Penelope Fitzgerald and the Consolation of Fiction PDF
Preview Penelope Fitzgerald and the Consolation of Fiction
Penelope Fitzgerald and the Consolation of Fiction Christopher J. Knight’s Penelope Fitzgerald and the Consolation of Fiction is a study of the British author Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000), attend- ing to her nine novels, especially as viewed through the lens both of “late style” (she published her first novel, The Golden Child, at age sixty) and, in her words, of “consolation, that is, for doubts and fears as well as for naked human loss.” As in Shakespeare’s late, religiously inflected, romances, the two concerns coincide; and Fitzgerald’s ostensible comedies are marked by a clear experience of the tragic and the palpable sense of a world that verges on the edge of indifference to human loss. Yet Fitzgerald, her late age pessimism notwithstanding, seeks (with the aid of her own religious understandings), in each of her novels, to wrestle meaning, consolation and even comedy from circumstances not noticeably propitious. Or as she her- self memorably spoke of her own “deepest convictions”: “I can only say that however close I’ve come, by this time, to nothingness, I have remained true to my deepest convictions—I mean to the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunder- standings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as a comedy, for otherwise how can we manage to bear it?” The recipient of Britain’s Booker Prize and America’s National Book Critics Circle Award, Penelope Fitzgerald’s reputation as a novelist, and author more generally, has grown, since her death, significantly, to the point that she is now widely judged one of Britain’s finest writers, comparable in worth to the likes of Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf. Christopher J. Knight is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Montana, USA. This page intentionally left blank Penelope Fitzgerald and the Consolation of Fiction Christopher J. Knight First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Christopher J. Knight The right of Christopher J. Knight to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data CIP data has been applied for. ISBN: 978-1-472-48701-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-45101-5 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra In loving memory of my father, Robert W. Knight (1928–2014) Let despair be known as my ebb-tide; but let prayer have its springs, too, brimming, disarming him; discovering somewhere among his fissures deposits of mercy where trust may take root and grow. —R. S. Thomas, “Tidal” When the cares of my heart are many, Thy consolations cheer my soul. —Psalms 94.19 (Revised Standard Version) Contents Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: “Music at the close” 1 1 The Golden Child and the anxious relation to detective fiction 47 2 The second saddest story: Despair, belief, and moral perseverance in The Bookshop 64 3 Offshore: “Between the Hither and the Farther Shore” 81 4 Human Voices: Voice, truth, and human fortitude 102 5 At Freddie’s, or “All my pretty ones” 136 6 Innocence: An allegory of fall; or perspectival judgment on innocence and happiness 156 7 The Beginning of Spring: Resisting “Irreligious Triviality” 178 8 Concerning the unpredictable: The Gate of Angels and the challenge to modern religious belief 204 9 The Blue Flower and a world elsewhere 236 Conclusion: “The Gift of Death” 259 Works cited 273 Index 289 This page intentionally left blank Abbreviations Penelope Fitzgerald The Afterlife: Essays and Criticism A The Gate of Angels GA The Knox Brothers KB “The Literature of Detection” LD The Means of Escape ME So I Have Thought of You: The Letters of Penelope Fitzgerald L Hermione Lee Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life PF Novalis Philosophical Writings PW
The list of books you might like
