Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Virago Press Ltd (2009), Paperback, 272 pages
Description
Belinda and Harriet Bede live together in a small English village. Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with Henry Hoccleve-the poetry-spouting, married archdeacon of their church-for thirty years. Belinda's much more confident, forthright younger sister Harriet, meanwhile, is ardently pursued by Count Ricardo Bianco. Although she has turned down every marriageable man who proposes, Harriet still welcomes any new curate with dinner parties and flirtatious conversation. And one of the newest arrivals, the reverend Edgar Donne, has everyone talking. A warm, affectionate depiction of a postwar English village, Some Tame Gazelle perfectly captures the quotidian details that make up everyday life. With its vibrant supporting cast, it's also a poignant story of unrequited love.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Re-reading Barbara Pym is another of those pleasures that one feels one should ration out: I'm not sure why I allowed myself this one, but it's almost a year since the spell in hospital that was my excuse for the last re-reading session.
This one, of course, is Pym's first published novel, and like
It's conceptually difficult fitting the book into a time-slot — possibly why some people describe it as "timeless". Pym originally completed it in 1935, but failed to find a publisher at the time, then revised it after the war and finally got Jonathan Cape to publish it in 1950. However, the book as originally conceived is also in part a projection of herself and her friends into an imagined future twenty or thirty years hence. What is clear is that we aren't supposed to read it as though it's set in 1950. Middle-class ladies of a certain age still employ servants, overseas travel is freely possible, Carlsbad is still called Carlsbad, Africa is still firmly colonial, and there is no hint of economic crisis and rationing. In fact, the characters talk so incessantly about food and clothes that one feels the book could only have been written during a time of hunger and shortages. All this is rather reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse's books of the same period. The depressing modern world is something that has no place in escapist literature.
On the other hand, we encounter the curate's underwear in the first sentence of the book, there are all sorts of jokes about people being offended by the mention of lavatories, and the "reinforced" corsets Harriet is sewing are forever being stuffed under sofa cushions when unexpected visitors arrive. There are characters who may (or may not) be gay. We are constantly being teased with the possibility of impropriety lurking below the surface of village life. If Pym is playing for the role of new Jane Austen here, it is with her tongue firmly in her cheek.
This one, of course, is Pym's first published novel, and like
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Crampton Hodnet it has a largely circular form: curates are treated as a renewable resource, and the main characters are in much the same situation at the end of the book as they were at the beginning. As so often in Pym, the central theme is the pleasure of having someone to love, contrasted with the inconvenience that would result if one were obliged to live with the person one loves. The story is presented in a setting that is positively Jane Austenish in its compression (Belinda and Harriet's house, the vicarage, the church, and an occasional glimpse at the village street in between). It's conceptually difficult fitting the book into a time-slot — possibly why some people describe it as "timeless". Pym originally completed it in 1935, but failed to find a publisher at the time, then revised it after the war and finally got Jonathan Cape to publish it in 1950. However, the book as originally conceived is also in part a projection of herself and her friends into an imagined future twenty or thirty years hence. What is clear is that we aren't supposed to read it as though it's set in 1950. Middle-class ladies of a certain age still employ servants, overseas travel is freely possible, Carlsbad is still called Carlsbad, Africa is still firmly colonial, and there is no hint of economic crisis and rationing. In fact, the characters talk so incessantly about food and clothes that one feels the book could only have been written during a time of hunger and shortages. All this is rather reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse's books of the same period. The depressing modern world is something that has no place in escapist literature.
On the other hand, we encounter the curate's underwear in the first sentence of the book, there are all sorts of jokes about people being offended by the mention of lavatories, and the "reinforced" corsets Harriet is sewing are forever being stuffed under sofa cushions when unexpected visitors arrive. There are characters who may (or may not) be gay. We are constantly being teased with the possibility of impropriety lurking below the surface of village life. If Pym is playing for the role of new Jane Austen here, it is with her tongue firmly in her cheek.
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LibraryThing member rainpebble
"Some tame gazelle, or some gentle dove:
Something to love, oh, something to love!
Quoted from page 17 of my edition of Some Tame Gazelle.
I would call this a little comfy, cozy book and in the proper place and time I certainly do enjoy them as I did this one.
The spinster sisters Harriet and Belinda
They, each one, had/have their chance at marriage but choose to remain spinsters sharing a home with a day girl as help. They are very comfortable in their lives in the gossipy little village deciding what to have for tea and dinner each day and when to invite the curate for tea or dinner.
This is a little book in which not much of anything happens. Oh there is a wedding and a church garden party, etc. But we, for the most part, end up back where we began. In the little comfy, cozy home of the spinster sisters awaiting the next bit of gossip or the new curate coming for Sunday dinner.
I quite liked the characters of this little book, excepting that of the archdeacon. I found him to be pompous, enamored with himself, rather cold and hurtful, but he did have a rightful place in the story. Had it not been for this character so many of the bits would not have been in place nor fallen into place.
I enjoyed this read, recommend it for one in need of a comfy, cozy, easy read. You will enjoy it with a nice cup of tea. I rated it 3 1/2 stars.
Something to love, oh, something to love!
Quoted from page 17 of my edition of Some Tame Gazelle.
I would call this a little comfy, cozy book and in the proper place and time I certainly do enjoy them as I did this one.
The spinster sisters Harriet and Belinda
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live in a small village where it does seem that everyone knows everyone. Their world revolves around their churches, church life and especially the curates, archdeacons, and bishops. Harriet is much enraptured by the local curate whomever it may be at the time while Belinda is much more good works oriented.They, each one, had/have their chance at marriage but choose to remain spinsters sharing a home with a day girl as help. They are very comfortable in their lives in the gossipy little village deciding what to have for tea and dinner each day and when to invite the curate for tea or dinner.
This is a little book in which not much of anything happens. Oh there is a wedding and a church garden party, etc. But we, for the most part, end up back where we began. In the little comfy, cozy home of the spinster sisters awaiting the next bit of gossip or the new curate coming for Sunday dinner.
I quite liked the characters of this little book, excepting that of the archdeacon. I found him to be pompous, enamored with himself, rather cold and hurtful, but he did have a rightful place in the story. Had it not been for this character so many of the bits would not have been in place nor fallen into place.
I enjoyed this read, recommend it for one in need of a comfy, cozy, easy read. You will enjoy it with a nice cup of tea. I rated it 3 1/2 stars.
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LibraryThing member Kasthu
Some Tame Gazelle was Barbara Pym’s first novel. Her writing style is rather quaint and old-fashioned, which is probably why her books fell out of fashion, but it’s the quaintness that makes this novel so good. Some Tame Gazelle is less polished than some of Pym’s later novels (such as
This one is set in a tiny village and focuses on the life of two spinsters in late middle age, Harriet and Belinda Bede. There’s a new, young curate in the village for whom Harriet develops a fondness; her sister has an unrequited love for the vicar, whose wife doesn’t love him. Added to this is a pompous Archdeacon and an Italian count who frequently proposes marriage to Harriet. As I’ve said, this book isn’t quite as refined as some of Pym’s later books, but you can see hints of what’s to come. Pym has a wicked sense of humor when talking about her characters, poking fun at them in a very backhanded kind of way.
Pym has frequently been described as a 20th-century Jane Austen, and it’s easy to see where the comparison comes from. Pym had a way of getting to the heart of her characters in describing them in just a few sentences. I wish that Barbara Pym’s novels would stop coming into print and then back out, because she’s such a timeless, classic author. There’s not much “action in her novels, and sometimes she goes overboard with the literary quotes and references, but her novels are a smashing good read—every one of them, at least, that I’ve read.
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Excellent Women or Jane and Prudence), but it shares some of the same themes.This one is set in a tiny village and focuses on the life of two spinsters in late middle age, Harriet and Belinda Bede. There’s a new, young curate in the village for whom Harriet develops a fondness; her sister has an unrequited love for the vicar, whose wife doesn’t love him. Added to this is a pompous Archdeacon and an Italian count who frequently proposes marriage to Harriet. As I’ve said, this book isn’t quite as refined as some of Pym’s later books, but you can see hints of what’s to come. Pym has a wicked sense of humor when talking about her characters, poking fun at them in a very backhanded kind of way.
Pym has frequently been described as a 20th-century Jane Austen, and it’s easy to see where the comparison comes from. Pym had a way of getting to the heart of her characters in describing them in just a few sentences. I wish that Barbara Pym’s novels would stop coming into print and then back out, because she’s such a timeless, classic author. There’s not much “action in her novels, and sometimes she goes overboard with the literary quotes and references, but her novels are a smashing good read—every one of them, at least, that I’ve read.
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LibraryThing member SandDune
This seems archetypal Barbara Pym country: a small village somewhere in the south of England, middle-aged spinsters, archdeacons and curates, all very middle-class with not very much happening outside of the church bazaar and afternoon tea. Belinda and Harriet are the two spinsters in question
This is a very gentle book, and while it pokes fun at the behaviour of its characters it isn’t done with malice. Even the Archdeacon, who must be hell to be married to, comes off relatively lightly. In my opinion it lacks the acerbic wit that [Excellent Women] has, and is a lesser book for that reason. The book was published in 1950 but written in the 1930’s and it shows: this is clearly the period between the wars when middle-class (but not wealthy ladies) still had live in servants and took tea religiously at 4pm every day. Quintessentially English I suppose, although when a book is described as that it is always a very specific Englishness that is meant, that excludes whole swathes of the countryside and the population. So a quiet and pleasant read, but certainly would not be my favourite of her novels.
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here, both unmarried although certainly Harriet has had numerous offers, which still continue even though she is in her fifties, with her close friend Ricardo, a neighbour who just happens to be an Italian count, proposing on a regular basis. But Harriet enjoys her single life as long as she has a succession of curates to dote on, and as the vicar of the parish, Archdeacon Hoccleve, is notoriously lazy, he always has a curate in tow for her to admire. But it is her sister Belinda who is the real focus of this book: Belinda, who has adored Archdeacon Hoccleve since they were students together, when her hopes of marriage were dashed by the more dashing and determined Agatha, the current Mrs Hoccleve. But not even their closest friends would say it was a marriage made in heaven, and Agatha’s departure for Germany to ‘take the waters’ throws Belinda and the Archdeacon together rather more than they have been accustomed to …This is a very gentle book, and while it pokes fun at the behaviour of its characters it isn’t done with malice. Even the Archdeacon, who must be hell to be married to, comes off relatively lightly. In my opinion it lacks the acerbic wit that [Excellent Women] has, and is a lesser book for that reason. The book was published in 1950 but written in the 1930’s and it shows: this is clearly the period between the wars when middle-class (but not wealthy ladies) still had live in servants and took tea religiously at 4pm every day. Quintessentially English I suppose, although when a book is described as that it is always a very specific Englishness that is meant, that excludes whole swathes of the countryside and the population. So a quiet and pleasant read, but certainly would not be my favourite of her novels.
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LibraryThing member Porius
I read STG just after Reggie Oliver's biography of his aunt Stella Gibbons. Much was said about Reggie's aunt's two sides: romantic/literary, non-romantic/common sense side. Much was made also of Stella's stern housekeeping methods and her vigilance about keeping everything just so, in a word,
To the story. The distinguished looking literary Archdeacon read from Sir Thomas Browne's (1605-1682) URN BURIAL. The florid prose sailed straight over the heads of the dowdy spinsters, who came reluctantly to his services, decked in what they thought was their sunday finest. He wished for the more 'shiny' church goers who attended Father Plowman's , even one of the local titled sorts chose Plowman's services over those of the bloviating Archdeacon.
Reasons. The Archdeacon was a swell and the padre was plain as a pikestaff. Plowman was loved by his flock and one Christmas he was given many more pairs of slippers than he could use. With typical generosity he gave a pair to his rival. Of course they were a size too small, though the narrator doesn't tell us if Plowman was aware they were a size too small. We do know that the humble padre felt that the great man got above himself every now and then.
Here is the Archdeacon at his best:
The Archdeacon had been visiting a rich parishioner, who was thought to be dying. The poor were much too frightened of their vicar to regard him as being of any possible comfort to the sick, but the Archdeacon liked to think of himself as fulfilling some of the duties of a parish priest and there was something about a deathbed that appealed his sense of the dramatic. He had also taken the opportunity of visiting the workhouse that afternoon and was altogether in a pleasant state of melancholy.
'When I visit these people,' he said affectedly with his head on one side, 'I am reminded of Gray's Elegy." He began to quote:
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way,
The Archdeacon is all quotation and no dust-mop. Belinda Bede, one of the spinster sisters has not a deaf ear to poetry and argues that academic research is not all.
George Herbert's lines:
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine,
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and the action fine.
'Yes they are comforting,' Belinda agreed. 'And yet,' she went on unhappily, 'I don't sweep rooms, Emily does that. The things I do seem rather useless, but I suppose it could be applied to any action of everyday life, really.'
Later there's a telling little bit about the Apes of Brazil. The Archdeacon hadn't much time for them but father Plowman like Jenny Wrenn knew their ways.
'I don't remember anything about the Apes of Brazil,' said Belinda anxiously, for the darning of the sock was an all-engrossing occupation.
'Do you mean what I said that afternoon we met in the village?' asked Harriet. 'That's not a question, that's natural history.' She laughed delightedly.
The Archdeacon seemed surprised and Harriet began to explain.
'It's quite simple, really,' she said. 'When the Apes of Brazil beat their chests with their hands or paws, or whatever apes have, you can hear the sound two miles away.'
'Oh Harriet,' said Belinda, as if reproving a child, 'surely not two miles? You must be mistaken.'
'Two miles,' said Harriet firmly. 'Father Plowman told me.'
The Archdeacon laughed scornfully at this.
The passage finishes with this:
'I cannot imagine what the subject of it can have been? said the Archdeacon, 'and I did not know that Plowman had ever been to Brazil.'
'You said something about sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo,' said Harriet, so I naturally thought of the Apes of Brazil.
SOME TAME GAZELLE is the first book that I read of Pym's, and I look forward to looking into the others.
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nice. We hear also much about clothes and fashions, something near and dear to Gibbons' heart.To the story. The distinguished looking literary Archdeacon read from Sir Thomas Browne's (1605-1682) URN BURIAL. The florid prose sailed straight over the heads of the dowdy spinsters, who came reluctantly to his services, decked in what they thought was their sunday finest. He wished for the more 'shiny' church goers who attended Father Plowman's , even one of the local titled sorts chose Plowman's services over those of the bloviating Archdeacon.
Reasons. The Archdeacon was a swell and the padre was plain as a pikestaff. Plowman was loved by his flock and one Christmas he was given many more pairs of slippers than he could use. With typical generosity he gave a pair to his rival. Of course they were a size too small, though the narrator doesn't tell us if Plowman was aware they were a size too small. We do know that the humble padre felt that the great man got above himself every now and then.
Here is the Archdeacon at his best:
The Archdeacon had been visiting a rich parishioner, who was thought to be dying. The poor were much too frightened of their vicar to regard him as being of any possible comfort to the sick, but the Archdeacon liked to think of himself as fulfilling some of the duties of a parish priest and there was something about a deathbed that appealed his sense of the dramatic. He had also taken the opportunity of visiting the workhouse that afternoon and was altogether in a pleasant state of melancholy.
'When I visit these people,' he said affectedly with his head on one side, 'I am reminded of Gray's Elegy." He began to quote:
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way,
The Archdeacon is all quotation and no dust-mop. Belinda Bede, one of the spinster sisters has not a deaf ear to poetry and argues that academic research is not all.
George Herbert's lines:
A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine,
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and the action fine.
'Yes they are comforting,' Belinda agreed. 'And yet,' she went on unhappily, 'I don't sweep rooms, Emily does that. The things I do seem rather useless, but I suppose it could be applied to any action of everyday life, really.'
Later there's a telling little bit about the Apes of Brazil. The Archdeacon hadn't much time for them but father Plowman like Jenny Wrenn knew their ways.
'I don't remember anything about the Apes of Brazil,' said Belinda anxiously, for the darning of the sock was an all-engrossing occupation.
'Do you mean what I said that afternoon we met in the village?' asked Harriet. 'That's not a question, that's natural history.' She laughed delightedly.
The Archdeacon seemed surprised and Harriet began to explain.
'It's quite simple, really,' she said. 'When the Apes of Brazil beat their chests with their hands or paws, or whatever apes have, you can hear the sound two miles away.'
'Oh Harriet,' said Belinda, as if reproving a child, 'surely not two miles? You must be mistaken.'
'Two miles,' said Harriet firmly. 'Father Plowman told me.'
The Archdeacon laughed scornfully at this.
The passage finishes with this:
'I cannot imagine what the subject of it can have been? said the Archdeacon, 'and I did not know that Plowman had ever been to Brazil.'
'You said something about sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo,' said Harriet, so I naturally thought of the Apes of Brazil.
SOME TAME GAZELLE is the first book that I read of Pym's, and I look forward to looking into the others.
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LibraryThing member AMQS
"His hand reached the knob simultaneously with hers. For one panic-stricken moment she even imagined that it lingered for a fraction of a second, but then dismissed the unworthy thought almost before it had time to register in her mind. She was in an agitated state, and she had read somewhere that
This is a character-driven book depicting the quiet lives of the inhabitants of a small English village in the 1930s, and is told both with melancholy and with biting humor. The book is delightful, following two middle-aged spinsters: the sisters Belinda and Harriet Bede, who live together. Belinda is timid and very sensible. She has been quietly in love with the married archdeacon of their church for nearly 30 years. Her sister Harriet is outgoing, bubbly, and a little ridiculous, delighting in welcoming any new curate with flirtatious ministrations. Their daily lives and interactions with friends and neighbors are lovingly recounted.
"When the day came for Agatha to go away, Belinda and Harriet watched her departure out of Belinda’s bedroom window. From here there was an excellent view of the vicarage drive and gate. Belinda had brought some brass with her to clean and in the intervals when she stopped her vigorous rubbing to look out the window, was careful to display the duster in her hand. Harriet stared out quite unashamedly, with nothing in her hand to excuse her presence there. She even had a pair of binoculars, which she was now trying to focus."
I loved it, and look forward to more Barbara Pym!
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in any case middle-aged spinsters were apt to imagine things of this kind…"This is a character-driven book depicting the quiet lives of the inhabitants of a small English village in the 1930s, and is told both with melancholy and with biting humor. The book is delightful, following two middle-aged spinsters: the sisters Belinda and Harriet Bede, who live together. Belinda is timid and very sensible. She has been quietly in love with the married archdeacon of their church for nearly 30 years. Her sister Harriet is outgoing, bubbly, and a little ridiculous, delighting in welcoming any new curate with flirtatious ministrations. Their daily lives and interactions with friends and neighbors are lovingly recounted.
"When the day came for Agatha to go away, Belinda and Harriet watched her departure out of Belinda’s bedroom window. From here there was an excellent view of the vicarage drive and gate. Belinda had brought some brass with her to clean and in the intervals when she stopped her vigorous rubbing to look out the window, was careful to display the duster in her hand. Harriet stared out quite unashamedly, with nothing in her hand to excuse her presence there. She even had a pair of binoculars, which she was now trying to focus."
I loved it, and look forward to more Barbara Pym!
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LibraryThing member LukeS
Jane Austen said of her novels concerned themselves with “two inches of ivory,” in which everything is so small that everything matters almost too much. Much the same can be said, and I’m sure has been said, about Barbara Pym’s novels. Setting them in rural England, Pym concerns herself
“Some Tame Gazelle,” which, when I started reading, I had no idea was the first of Pym’s published novels, illuminates the concerns of Belinda and Harriet Bede, sisters of a certain age. These sisters live near the village vicarage and its inhabitants - the dear Archdeacon Hoccleve and his wife, and the tender curate, just ordained and on his first assignment. The sisters have perhaps more offers of marriage than one might expect - certainly they don’t expect them. The touch is frequently arch, as we’re expected to be in on the joke when the sisters make fun of people, or react with shock to unexpected behavior. The contrast between the sisters is amusing and endearing; the narrative is given by Belinda, the older, less interesting and purportedly less attractive, of the two.
The surname Bede strikes me as a wink and a nudge. The resident archdeacon quotes too much literature from obscure English poets, delivers sermons based on obscure secular texts, and expects his parishioners to comprehend obscure points derived therefrom. Or says he does. Belinda herself, loving and loyal to the Archdeacon, is no stranger to English literature, and she knows the difference between a poet worthy of mention and other, less suitable poets.
So: men, suitable and unsuitable, arrive in the village and cause a stir among the sisters and the other women; some make unwelcome marriage proposals to one or the other sister, and these cause major shifts in emotion, outlook, memory, and mood, at least in Belinda. You will not find action or much mystery or any life or death here. I revere Pym for her humor, the style and substance of which she shares more than a little with Austen’s. As delightful as this is, I might suggest “Excellent Women” (1952), or “Quartet in Autumn” (1977) as more accomplished offerings, and perhaps more worth your while. I can assure you of a gentle touch, a little melancholy, wonderful, well-meaning characters, and the consistent charm of a wise storyteller who finds herself arching an eyebrow at the behavior she observes in the world.
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with the lives of proper English women, who have lived to a riper age then Austen’s heroines, and who live lives closely circumscribed by faith and close-knit village society. “Some Tame Gazelle,” which, when I started reading, I had no idea was the first of Pym’s published novels, illuminates the concerns of Belinda and Harriet Bede, sisters of a certain age. These sisters live near the village vicarage and its inhabitants - the dear Archdeacon Hoccleve and his wife, and the tender curate, just ordained and on his first assignment. The sisters have perhaps more offers of marriage than one might expect - certainly they don’t expect them. The touch is frequently arch, as we’re expected to be in on the joke when the sisters make fun of people, or react with shock to unexpected behavior. The contrast between the sisters is amusing and endearing; the narrative is given by Belinda, the older, less interesting and purportedly less attractive, of the two.
The surname Bede strikes me as a wink and a nudge. The resident archdeacon quotes too much literature from obscure English poets, delivers sermons based on obscure secular texts, and expects his parishioners to comprehend obscure points derived therefrom. Or says he does. Belinda herself, loving and loyal to the Archdeacon, is no stranger to English literature, and she knows the difference between a poet worthy of mention and other, less suitable poets.
So: men, suitable and unsuitable, arrive in the village and cause a stir among the sisters and the other women; some make unwelcome marriage proposals to one or the other sister, and these cause major shifts in emotion, outlook, memory, and mood, at least in Belinda. You will not find action or much mystery or any life or death here. I revere Pym for her humor, the style and substance of which she shares more than a little with Austen’s. As delightful as this is, I might suggest “Excellent Women” (1952), or “Quartet in Autumn” (1977) as more accomplished offerings, and perhaps more worth your while. I can assure you of a gentle touch, a little melancholy, wonderful, well-meaning characters, and the consistent charm of a wise storyteller who finds herself arching an eyebrow at the behavior she observes in the world.
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LibraryThing member tloeffler
Sisters Belinda and Harriet Bede are spinsters in a small town. Belinda, the more sensible and quiet, still loves the archdeacon, a former beau, now married. Harriet, plump, flashier, and definitely not quiet, has a "thing" for young curates. It's fun and a little poignant to watch as they carry on
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with their village lives, pining over what they can't have, and ignoring the things they could have. A pleasant little story. Show Less
LibraryThing member veracite
A book in the glorious British tradition of gentle village comedy inhabited by the full range of spinsters, clergymen and a melancholic, romantic count.
LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
It’s truly difficult to explain to others my love for Barbara Pym novels, as I feel they’re either understood or they’re not. I wanted to reread this since it’s the 70th anniversary of its publication this year (1950-2020), even though Pym started it almost two decades before that.
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Listening to the audiobook was delightful, and the narrator Mary Sarah sounds like she was born to read Pym. My spinster love starts here with Belinda and Harriet, although I’m forever grateful not to have to deal with any decades-old unrequited love. A favorite here: “...who would change a comfortable life of spinsterhood in a country parish, which always had its pale curate to be cherished, for the unknown trials of matrimony?” Show Less
LibraryThing member Miro
I agree with previous reviews that Barbara Pym's novel follows a "Pride and Prejudice" theme but with more subtlety and very fine observation. After finishing the book I felt that I knew these people and their village (or at least the "society" part of it) and thankfully (as with Jane Austen) the
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writer isn't troubled by the modern egalitarian obligation. Servants open and shut doors and cook the meals without becoming central characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member janeajones
I can't say this is one of my favorite books. It's the first Pym I've read, and based on this one, I'm not sure I'm interested in another -- though I am open to discussion. Maybe it's just too village-English for this American. But where are the young people (with the exception of the curate), the
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children, the old people, the eccentrics? -- it seems to be just a collection of stuffy middle aged spinsters, bachelors, and one sort-of unhappily married couple. And little besides eating and church fairs occur. Wish I had enjoyed the humor that so many of Pym's readers relish -- I guess it just didn't do it for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
I found myself needing some light, comforting reading and for that I often turn to Barbara Pym. I was not disappointed. This novel follows a brief time span in the life of two middle aged spinster sisters. Despite their age and the expectation that since they are in their 50s their love lives
Not my favorite Pym novel, but enjoyable none the less.
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should be over, both sisters still take an active interest in the men around them and have love interests of their own. Most of the book revolves around these relationships.Not my favorite Pym novel, but enjoyable none the less.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Harriet and Belinda Bede are spinster sisters in an English village, both of a certain age. The more outgoing Harriet has a passion for curates. Luckily for her, there's a new curate in town. The elder and more reserved Belinda is not-so-secretly in love with the archdeacon. They seem to have been
As is typical for Pym, her central characters are women whose unmarried state and social class limit their income and employment opportunities. Their university educations did not lead to careers. Their daily occupations are prescribed by the social expectations for women of their station and their duties as churchwomen. Pym's perceptive descriptions of a small parish and its inhabitants make entertaining reading and provide a lot of food for thought.
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something more than friends in their university days, but he ended up marrying bishop's daughter Agatha. Agatha's trip to the Continent without the archdeacon is a catalyst for unexpected opportunities for the Bede sisters.As is typical for Pym, her central characters are women whose unmarried state and social class limit their income and employment opportunities. Their university educations did not lead to careers. Their daily occupations are prescribed by the social expectations for women of their station and their duties as churchwomen. Pym's perceptive descriptions of a small parish and its inhabitants make entertaining reading and provide a lot of food for thought.
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LibraryThing member skwoodiwis
Some Tame Gazelle
By Barbara Pym
Ms Pym’s first novel published in England. Though I cannot say I enjoyed it as much as her other novels – I must be honest and say – I’ve struggled reading anything lately.
I have been very distracted lately. I read some pages, dropped the book, picked them
Sure enough . No I’m not cured but the resentments are more recognizable. When a blemish is found and recognized easier vanquished.
Enough about the reader – how about what she read?
For Pym fans – you of course have to read it – if first trying out Ms. Pym – no don’t start here.
There is a resignation about the book and a joy in deciding to love despite that love being rejected. Many hail the book because it is about two contented spinsters – very happy to stay unmarried and content in their village life.
Now creating a novel that has you cheering on a chaste life style is not something that is easily done – and perhaps that is too crass – yes it is but I’ll let it remain. I will say in true Pym fashion – not one hero remains. Each man, suitor or former lover is somehow diminished but in a more loving fashion – there are no dredging of hurts and anguish but a reflection of the present state of mind – yes heart ache is real but softened to by the contentment of life despite disappointment. A love that was undeserved, a deep, heartfelt love that one over looked created an ending that left me yearning for their continued state of existence. I will say that has only happened to me once – with Mr. Sherlock Homes and his faithful friend Dr. J Watson. When low and frightened I return always to Baker Street and 1888 – and here too I have sisters Belinda and Harriet to contemplate.
By Barbara Pym
Ms Pym’s first novel published in England. Though I cannot say I enjoyed it as much as her other novels – I must be honest and say – I’ve struggled reading anything lately.
I have been very distracted lately. I read some pages, dropped the book, picked them
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back up and thought now “who is who?” Finally last night, after sipping wine with my mother and crying on her shoulder for some time – I decided that Ms. Pym is what the doctor ordered.Sure enough . No I’m not cured but the resentments are more recognizable. When a blemish is found and recognized easier vanquished.
Enough about the reader – how about what she read?
For Pym fans – you of course have to read it – if first trying out Ms. Pym – no don’t start here.
There is a resignation about the book and a joy in deciding to love despite that love being rejected. Many hail the book because it is about two contented spinsters – very happy to stay unmarried and content in their village life.
Now creating a novel that has you cheering on a chaste life style is not something that is easily done – and perhaps that is too crass – yes it is but I’ll let it remain. I will say in true Pym fashion – not one hero remains. Each man, suitor or former lover is somehow diminished but in a more loving fashion – there are no dredging of hurts and anguish but a reflection of the present state of mind – yes heart ache is real but softened to by the contentment of life despite disappointment. A love that was undeserved, a deep, heartfelt love that one over looked created an ending that left me yearning for their continued state of existence. I will say that has only happened to me once – with Mr. Sherlock Homes and his faithful friend Dr. J Watson. When low and frightened I return always to Baker Street and 1888 – and here too I have sisters Belinda and Harriet to contemplate.
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LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
The main characters are Harriet and Belinda Bede, two middle aged spinsters sisters who live together. Belinda is thin, plain and been in love with the town's vicar since she was at college with him. Harriet is chubby, bubbly and coquettish and has a soft spot for young curates. They have lived
I don't remember where I got the book, but I figure I picked it up due to the blurb on the back cover. Barbara Pym's name hit a chord and it is set in England. It isn't a mystery, but rather a view into the small village life and the people in it.
It was a book not to be rushed through, but to take time and savour the subtleness of the descriptions of the characters, their personalities and thoughts, the way life moved in the village setting and just Pym's over all style of writing.
I think I'll keep my eye out for more of her work.
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their entire lives in a small English village.I don't remember where I got the book, but I figure I picked it up due to the blurb on the back cover. Barbara Pym's name hit a chord and it is set in England. It isn't a mystery, but rather a view into the small village life and the people in it.
It was a book not to be rushed through, but to take time and savour the subtleness of the descriptions of the characters, their personalities and thoughts, the way life moved in the village setting and just Pym's over all style of writing.
I think I'll keep my eye out for more of her work.
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LibraryThing member karensaville
This was chosen because the author was described as one of the most under-rated novellists of a generation and my book club felt like we had been missing out on something. I'm afraid that none of us agreed. We all found it to be a book about nothing, we ploughed on relentlessly hoping it would get
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better but it didn't. I know it was meant to be about a provincial life where much is made of nothing and that that is the point of it but it was still a boring read. I thought that many of the characters were very unbelievable and I do not agree that she is like a modern day Jane Austen. Not for me or my club! Show Less
LibraryThing member bookwoman247
This is a gentle comedy of manners which takes place in an English village sometime during the first half of the Twentieth Century. It features two spinster sisters, curates, a rather sour, dour archeacon, a bishop, tea, cakes, church bazaars, knitting, and many more of the trappings you'd expect
This book has been compared to Jane Austen's work. I can see that on the surface, but in the end, I don't think it really lives up to that billing. To be fair, can anything really live up to an original?
I enjoyed this, and am glad I read it. There were many passages that made me smile. I wouldn't say, though, that I was terribly impressed.
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in to find in a gentle comedy of manners. This book has been compared to Jane Austen's work. I can see that on the surface, but in the end, I don't think it really lives up to that billing. To be fair, can anything really live up to an original?
I enjoyed this, and am glad I read it. There were many passages that made me smile. I wouldn't say, though, that I was terribly impressed.
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LibraryThing member ParadisePorch
LibrayThing’s Virago Group is reading twelve of Barbara Pym’s mid-twentieth century novels to celebrate the centenary of her birth. This happens to be the only Pym that I’ve already read, and I enjoyed it just as much this time around.
This was originally recommended by a reader after I
Also set in an English country village and in the same time period, the style is more reminiscent of Jane Austen than Miss Read. Some Tame Gazelle, first published in Britain nearly 50 years ago, was the first of Pym’s nine novels.
Barbara Pym is a master at capturing the subtle mayhem that takes place in the apparent quiet of the English countryside. Fifty-something sisters Harriet and Belinda Bede live a comfortable, settled existence. Belinda, the quieter of the pair, has for years been secretly in love with the town’s pompous (and married) archdeacon, whose odd sermons leave members of his flock in muddled confusion. Harriet, meanwhile, a bubbly extrovert, fends off proposal after proposal of marriage. The arrival of Mr. Mold and Bishop Grote disturb the peace of the village and leave the sisters wondering if they’ll ever return to the order of their daily routines.
Nearly every sentence is a sly poke at upper middle class sensibilities in rural English villages. I very much enjoyed this! Four stars for its wry humour.
Read this if: you’re a fan of gentle English humour. 4 stars
This was originally recommended by a reader after I
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reviewed Miss Read’s charming journals of English country life in the 1950s.Also set in an English country village and in the same time period, the style is more reminiscent of Jane Austen than Miss Read. Some Tame Gazelle, first published in Britain nearly 50 years ago, was the first of Pym’s nine novels.
Barbara Pym is a master at capturing the subtle mayhem that takes place in the apparent quiet of the English countryside. Fifty-something sisters Harriet and Belinda Bede live a comfortable, settled existence. Belinda, the quieter of the pair, has for years been secretly in love with the town’s pompous (and married) archdeacon, whose odd sermons leave members of his flock in muddled confusion. Harriet, meanwhile, a bubbly extrovert, fends off proposal after proposal of marriage. The arrival of Mr. Mold and Bishop Grote disturb the peace of the village and leave the sisters wondering if they’ll ever return to the order of their daily routines.
Nearly every sentence is a sly poke at upper middle class sensibilities in rural English villages. I very much enjoyed this! Four stars for its wry humour.
Read this if: you’re a fan of gentle English humour. 4 stars
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LibraryThing member auntieknickers
This isn't my favorite of Barbara Pym's books, but it still gave me a lot to think about. (Possible spoilers, but this isn't a suspense novel!) Two spinster sisters live in an English village. My memory of most of Pym's books is that the protagonists tend to be Anglo-Catholic, but these sisters are
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firmly low church. Belinda nurses a long, unrequited love for their vicar, an Archdeacon, whom she has known since student days. (He is married to another.) Harriet expends a great deal of emotional and practical energy on whoever happens to be the curate in residence. A few things happen during the course of the novel. Belinda comes to realize that everyone needs someone or something to love. This was the first of Pym's novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member Laura400
Delightful. A light read that is nonetheless very deep. Quietly, it makes one marvel.
LibraryThing member PatsyMurray
One of her most amusing books, I enjoyed this even more having read A Very Private Eye because she based some of the characters on individuals she knew at Oxford.
LibraryThing member lisahistory
Maybe more 3.5 stars, but I'm going to have to read another of her books. This one had little if any plot, and the characters were all a bit sketchy except Belinda. But the main problem was that nothing happened except two marriage proposals which were refused, which I suppose makes it like Jane
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Austen but maybe I didn't understand something. Yes, it's cozy, a post-war novel with a very typical English village. But that's all. Pym is supposed to be fantastic (according to Philip Larkin one of the most underrated novelists of the century), so I'll have to try again. Show Less
LibraryThing member glade1
Nothing really happens in this book.... It is really just a slice of life, and rather a sad life at that, I think. A couple of spinster sisters and their relationships with the other inhabitants of their town, who seem mostly to also be women. It is well written, and has some nice passages, but I
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was not thrilled. Show Less
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
I've enjoyed Barbara Pym in the past. She kind of sneaks up on you with her brilliant, understated characterizations of ordinary people whose uneventful lives, when scrutinized her way, become fascinating, amusing, enlightening, and often absolutely hilarious. Some Tame Gazelle was her first novel,
Read and reviewed in 2013
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and she was already on her game with spinster sisters Harriet and Belinda Bede, who some indeterminate while ago "decided to spend their old age together", and who engage themselves with affairs of the parish. Harriet, who had a good university education, has long ago given up all intellectual pursuits to adopt a series of thin pale curates as they come and go, plying them with handknit items, cakes and boiled chicken suppers. Belinda, on the other hand, still takes pleasure in the greater and lesser English poets, and nurtures a long-standing love for the Archdeacon, who luckily for Belinda, married someone else 30 years ago. There seems to be nothing loveable left in the Archdeacon, who isn't at all happy in either his marriage or his calling, but Belinda loyally continues to look on him fondly and defend his rather shiftless performance of his clerical duties from her sister's sharp criticisms, while occasionally indulging in daydreams about how she might have been a more sympathetic helpmeet than his wife has turned out to be. There isn't anything demanding about reading Pym, but it would be a mistake to dismiss her novels as insignificant or "cosy" just because they're comfortable. It's sort of like spending an afternoon making cookies with a wise old aunt....you're richer for it.Read and reviewed in 2013
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1950
Physical description
272 p.; 7.72 inches
ISBN
1844085791 / 9781844085798