tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post10957077865956547..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Family and FriendsJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-54351768710044083612016-02-14T11:43:53.346+00:002016-02-14T11:43:53.346+00:00Thanks for that comment, Boss. Always pleased when...Thanks for that comment, <b>Boss</b>. Always pleased when I see a new reader's found me.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-75587445954072586152016-02-14T09:20:35.913+00:002016-02-14T09:20:35.913+00:00Lili and Ursie intrigued me and so I found the ex...Lili and Ursie intrigued me and so I found the explanation here of why two servants were so well loved and embraced by this family and were also to become 'maitresses de maison'<br />Thank you.BKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10651355061065021401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-51443971813838296552011-07-20T09:42:24.529+01:002011-07-20T09:42:24.529+01:00The thing is, Milo that's how long it took me ...The thing is, <b>Milo</b> that's how long it took me to write my first two novels. So I know it can be done. I pottered around with them for five years afterwards but essentially they were done.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-57716080188288456762011-07-18T16:55:09.048+01:002011-07-18T16:55:09.048+01:00A well-written, well-researched post, Jim. I still...A well-written, well-researched post, Jim. I still can't get over her ability to write a novel in three or four months, completed in a single draft!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-55506147939502056092011-07-18T08:27:09.757+01:002011-07-18T08:27:09.757+01:00Despite the period setting, Lis, I do think that t...Despite the period setting, <b>Lis</b>, I do think that this is a novel you would get something from. Like me you are a people-watcher and despite her style of writing (which, on the surface, might seem to work against her intended purpose) this is an incisive dissection of a family and I quite like it’s blinkered vision; yes, there’s a war on and, yes, they’re Jewish but we’re here to talk about family not world or cultural events. If they do this International Anita Brookner Day next year I’ll be happy to have a crack at a later novel.<br /><br />And, <b>Art</b>, oh, no, no matter how you look at this family it is a disaster. They may not be throwing their desserts across the table at each other but that’s just because the damn British reserve is more important to them than anything else: as long as things look fine they must be fine. Keeping up appearances is everything. It’s not even an upper class thing. I’ve heard Billy Connolly wax on about the front his mother used to put on when the vicar came to tea and they had nothing, he knew they had nothing but it wasn’t the done thing to be seen to have nothing.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-61859275380441362812011-07-16T16:19:45.225+01:002011-07-16T16:19:45.225+01:00Disasters are in the eye of the beholder. It's...Disasters are in the eye of the beholder. It's how you interpret the event that makes it either a disaster or a blessing. <br /><br />The existentialist viewpoint is not only about living with the anxiety that freedom brings. It's also about being able to make the choice to create meaning where there is none. Which is what freedom is: choosing how you respond to and interpret events.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-55969726241038534132011-07-16T13:01:59.716+01:002011-07-16T13:01:59.716+01:00Well of course your quotes here from Brookner abou...Well of course your quotes here from Brookner about writing and revenge resonate with me. Otherwise I find less with which to connect, but that might just be me. <br /><br />Yours is high praise indeed. I've yet to read Brookner, but I'm taken with the degree to which she takes on the subtleties of cultural and personal experience, and especially impressed by your description of her leap over the war. <br /><br />It sounds like a strange family indeed but from what you say here well worth reading about. Thanks Jim.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com