Introductions

Since Barbara Pym is undergoing a mini-revival I thought it time to create a new group :)

Personally, I was introduced to Pym in 2007 through LT (tiffin, to be precise!), and have been reading Pym's novels in the order in which they were published. I've just completed A Glass of Blessings.

I read my first Barbara Pym last year, Excellent Women and loved it. I've since read Jane and Prudence and Glass of Blessings. I was a bit disappointed with the latter though.

It's interesting you say that (about Glass of Blessings), tuppy. I finished reading it last week and found it a little down-beat and not nearly as funny as some of her other novels.

...however, I did have a little giggle when the subject of Rocky Napier came up :)

I only discovered Barbara Pym this year: she is my Great Discovery for 2009. I loved both Excellent Women and Jane and Prudence. Next up is Some Tame Gazelle, and there are several more in the wings.

I have the new Virago paperback of A Glass of Blessings on pre-order, so I'll be interested to see what I think of it when it arrives.

I love the new Virago editions, the covers are delightful! I only have the Jane and Prudence Virago; all my other Pyms are Moyer Bell or Penguin editions. Maybe I'll replace them with Viragos eventually. Is Virago planning on reprinting all her novels? It would be nice to have a matching set.

Is Virago planning on reprinting all her novels?

I don't know, but given that they seem to be putting out a new one every few months at the moment it would seem likely.

Hello fellow Pymites! Thank you Digifish for inviting me to join the group.

I have a been a Pym fan since the end of last year when I heard Jane and Prudence serialised on radio 4. To start with I thought it was going to be some run-of-the-mill aga saga thing and then there was one of Pym's wonderful little ironic touches, understated but quietly devastating and I was hooked!

I went on to buy Excellent Women in the Virago Anniversary edition, A Fond Return of Love in the new Virago edition and found an 1980s edition of Less than Angels in my local charity shop and a Barbara Pym omnibus at a village church jumble sale, whilst visiting my mother in the South of England. It all seemed very appropriate- the book was sold to me by a most excellent woman, whilst other excellent women sold tea and conversed with the vicar. If it wasn't that the vicar was a woman I could have convinced myself I was in a Pym novel!

I'm so excited to find there's a B. Pym Fan Club, and grateful to have been invited!

I first discovered dear Barbara back in the early 1980s, probably not long after she died. I had read reviews of her books, but they were still a little hard to find here in the US. I read my first Pyms on a summer visit to England. Started with Some Tame Gazelle, and Jane and Prudence, and then quickly gobbled up all the rest. I still re-read them from time to time, especially Quartet in Autumn and A Few Green Leaves.

I've managed to acquire all her books - most of them in several different editions. Fortunately, my husband is a fan, too - so he doesn't mind that I've devoted several shelves of our precious book space to B.P. I would love to have the Virago editions, but don't know if they're being sold over here yet.

I received my first Pym, the Virago 30th anniversary edition of Excellent Women, about a year ago from a wonderful LT friend, juliette07. I'm ashamed to admit that I got about halfway through but didn't finish the book. At the time, I guess it just wasn't what I had expected after all the raves. I definitely plan to start it over now!

I read (and finished) my first Pym, Quartet in Autumn, about seven weeks ago. It probably wasn't the best Pym to start with because it is quite unlike the others--much darker, and it deals with a rather sad lot of nobodies working towards retirement, getting ill, feeling rejected, and dying. But it still had some delightful moments, and I thought her insights into these particular lonely characters were wonderful.

The next one I read, No Fond Return of Love, is my favorite so far. I loved it so much that I've swept up eerything Pym I can find on the swap sites. (I have them all now, plus a bio.) Since then I've also finished Crampton Hodnet and Jane and Prudence, which I also enjoyed. At this point, I think I will go back and read the rest in order of publication. I'm glad that I already finished Crampton Hodnet, which was written around 1940 but not published until 1985.

Thanks to soupdragon for pointing me in the direction of this group - I've been a fan of Barbara Pym for a while, but it's taken LT to really focus my mind on reading as many of her works as I can lay my hands on. I've been happy to find that I've read less than I thought - for some reason a lot of her titles have a similar cadence: The Sweet Dove Died, A Few Green Leaves, Some Tame Gazelle etc and I've still got a few more to go. I read No Fond Return of Love earlier this year and like cariola, I really enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to getting the Virago reissues as they appear - even if I've read one of Pym's novels before, I always go back to it with pleasure.

Good morning, fellow Pymites (Pymistas?). Thanks for the invitation, digi. I have all of Barbara Pym's works but in a hodge podge collection. I was delighted to find that Moyer Bell had released all but three in beautiful new editions. So I have been scooping up the new set with their lovely William Morrisish covers, lovely paper and excellent fonts (through the BookDepository). The only three titles they can't reissue are "Excellent Women", "An Academic Question", and "Quartet in Autumn", because Penguin has retained the ownership of these titles.

Thanks digifish for inviting me! I, too, discovered Barbara Pym through tiffin (where is she, anyway?!). She went on a Pym-fest a while back and was so enamored that I had to give her a try. So far I've read Excellent Women, Quartet in Autumn, and Jane and Prudence. I have several waiting on my shelves (No Fond Return of Love, Less than Angels, and An Unsuitable Attachment).

>12 tiffin:: * waves madly *
That's an odd coincidence, posting as I was talking about you!!

does a clog dance right back!

Hello digifish, thank you for inviting me to the group. I still need to read much more Pym but I loved Excellent Women and Jane and Prudence and Crampton Hodnet. This will encourage me to return to more of her books.

Nice to see so many familiar folks here!

What a wonderful idea! Thank you, digifish, for the invitation to join; now I have a compelling reason to go back and re-re-read some Pym. I read them all the first time in one huge gulp in the early 80's and chased them with Hazel Holt and Hilary Pym's edition of her diaries and letters in A Very Private Eye. I see now that I have never read An Academic Question, so I have that to look forward to. Can't choose a favorite. I'll have to go back and read with that in mind although I think my favorite is always the one I just read/am reading.

Thanks for inviting me, digifish. I really am an imposter here as I have not read a single one of her titles yet. I think I will start with Excellent Women.

Thanks for the invite, digifish! I was only introduced to Pym last year, when I was reading the threads in the Anglophiles group. I've only read Excellent Women so far, but it is easily one of the best books I've read this year. I have An Academic Question sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to have some free time for reading.

It's a cold, rainy Saturday, I have a pot of Tuscan White Bean Soup on the stove, and I'm going to curl up with Some Tame Gazelle. I think I will read the rest in order of publication (having already read the first one written, Crampton Hodnet).

Thanks for the invite to this group! I also discovered Barbara Pym this year - I like her style! I found a clutch of them secondhand and will be working my way through them in the next year or so.

Welcome, everyone!

I think in #1 I said I was reading the novels in the order they were published in. I should have said the order in which they were written. So after initially starting Excellent Women, I went back to Crampton Hodnet, which, according to Wikipedia was completed circa 1940.

>8 Soupdragon: and a Barbara Pym omnibus at a village church jumble sale .... the book was sold to me by a most excellent woman..

How very apt, soupdragon!! The excellent woman wasn't called Mildred was she?

Thank you digifish for inviting me. I read most of Barbara Pym's books inthe eighties, during her second coming, and have started rereading them this year. Favourites so far, my second time around, are Excellent Women and Crampton Hodnet.

Thank you digifish for the invite to the group. My first Pym read was (Excellent Women) about 3 years ago, then (Quartet in Autumn) both simply wonderful. I've been looking for (Jane and Prudence) but in the meantime I must re-read them both.

Thanks for the invitation from me, too.

I'm jealous of those of you who are reading BP ffor the first time!! I discovered her at the behest of a wonderful lady called Mary who was my surrogate Grandma - an older lady whose garden backed on to my parents'. She had a great book collection and gave me free rein in it - so helped me discover Iris Murdoch, BP, Anita Brookner, Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Taylor... all as a teen. I hope I can bring someone along in their reading like that some day. All authors I love to this day!

I've only read Excellent Women and Jane and Prudence so far, but really enjoyed both (I've read J&P twice). My mum is a huge Pym fan and has most of her books, so I'll have to read some more soon!

Thank you for the invitation, digi!

I "discovered" Pym in 2005 with Excellent Women and immediately knew she was a treasure. I'm glad that she is getting a revival!!

Thanks for inviting me, digi!

I first read Some Tame Gazelle in the 70s/early 80s and loved it. I plan to re-read it soon. In the past year, motivated by tiffin's Pymfest enthusiam, I read Excellent Women and The Sweet Dove Died and wondered why I hadn't before!

I have Crampton Hodnet and A Few Green Leaves on my TBR pile and continue to look for her other books.

Thanks for inviting me too!
The first I read was Excellent Women followed by A Few Green Leaves and The Sweet Dove Died.
I loved them all, but my favourite - so far - is the first one.
Since I own all of her novels, I am planning to go back and read all the rest. What a treat!

I've read them all now, and am loving the new Virago republications - they look so jolly on the bookshelf.

I'm so happy to have joined this group. I discovered Barbara Pym in the early 80's when there was an article about her in a news magazine describing her as one of the most underrated writers of the century. I tracked down and read several of her books then, and I see there are some I missed. I can't wait to read/reread her books.

Of those I've read, my favorite is Quartet in Autumn, which I've read three times over the last nearly 30 years. I was only about 30 when I first read it, but was very moved by the story of the loneliness of aging. Now that I am of the age as the characters in the novel I am even more moved by their stories.

I am thrilled to have just won a lot of 10 hardcover Pyms with dust jackets (Dutton editions) on eBay! I already have one of these editions, so I had been looking for others.

Oh Cario, what a wonderful win! Well scooped, you. When I see a collection like that going as a unit, I think someone else must have loved her books, so it is lovely to think of them carrying on to someone else who does too.

Excellent finding, Deborah! Enjoy!!

What a wonderful idea, a Pym Fan Club! I started with Excellent Women (still my favorite) years ago - my pencil mark on my copy says I finished it 9.27.01 -and have read Jane and Prudence, Some Tame Gazelle and Crampton Hodnet. Really pleased that Moyer Bell has been issuing them lately. Some of my copies are second hand paperbacks (or third, fourth...) that are pretty raggedy. I'm thinking of taking one on my travels week after next, and can't decide which. I think I might go with Quartet in Autumn.

#37 - QIA would be an excellent choice. It's always my favorite Pym to take with me when I'm traveling. It's a great comfort in unfamiliar territory. Like arubabookwoman above, I was about thirty when I first read it, and I've reread it at various times over the last thirty years - and loved it more every time. Now I'm closer to the age of the characters in the book, and I'm looking forward to the experience of reading it yet again.

I'm currently reading my first ever Pym book - No fond return of Love. Really enjoying it and the hark back to how things were perceived and done then esp with the relationships between men and women. Tremendously funny!

39> No Fond Return of Love is my favorite so far.

I had Barbara Pym on my list for ages and after she was mentioned in Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading, I thought I should finally read some. So far I've only read two and Excellent Women is still my favorite. I'm quite surprised it hasn't been adapted to film yet, as far as I know.