He considers writing her memoir, though neither he nor her brother seem to know vey much about her private life.Įlizabeth Finch is certainly not like anything else I have ever read. She has left her papers and books to Neil, including a lot of material about Julian the Apostate, and the rise of Christianity in Europe, with which he becomes obsessed. For Neil it’s probably the only satisfying relationship in his life.Īfter her untimely death, Neil meets her older brother Christopher, who refers to his sister as Liz and admits that he was never as clever as her, or as compelling. Barnes examines the unusual friendship between these two mismatched people. It’s not really a story – nothing actually ‘happens’ in the traditional sense – it’s mainly Neil’s musings on his platonic relationship and strange crush on this charismatic woman, because once his degree is finished, he continues to meet her for lunch a couple of times a year. I have to admit I tended to agree with him much of the time.
In fact he finds her views old-fashioned and obdurate.
Linda wants EF to help her with her love life or unrequited love (not sure why she would ask EF), and then there is Geoff who doesn’t find her fascinating at all. She’s a typical blue-stocking, never married (as far as we know), wears tweed and brogues, has neatly coiffed hair – I kept imagining a spinster version of Margaret Thatcher.Įlizabeth Finch or EF as the students refer to her, has a deep, lasting effect on the members of his study group, particularly on Neil, but also on Anna, a Dutch girl with whom he has a strange kind of affair. A failed actor, with one marriage and divorce behind him (so far), he’s a mature student, who becomes fascinated by his lecturer Professor Elizabeth Finch, while taking her class on Culture and Civilization.
0 kommentar(er)
