5.Interim

[Jonathan]

For discussion of Interim - 1919

[Jonathan]

Heavily edited by DR between its first edition and that published in the 30s (and used by Virago). Much of the sylistic experimentation was cut down, in particular her unique punctuation. For example:


"Bring her in scolded Mrs. Philps from the dining-room door. Grace took her by the arm and drew her along the passage. I’m one mass of mud. – Never mind the mud, come in out of the rain, scolded Mrs. Philps backing towards the fire, you must be worn out. – No, I don’t feel tired now I’m here, oh what a heavenly fire. "


Whereas the standard edition reads as follows:


‘Bring her in,’ scolded Mrs Philps from the dining-room door.

Grace took her by the arm and drew her along the passage.

‘I’m one mass of mud.’

‘Never mind the mud, come in out of the rain,’ scolded Mrs Philps backing towards the fire, ‘you must be worn out.’

‘No, I don’t feel tired now I’m here; oh, what a heavenly fire.’

[Jonathan]

also (the original):

"I can see Grace – she drove on carrying them with her, ignoring the swift eyes upon the dim things settling heavily upon her heart – gazing out of the window in the little room where I was supposed to be holding a German class – Yes I know Miriam darling, but now you know me you know I could never be good at languages – – You’re my pupil – – It seems absurd to think of you as a teacher now we know you chuckled Florrie. "


Quite extraordinary.

This could almost be something by Gaddis...

[Jonathan]

Excellent piece on the differences between the first edition and the excepts published during its writing:

http://www.eltpress.org/richardson/ch...

[Neglectedbooks]

Pilgrimage: Interim on the Neglected Books Page:

http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=3985

[Luke]

Started up the very beginning of this section this morning. First there was Christmas (unusually quaint), and now characters are coming back from the first few sections. It's a definite shift from what how previous volumes have tended to initially present themselves, but it's nice to see things tying together for a change (I can roll with the out-of-the-blue characters and barely tangentially described major plot points, but a short break is appreciated).

[Luke]

Finished this off today. Ended on a good note that I hope will be sustained in the coming chapters. For now, I'll be breaking till March, when I will return with a deep dive into 'Deadlock.'

[Jonathan]

Great - Interim may have been my favourite, so glad you enjoyed it. She continues to get more explicitly political, so I think you will hopefully find the stuff she deals with in later books (and what happens to her as a result of it...) interesting.