DDC/MDS
| 823.91 |
Publication
London : Macmillan, 1968.
Original publication date
1968
Description
Spark chooses Rome, "the motherland of sensation," for the setting of her story about movie star Annabel Christopher (known to her adoring fans as "The English Lady-Tiger"), who has made the fatal mistake of believing in her public image. This error and her embittered husband, and unsuccessful actor, catch up with her. Her final act is only the first shocking climax--further surprises await. Neatly savaging our celebrity culture, Spark rejoices in one of her favorite subjects--the clash between sham and genuine identity--and provides Annabel with an unexpected triumph.
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Available
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User reviews
LibraryThing member madrigal32
Cold, plain, precise writing style and subject matter (at least in this book); some turns of phrase completely obscure. A talented writer, but otherwise, unenjoyable. Generally forgettable. I probably just didn't get it. I intend to read one more of hers, then move on if it is the same.
LibraryThing member stillatim
This contains plot spoilers.
I was very much enjoying this one up until the last few pages, thinking it was a very smart take down of people who demand authenticity and realness in public. The actress whose public image the novel deals with is more or less completely fake, but also a decent human
Unfortunately, or at least unfortunately from my perspective, the book concludes with the actress doing the 'right' thing (in this case, admitting to the world what her husband did and revealing the fake suicide notes she'd been collecting in order to, so she said at the time, keep them secret), then running off into the sunset with her beloved baby child. The book is set up in such a way that this can easily look like: the 'fake' woman becoming 'real' and thus earning her stripes as our hero. But the earlier chapters upset the very idea that those terms should carry any moral weight.
It's possible that the point of the conclusion is actually just that the men in the novel had been using the actress for money in one way or another, and revealing the suicide notes and fleeing Rome is her way of avoiding that abuse and manipulation; but she can only achieve this *via* manipulation of her own 'public image.' Then you could say the conclusion was more in line with the rest of the novel, rather than a weirdly unintellectual cop-out. You wouldn't have to read the actress as a hero, either.
In fact, I think I've convinced myself of that in the last three minutes, and upgraded the novel to four stars as a result. It has all the usual Spark excellences--concision, intellectual brilliance, a cold narrative distance--as well as the odd feeling I get whenever I read her novels, that I'm over half way through before they start. That comes with the concision, I guess. Not as good as Brodie, Slender Means, or The Only Problem, but not much worse, either. Also, it won the Booker in 1968.
I was very much enjoying this one up until the last few pages, thinking it was a very smart take down of people who demand authenticity and realness in public. The actress whose public image the novel deals with is more or less completely fake, but also a decent human
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being and mother. Her husband, who is real and doesn't sell out or anything like that, is a talentless hack and awful, awful human being, so bad - plot spoiler - that he kills himself in such a way that his wife will be blamed for his suicide when the cause is obviously his own failure to produce anything worth watching, as she becomes a star. Cue much discussion about the way people adjust their own presentation of themselves for public consumption. Unfortunately, or at least unfortunately from my perspective, the book concludes with the actress doing the 'right' thing (in this case, admitting to the world what her husband did and revealing the fake suicide notes she'd been collecting in order to, so she said at the time, keep them secret), then running off into the sunset with her beloved baby child. The book is set up in such a way that this can easily look like: the 'fake' woman becoming 'real' and thus earning her stripes as our hero. But the earlier chapters upset the very idea that those terms should carry any moral weight.
It's possible that the point of the conclusion is actually just that the men in the novel had been using the actress for money in one way or another, and revealing the suicide notes and fleeing Rome is her way of avoiding that abuse and manipulation; but she can only achieve this *via* manipulation of her own 'public image.' Then you could say the conclusion was more in line with the rest of the novel, rather than a weirdly unintellectual cop-out. You wouldn't have to read the actress as a hero, either.
In fact, I think I've convinced myself of that in the last three minutes, and upgraded the novel to four stars as a result. It has all the usual Spark excellences--concision, intellectual brilliance, a cold narrative distance--as well as the odd feeling I get whenever I read her novels, that I'm over half way through before they start. That comes with the concision, I guess. Not as good as Brodie, Slender Means, or The Only Problem, but not much worse, either. Also, it won the Booker in 1968.
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LibraryThing member V.V.Harding
A completely surprising book, at the outset by its traditional omniscient narrative, eventually by how that failed to define the book itself. Perhaps this is one of Muriel Spark's lighter works; I will be reading others to find out.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Rome finds our main character acting the part of enthralling actress cultivating her image for an adoring public. A perfect setup for Spark (and the reader).
LibraryThing member isabelx
In fact he could have played the part well had he not been inhibited by the idea of revolt from his marriage. He was now so settled in a daily determination to end the marriage, call off the public image, declare it null and void, that he did not see the point of doing anything about it just yet,
By the end of chapter 2, I was bored with this tale of an unhappy marriage between a film star whose career was on the rise, and her resentful husband, and nearly didn't continue. But I flicked through a few pages near the end, discovered that the plot did take a turn for the more interesting, and decided to carry on.
At this point in the film story, Frederick's script had been to various alteration-hands; and the final version approved by the American Corporation which was putting the bulk of the money into it at first moved Frederick to request that his name be removed from the billing. But later, when publicity for the film became rife, he got his name put back again.
Frederick resents Annabel's career and the necessity for them to keep up a good public image until she is more established, and rather than asking for a divorce, takes drastic measures to ruin her image and career. Frederick was prepared tokill someone else (the girl who was drugged and left in a coma in the bathroom) as well as himself in order to get revenge on his wife , so it made me laugh when Annabel mentioned that the stories in the paper were all focussed on her, rather than on her husband's suicide .
I hadn't heard of this book before, but I enjoyed it a lot after the slow start.
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especially as it would be construed as a gesture of disappointment at not getting the part. He settled into a routine of deciding to break with Annabel, and to wait until they had left these gossipy circles.By the end of chapter 2, I was bored with this tale of an unhappy marriage between a film star whose career was on the rise, and her resentful husband, and nearly didn't continue. But I flicked through a few pages near the end, discovered that the plot did take a turn for the more interesting, and decided to carry on.
At this point in the film story, Frederick's script had been to various alteration-hands; and the final version approved by the American Corporation which was putting the bulk of the money into it at first moved Frederick to request that his name be removed from the billing. But later, when publicity for the film became rife, he got his name put back again.
Frederick resents Annabel's career and the necessity for them to keep up a good public image until she is more established, and rather than asking for a divorce, takes drastic measures to ruin her image and career. Frederick was prepared to
I hadn't heard of this book before, but I enjoyed it a lot after the slow start.
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LibraryThing member thorold
Although she doesn't seem to have any outstanding acting talent, Annabel has been successfully marketed by a famous Italian film-director and his clever press secretary as "the English lady-tiger" (a demure exterior supposedly concealing unseen reserves of frightening sexual energy), and she is
Eventually, just as Annabel is moving herself and her baby son into a lovely new Roman apartment, Christopher goes off the rails, hitting Annabel where he knows it will hurt most, right in the middle of her public image. She goes into expert damage-limitation mode, and seems to have everything under control, but it isn't as simple as that...
This is a very short novel even by Spark's standards (Alice Munro has written "short stories" longer than this), and it's another one where the reader has to do a lot of the spadework of filling in the bits of the narrative Spark didn't bother with, but there's a lot to think about - not just the tyranny of PR and the superficiality of the film industry, but also the way society still has ridiculous and contradictory expectations of women in public life as professionals, spouses, parents and sex-objects, and the damage that trying to live up to those impossible expectations can do. And in passing it's also a little love-song to Rome, and a compact manual on Italian perceptions of Englishness (and English perceptions of Italianness).
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well on her way to mainstream stardom as a result. Her husband, Christopher, a failed actor and scriptwriter, is made to appear in the background of all the PR photos as the devoted helpmeet - a role imposed on him by press secretary Francesca as poetic justice for his wandering hands. Eventually, just as Annabel is moving herself and her baby son into a lovely new Roman apartment, Christopher goes off the rails, hitting Annabel where he knows it will hurt most, right in the middle of her public image. She goes into expert damage-limitation mode, and seems to have everything under control, but it isn't as simple as that...
This is a very short novel even by Spark's standards (Alice Munro has written "short stories" longer than this), and it's another one where the reader has to do a lot of the spadework of filling in the bits of the narrative Spark didn't bother with, but there's a lot to think about - not just the tyranny of PR and the superficiality of the film industry, but also the way society still has ridiculous and contradictory expectations of women in public life as professionals, spouses, parents and sex-objects, and the damage that trying to live up to those impossible expectations can do. And in passing it's also a little love-song to Rome, and a compact manual on Italian perceptions of Englishness (and English perceptions of Italianness).
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LibraryThing member proustitute
A heady romp in Rome, as film actress Annabel Christopher lets the rush of her public image go to her head when faced with a betrayal that only Spark can write convincingly. As is always the case with Spark, despite the short length of The Public Image, there’s a lot packed in here, and the
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narcissistic portrait of Annabel is as sympathetic and believable—despite some characteristic shenanigans, expected of Spark—as only the author of the flip side of life, the dark shadow of people, can execute. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 1969)
Physical description
192 p.; 21 cm