she is banished to Monk's House, Mrs. There Fanny visits her and accuses her of having betrayed her by breaking her promise not to gossip about the past.
She tells Miss M. I can't endure the sight or sound or creep of you any longer.
Published in , Memoirs of a Midget is a surrealistic novel, told in the first person, by English poet, anthologist, and short story writer Walter de la Mare, best. Foreword by Alison Lurie Miss M., the narrator of these fictional memoirs, is a diminutive young woman (though just how diminutive, the author never says) with a.
Because of your unspeakable masquerade. You play the pygmy, carried about, cosseted, smirked at. But where have you come from? What are you in your past—in your mind? I ask you that: Look at me, as we sit here now. I am the monstrosity. You see it, you think it, you hate even to touch me. From first moment to last you have secretly despised me—me! It came on me as if my life had been nothing but a filthy, aimless nightmare; and chiefly because of you. I've worked, I've thought, I've contrived, and forced my way. I refuse to be watched and taunted and goaded and defamed.
Anon behind her back. She also realizes that she now reciprocates Mr. Anon's love and friendship, and she promises to come away with him and set up housekeeping nearby, implying that they will marry at some future time. Anon insists that they leave immediately and that she stop displaying herself in public. She has performed for two of the three nights she promised the circus manager—in exchange for a large sum—though she is ashamed to mention the money to Mr.
Anon, presenting it as a matter of not breaking her contract. They arrange for Mr. Anon to take Miss M. Dressed in woman's clothes, he rides out, sidesaddle—to the jeers and mockery of the crowd. There is an accident and he is thrown from the horse and seriously injured, though he remounts and finishes his ride. As he and Miss M. Tormented by guilt she wanders alone in the woods, fighting the impulse to kill herself. She is deterred, finally, by her conviction that only through leaving the world in a peaceful frame of mind will she be likely to meet her lover after death.
In the meantime, her financial trustee, Sir Walter Pollacke, a banker, has been able to restore her fortune, enabling her repurchase her family home. The frame story of the novel, an introduction narrated by Sir Walter, recounts that Miss M. Bowater as her housekeeper and himself as an occasional visitor.
Bowater has told Sir Walter that one evening she heard mysterious voices coming from Miss M. Memoirs of a Midget was published to high praise in and in that year received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Rebecca West later included Memoirs of a Midget on a list of the "best imaginative productions of the last decade in England".
Michael Dirda , book columnist for the Washington Post , notes that the American critic Edward Wagenknecht regarded Memoirs of a Midget "as the greatest English novel of its time. Born in , Wagenknecht lived until , publishing a book on Willa Cather when he was Yet for all its strangeness of perspective, Memoirs of a Midget may be regarded as one of the best novels Henry James never wrote.
Its narrative voice is often severe, formal, elliptical, and diffuse, so much so that the book might well have been called "What Miss M.