Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... Miss Pym Disposes (originale 1946; edizione 1998)di Josephine Tey (Autore)
Informazioni sull'operaMiss Pym Disposes di Josephine Tey (1946)
» 11 altro Books With a Twist (17) British Mystery (101) Female Protagonist (405) Academia in Fiction (60) Books Read in 2010 (386) Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. Second time through. This time an audiobook. It has been over 10 years, so I was surprised again by the ending. I really appreciate that this book is really a study of all of the characters before there is any evidence of a crime very late in the book. Great to get to know all these folks. Loved the Nut-Tart! This is the first book I have read by British Golden Age mystery author Josephine Tey. Lucy Pym dabbles in psychology. Having read thirty books on the subject, she wrote her own book and became a popular speaker. Her old friend asked her to speak at the school where she is the headmistress – a sort of physical college for dancers, gymnasts and those interested in healing through physical movement. Lucy Pym is intrigued by the school and delighted by her acceptance there. She decides to stay on for several more weeks and she is especially interested in the senior girls who are readying for their graduation with a show of their skills. More than half way through the book, a girl is found dead who had been honing her routine early mornings on a dangerous piece of equipment. Although it’s considered an accident, Lucy Pym believes something more happened, and finds several clues pointing that way. The headmistress, however, is more interested in having the closing ceremonies be accomplished flawlessly than finding the truth. Unfortunately, although I enjoyed reading this novel, I found the twists at the end unbelievable. Would I read more by this author – yes. I was somewhat surprised to find this book isn’t the beginning of a series about Lucy Pym. I've gone back and forth on my thoughts of this a lot. First, it's not a traditional mystery - the thing doesn't happen for ages and there's very little detecting. There's a few instances of nasty casual racism just randomly dropped in. The "main" story is... weird. I liked the writing and characterisation a lot - they're very good for a genre novel. I liked that the characters were almost all women. I found the description of life in a physical education college surprisingly interesting. I felt pretty caught up in it all. And then the book just sort of comes to a halt without a good wrap-up - things are *explained* but it just feels cut short with a lot happening even in the last few pages. Massive ending spoilers and all book discussion I liked it a lot up to the ending and then it was just... blurgh. Like yeah obviously you can write novels where justice isn't served but I don't actually like that in genre novels and it felt badly handled and frustrating as heck. When Lucy Pym, popular psychologist, accepts an invitation to give a lecture at a women's college run by an old school friend, she expects to be there for a few days at most. As she finds herself drawn to the students and the life of the school, she is convinced to stay the last couple weeks of the term (despite the early morning bells and disgusting cafeteria food). She gets to know the senior girls very well, and finds herself interested in their plans for the immediate future. But when a disaster occurs, Miss Pym is the only one who can prove that what seems like a tragic accident might, in fact, be murder. Tey writes setting and character beautifully. I can see how the first part of the book might feel a little slow, though I was just enjoying getting to know the school, staff, and students. This book was published in the 1940s, and shows its age in certain attitudes and dialogue. In addition, a major part of the plot involves a certain piece of gymnastics equipment called the "boom," which I cannot clearly picture, nor can I find an online image that helps me understand its function. I'm also still a little hazy on the purview of a women's physical training college, which seems to train students who want to become gym teachers, or something like physical therapists, or...? Wikipedia tells me that Tey taught at such a college, so I'm sure all of the details are accurate to the time, but to a modern reader, it's a bit obscure. All that aside, this is an interesting handling of the mystery element of the book. As you might expect from a main character with an interest in psychology, the ramifications of the crime and of exposing the crime are explored in detail. I figured out "whodunit" almost immediately, and was not distracted by red herrings, but I didn't find the ending entirely satisfying. I did enjoy reading a golden age mystery with an almost entirely female cast (there are a few men, but they play minor roles), and I can see that aspect of the book having some appeal for modern readers. I might read more of Tey if I come across other books by her; I was a little surprised that Miss Pym Disposes is a stand-alone work. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
A unique and absorbing standalone mystery, Miss Pym Disposes is an essential addition to the Josephine Tey collection. Bestselling author Lucy Pym is initially thrilled to be invited to lecture at Leys Physical Training College. The girls are eager to learn about psychology, her pet subject, and she finds herself inspired by their discipline, humour and determination. However, a tragic accident in the gymnasium reveals a darker side to the school, and unexpectedly Miss Pym finds she must draw on her psychological expertise to trace who, of all these wholesome girls, has violence on the mind. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
Sei tu?Diventa un autore di LibraryThing. |
This book features the eponymous Miss Lucy Pym, a quiet, non-assertive, intelligent woman who has written a best-selling psychology book (shades of Chicken Soup for the Soul). She is invited to a girls’ school by its headmistress, a former schoolmate, for as a guest lecturer.
Thinking this was another of Tey’s Inspector Grant book, I kept waiting for the requisite murder and his arrival. I was three-quarters through the book when I surfaced and checked the internet, since I was enjoying the novel that much. Once confirming what I now suspected (that this is not an Inspector Grant novel at all), I dove back in and read to the finish in one sitting.
This book is unlike Tey’s previous two mysteries, not only in the absence of Inspector Grant but also in that the “murder event” does not occur until nearly the end of the book. Instead of being the driving force of the book and central reason the characters come together, in Miss Pym Disposes it exists to cause an existential discussion on the meanings of justice and the law. Though shocking, it becomes a life-changing event for very few of the characters.
Mostly this is an observational book from the point of view of Miss Pym as she adjusts to her new status as Celebrity and reevaluates her relationship with people based on the feedback she gets from the various students and teachers at the College. She self-identifies as “a bit of a rabbit”, yet the Senior students to whom she lectures take to her immediately. Miss Pym, through her “psychological lens”, gives us an outsider view of the close-knit community of the College. Presumably, we are expected to use this intimate knowledge of the participants to come to a decision regarding the causes that lead to the nasty accident.
As with Tey’s other books, there are several colloquial words and references that date the book, reflecting the specific time and culture at a private English school. And as with her other books, Miss Pym Disposes is no less enjoyable for that. At a minimum, I got a few great Scrabble words out of it!
Very good. ( )