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Colin II
Book by Benson, E F
302 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1994
About the author
E.F. Benson
1,323 books373 followersEdward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 3, 2023
This is the excruciatingly-titled sequel to Colin, continuing the story of Colin Stanier, Lord Yardley, whose ancestor, also Colin, made a pact with the devil in the reign of Elizabeth I to ensure prosperity and fortune for himself and his descendants. Every generation thereafter has a son who renews the pact, begetting the next generation on a woman who withers emotionally from the son's inability to love.
The Colin of these books belongs to Benson's present day (1920s); I was alerted to it by this article, the writer of which puts forward the theory that Colin is based on Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray. Nice theory, but I think it's wrong. I tend to agree with Wendelin that Colin is based on Benson himself, perhaps not as wish fulfillment but as a manifestation of EFB's darker side. Being the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he'd be well versed in the whole good-and-evil thing and aware that he had a darker side, even without the closeted homosexuality which probably carried a fair amount of guilt, it being the 1920s. Colin's love of Capri and his, er, appreciation of his Italian servant Nino could well be autobiographical. Photos of EFB in his youth show him to be a fairish, good-looking cove, probably blue-eyed, as Colin is described, cutting a far more dashing figure than his two brothers, and as the younger brother he probably understood sibling jealousy pretty well. But that's all speculation . . .
Colin, the rather better first installment of the story, has Colin plotting to take everything away from his older brother through a combination of guile and the devil's luck, and it's a bit disappointing when that luck operates to drop the prize in his lap just when he might finally get found out. Colin II shows Colin having it all: title, his cousin Vi as his wife, and a son, Dennis, who grows up to be more beautiful than both his beautiful parents combined. Dennis is also relentlessly, almost sickeningly, good, unable to hate Colin whatever his father does to him (whereas Colin's warped character could well be laid at the door of his father).
A Remarkable Coincidence forces Colin to repeat a choice he made in his youth, and then he has to account for that choice to the dark figure who struck the original bargain with the first Colin . . . or is it? And there it ends, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions about what happens next.
Yes, Colin II is even more in need of a structural edit than usual. Benson's books frequently seem to suffer from showing not telling in general, and while Colin has a good proportion of dialogue, Colin II all too often drops into exposition and stays there for ages. Yes, the ending of Colin II is frustrating, even though there IS structure in the renewed choice and confrontation. But I would argue that these are a really interesting couple of novels from a psychological viewpoint, even just as a study of jealousy and self-centeredness. They came fairly late in EFB's writing career, and are to a certain extent Rye novels, the family property, Stanier, being based on the location if not the architecture of Leasam House, a Georgian property on the hills on the edge of Rye, overlooking the Marsh. With all their faults, I found them interesting, at least when based at Stanier—I didn't have much time for all the Capri episodes. If you're interested in EFB as a man and a writer, read these.
The Colin of these books belongs to Benson's present day (1920s); I was alerted to it by this article, the writer of which puts forward the theory that Colin is based on Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray. Nice theory, but I think it's wrong. I tend to agree with Wendelin that Colin is based on Benson himself, perhaps not as wish fulfillment but as a manifestation of EFB's darker side. Being the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he'd be well versed in the whole good-and-evil thing and aware that he had a darker side, even without the closeted homosexuality which probably carried a fair amount of guilt, it being the 1920s. Colin's love of Capri and his, er, appreciation of his Italian servant Nino could well be autobiographical. Photos of EFB in his youth show him to be a fairish, good-looking cove, probably blue-eyed, as Colin is described, cutting a far more dashing figure than his two brothers, and as the younger brother he probably understood sibling jealousy pretty well. But that's all speculation . . .
Colin, the rather better first installment of the story, has Colin plotting to take everything away from his older brother through a combination of guile and the devil's luck, and it's a bit disappointing when that luck operates to drop the prize in his lap just when he might finally get found out. Colin II shows Colin having it all: title, his cousin Vi as his wife, and a son, Dennis, who grows up to be more beautiful than both his beautiful parents combined. Dennis is also relentlessly, almost sickeningly, good, unable to hate Colin whatever his father does to him (whereas Colin's warped character could well be laid at the door of his father).
A Remarkable Coincidence forces Colin to repeat a choice he made in his youth, and then he has to account for that choice to the dark figure who struck the original bargain with the first Colin . . . or is it? And there it ends, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions about what happens next.
Yes, Colin II is even more in need of a structural edit than usual. Benson's books frequently seem to suffer from showing not telling in general, and while Colin has a good proportion of dialogue, Colin II all too often drops into exposition and stays there for ages. Yes, the ending of Colin II is frustrating, even though there IS structure in the renewed choice and confrontation. But I would argue that these are a really interesting couple of novels from a psychological viewpoint, even just as a study of jealousy and self-centeredness. They came fairly late in EFB's writing career, and are to a certain extent Rye novels, the family property, Stanier, being based on the location if not the architecture of Leasam House, a Georgian property on the hills on the edge of Rye, overlooking the Marsh. With all their faults, I found them interesting, at least when based at Stanier—I didn't have much time for all the Capri episodes. If you're interested in EFB as a man and a writer, read these.
October 10, 2017
Never thought I would give an EFB book a two, but while the first Colin was good Gothic, this was preachy Victorian all the way. And I never thought I'd say this either, but Mr B really could've used an editor to cut it down by 10%.
June 17, 2024
I agree with another reviewer that this doesn’t live up to the first volume. I would have preferred Colin II to maintain the ambiguity of Colin (I); instead, the second volume literalises the legend of the first Colin in a way that the previous volume had successfully avoided. In Benson’s defence, even this literalisation is performed with a certain (though not invariable) lightness of touch. Also, Colin II has much the edge over Colin when it comes to homoerotic content — which almost induced me to give it a 4 star rating.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews