Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910-1939
by
Katie Roiphe
Katie Roiphe’s stimulating work has made her one of the most talked about cultural critics of her generation. Now this bracing young writer delves deeply into one of the most layered of subjects: marriage. Drawn in part from the private memoirs, personal correspondence, and long-forgotten journals of the British literary community from 1910 to the Second World War, here ar...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
June 26th 2007
by The Dial Press
(first published 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
838)
*punches Katie Roiphe in the face*
Though I like Roiphe's writing style and adore her subjects, I can't get past my feeling that this is tabloid literature. You can almost see the wicked gleam in her eye as she reduces her idols to comic figures in a narrative of her own.
I give this book one star for being a book and a second star for its vibrant cast. Catty Roiphe gets no stars from me!
Though I like Roiphe's writing style and adore her subjects, I can't get past my feeling that this is tabloid literature. You can almost see the wicked gleam in her eye as she reduces her idols to comic figures in a narrative of her own.
I give this book one star for being a book and a second star for its vibrant cast. Catty Roiphe gets no stars from me!
Dec 25, 2007
Dorian
added it
I can't rate this book, in good conscience, because I couldn't finish it. Terrible drivel. The problem isn't that Roiphe relies almost exclusively on already published material, nor that her prose is lumpy and dull. The problem is that she hasn't an idea in her head. She wants to say something about how these early twentieth-century literary relationships (be they marriages or affairs, or something less easily definable) show the very idea of sexual and affective relationship being cast into dou...more
7 likes · like · see review
A fascinating look at the marriages of prominent artists and writers in the years between the wars. Featured are H.G. Wells (who was crazy about the ladies), Radclyffe Hall (famous lesbian author who is sadly is only remembered for "The Well of Loneliness"), Virginia Bell and all her gentlemen and her gentlemen's gentlemen, and Vera Brittain.
The work opens with a fascinating introduction that touches upon the author's method and the nature of marriages today. Roiphe seems intent on learning som...more
The work opens with a fascinating introduction that touches upon the author's method and the nature of marriages today. Roiphe seems intent on learning som...more
Jun 30, 2008
Cari
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone.
Recommended to Cari by:
Amazon.com
Uncommon Arrangements seems a simplistic title at first, until the reader begins to realize how very complicated and uncommon the subjects are. Though the era she focuses on overlaps with WWI, some of the unions author Katie Roiphe details may seem shocking or odd, even to modern readers. There is a general feeling today, what with skyrocketing divorce rates, people living together but not married, and the question over gay marriage, that marriage and relationships in general are more complex, h...more
I just read a review of this book that articulates exactly my thoughts by a user named Dorian:
"I can't rate this book, in good conscience, because I couldn't finish it. Terrible drivel. The problem isn't that Roiphe relies almost exclusively on already published material, nor that her prose is lumpy and dull. The problem is that she hasn't an idea in her head. She wants to say something about how these early twentieth-century literary relationships (be they marriages or affairs, or something les...more
"I can't rate this book, in good conscience, because I couldn't finish it. Terrible drivel. The problem isn't that Roiphe relies almost exclusively on already published material, nor that her prose is lumpy and dull. The problem is that she hasn't an idea in her head. She wants to say something about how these early twentieth-century literary relationships (be they marriages or affairs, or something les...more
I picked up this title because the NYT Review made it sound a bit like two other works I had read and loved. The first being Francine Prose's Lives of the Muses and the second Claudia Roth Pierpont's
Passionate Minds
. In comparrison to those books this one seems unambitious, unimportant, and uninspired. Possibly because Pierpont and Prose focussed more on the professional lives of their subjects they were able to make their books feel more important and more analytical. This one never made me f...more
When I became engaged, a friend called to congratulate me. During the course of that conversation he said something in passing that I remember vividly to this day: While discussing how easily people often jump to judgement about the suitability--or sometimes unsuitability--of friends' choices for their significant others and the balance and trajectory of their friends' married or coupled lives, this friend smartly said, 'anyone outside can never understand what goes on inside a couple.' (HT Char...more
After reading the different chapters on these post Victorian era relationships it made me wonder if this would work in the 21st century. Clearly, artists such as H.G. Wells who was married and took Rebecca West(who later became a famous novelist in her own right) as a mistress, got her pregnant and continued on with others was interesting. His wife wrote West a congratulatory letter after the baby was born. It made me realize that many artists and creative people just desire and need "another" a...more
Eh. I picked it up out of curiosity, read the part about Una Troubridge and Radclyffe Hall, which was interesting because hey, a practically out lesbian couple in the early 20th century? That's fascinating stuff. Went on to the next chapter, about a triad between a feminist author, an academic, and the best friend of the feminist author, and gradually realized that honestly, the book is pretty trashy. Also, it was sort of funny, in a not-funny-at-all kind of way, how Roiphe kept blaming the most...more
Celebrity gossip with a patina of literary scholarship. I enjoyed reading it and found the writing fluid and reasonably intelligent. But it was from a staunchly heteronormative, conventional viewpoint; you kind of know from the outset that Roiphe's not going to say anything challenging or useful about marriage or gender roles, when she describes marriage as something "most of us" experience in the preface. Slightly boggled by her offhand dismissal of the discrimination faced by lesbians in early...more
A multiple biography, looking at seven literary “marriages” in the Bloomsbury set (London literati of 1910-1939). At least one of each couple had other relationships with the knowledge and usually consent of the other. It includes HG Wells, Katherine Mansfield, Vanessa Bell, Ottoline Morrell and Radcliffe Hall. The book tries to dissect these relationships individually and in the context of their time. Things are further complicated by the fact that they all knew at least one of the other couple...more
Meh.
Have you ever seen those mind-map-like charts that begin with one celebrity and radiate / branch out to show who has had (ahem) relationships with whom? That's this book.
In no particular order, these are some of the linked literati: H.G. Wells, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Von Arnim, Katherine Mansfield, Lady Ottoline Morrell, Bertrand Russell, Clive Bell, Virginia Woolf, Vera Brittain, D.H. Lawrence, Vanessa Bell, Radclyff Hall, E. M Forster, Rebecca West - (no, wait, I already listed her - she...more
Have you ever seen those mind-map-like charts that begin with one celebrity and radiate / branch out to show who has had (ahem) relationships with whom? That's this book.
In no particular order, these are some of the linked literati: H.G. Wells, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Von Arnim, Katherine Mansfield, Lady Ottoline Morrell, Bertrand Russell, Clive Bell, Virginia Woolf, Vera Brittain, D.H. Lawrence, Vanessa Bell, Radclyff Hall, E. M Forster, Rebecca West - (no, wait, I already listed her - she...more
Feb 05, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
What is it that makes intimate portraits of failed relationships so fascinating? Katie Roiphe doesn't romanticize or make excuses for her complex subjects and their entanglements but treats them with wit, warmth, and respect. Despite a few historical inaccuracies and questionable assumptions, critics considered Roiphe's perceptive exploration of unconventional marriages in the early 20th century a success. It can be difficult to empathize with the selfish and arrogant people who populate this bo
...more
This book is a small, snapshot biography of seven complex writers in early 20th century Britain. I didn't read the whole thing, I just read the author's who interested me: Elizabeth Von Arnim, Katherine Mansfield, H.G. Wells, and Radclyff Hall.
The whole premise of each of these relationships is Modernity. It was the turn of the century and most of these men and women were larger than life literary masters. They felt as though they were on the cutting edge of a new way of living and loving. And...more
The whole premise of each of these relationships is Modernity. It was the turn of the century and most of these men and women were larger than life literary masters. They felt as though they were on the cutting edge of a new way of living and loving. And...more
I enjoyed immensely this examination of several literary couples in the early part of the twentieth century trying to break the traditional mold of marriage (i.e., two people committed solely to one another for life). The book is an interesting examination of what happens when people--smart, intellectual, passionate people--try to redefine the most traditional of relationships. The various couples in the book are more or less successful and more or less happy with the results. Given what we know...more
The people and the place--upper class bohemia, Europe between the wars--are inevitably fascinating, but sometimes the crisp characterizations are undercut by Roiphe's tendency to add fictional flourishes, dramatizing her subject's thoughts and emotions instead of just letting them speak for themselves (and it seems they have plenty to say). But almost more fascinating than the individual vignettes themselves is how Roiphe reconstructs how these people--eloquent, artistic, witty, intellectual--sp...more
Katie Roiphe’s stimulating work has made her one of the most talked about cultural critics of her generation. Now this bracing young writer delves deeply into one of the most layered of subjects: marriage. Drawn in part from the private memoirs, personal correspondence, and long-forgotten journals of the British literary community from 1910 to the Second World War, here are seven “marriages à la mode”—each rising to the challenge of intimate relations in more or less creative ways. Jane Wells, t...more
I found it very interesting and engaging to read about people who I learned about in college. I also found reading about these relationships very sad. Most of these people were so alone in their art, that reading about them made me feel sympathy for their search for love and connection. Not much has seemed to have changed with people and society in 100 years.
I feel like there was something missing though in the interpretation of these people's actions and relationships. There is a lot of pettine...more
I feel like there was something missing though in the interpretation of these people's actions and relationships. There is a lot of pettine...more
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the unusual intimate arrangements of some of my favorite literary characters. Some of the material was familiar from other biographies I have read, but I was also surprised by the lives of some who were less well known to me. Whether right or wrong, I am happy to see that there have always been couples who have chosen to flaunt convention in order to live their own truths, however imperfectly. We of course have the sharpness and clarity of hindsight that allows...more
I was sold on this book by its premise: uncommon marriage-like relationships. Awesome, I said. Subvert the dominant paradigm. It was definitely fun to read about people like Vanessa Bell and Radclyffe Hall, but what ended up weakening the book was what I saw as Roiphe's essential disapproval of her subjects: I felt the book was treating those in untraditional relationships kind of as freaks, or at least as strange creatures, and that was off-putting. It ended up, to me, reading as a "booyah marr...more
This book was really interesting in terms of the couples whose lives were detailed, most of whom I knew very little about. At the same time, Katie Roiphe is really aggravating. I've read her essays and another book she wrote and I had forgotten that she is omnipotent - she alone can go back in time and see exactly what her characters are seeing and thinking.
These are literary figures - they have correspondence and books and journals and autobiographies all dedicated to their love lives. I would...more
These are literary figures - they have correspondence and books and journals and autobiographies all dedicated to their love lives. I would...more
I wanted to read this because I didn't know much about the writers it discusses and I often hear people talking about how they're obsessed with Bloomsbury and etc., so I thought this might be a good juicy overview/introduction. But really I just found it incredibly boring. It seemed like it would be really interesting to learn about how people in the 1910s/20s/etc dealt with having relationships that were outside the accepted norms, and about how society reacted to them for doing so, but this bo...more
What could have been such a fascinating subject (omg! the sordid love lives of london literati) is just ... ugh. I was unable to finish it (maybe someone else will have better luck.) A shame, really. I had such high hopes for the London Literary Circle, c. 1910-1939 - and then I find that beneath all the sex & HG Wells' enormous ... douchbaggery, there just - isn't that much plot.
Or maybe it's Roiphe. (Astute readers will notice I am always willing to blame the author.) Roiphe mentions once...more
Or maybe it's Roiphe. (Astute readers will notice I am always willing to blame the author.) Roiphe mentions once...more
I admit that I read this book in a rather uncongenial setting -- sitting in a doctor's waiting room while my husband got stitches after a bike accident.
But even after making allowances for that, I'm still disappointed in this book. As the title explains, it examines seven different marriages from a specific time & social mileu, looking at how the couples met, the ways in which they lived together or apart, took lovers or remained faithful, had children or avoided them. It's a fascinating sub...more
But even after making allowances for that, I'm still disappointed in this book. As the title explains, it examines seven different marriages from a specific time & social mileu, looking at how the couples met, the ways in which they lived together or apart, took lovers or remained faithful, had children or avoided them. It's a fascinating sub...more
It's probably more like 4.5 stars, but I so enjoyed and was fascinated by this book that I can't leave it at that.
The glimpses into the seven marriages between pre-World War II literary figures (including H.G. Wells, Katherine Mansfield, and Vera Brittain) seem, at times, too intimate (in the sense that I sometimes felt like I was prying into a life whose inner workings I shouldn't be privy to). Katie Roiphe, though, handles the relationships with care; she's not judgmental but, rather, in awe...more
The glimpses into the seven marriages between pre-World War II literary figures (including H.G. Wells, Katherine Mansfield, and Vera Brittain) seem, at times, too intimate (in the sense that I sometimes felt like I was prying into a life whose inner workings I shouldn't be privy to). Katie Roiphe, though, handles the relationships with care; she's not judgmental but, rather, in awe...more
This book would make a good movie, just to see how unorthodox all these relationships are and how they all are pretty much in the same social circle. It spans world war I and II in Britain among writers.
7 “marriages à la mode”—each rising to the challenge of intimate relations in more or less creative ways. Jane Wells, the wife of H.G., remained his rock, despite his decade-long relationship with Rebecca West (among others). Katherine Mansfield had an irresponsible, childlike romance with her hu...more
7 “marriages à la mode”—each rising to the challenge of intimate relations in more or less creative ways. Jane Wells, the wife of H.G., remained his rock, despite his decade-long relationship with Rebecca West (among others). Katherine Mansfield had an irresponsible, childlike romance with her hu...more
This book took me almost a month to read, which is really unusual. I kept stopping after the stories of each "arrangement" and wondering if it was appropriate to be reading so much about a real person's marriage. I managed to get past that, mostly. These people all documented their inner lives with such diligence that surely they must have anticipated that someone would read it, and perhaps even hoped that people would want to.
And while I'm not sure I have any more insight into my own life after...more
And while I'm not sure I have any more insight into my own life after...more
I found this book a really interesting read, particularly in conjunction with Elizabeth Gilbert's recent book, Committed. Uncommon Arrangments is a series of essays about married British writers from 1910-1939. Each of the relationships is a study in the idea of marriage and committment, and questioning the traditional notions of monogamy and domestic/professional spheres. I am sure throughout history there have been couples who have consciously made an effort to redefine the idea of marriage -t...more
Some of these people were trying to find new designs for living; others (well, Radclyffe Hall, mainly) were traditionalists who just happened not to fit the model they endorsed. And all the stories end unhappily, of course, because one way or another, mortals' relationships must. But, while Roiphe is unsparing of the many mediocrities, and minor talents whose lives have aged even worse than their work, there remains the sense of experiments worth undertaking, some of which still leave an impact...more
I got this book at a white elephant gift exchange and thought that it looked interesting. I mean, Roiphe kind of explains it herself. We love to sit in doctor's office's and read about other people's marriages. So, of course, I was a little bit intrigued. But, although I enjoyed the stories that she chose and the marriages that she wrote about, I never quite figured out what point she was trying to make. It read more like mini-biographies of the couples without any explanation or conclusions. Ev...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Katie Roiphe is the author of the non-fiction works The Morning After: Fear, Sex and Feminism (1994) and Last Night in Paradise: Sex and Morals at the Century's End (1997). Her novel Still She Haunts Me is an empathetic imagining of the relationship between Charles Dodgson (known as Lewis Carroll) and Alice Liddell, the real-life model for Dodgson's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She holds a Ph...more
More about Katie Roiphe...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“She once complained that her stories were like ‘birds bred in cages,’ but that concentrated atmosphere, that claustrophobic hothouse of emotion, was her talent. Her stories were little masterpieces of compression: she succinctly contained whole lifetimes in a few pages, every moment loaded with as much as it could bear.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Well, I fully agree that the book has issues, it seems we disagree on wha...more
updated Jan 17, 2011 10:12am
HG Wells & Rebecca West: I suggest 'novel' of their
lives, "Heritage," by son Anthony West....more
updated Jan 20, 2011 02:13pm