Daily Pym

Niiice. (via Excellent Women by Pym, Barbara: Cape Hardcover,...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:24:40 -0500

Niiice. (via Excellent Women by Pym, Barbara: Cape Hardcover, First Edition, - John Atkinson Books PBFA)

Another revival is overdue. I return to her books regularly,...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:31:16 -0400

Another revival is overdue. I return to her books regularly, receiving as much solid pleasure as ever. Her wit is ever-fresh, and often so subtly embedded in the prose that it surfaces only after multiple readings. Pym generously peppers her prose with observations that both sting and tickle: “Prudence’s flat was in the kind of block where Jane imagined people might be found dead, though she had never said this to Prudence herself; it seemed rather a macabre fancy and not one to be confided to an unmarried woman living alone.” (via Second Glance at Barbara Pym | Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review)

Made with worldle.net

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:11:04 -0400

Made with worldle.net

‘Oh, this is a most reputable and old-established business,’ said Mr Bason. ‘They...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 07:46:55 -0400

‘Oh, this is a most reputable and old-established business,’ said Mr Bason. ‘They tell me that Queen Mary often used to pop in — in the old days, of course.’

‘That does sound reassuring,’ I said. ‘Any connection with royalty is that, don’t you think?’

‘With our royal family certainly,’ Mr Bason agreed, ‘though some one could mention wouldn’t inspire quite the same confidence.’

— A Glass of Blessings, chapter twenty one

Belinda moved towards him and introduced herself. ‘I don’t suppose you remember...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:49:45 -0400

Belinda moved towards him and introduced herself. ‘I don’t suppose you remember me,’ she said, smiling rather awkwardly. Nor did she remember him, if it came to that, for she could have sworn that she had never seen him in all her life. Could a beautiful curate have grown into this tall, stringy-looking man, with a yellow, leathery complexion? His expression reminded Belinda of a sheep more than anything; his face was long, his forehead domed and his head bald. He was even rather toothy…

— Some Tame Gazelle, chapter fifteen

The Dominion of the Birds

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:52:00 -0400

‘And that’s not the worst,’ she went on, rummaging in a small desk which stood open and seemed to be full of old newspapers. ‘Read this.’ She handed me a cutting headed OWL BITES WOMAN, from which I read that an owl had flown in through a cottage window and bitten a woman on the chin. ‘And this,’ she went on, handing me another cutting which told how a swan had knocked a girl off her bicycle. ‘What do you think of that?’

— Excellent Women, chapter sixteen

The people sitting or standing around us were all in the fresh bloom of youth; they were the young...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:21:50 -0400

The people sitting or standing around us were all in the fresh bloom of youth; they were the young people one saw and read about but seldom met. They made a person who was only ten or so years older feel very old indeed.

— A Glass of Blessings, chapter twenty one

‘Quick, Edwin, go to her,’ said Daisy, ‘and see what you can do.’ Edwin...

Fri, 27 May 2011 17:27:56 -0400

‘Quick, Edwin, go to her,’ said Daisy, ‘and see what you can do.’

Edwin hurried to where Sister Dew lay in a tumbled heap. In his veterinary practice he specialised in the treatment of small animals, and the sheer bulkiness of Sister Dew reminded him that his work had been with cats and pet dogs rather than with horses and cows, but he examined her ankle as best he could.

— An Unsuitable Attachment, chapter fifteen

‘Poor Mr. Driver — it seems unkind to leave him all alone this...

Wed, 25 May 2011 23:23:06 -0400

‘Poor Mr. Driver — it seems unkind to leave him all alone this evening.’

‘Yes,’ Miss Doggett agreed. ‘One does feel that men need company more than women do. A woman has a thousand and one little tasks in the house, and then her knitting or sewing.’

Jane, who did not seem to have these things, made no answer.

— Jane & Prudence, chapter eleven

‘Now if only he were a widower,’ mused Harriet. ‘But he isn’t,’ said...

Thu, 19 May 2011 07:38:21 -0400

‘Now if only he were a widower,’ mused Harriet.

‘But he isn’t,’ said Belinda stoutly.

‘No, and Agatha’s very tough in spite of her rheumatism,’ lamented Harriet.

— Some Tame Gazelle, chapter fourteen

From the Barbara Pym Society Facebook page, I learned that Some...

Tue, 17 May 2011 17:02:40 -0400

From the Barbara Pym Society Facebook page, I learned that Some Tame Gazelle, A Glass of Blessings, and Less than Angels are now available for Kindle on amazon.co.uk (via Some Tame Gazelle eBook: Barbara Pym: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store)

New feature

Sun, 15 May 2011 13:20:22 -0400

On days when there is no new post, and on days when you need a little extra Pym, please avail yourself of the new Random button at the top of the screen. It will take you to a randomly selected old favorite. (Thanks to N8han for the coding help.)

‘Then he’s been telling you that he’s very fond of you, and hinting that he wishes...

Sun, 15 May 2011 11:58:55 -0400

‘Then he’s been telling you that he’s very fond of you, and hinting that he wishes he’d married you instead of Agatha,’ went on Harriet, gallantly persevering.

‘Well, hardly that,’ ventured Belinda, growing a little more confidential, for the Ovaltine had loosened her tongue.

— Some Tame Gazelle, chapter fourteen

Dear Book Lover: Critically Acclaimed but Almost Forgotten - WSJ.com

Tue, 10 May 2011 10:05:06 -0400

Dear Book Lover: Critically Acclaimed but Almost Forgotten - WSJ.com:

Pym’s heroines are “churchy spinsters,” modest, unambitious, sensible women whose horizons end at the borders of their parish. Saul Bellow slighted another example of this genre—Elizabeth Taylor’s “Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont”—saying, “I seem to hear the tinkle of teacups.” But Pym’s women can be unsentimental—even uncharitable—observers of their patch of humanity, lobbing an occasional grenade of wicked wit. A British reviewer once compared Pym’s work to wine, with “more body than you might expect from its lightness.”

‘You will hardly believe this, Miss — er — but I was sitting in the window this afternoon and...

Mon, 09 May 2011 22:36:27 -0400

‘You will hardly believe this, Miss — er — but I was sitting in the window this afternoon and as it was a fine day I had it open at the bottom, when I felt something drop into my lap. And do you know what it was?’ She turned and peered at me intently.

I said that I had no idea.

‘Unpleasantness,’ she said, almost triumphantly…

— Excellent Women, chapter sixteen

‘Miss — Madam — come quickly!’ she cried. ‘The bees are...

Thu, 05 May 2011 07:50:14 -0400

‘Miss — Madam — come quickly!’ she cried. ‘The bees are swarming!’

‘But what can I do?’ I called out, looking around me helplessly. ‘I don’t know anything about bees. Isn’t the gardener here?’

‘Oh Madam, he’s digging a grave!’ came the agitated answer.

— A Glass of Blessings, chapter twenty

‘Did you fall in love with him that evening at the parish hall?’ I asked. ‘It...

Tue, 03 May 2011 06:57:35 -0400

‘Did you fall in love with him that evening at the parish hall?’ I asked. ‘It would be wonderful to think that love could blossom in such surroundings.’ I thought of the chipped Della Robbia plaques, the hissing of gas fires and tea urns and the curious smell of damp mackintoshes that seemed to pervade it, and perhaps all parish halls everywhere. Why, indeed, shouldn’t love blossom here rather more than in conventional romantic surroundings?

— A Glass of Blessings, chapter twenty

Light reading on a plane

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:15:38 -0400

Light reading on a plane

Readers: Barbara is taking a vacation with a bunch of nuns. There will be plenty of tea and...

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:52:57 -0400

Readers: Barbara is taking a vacation with a bunch of nuns. There will be plenty of tea and inappropriate postcards. We’ll be back in early May.

‘She came to my flat the other night after ten o’clock, alone, and stayed for nearly...

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:50:48 -0400

‘She came to my flat the other night after ten o’clock, alone, and stayed for nearly three hours talking, although I did everything I could to get her to go.’

I felt I could hardly ask what methods he had employed.

— Excellent Women, chapter sixteen