Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Virago (2013), 225 pages
Description
Unforgettably astounding and a joy to read, Memento Mori is considered by many to be the greatest novel by the wizardly Dame Muriel Spark. In late 1950s London, something uncanny besets a group of elderly friends: an insinuating voice on the telephone informs each, "Remember you must die." Their geriatric feathers are soon thoroughly ruffled by these seemingly supernatural phone calls, and in the resulting flurry many old secrets are dusted off. Beneath the once decorous surface of their lives, unsavories like blackmail and adultery are now to be glimpsed. As spooky as it is witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more.
User reviews
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
I adore Muriel Spark. I love her understated, slightly detached language. I love her intricate plots. I love her pitch-perfect balance between wit and unpleasantness. I know no other writer who quite like her can tilt things completely almost in passing, with a casual flick of the pen in
In Memento Mori, a group of seniors from the upper classes in London (and their likewise elderly servants) start to receive strange anonymous phone calls. They all hear a different voice – old, young, man, woman – but the message is always the same. Delivered in a civil and almost friendly tone, it says: “Remember you must die”. Suspicions arise. Is it a prank? Is it due to old hostilities and secrets? Is it some relative trying to scare a rich aunt to death? Is it one of the group? Or is perhaps the caller not even human? The cast is beautiful, from the ageing writer going senile just as her books are coming back into print, to her husband obsessed with stockings (nobody writes everyday kinky like Muriel Spark!), to the old house-maid still plotting for a way to climb socially and economically, to the bedridden and foul-mouthed ex-paper-vendor who’s devoted her final days to getting rid of the anxious new ward matron at the Old People’s home (nobody writes everyday cruelty like Muriel Spark!) to the retired doctor running empiric studies on ageing on himself and his friends.
There’s a lot going on in just over 200 pages here. It’s definitely a book that calls for the reader paying close attention, as Spark mentions things only once and often understatedly so.
And perhaps there are just a few too many threads in this slim novel. The structure is looser than in some of Spark’s more polished works. On the other hand, her wit is at her best here, and there’s much to be discovered in the intricate relationships between the many characters. And honestly, how often do you get to read a funny, eerie, brutal, perhaps even metaphysical novel about growing old?
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mid-sentence (making you go: Wait, what? Was a major character beaten to death just now!?). I know no other writer who can keep on presenting sub-plots until the last page without making it feel frustrating. And I know no other writer who is so good at twisting realism just ever so slightly, just enough to distort it, making it feel different and strange and exciting.In Memento Mori, a group of seniors from the upper classes in London (and their likewise elderly servants) start to receive strange anonymous phone calls. They all hear a different voice – old, young, man, woman – but the message is always the same. Delivered in a civil and almost friendly tone, it says: “Remember you must die”. Suspicions arise. Is it a prank? Is it due to old hostilities and secrets? Is it some relative trying to scare a rich aunt to death? Is it one of the group? Or is perhaps the caller not even human? The cast is beautiful, from the ageing writer going senile just as her books are coming back into print, to her husband obsessed with stockings (nobody writes everyday kinky like Muriel Spark!), to the old house-maid still plotting for a way to climb socially and economically, to the bedridden and foul-mouthed ex-paper-vendor who’s devoted her final days to getting rid of the anxious new ward matron at the Old People’s home (nobody writes everyday cruelty like Muriel Spark!) to the retired doctor running empiric studies on ageing on himself and his friends.
There’s a lot going on in just over 200 pages here. It’s definitely a book that calls for the reader paying close attention, as Spark mentions things only once and often understatedly so.
And perhaps there are just a few too many threads in this slim novel. The structure is looser than in some of Spark’s more polished works. On the other hand, her wit is at her best here, and there’s much to be discovered in the intricate relationships between the many characters. And honestly, how often do you get to read a funny, eerie, brutal, perhaps even metaphysical novel about growing old?
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Life is a series of strange and amusing events and none more so than the whole act of aging as it is presented in Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori. This was an absolutely delightful read that had me turning the pages eagerly and snickering to myself. Cut through the humor and you are left with a
As pretty much every character in the book is age seventy or older, the subject matters of senility, funerals and nursing homes are explored as Ms. Spark’s macabre point of view presents the concerns and actions of the elderly. The plot revolves upon a mystery, as an anonymous phone caller leaves a frightening message of “Remember you must die” to one of the elderly main characters. Soon others are receiving this same message, but all describe a different voice.
This is the first book I have read by Muriel Spark and I admit I was a little concerned as to whether I would enjoy her work, but this story totally enchanted me. Although this subject matter could have been depressing, in this author’s capable hands this unique story of aging eccentrics was both fresh and inventive.
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wicked satire on both the aged and their treatment that delivers it’s message in a clear, concise and very original manner. As I got deeper into the book however, I found myself becoming attached to and caring about the fate of these characters very much.As pretty much every character in the book is age seventy or older, the subject matters of senility, funerals and nursing homes are explored as Ms. Spark’s macabre point of view presents the concerns and actions of the elderly. The plot revolves upon a mystery, as an anonymous phone caller leaves a frightening message of “Remember you must die” to one of the elderly main characters. Soon others are receiving this same message, but all describe a different voice.
This is the first book I have read by Muriel Spark and I admit I was a little concerned as to whether I would enjoy her work, but this story totally enchanted me. Although this subject matter could have been depressing, in this author’s capable hands this unique story of aging eccentrics was both fresh and inventive.
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LibraryThing member Chatterbox
This is a fascinating novel that deals with death -- the awareness of death and age, and how secrets seem to become less significant with time. In it, a cluster of related septugenarians and octogenarians begin receiving telephone calls; the anonymous individual on the other end of the line simply
But while the plot ostensibly revolves around the mystery of the phone calls, in fact, Spark tries to deal with the even deeper mystery of human relationships. What is it that divides siblings from each other; a husband from a wife; a parent from a child? What kind of misunderstandings divide old friends? What secrets are kept in the name of friendship and domestic harmony? The phone calls become only a catalyst.
It's a short and intriguing novel; and elegantly written, to boot. It's chock full of striking observation on the perils of aging and of death -- both of them thorny subjects -- and unexpected quirks and shifts in direction. Still, I've given it only four stars, because I felt that somehow the book itself ended up being as amorphous in its nature as the meaning of life itself can sometimes feel. Five stars for the reading experience, but marked down because I constantly was pulled out of the narrative with the question of Spark's intention as an author. Niggly, I know, but at least it's tempted me to read some more of her novels.
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tells them politely, "remember, you must die." Some are unnerved; others irritated; some are amused while others remain unflappable. All, however, seem to hear the voice in a different way -- to some, it's a young boy; others here the voice of a middle-aged man while one even hears a woman's voice deliver the warning. Is a gang at work? To Jean Taylor, the former maid of one of the callers, herself now suffering arthritically in the geriatric ward of a hospital, it's simply death on the other end of the phone. "If you don't remember Death, Death reminds you to do so," she tells Dame Lettie, the first of the recipients of the phone call.But while the plot ostensibly revolves around the mystery of the phone calls, in fact, Spark tries to deal with the even deeper mystery of human relationships. What is it that divides siblings from each other; a husband from a wife; a parent from a child? What kind of misunderstandings divide old friends? What secrets are kept in the name of friendship and domestic harmony? The phone calls become only a catalyst.
It's a short and intriguing novel; and elegantly written, to boot. It's chock full of striking observation on the perils of aging and of death -- both of them thorny subjects -- and unexpected quirks and shifts in direction. Still, I've given it only four stars, because I felt that somehow the book itself ended up being as amorphous in its nature as the meaning of life itself can sometimes feel. Five stars for the reading experience, but marked down because I constantly was pulled out of the narrative with the question of Spark's intention as an author. Niggly, I know, but at least it's tempted me to read some more of her novels.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
I recently discovered Muriel Spark and have been hustling through her wonderful books. Memento Mori is another winner, all the moreso because the main characters (who are really characters) ar over 70. Spark is a master at depicting a particularly brittle segment of English society, that of the
Dame Lettie Coulson is the victim of ab anonymous phone caller who leaves a message especially for her: "Remember you must die." She and her brother Godfrey can never agree if the caller is young or old, definitely English or has an accent, but they do agree that he is quite polite. Soon a number of other elderly persons begin receiving similar calls, but the local police are ready to attribute the whole affair to senility.
As we learn more about the aged characters, their secrets begin to come out into the open. Spark reminds us that the elderly were not always elderly and in fact had lives as vital, as fallible, and often as wicked as our own. And she does it with such humor that we find ourselves laughing not only at them but at our own foibles.
Another winner from Spark, and I'm off to read another one.
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upper class at the edge of the way down and the middle class at the edge of the way up. And she does it with such wit and dark humor. One moment I was laughing out loud, the next asking, shocked, "Did that really just happen?" Dame Lettie Coulson is the victim of ab anonymous phone caller who leaves a message especially for her: "Remember you must die." She and her brother Godfrey can never agree if the caller is young or old, definitely English or has an accent, but they do agree that he is quite polite. Soon a number of other elderly persons begin receiving similar calls, but the local police are ready to attribute the whole affair to senility.
As we learn more about the aged characters, their secrets begin to come out into the open. Spark reminds us that the elderly were not always elderly and in fact had lives as vital, as fallible, and often as wicked as our own. And she does it with such humor that we find ourselves laughing not only at them but at our own foibles.
Another winner from Spark, and I'm off to read another one.
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LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
Dame Lettie Colston has been receiving mysterious phone calls from a man who only says “Remember you must die.” Pretty soon others in her family and social circle begin to be called upon also and speculations begin – is it a gang of people (the caller is always different)? A wave of mass
It is notable that almost all the characters are very old, over 70 years old. They all have their own personalities, petty rivalries, obsessions and secrets. It was definitely different from most books. Although past events are often alluded to and continue to affect the present, there are almost no flashbacks. Many books feature a character in his or her twilight years reflecting on the past so it was refreshing that this doesn’t happen here. Spark describes the day to day activities and conversations of the group. The group as a whole is somewhat inbred and terribly funny – they’re suspicious of outsiders, scornful of the 50/60 something set (though tolerant of the younger generation) and everyone has had an affair with/was in love with/was engaged to/had a rivalry with/worked for someone else. Some of the story takes place in a hospital ward and the main group of 70/80 year olds are rather horrified by the senile centenarian and near-centenarian group that moves in.
The book is pretty funny, though maybe not in a laugh out loud kind of way. Some of the paranoia and obsession with changing wills is humorous but makes sense. Alec Warner is obsessed with cataloguing the lives of his elderly friends and his outlandish reactions are quite funny. He’s really a gossip-hound who notes down everything that happens to everyone and tries to be around when bad news hits so that he can take the pulses and temperature of his friends. If he can’t be there, he sends a letter with the news and puts in a request for the recipient to take and send his own stats. Percy Mannering’s ghoulish excitement over death, Mrs. Pettigrew’s all-around bad behavior and the codependent, competitive, constantly irritated marriage of Godfrey and Charmian were also funny. All this is related in Spark’s unadorned, straightforward prose which adds to the humor. Characters were constantly spouting inappropriate or horrible things, which failed to provoke a reaction – this reminded me a bit of Ivy Compton-Burnett, but a much more readable Compton-Burnett.
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hysteria? Something else entirely? While this is occurring, death is indeed rampaging through the ranks. Another perturbance in the Colston set is caused by the death of Lisa Brooke. Her family, her companion maid and her husband-under-convoluted-circumstances fight over her inheritance, and the maid, Mrs. Pettigrew, is hired by Lettie’s brother Godfrey to care for his ailing wife, formerly famous novelist Charmian. So starts a story of blackmail, adultery, murder, fetishes, secret marriages and May-December (80 yr old to 20 yr old) marriages.It is notable that almost all the characters are very old, over 70 years old. They all have their own personalities, petty rivalries, obsessions and secrets. It was definitely different from most books. Although past events are often alluded to and continue to affect the present, there are almost no flashbacks. Many books feature a character in his or her twilight years reflecting on the past so it was refreshing that this doesn’t happen here. Spark describes the day to day activities and conversations of the group. The group as a whole is somewhat inbred and terribly funny – they’re suspicious of outsiders, scornful of the 50/60 something set (though tolerant of the younger generation) and everyone has had an affair with/was in love with/was engaged to/had a rivalry with/worked for someone else. Some of the story takes place in a hospital ward and the main group of 70/80 year olds are rather horrified by the senile centenarian and near-centenarian group that moves in.
The book is pretty funny, though maybe not in a laugh out loud kind of way. Some of the paranoia and obsession with changing wills is humorous but makes sense. Alec Warner is obsessed with cataloguing the lives of his elderly friends and his outlandish reactions are quite funny. He’s really a gossip-hound who notes down everything that happens to everyone and tries to be around when bad news hits so that he can take the pulses and temperature of his friends. If he can’t be there, he sends a letter with the news and puts in a request for the recipient to take and send his own stats. Percy Mannering’s ghoulish excitement over death, Mrs. Pettigrew’s all-around bad behavior and the codependent, competitive, constantly irritated marriage of Godfrey and Charmian were also funny. All this is related in Spark’s unadorned, straightforward prose which adds to the humor. Characters were constantly spouting inappropriate or horrible things, which failed to provoke a reaction – this reminded me a bit of Ivy Compton-Burnett, but a much more readable Compton-Burnett.
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LibraryThing member allison.sivak
Enjoyably mean. I didn't want Miss Pettigrew to inherit the money in the end; of all the characters, I liked the Mortimers, Miss Taylor, and Charmian the most, as those who were willing to live with their own shortcomings, as well as with those of others. They were the most peaceful characters in
My copy is an example of how a depressing series (Time Magazine books) can still exhibit nice design.
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the book.My copy is an example of how a depressing series (Time Magazine books) can still exhibit nice design.
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LibraryThing member proustitute
A group of septuagenarians in late-1950s Britain are receiving upsetting phone calls: a man keeps harassing them, simply stating, "Remember, you must die." In Spark's hands, what would be a vehicle or device for a crime/thriller in the hands of someone like Agatha Christie instead becomes a tour de
Like Christie, Spark uses social banter to explore and criticize social issues; in Memento Mori, Spark brings postbellum anxieties about class, gender, and death to bear on relationships between individuals. Unlike Christie, Spark is not concerned with placing the mystery at the center of her novel. Instead, Spark creates an often laugh-out-loud funny—and often bewilderingly and staggeringly cruel—portrait of a close-knit group of people who are actually not all that close-knit at all.
Spark's scope here is phenomenal, as is her mixture of farce, politics, and drawing-room comedy of manners. One is often reminded of writers like James and Elizabeth Bowen when reading Spark: her razor-sharp wit, her combination of high-brow and low-brow comedy, and her ability to expose idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies in social interactions are what make Memento Mori work so well as an attack on a very real fear: the fear of death after having lived through the death of the world, twice over.
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force of social commentary.Like Christie, Spark uses social banter to explore and criticize social issues; in Memento Mori, Spark brings postbellum anxieties about class, gender, and death to bear on relationships between individuals. Unlike Christie, Spark is not concerned with placing the mystery at the center of her novel. Instead, Spark creates an often laugh-out-loud funny—and often bewilderingly and staggeringly cruel—portrait of a close-knit group of people who are actually not all that close-knit at all.
Spark's scope here is phenomenal, as is her mixture of farce, politics, and drawing-room comedy of manners. One is often reminded of writers like James and Elizabeth Bowen when reading Spark: her razor-sharp wit, her combination of high-brow and low-brow comedy, and her ability to expose idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies in social interactions are what make Memento Mori work so well as an attack on a very real fear: the fear of death after having lived through the death of the world, twice over.
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LibraryThing member ffortsa
Speaking of endings, we did have a discussion about Muriel Spark's [Memento Mori] - how appropriate. You can't get more aware of your own end than the people in this novel get, with some mysterious stranger or strangers whispering it in their ears every so often. I enjoyed the caustic descriptions
Spark wrote this soon after her conversion to Catholicism, and it shows in the one person who has come to accept her position and her end. That doesn't stop her from influencing others, but she has different motives.
It reads quickly, and lets the reader laugh at the foibles of others, but for the most part carries out the instructions of the title.
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of foolish people at the end of their lives, still fighting old fights. Those in care were just as determined to have an effect now, which they still could, and later, reaching back out of the grave. Spark wrote this soon after her conversion to Catholicism, and it shows in the one person who has come to accept her position and her end. That doesn't stop her from influencing others, but she has different motives.
It reads quickly, and lets the reader laugh at the foibles of others, but for the most part carries out the instructions of the title.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
/Dated, but still one of my all0-time favourites.
LibraryThing member birdsofparadise
How can you not enjoy a novel peppered with malicious, mean-minded and mad pensioners? The sweet old men and women in this book are frequently anything but - constantly scrutinising one another for signs of mental and physical deterioration whilst remaining stubbornly oblivious to their own
Mis-perception appears to be a running theme, with many of the strongest and sharpest characters seen by the others as feeble minded and inconsequential.
A joy from start to finish. Darkly amusing and occasionally poignantly moving, Memento Mori has left me eager to explore Spark's other work.
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shortcomings, blackmailing one another, simmering with old resentments, paranoid, lecherous, snobbish and scheming.Mis-perception appears to be a running theme, with many of the strongest and sharpest characters seen by the others as feeble minded and inconsequential.
A joy from start to finish. Darkly amusing and occasionally poignantly moving, Memento Mori has left me eager to explore Spark's other work.
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LibraryThing member craso
If you picked up the phone and someone said “Remember you must die” what would you think? Would you assume it was a prank? Maybe you would think it was a threat? Or would you take the callers advice and think about your mortality? That is the question posed by Muriel Spark in this novel. Each
Muriel Spark converted to Catholicism in 1954. It is mentioned frequently in the narrative that thinking over ones death each night is encouraged in this religion. There is a catechism that states “To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ.” This is based on the teachings of Paul who said that we must die daily. I am a non-denominational Christian and I had never heard this statement before. My interpretation was that we must remember that we must die so we make amends with those we have wronged.
My favorite character in the novel is Jean Taylor, a bedridden spinster living in a hospital. She is a part of the group of elderly acquaintances, but she is smarter and can watch the action without any emotion or attachment. The scene I liked best was when Charmian makes her own tea. She is a little old lady who has trouble remembering the name of her servants and can barely walk, yet when no one is around she finds the courage to set her own tea service. I was rooting for her and when she accomplished this herculean feat I thought she was awesome.
I enjoy Muriel Spark’s writing very much and this book did not disappoint. Her novels are short and easy to read, but they are packed with so much meaning. I enjoyed this philosophical character study and will continue to look for more of her novels to read.
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recipient of this phone call is an elderly person. They each interpret the words in a different way depending on their individual personalities. Most of them know one another and they all commiserate about the mysterious caller. Muriel Spark converted to Catholicism in 1954. It is mentioned frequently in the narrative that thinking over ones death each night is encouraged in this religion. There is a catechism that states “To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ.” This is based on the teachings of Paul who said that we must die daily. I am a non-denominational Christian and I had never heard this statement before. My interpretation was that we must remember that we must die so we make amends with those we have wronged.
My favorite character in the novel is Jean Taylor, a bedridden spinster living in a hospital. She is a part of the group of elderly acquaintances, but she is smarter and can watch the action without any emotion or attachment. The scene I liked best was when Charmian makes her own tea. She is a little old lady who has trouble remembering the name of her servants and can barely walk, yet when no one is around she finds the courage to set her own tea service. I was rooting for her and when she accomplished this herculean feat I thought she was awesome.
I enjoy Muriel Spark’s writing very much and this book did not disappoint. Her novels are short and easy to read, but they are packed with so much meaning. I enjoyed this philosophical character study and will continue to look for more of her novels to read.
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LibraryThing member tungsten_peerts
Insanely enjoyable. This is the second Spark novel I've read (the first was the astonishing, short and brutal The Driver's Seat). Memento Mori is dry, veddy British, very acerbic and mordant. Damnation is it funny. If you are offended by frank treatments of aging and its indignities, do NOT read
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this. It looks like a mystery, but it really isn't one. It's just fun. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Spark has her various characters work themselves up into a tizzy when they get a call telling them they have to die. This forces them to reflect on their past lives and wonder who is making the calls...ah, the sotted bitterness of it all!
LibraryThing member Matke
This an odd book.
A group of elderly (late sixties to late eighties) men and women, tied together by love, hate, old lusts, family, friendship, greed, and simple longevity begin to get unusual phone calls. “Remember you must die,” says a different voice to each character, over and over
The Stoics believed that it was wise to be ever conscious of one’s mortality in the hope that it would modify one’s behavior for the better, and would help one to realize that everything is ephemeral. Hence the title, which translates from Latin as “remember you must die.” The Stoics often carried a small signifier of this idea, usually a disk with an engraved skull or other key emblem of death.
There’s not of plot here, mostly the inevitable end of the characters, and how their impending death changes (or not) how they live. The book is character-driven. And this has proved a problem for some readers.
Many readers don’t like a book with unappealing characters since they can’t “relate” to them. It may very well be a fault in me, but I’m not bothered by that at all. The characters here are mostly quite nasty people, but I found them fascinating.
I think, though, I should have read this earlier—before I was so very close to being 70 myself.
A group of elderly (late sixties to late eighties) men and women, tied together by love, hate, old lusts, family, friendship, greed, and simple longevity begin to get unusual phone calls. “Remember you must die,” says a different voice to each character, over and over
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again.The Stoics believed that it was wise to be ever conscious of one’s mortality in the hope that it would modify one’s behavior for the better, and would help one to realize that everything is ephemeral. Hence the title, which translates from Latin as “remember you must die.” The Stoics often carried a small signifier of this idea, usually a disk with an engraved skull or other key emblem of death.
There’s not of plot here, mostly the inevitable end of the characters, and how their impending death changes (or not) how they live. The book is character-driven. And this has proved a problem for some readers.
Many readers don’t like a book with unappealing characters since they can’t “relate” to them. It may very well be a fault in me, but I’m not bothered by that at all. The characters here are mostly quite nasty people, but I found them fascinating.
I think, though, I should have read this earlier—before I was so very close to being 70 myself.
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LibraryThing member lkernagh
As the Latin title states, this book is about remembering your mortality, conveyed in a form and manner that only Spark can pull off with such witticism and comedy. Set in the time period for when Spark's wrote this one - 1950's London - the story concerns a group of upper middle class friends,
Deliciously peppered with dark humour and a very frank approach to the various viewpoints of old age, death and dying, Spark's writes as one with intimate, first hand knowledge and experience of what it feels like to be old and discarded by society as 'dotty' or otherwise well beyond their prime. No mean feat for someone who was only in her late 30's - early 40's when she wrote it! Spark's characters are always first rate. No half composed wooden stick figures here. Her ability to weave such an intricate plot of mysteries and secrets into this story of such fascinating individuals also deserves praise.
I chose to listen to this one on audiobook and after two failed starts where I let my mind wander, I managed to focus my attention enough to grasp all that Spark's has pack into this otherwise short book.
Overall, I probably would have had better success with this one if I had read the book instead if listening to the audiobook while out and about on errands.
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acquaintances and their respective and equally aged servants when Dame Lettie Colston starts to receive a series of mysterious phone calls, where the caller informs Lettie that "Remember you must die". Against this backdrop of sinister calls the reader enters the world of this eccentric mix of senior citizens. In fact, the only character not 50 years of age or older is young Olive Mannering, the granddaughter of the poet Percy Mannering, one of this senior set.Deliciously peppered with dark humour and a very frank approach to the various viewpoints of old age, death and dying, Spark's writes as one with intimate, first hand knowledge and experience of what it feels like to be old and discarded by society as 'dotty' or otherwise well beyond their prime. No mean feat for someone who was only in her late 30's - early 40's when she wrote it! Spark's characters are always first rate. No half composed wooden stick figures here. Her ability to weave such an intricate plot of mysteries and secrets into this story of such fascinating individuals also deserves praise.
I chose to listen to this one on audiobook and after two failed starts where I let my mind wander, I managed to focus my attention enough to grasp all that Spark's has pack into this otherwise short book.
Overall, I probably would have had better success with this one if I had read the book instead if listening to the audiobook while out and about on errands.
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LibraryThing member LARA335
On the cover Julian Barnes describes Memento Mori as 'one of the great British novels of the last fifty years'. I am obviously missing something. A gentle 'comic' novel about a group of old people, none of whom said or did anything interesting. Read for a book group, and I'm glad there were only
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226 pages to endure. Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Reading 'Memento Mori' made me a little sad, as it so reminded me of my grandmother, who passed away seven years ago. It also tired me somewhat: a story whose characters all face imminent death through old age, and the sufferings they endure as they grapple with their decreasing faculties.
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Fortunately, Spark's fine writing shows through as always, and the characters are always true to themselves. Otherwise, this could have been a depressing chore of a book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Brasidas
A circle of elderly people in 1950s London are regularly phoned by a stranger who says only 'Remember you must die' before hanging up. There is Charmian, whose popular novels are undergoing a resurgence of public interest. There is her husband, Godfrey Colston, the brewery magnate, now retired,
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whose adulteries never seem to go further than a fugitive glimpse of certain ladies' stockings and garter clip. There is Percy Mannering, the slobbering old poet and grandfather of 23 year old Olive Mannering, one of Godfrey's "whores." There is Eric Colston, the son, a loser, who may be based on Spark's own son Robin. There is Alec Warner who keeps up a torrent of note-taking and record-keeping of the circle's activities to no apparent end. There is the late libidinous Lisa Brooke whose fortune might go to any number of individuals. There is retired Inspector Mortimer with the bad heart and philosophical disposition who views the so-called hoax calls as coming from "Death himself." There is the avaricious old servant Mrs. Pettigrew who is blackmailing Godfrey with his old adulteries. This dark comedy is a wonder of economy and judicious patterning. It was published in 1959 and has aged remarkably well; one might say its ageless, as all true classics are. It can at times be enormously laugh out loud funny, but the writing is always impressive. Show Less
LibraryThing member TTAISI-Editor
This is a subtle but fierce book, the kind of story that sneaks up on you and then, like one of the protagonists, gives you a firm whack on the head. Spark's writing is terse, clipped--but incredibly expressive for that. In 224 pages you're roped into the lives of this elderly cast of characters,
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and tightly bound; by the end, you don't want to let go, even as they all do. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kasthu
In Mememto Mori, a group of senior citizens unite after a mysterious person keeps calling to say, “remember you must die.” The phone calls are secondary to the plot, but they serve as a catalyst to the rest of the story, which involves love affairs, blackmail, and death for some.
In a novel
It’s hard to believe that Muriel Spark was only middle-aged when she wrote this novel, because she writes about her characters so well! I love that Muriel Spark was such a versatile writer—she can go from writing about young women in their 20s living in a boarding house in The Girls of Slender Means to writing about the elderly in Memento Mori. It’s such a macabre book, but there are some truly funny moments in it. As a reader in her 20s, I enjoyed this novel much more than I thought I would!
In a novel
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where “young” is someone in their 50s, everyone is obsessed with life, death, age, aging, and everything that comes with those things. At the ages that these characters are, they can’t help BUT remember that they will, at some point, die. There’s a neat technique to this novel in which, although the bulk of the story takes place in 1950s London, there are shifts back to things that happened in the 1920s and the turn of the century, so it’s interesting to see how this group of people has aged—some better than others. These were people whose adulthood covered most of the early 20th century, so it’s interesting to watch things change through their eyes.It’s hard to believe that Muriel Spark was only middle-aged when she wrote this novel, because she writes about her characters so well! I love that Muriel Spark was such a versatile writer—she can go from writing about young women in their 20s living in a boarding house in The Girls of Slender Means to writing about the elderly in Memento Mori. It’s such a macabre book, but there are some truly funny moments in it. As a reader in her 20s, I enjoyed this novel much more than I thought I would!
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
While I was not fond of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, several people recommended I read another Murial Spark book and the most recommended was Memento Mori. For which I'm grateful, because I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The story revolves around a group of the elder, each of whom exists in various
Throughout the book, too, is the interesting mystery of the caller, who rings up various people in the book (if they are over 70) and tells them, "Remember you must die." Eerie and yet poignant, because young or old, we all must die, and each character reacts to this reminder quite differently. As the book went on, I think I was more fond those who were calm about this message than those who attempted to rail against it.
This book looked a quite a lot of fascinating themes and Spark's sparse, abrupt style worked well. While I didn't necessarily love any of the characters, I liked them in general and found them interesting. Overall a quick and enjoyable read, which leaves me wanting to pick up more of Spark's work.
Footnote: After finishing this book, I can't help but think again about how format impacts the reading of a book (at least for me). For example, Miss Jean Brodie was an audio book and Memento Mori was in hardback. It may be that Spark's style works better on the page than when read. I don't know, but I run into this from time to time, and now I'm wondering if I might not have enjoyed Miss Jean Brodie if I had read it in print.
The story revolves around a group of the elder, each of whom exists in various
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states of mental and physical health. I think young people (being anyone under 70, I suppose, including myself) can tend to forget that grandparents and elders have lives and dramas, mysteries and betrayals, friendships and affairs. Maybe this is because we are too wrapped up in our own dramas and assume that live gets quieter as one gets older. But this book is certainly a reminder that just because one gets old doesn't mean life gets simpler. Throughout the book, too, is the interesting mystery of the caller, who rings up various people in the book (if they are over 70) and tells them, "Remember you must die." Eerie and yet poignant, because young or old, we all must die, and each character reacts to this reminder quite differently. As the book went on, I think I was more fond those who were calm about this message than those who attempted to rail against it.
This book looked a quite a lot of fascinating themes and Spark's sparse, abrupt style worked well. While I didn't necessarily love any of the characters, I liked them in general and found them interesting. Overall a quick and enjoyable read, which leaves me wanting to pick up more of Spark's work.
Footnote: After finishing this book, I can't help but think again about how format impacts the reading of a book (at least for me). For example, Miss Jean Brodie was an audio book and Memento Mori was in hardback. It may be that Spark's style works better on the page than when read. I don't know, but I run into this from time to time, and now I'm wondering if I might not have enjoyed Miss Jean Brodie if I had read it in print.
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LibraryThing member nightjar
This is Spark's biting and bitchy take on old age. A comic novel in which the shadow of death looms large. As the characters' bodies and minds fail they receive anonymous phone calls saying "remember you must die" sparking hilariously varying reactions. Black humour at its best. The irreplaceable
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Spark. Show Less
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
A great novel about a somewhat neglected subject - old age. A someone who is fast approaching that state and who loves good literature this novel is a welcome addition to my reading experience. Highly recommended for all lovers of the modern novel.
LibraryThing member copyedit52
Acerbically humorous and insightful book about old people--seventy is the entry age to this club in Memento Mori--aging, dementia, nagging aches and pains, rewriting and vying to get into last testament wills, built around a crank or maybe not so crank phone call.
LibraryThing member LoMa
An oddly funny and human, and humane, novel about aging and facing death. Far more good-natured and optimistic than most of Spark's novels.
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1959
ISBN
9781405530507