false 69511 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 69511 10 1038970 1990 Symposium: A Novel (New Directions Classics) total:44|5:8|4:20|3:12|2:4|1:0| 44 164 67 5 13093 3.67 4478 577 33633240 545392 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.76 38 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 3 0 false Sat Jan 17 16:31:15 -0800 2009 Tue Sep 23 13:33:43 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 17 16:31:15 -0800 2009
It's very amusing so far. Is it just to be a satire on those leading privileged lives, or is she going to pull out the carpet and turn this narrative suddenly towards the dark and malevolent, ...more...]]> 64821538 203167 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 4 0 false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 13:53:16 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 12:28:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 80054082 2828794 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 3 0 false Sat Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 06 04:51:45 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 06 04:53:33 -0800 2009 30178297 381960 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Thu Aug 14 17:08:51 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 17:11:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 27877835 1036602 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 3 0 false Mon Jul 21 13:02:51 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 13:04:23 -0700 2008 81841724 1971563 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Wed Dec 23 05:03:50 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 23 05:03:50 -0800 2009 81841486 1630617 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Wed Dec 23 04:56:26 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 23 04:56:28 -0800 2009 81731352 1378820 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Tue Dec 22 01:12:02 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 22 01:12:02 -0800 2009 80011104 3012879 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 4 0 false Sat Dec 05 16:22:46 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 05 16:22:46 -0800 2009 79625375 2116793 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 5 0 false Wed Dec 02 05:42:38 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 02 05:42:48 -0800 2009 79342216 1092162 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 5 0 false Sun Nov 29 17:39:35 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 17:39:35 -0800 2009 78590412 1548976 6526505 0094696608 9780094696600 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6526505-symposium 4.00 1 1990 4 0 false Sat Nov 21 19:41:46 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 19:41:46 -0800 2009 78283781 2959226 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 3 0 false Wed Nov 18 21:57:46 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 21:57:46 -0800 2009 77531124 2050107 1052491 1844082474 9781844082476 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180540955m/1052491.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180540955s/1052491.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1052491.Symposium 3.33 3 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Thu Nov 12 05:12:29 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 06:16:20 -0800 2009 75606950 464279 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 4 0 false Sat Oct 24 14:14:15 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 14:11:06 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 14:14:24 -0700 2009 74600048 2743959 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 4 0 false Thu Oct 15 04:46:57 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 04:46:57 -0700 2009 71417038 2744709 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Wed Sep 16 09:09:36 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 09:09:36 -0700 2009 70916655 1442293 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Fri Sep 11 20:15:25 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 20:15:25 -0700 2009 70361702 2712405 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 0 0 false Mon Sep 07 10:11:48 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 10:11:48 -0700 2009 68715372 2654775 69511 0811216594 9780811216593 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253m/69511.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170709253s/69511.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69511.Symposium_A_Novel 3.73 44 Dame Muriel Spark delivers a delightfully alarming novel, full of high society and low cunning.

One October evening five posh London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying "the pheasant (flambé in cognac as it is)" and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment…

Symposium was applauded by Time magazine for the "sinister elegance" of Muriel Spark's "medium of light but lethal comedy." Mixed in are a Monet, a mad uncle, some unconventional nuns, and a burglary ring run by a rent-a-butler. Symposium stars a perfectly evil young woman (a classic sweet-faced hair-raising Sparkian horror) who has married rich Hilda's son by hook or by crook, hooking him at the fruit counter of Harrod's. There is also spiritual conversation—and the Bordeaux is superb. "The prevailing mood is urbane: the wine is poured, the talk continues, and all the time the ice on which the protagonists' world rests is being thinned from beneath, by boiling emotions and ugly motives….No living writer handles the tension between formality of expression and subversiveness of thought more elegantly." (The Independent on Sunday).]]> 1990 2 0 false Mon Aug 24 12:38:55 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 12:38:55 -0700 2009 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=69511