Helen DeWitt

The stories in this collection remind you repeatedly that Helen DeWitt is fiercely intelligent. Many of her protagonists are also fiercely intelligent. And it would be fascinating to witness her sitting down with them at a dinner party, but rather too frightening for one to attend. Many of these stories are from her early days in Oxford and efficiently take that as their setting. Others are set about the world and unsurprisingly involve characters with a profusion of languages. The subjects of the stories range wildly but all involve some sort of intellectual problem that needs resolution or at least confrontation. You will either find such esoteric manias thrilling or distressing.

The writing is always crisp and sometimes pointed. It can border on the introspective but interiority of this form is typically also expressive in some fashion. Probably best not to worry too much about it; just go along with the story and it will work itself out.

Easy to recommend but probably not for everyone.… (meer)

Marguerite’s maman is a woman of high standards. She goes to Scotland to purchase a bolt of fine tweed. But she takes that tweed to London to have it made into clothes. Linen is purchased in Ireland but is cut for clothes in Paris. There are other strictures to her routine and Marguerite has taken all of them on board. So the sudden disappearance of Marguerite’s “parents” is less traumatic than might be expected. Even that these characters had made off with $100 million dollars of Marguerite’s real inheritance is not troublesome for her. She had, after all, been given a perfectly splendid education, and expressing dismay now would certainly display mauvais ton.

Helen DeWitt’s creation is an absolute delight. So measured and controlled. And, despite her youth, so wise. Even the brevity of the book is not distressing. An excess would, in Marguerite’s understanding, be mauvais ton.

Definitely recommended. Enjoy!… (meer)