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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Orchard Thievesdi Elizabeth Jolley
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. In The Orchard Thieves, Elizabeth Jolley employs an interesting (and at first disconcerting) device by naming her characters only in terms of their relationships to one another. She also sketches vague details regarding setting, placing further emphasis on her themes of family discord and, particularly, the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship. In the grandmother of the clan, Jolley creates a nuanced narrator whose vivid imaginings of imminent catastrophe add pleasing touches of dry humour to the fable. Yet, as in life, it is not until real disaster strikes the family that each character's true colours are revealed. The Orchard Thieves is a small but satisfying slice of Australian life. An excellent short novel focusing on family life, specifically the relationships between mothers and daughters. The story is written from a grandmother’s perspective. She has three daughters and several grandchildren. The grandmother lives with her eldest, unmarried daughter. Their domestic calm disintegrates when the ‘middle daughter’ arrives and urges the sale of the family house. One of the unusual devices is that none of the characters have names; they are referred to only by their position in the family. In one sense this is unwelcome as it keeps the reader at a distance and lessens identification with the characters. However it also makes sense because the essence of the novel is this: it is via the changes in the family role that understanding of other family members develops. As daughters become mothers themselves they gain a new perspective on their own mother’s achievements, or otherwise. The novel is a rumination on what it is to be a mother and a grandmother and as always with Jolley, family life is presented as complex and multilayered. It includes plenty of love, loyalty, strength, and tolerance, but anxieties are ever present (the grandmother has wildly active imagination), and destructive and selfish forces inevitably bubble to the surface. When the crisis takes place at the end of The Orchard Thieves it brings pain, but it also brings release, relief and growth. This novel is not strong on plot or even character, but it examines the complexities of family relationships with great honesty and insight. Jolley explores the emotional landscape of family life without flinching. While her perspective is sometimes a little bleak, she writes with a wonderful wry humour. Mostly it is dark, but at times it is laugh out loud. For example, soon after the middle daughter’s arrival from England a letter arrives for the daughter from her lesbian partner. As the grandmother picks it up she sees this message scrawled on the back of the envelope in black felt pen ‘So sorry I’m late with this letter, I misjudged the length of an orgasm and missed the post.’ nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Every household is haunted by times of discord which destroy the wished-for calm. Every member feels that their own difficulties are unique. The grandmother, mother of three grown-up daughters, understands that it is the unseen, the unspoken and the unrevealed which either perplex or console people in their family dealings. When the middle sister returns home from England, without any explanations about her private life, peace in the grandmother's house is jeopardised. The grandmother, with imagination, acceptance and the quality of her affection, attempts a form of rescue in the face of rising conflict and tension. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)823Literature English & Old English literatures English fictionClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Because the family members are never named, this could be any family.
I do enjoy Elizabeth Jolley's writing. ( )