Discussion - Week Three - Pointed Roofs, Chapter VII - X

[Jim]

This discussion covers Chapters VII – X, Conclusions and discussion of the book as a whole, and a Compare and contrast discussion of the “stream of consciousness” or “inner monologue” techniques as used by Richardson and Virginia Woolf.

Time passes. Summer comes. Mademoiselle leaves after her crise. Miriam heads back to England, feeling she has little to show for her time spent abroad. The platform flows away.

What are your thoughts about Richardson’s use of inner monologue? Did the story feel “complete”, or do you want to know what happens next?

To the Lighthouse and Pointed Roofs are of course different stories, but a few similarities can be seen. TtL uses inner monologue most heavily with Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe. Miriam’s inner monologues share some characteristics with MR and LB in the sense of contemplating moods and attitudes of those around her, concern for her students and wondering about her place in the school. Any other similarities?

[Ellen]

The inner voice worked quite well for me but the ending seemed...abrupt. I even went back to see if I missed something but apparently not.

And yes, I was left wanting to read more about Miriam.

And I think, maybe for different reasons, Miriam and Lily both feel like outsiders, Lily being more at peace with it because, I think, she uses it for her art. Also, Lily seems much more aware of those around her. Miriam's self-absorption may be a result of her youth. I wonder if she becomes an artist of some kind (perhaps a writer, like Richardson).

[Simone]

I have just finished it. It seems abrupt too, but it is consistent with the sense of the end of the term and the uncertainty of where she will go and what she will do.

This book seems much more confused than TtL. In the latter, only a few events are portrayed, and we are left with a lot of insight into the characters feelings and motivations. In this book, too many things seem to be happening at once, and the narrative goes back and forth from Miriam's very limited point of view, and the increasingly entangled web of her emotions. There is no ultimate definition of how she feels, as compared to Mrs Ramsay. Additionally, some of the dialogues are even hard to follow, with so many "she" pronouns, which only adds to the confusion.

I think this effect is successful in portraying an adolescent, confused and ambiguous mind full of prejudices and self-doubt. The idea of so many things happening without the ability to make sense of them makes the book a little difficult at first, but then I think this is a reflection of Miriam's feeling at odds, in a different place with difficult people she neither understands nor relates to. This feeling is enhanced by the use of the foreign languages, which also add to our immersion in her confused state of mind.

One of the similarities I found was the theme of human relationships and the inability to understand one another. The way Miriam's sisters and the girls at school are presented remind me of Mrs Ramsay's children, who are never fully presented or even listed to us, with only the most striking ones standing out.

[Jenny]

I finished reading Pilgrimage today. During the first half of the book, I was thinking about reading more Richardson. I like her carefully crafted descriptions -- how the details of a room, the street in a village or the details of someone's clothing describe them. But after 2/3 of the book, I decided that I would rather re-read Virginia Woolf or D.H. Lawrence, or maybe read more A.S. Byatt when I am in need of carefully wrought descriptions of British life and thinking.

I am sure if I wanted to there is a lot of phsycological material to mine in this book but I am not a literature student any more. Instead of investigating the meanings behind the storm followed by the walk in the woods or comparing the reaction to the unsatisfactory appearance of the new blouses to the comfort and freedom of breathing without a corset, I would like prose that excites me more.

[Jim]

Jenny wrote: " Instead of investigating the meanings behind the storm followed by the walk in the woods or comparing the reaction to the unsatisfactory appearance of the new blouses to the comfort and freedom of breathing without a corset, I would like prose that excites me more..."

Jenny, have I got a book for you!!

Try Nightwood by Djuna Barnes. I'm quite literally amazed by her prose and the psychological material as well. We're only on week two of the discussion, so plenty of time to join in.


Also, Richardson deserves further investigation, but you're right to go after Woolf or Lawrence instead.

[Jenny]

I requested a copy from the Evanston library, it will be at my local library later in the week.