Henry Green explored class distinctions through the medium of love. This volume brings together three of his novels contrasting the lives of ser... read full description
reviews
Mar 01, 2009
Tisa
rated it: 
I really loved Concluding,and I'm enjoying the first novel in this collected three, Loving, even more, for its "life below stairs" perspective. Green is a master of a kind of narrative strategy that excises all the fluff and chatter and lets the dialogue do the work, like a play, without sacrificing a sense of interior for the characters, in that uncanny way with speech and gesture that playwrights have. His narrators cannot enter into the body, but what is said by our guide, in conj
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Feb 08, 2008
Of this volume, I read only Loving, which is tremendous. The other two titles are not on any of my blasted lists but if I can get through my next two bookclub books before this is due, I'll happily read Living and Party-Going as well.
It requires a lot of attention. It's told mostly in dialogue, and has dialogue tags, but if you don't pay attention to who said what how and to whom, all the time, you miss the tension and undercurrents. I went back and reread and rechecked a few times. More...
It requires a lot of attention. It's told mostly in dialogue, and has dialogue tags, but if you don't pay attention to who said what how and to whom, all the time, you miss the tension and undercurrents. I went back and reread and rechecked a few times. More...
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Dec 12, 2011
My review
I finished Loving by Henry Green yesterday and my opinion on it seems to change each time I think about it. I enjoyed the novel but at the same time I got the feeling I was being had or duped. The abrupt, fairy-tale ending only added to that feeling. At the same time, though, I couldn’t help laughing at the absurdity in the story, which would make the ending a perfect fit.
I’ll mention the links post on Henry Green and Loving since it contains several good descriptio More...
I finished Loving by Henry Green yesterday and my opinion on it seems to change each time I think about it. I enjoyed the novel but at the same time I got the feeling I was being had or duped. The abrupt, fairy-tale ending only added to that feeling. At the same time, though, I couldn’t help laughing at the absurdity in the story, which would make the ending a perfect fit.
I’ll mention the links post on Henry Green and Loving since it contains several good descriptio More...
Oct 03, 2011
Bob
rated it:
Henry Green is (like Dawn Powell) one of those famously forgotten writers, whose oeuvre is brought back into print every 15 years or so, with dust jacket encomia from writers who have achieved more sustained renown.
"Loving", from 1945, has a kind of "upstairs/downstairs" structure in which the doings and conversation of the servants and the gentry on an Anglo-Irish estate are contrasted. The former are baudier but ultimately probably more conventionally moral than their More...
"Loving", from 1945, has a kind of "upstairs/downstairs" structure in which the doings and conversation of the servants and the gentry on an Anglo-Irish estate are contrasted. The former are baudier but ultimately probably more conventionally moral than their More...
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Jul 27, 2011
A little known, interesting and original writer. He has some things in common with Ronald Firbank, Ivy Compton-Burnett and Evelyn Waugh, but he is a very distinctive and original writer. His novels are written primarily in dialogue, and he is wonderful at writing in diferrent voices and dialects. He also writes about working class life with empathy and understanding, which makes him anomalous among Modernist writers and English novelists of the period. It is difficult to tell who his literary in
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Aug 19, 2009
Alison
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 29, 2010
carl
rated it: 
English servants in an English castle in Ireland during the early days of WWII. Though
Ireland is a neutral country the servants are as terrified over the IRA as a possible
German invasion.
I suspect it's supposed to be primarily humorous in that dry English way. There's
so much conversation that it slows down the reading.
There's all kinds of goings on, new butler takes over for dead butler testing the
loyalties of the old servants; a mis More...
May 23, 2007
Kate
rated it:
"Her voice was thick with love. She shut the door."
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Dec 17, 2009
Paige
rated it:
I found Living difficult, but Loving a dream.
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Jul 11, 2009
Eugenie
rated it:
These novels proved to me that dialogue can be the main event and a source of joy. It probably helped that all the talking came with a British accent. The pacing was glacial and plot virtually nonexistent, but the tiny revelations of character, motivation, and the basic truths of what it means to be human were fascinating. Henry Green may be famous for his dialogue, but his talents for setting the scene and capturing gesture are equally great. One passage from Loving goes down in my notebook of
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Aug 29, 2008
Loving by Henry Green is about the goings-on between the servants and masters in a castle in Ireland during WWII. It's a pretty simple tale, but there isn't much plot. There's a sort of love triangle between the butler, Charlie, his "man" (aka assistant) Albert, and a chamber maid, Edith, a missing ring, fear of the I.R.A., a drunken cook, an affair between the master's (Mrs. Tennant) daughter-in-law and Capt. Davenport while Mr. Jack (Mrs. Tennant's son) is off doing the army thing...
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Apr 16, 2008
Josh
rated it:
Of the three novels in this volume (which I bought on the strongest recommendation from a friend), I've read so far only the last one, Party-Going and part of the first one, Living.
Party-Going is a tremendous short novel, written in "real-time," it seems, the events of the novel unfolding during the two or three hours of a massive train delay caused by London fog. (The time is the 1930s.) I say "real time" because it seems that you could read the book in exactly More...
Party-Going is a tremendous short novel, written in "real-time," it seems, the events of the novel unfolding during the two or three hours of a massive train delay caused by London fog. (The time is the 1930s.) I say "real time" because it seems that you could read the book in exactly More...
Oct 29, 2009
Alan
rated it:
Three great novels. Poetic, mysterious, true. Not for everyone though as the style (different in each one) can be difficult. This piece of description from 'Loving' has stayed with me for many years:
(The saddleroom)was a place from which light was almost excluded now by cobwebs across its two windows and into which, with the door ajar, the shafted sun lay in a lengthened arch of blazing sovereigns. Over a corn bin on which he had packed last autumn's ferns lay Paddy snoring between t More...
(The saddleroom)was a place from which light was almost excluded now by cobwebs across its two windows and into which, with the door ajar, the shafted sun lay in a lengthened arch of blazing sovereigns. Over a corn bin on which he had packed last autumn's ferns lay Paddy snoring between t More...
Jun 16, 2011
Alyssa
rated it: 
As this edition is 3 novels in one book it is hard for me to review all of it despite having read the whole thing. Henry Green's writing is difficult and slow going, but his characters are fascinating, if confusing. This probably explains why his novels have recently come into the favor of literary critics. This collection of 3 novels gave a very interesting view of the early to mid 20th century and allowed for exploration of the different social classes during this time. While I enjoyed reading
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Feb 02, 2012
Kate
rated it:
Different from anything I have ever read and fantastically so. Striking plainness of style that is very stylish and appealing. Living is the strongest, then Loving and then Party Going. It took me quite awhile to recognize the dialect spelling of Birmingham. Makes me wish I was English. Perhaps if I read a few more English books ....
Jul 08, 2009
Jilly
rated it:
I read this book with James Woods in a literature class my senior year, and his incredible enthusiasm for it makes it hard NOT to love.
That said, rereading it a year or two later, I found out he was right, it's hilarious, and spot-on with class issues, and just a great, fun read. Nabokovian, in that it should be read twice.
That said, rereading it a year or two later, I found out he was right, it's hilarious, and spot-on with class issues, and just a great, fun read. Nabokovian, in that it should be read twice.
Apr 11, 2009
Matt
rated it:
"Intensely original" is a perfect way to describe these novels. I also like the word "dazzling" for the way some of the sentences read. The lovliness of some of them actually made me gasp. I do not recall reading anything else quite like this.
Dec 07, 2008
Eduardo
rated it:
Three amazing stories by Henry Green in the dry and reserved nature of Gossford Park. They are about changing social standards in Modern (not contemporary) England. Read these stories to understand the nature of Eduardo.
Nov 19, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
I read Loving out of here for class. Henry Green is a pro--he does some really interesting things with narrative juxtaposition, and his style is incredibly distinctive. Recommended.
Oct 02, 2009
As part of my book club, we read the first book in this trilogy. I liked the first book well enough; I should probably read the other two!
Jun 22, 2008
Trena
rated it: 
This book is allegedly one of the top 100 books of the century. It is hideously terrible and completely unreadable. It is basically a transcript of complete mundanities. I can see how, perhaps, it was innovative when it was written (but surely he wasn't the first to write about the "downstairs" of a great house), but it is ungodly awful. In my opinion, this is an Emperor's New Clothes kind of book. It can't possibly be as stupid and pointless as it seems, smart people say it's awe
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Jun 10, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
Rather like reading Evelyn Waugh after all the wit has been sucked out of the room. The characters are annoying and inane. Never again.
Mar 03, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Read 'Loving' as part of The Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of All Time list. Short and sweet. Nothing mentionable, really.
Oct 10, 2009
Maureen
rated it:
He creates dialogue beautifully, but it is a slower read. I read it for my classic book club.
Mar 21, 2009
Ann M
rated it:
I read only Loving. Very well done, even if it didn't compel me to read the next two.
Sep 13, 2011
Susan
rated it:
Somehow I have only just discovered Henry Green as a novelist
and am so happy that I did. These three novels are so absorbing
in their picture of English society and its class distinctions and conflicts before and during World War II. The style is unique
and the writing and characterization exquisitely done.
and am so happy that I did. These three novels are so absorbing
in their picture of English society and its class distinctions and conflicts before and during World War II. The style is unique
and the writing and characterization exquisitely done.
