Georgette Heyer Fans discussion
This topic is about
Acting on Impulse
Group Reads
>
Acting on Impulse November 2019 Group Read
I was so excited when I first heard about this collection! It will be my second read for most of the stories, (fourth for A Proposal for Cicely), so I am really looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions.
I have read the first couple of stories so far. I am really enjoying the commentary by Jennifer Kloester.
Acting on impulse, I have just purchased the Kindle version - I look forward to reading the stories!
I got the Kindle version, too, could not resist. I have read A Proposal for Cicely before, but I think the others will all be new to me. it won't be easy, but I want to space them out and savor them. I haven't had any new Heyer to read in a long, long time!
Jackie wrote: "I got the Kindle version, too, could not resist. I have read A Proposal for Cicely before, but I think the others will all be new to me. it won't be easy, but I want to space them out and savor them. I haven't had any new Heyer to read in a long, long time!"
I know how you feel, Jackie - this is a gift!
A Proposal To CicelyThe first time I read this was online from a link that was shared in this group. I was very shocked at Cicely dismissing Richard's spending four years (!) in WWI and disliked her because of it, so I was glad to have an explanation. I'm still a little shocked, but I like her better on this read.
The ingenue being charmed by a farm, and the farmer, foreshadows Belinda in The Foundling at least and maybe others? I can't think of more just now. Obviously Belinda's farmer was a much nicer man!
I very much agree that when Mr. Talbot finally reveals his intentions, it's truly frightening. The writing is brilliant and I had no doubt Cicely was in serious danger. Talbot makes an excellent villain being so arrogant as well as violent. What a relief when Richard comes to her rescue! I guess that is why I forgive the way he talked about Maisie, although calling her fat does leave a bit of a bad taste.
Over all, it's impressive work from so young a writer.
Just added this to my e-book reader. I hope to start in the next day or so.
Well, of course I couldn't wait! I'm going to try for a story a day...A Proposal to Cecily
Very amusing and well-written. I had read this one before but it was pleasant to revisit the story.
i really appreciated the Introduction and the Afterword. Lots of food for thought...
Barb in Maryland wrote: "Well, of course I couldn't wait! I'm going to try for a story a day...A Proposal to Cecily
Very amusing and well-written. I had read this one before but it was pleasant to revisit the story.
i ..."
A Proposal to Cecily
Always nice to see a different point of view! I'm not fond of this one, but GH was very young author when she wrote this. :)
A Proposal To CicelyI think that this would be fun as a play. I didn't find Cicely very likable, though I get that she lives in turbulent times, where things are changing all over the world. Traditional roles are being challenged, and she is trying out new things, but is not really sure of what she wants.
A Proposal to CecilyThe comments about Richard's war service are interesting, but I am sure that this is not the first time that Cecily has learned that her cousin saw action in The Great War, and her attitude is no doubt influenced by his. A few days ago, I was reading The Furthest Station: one of the ghosts encountered by Peter Grant talks of his family, his career in the city, his home - but never mentions his service in the War. It is explained that his generation did not talk about it. In that context, it is more odd that Richard mentions it than that Cecily discounts it.
(Not that it's important, but the last 'cousin marriage' isn't The Grand Sophy, but (view spoiler) in The Unknown Ajax. It is a useful way of getting a young man and a young woman on relaxed and intimate terms in an era when formality would be the norm.)
The Little LadyI did wonder if this was going to be paranormal at all and not even sure if I was disappointed or not. maybe I was as I didn't care for this one as much. I thought Bride Flower wasn't a very good name and the character is too child like. It's also hard to believe she is now going to be normal after being "soft" in the head for years.
I'd never heard "the smash" before and googled it without finding anything - from the context I assume an economic depression?
Well, I'm bowing out this month, but looking forward to the 2020 list. Try as I might, I just don't connect with Ms. Heyer's contemporary fiction and mysteries, and OH, how I have tried! Y'all ENJOY, and I'll see you in the new year!
I really disliked Cicely and I disliked the story. Why anyone would want to marry her is a constant mystery to me. I really am not attracted to the selfish, egotistical ‘bright young things’ like Cicely who populate Heyer’s crime thrillers and contemporary stories. Her disparagement of war service is utterly awful. Whilst the men who served might not talk too much about the horrors of WW1, they were no secret to the public, so Cicely’s attitude towards his war service really showed her up for the ignoramus she clearly was. She is beyond silly and I like intelligent heroines.
For me, Heyer’s contemporary stories made her class-ridden snobbery ‘front of house’ rather than the anachronistic background which pervades her Historical’s, and which I can ignore much more easily because she is writing about something from 2plus centuries ago.
In her contemporaries, she sets her stories in a period which my parents lived through and suffered in; and their stories informed my awareness of how class ridden the U.K. was (and still is - but hopefully not quite so badly). The class system in pre-war Britain was powerful and unpleasant, and Heyer was a staunch proponent of it. She cannot leave her prejudices about the ‘lower orders’ out of her contemporary detective fiction and this short story is no exception to that. It’s odd that in many ways the books she wrote about her own time period appear much more anachronistic than much of her historical fiction.
As with all Heyer’s work, it is well written but I wouldn’t read it again.
Re WWI 'war service'. Er the young men didn't actually get a choice, did they? I think the compulsory call up came in 1916. No one could escape, apart from conchies, and they hardly got an easy time of it!
I think apart from being a conchie, the only other 'escape' might have been to work for the ambulance service. If anyone is familiar with the wonderful Daisy Dalrymple detective series, set in the 1920s, her late fiancé was an ambulance driver (was killed on duty in Flanders, so it wasn't exactly safe either.)There must, thinking about it, have been something almost amounting to 'national PTSD' prevalent in the UK (and presumably France and Germany as well), with just about 'everyone' basically traumatised. Impossible not to be, surely.
What must have made it particularly difficult was that surely that PTSD must have been highly 'suppressed', at least in England, because of persistant 'stiff-upper-lipped-ness' and our 'don't make a fuss-ness' etc, where by it was 'not allowed' to show any emotion.
That was even more so in the 'restrained' middle and upper classes, where any emotionality was looked down upon as either 'common' or 'foreign' (or both!).
Of course there WAS huge PTSD, especially in the servicemen themselves, and finally some breakthrough in recognising that shell-shock was NOT 'cowardice'.
Interestingly I found that in the current British TV series World on Fire, set in the second world war, the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium, in full retreat to Dunkirk, a unit comes across a whole bunch of shellshocked soldiers/airmen, and one of the unit calls them 'cowards' (or at least, suggests it's very convenient for them to be shellshocked!)
Beth-In-UK wrote: "Re WWI 'war service'. Er the young men didn't actually get a choice, did they? I think the compulsory call up came in 1916. No one could escape, apart from conchies, and they hardly got an easy tim..."The young men may not, by 1916, have had a choice. But from the day war was declared in 1914 vast numbers of young men did choose to enlist, queuing up, enlisting in old regiments and new pals battalions. The fact that they would, eventually, have found themselves conscripted does not lessen their volunteering to serve.
The Little LadyJackie wrote: "The Little Lady
I did wonder if this was going to be paranormal at all and not even sure if I was disappointed or not. maybe I was as I didn't care for this one as much. I thought Bride Flower was..."
I would have loved this one so much more if it had gone full uncanny. When reading it, I can imagine GH expanding her brain, trying out different fantastical endings as she is writing the story, and then just pull herself back in to normal at the ending.
The Little LadyI would have preferred this story had the strange girl been left unexplained, a possible wraith from the Regency or a more recent conflict. The ending of both love stories seems excessively tidy, and not very realistic. I found myself thinking of Kipling's Way through the Woods,
However, to the best of my recollection Heyer's novels include only one unexplained supernatural event. There are no brief visions of floating figures that don't turn out to be someone capering about in a sheet, or strangely accurate prophesies. The only event without a rational explanation is Harry Smith's dream that foretells news of his mother's death - and that is real, in that it is included in Harry's autobiography.
CicelySusan in Perthshire wrote: "I really disliked Cicely and I disliked the story. Why anyone would want to marry her is a constant mystery to me. I really am not attracted to the selfish, egotistical ‘bright young things’ like C..."
You hit the nail on the head, Susan, about the distance in time with her historical novels making the snobbery seem less egregious than it is in her contemporary books. That snobbery and the often negative characterizations of the 'lower classes' does seem very obnoxious in the stories meant to take place in a more modern era.
And the only trait of Cicely that I had some sympathy for was that perhaps she was very young, and had grown up in a time of change, unrest, and uncertainty. Of course, she did not really seem to grown any by the end, with her 'brave foray' into the real world meeting with such results that she seemed to give up and shrink back down to a position of far less independence.
Rosina wrote: "The Little LadyI would have preferred this story had the strange girl been left unexplained, a possible wraith from the Regency or a more recent conflict. The ending of both love stories seems ex..."
A little more whimsy with the supernatural is exactly what is missing from Heyer's writing - it is almost as if she were tempted by the lovely, shivery paranormal possibility, but quickly 'came to her senses' and went full practical.
The Little LadyI believe that there was a rather hysterical adoption of the paranormal after World War One, fuelled by the desire of the bereaved to contact the casualties of the war. Whereas we see the supernatural as just another story line (even if we don't accept it in real life) Heyer might have been driven to deny it, rather than succumb, or climb on the bandwagon.
Re: A Little LadyGiven that GH was a teenager when she wrote this, I would definitely call this an example of the author trying out different genres. I wasn't expecting much beyond a look her earliest efforts, so I was not disappointed.
Re the snobbery - don't forget that although this was contemporary for GH herself, for us it's a century ago! As far from us as the Regency was from her.....! Also, there might have been something of a 'reactionary fervour' immediately post Great War - everyone knew that 'everything had changed for ever' by the war, destroying the Victorian/Edwardian age, yet they doubtless didn't want to think about it (probably akin to ourselves who are living, in Europe, in a new multicultural society, which many are still 'in denial' about and hoping will just 'go away' at some point!)(it won't) (it can't, it's changed for ever, just as the post-Great War world was changed for ever).
So it could be that there was an 'in denial' element to folk post-Great War, that might have made them 'uber-snobbish' perhaps, hoping that by banging on about inherent class differences (that the GW had proved illusory - eg, that the shortage of officers - life expectancy I think at some periods of the war for subalterns was somethingly like 3 weeks - meant that enlisted men could become officers.....and proving just as good, if not better, because more experienced as foot soldiers, than the poor young school-leavers thrust into responsibility in the trenches - poor, poor young lads - just ghastly)... (I keep thinking of their parents, knowing that the moment they left school, their sons would be swept up into the war to be killed and crippled - an endless, horrific nightmare)....
...by constantly emphasising class differences those 'differences' might be 'made real' again....
I appreciate that pre-1916 the army was only 'voluntary'....yet the social pressure on men of fighting age was immense. Not least of course from women - think of those vile white feathers they handed out to men not in uniform.It would have been incredibly hard NOT to 'volunteer' under such pressures.
So there really wasn't much choice in practice alas.
Rosina, yes, I agree - people were so desperate with their loss - Ouija boards and the like become horribly popular.
Linckes' Great CaseI didn't find anything to enjoy in this one. Can we start with the name Linckes - how would you pronounce that? In my head I'm saying "Linx" which would have made an excellent name.
I almost never guess the answer to a mystery so you know this one stuck out a mile - and it took months and months for Linckes to figure it out, during which nothing happened.
and once they knew who the spy was, Tony "didn't altogether blame him"? because he just couldn't "run straight"? that was strange: the man was a traitor!
Nothing at all to the romance, either.
Linckes' Great CaseMore of Heyer stretching her writing muscles as a young author.
The solution was a bit obvious, wasn't it? Dragged out for ages (although things did move more slowly then, without the technology for the instant transmission of huge amounts of data) and very reminiscent of The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans and The Naval Treaty with the missing submarine plans and espionage among the foreign office. Perhaps she was inspired by Doyle, and was just trying a mystery out.
The romance was just tacked on, nothing was really developed, just an outline of "OK, I am writing a mystery and there should be a love interest, let me find my insta-love wand and.....THERE!"
Jackie wrote: "Linckes' Great CaseI didn't find anything to enjoy in this one. Can we start with the name Linckes - how would you pronounce that? In my head I'm saying "Linx" which would have made an excellent ..."
I found that I kept 'reading' it as Lineker, with a schwa and a silent s. At least it stopped me stumbling over the excess consonants.
It was rather dire, and I do hope Linckes had other tasks to fill the weary months between anything happening. I can't understand why so much time had to elapse.
On the other hand, I was clearly less alert than others - I did not suspect the existence of a brother (was he mentioned?)
Oh, I never thought of Lineker - My mind squeezed the letters together and came up with Lynx, like the prowling cat. I wonder if there is another way to pronounce it that we haven't caught?
I just purchased this and will get to it in the next day or two. From the comments here it doesn't seem too exciting.
I have not yet talked about the stories that were my fav! :D
A Proposal to CecilyA late thought on this is that Cecily and Heyer's attitude might be snobbish, but at least we were spared Cecily going all Lady Constance over the manly manhood of the Common Man.
Ha ha!!!! But I always thought Lawrence was being disengeuous about Mellors, as he makes it clear that he was an educated man and not a 'real' gamekeeper.....
And, as ever, (sigh), Mellors was Lawrence himself...... (DHL manages to make himself the hero of every novel he wrote!!!)(and not just the initial autobiographical one, Sons and Lovers...)
Maybe at least he was honest about it, though, and 'all authors' put themselves into their novels!!!!!
The Bulldog and the BeastNow, this is much more like the GH we know and love! I really enjoyed this one a lot. I especially liked Mr Sykes, our canine cupid.
The romance was believable (for a short story) as our hero and heroine progressed from loathing all members of the opposite sex to being in love with each other. Mr Sykes is to be congratulated on doing such a fine job.
The Bulldog and the Beast yes, I agree, this one was sweet. No surprises in it but not a bad romance for a short story.
The Bulldog and the BeastI am trying to post my thoughts in order of how the stories appear in the the collection, which means "The Bulldog and the Beast” is next.
Heyer does like to pepper her stories with dogs, and this puppy tries to play matchmaker between two singles who have great contempt for each other, or at least for each other's gender. I do sometimes enjoy an enemies to lovers trope, but in this case it does not seem like the main characters even really know enough about the other to be able to really dislike them. Cute story, but I wanted more rounded main characters.
Finally got started on this. A Proposal To Cicely.
Not bad. Cicely was a bit of a pain. Even though she treated the farmer as inferior, it was through naivety and it never occurred to her that he would act as he did.
The Little Lady.
I would have preferred it to be a ghost story. It ended up sentimental and improbable but somehow I still enjoyed it.
The Bulldog and the Beast The canine confidant par excellence is of course Ulysses, but Mr Sykes's tale was quite enjoyable. One must forgive short stories for taking short cuts - I agree that they went for (general) dislike to love without showing much in the middle, but it can partly be explained as the normal recovery from a disappointment - it wasn't a specific dislike on the other as an individual.
Linckes Great Case.Quite dull and there were too many characters mentioned to keep track of in a short story.
Acting on ImpulseAnother charming story. The impulsive character is the hero, Kenneth Mount. The voice of reason belongs to our heroine Ursula, a modern, independent woman. The best character, however, is Kenneth's irascible father, General Mount. We meet his sort in later books--curmudgeon on the outside, softie at heart.
I liked this one almost as much as 'Bulldog and the Beast'.
Acting on ImpulseI didn't like this one. (And was quite put out by the sudden mention of the General seizing Peter - height six foot two - by the collar: the introduction of a third party in the kidnapping confused me for a moment...)
Coincidentally, I am re-reading The Talisman Ring. Sir Tristram and Sarah wonder at why Ludovic took to free-trading, and why Eustacie fled her home in the dead of night to become a governess. But their impulsive behaviour is a model of rationality compared to Kenneth's stupidity. Even if he planned that Ursula would soothe him and win him over with whisky and cigars (good cop, bad cop routine) it would still have backfired in the real world.
Acting on ImpulseRosina--oh yes, dear Kenneth is a bit of a toddler, isn't he?
The story had problems, to be sure, but the actual prose was very good. And I liked Ursula--but she certainly could do better than Kenneth!
The intro to one of the previous stories mentioned GH's debt to PG Wodehouse's stories. This whole kidnap 'the pater' sure does smack of Bertie Wooster, doesn't it?
Barb in Maryland wrote: "Acting on ImpulseRosina--oh yes, dear Kenneth is a bit of a toddler, isn't he?
The story had problems, to be sure, but the actual prose was very good. And I liked Ursula--but she certainly could..."
I was absolutely reminded of Wodehouse by the total insouciance of our hero.
Acting on Impulsivelight-weight and completely predictable, but I was still charmed by both Kenneth and Ursula. I love it that she earned her own living and refused to marry Kenneth without his father's agreement.
Acting on ImpulseNow this was my fav of all the stories! Such dear characters taking the stage, and to be seen later in other Heyer books. Grumpy old man with a soft spot hidden underneath, slightly goofy hero with the best intentions, and the calm, collected lady-in-charge.
As unusual as this story was, I found it believable, and completely understood why a young man much in love would take such steps to bring his father around, all to try to be with his ideal woman.
Acting On Impulse.This was ridiculous and totally silly but I enjoyed it!! Ursula was a 'canny' woman. Kenneth actually needs her to keep him on the right track in life. What a ninny but a likable ninny all the same. I loved the general. A crusty old gentleman who likes his own way but will be totally won over by Ursula I think.
The Chinese Shawl.Silly and implausible and way too much of the domineering male, however, I did like it but not as much as some of the other stories.
Acting on ImpulseI am not comfortable with the idea of kidnapping and detaining an elderly gentleman against his will, in a rather unsalubrious cottage without mod cons or decent food. If it were for love, it would be (perhaps) acceptable, but Kenneth is of age, so the stakes aren't 'consent to the marriage', which isn't needed, but not having his allowance stopped, or losing his inheritance. The fact that it seems unlikely that the General would cut him off, even if he married a woman the General disapproved of, just makes the whole escapade even less amusing.
I assume that it is the money aspect that makes Ursula demand that the old gentleman agrees to the marriage. Perhaps she should have encouraged Kenneth to find some means of earning his own living ...
Georgette Heyer Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story (other topics)The Naval Treaty (other topics)
The Furthest Station (other topics)
Acting on Impulse: Contemporary Short Stories (other topics)
We will have one thread for the book. Please start your post with the name of the story that you will be discussing. This way, we can see by the heading of the post whether or not reading it would spoil our read.
Stories included in the collection:
A Proposal to Cicely
The Little Lady
The Bulldog and the Beast
Lincke’s Great Case
Acting on Impulse
The Chinese Shawl
Whose Fault Was It?
The Old Maid
Love
There are also essays included for/about each short story, and a bonus:
On Such a Night.