Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m so sad about the death of Maggie Smith. It also made me realize I‘d never read this book or seen the movie. I watched the movie last night. I think Maggie was always in her prime, no matter what her age or the role. Just magnificent.

Also coming in just under the wire for #spinsterseptember.

Plus there‘s a tie-in with The Lady of Shalott. #LMMAdjacent @BarbaraJean

They were crossing the Meadows....

RIP Maggie Smith
#Edinburgh

♥️

#SchoolSpirit #Teacher an iconic novel about teaching & one of Sparks finest !

I wonder if reading this closer to the age of the ‘girls‘ in the book would mean you‘d fall under the spell of Miss Jean Brodie? I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved that I could picture all the places they walked in the story

Reading a Scottish writer while in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

2 page spread in the local Edinburgh paper all about Muriel Spark today ❤️❤️

My husband gave my reading corner a mini makeover and a copy of Jean Brodie and Robbie Burns poetry for our trip to Scotland next week #bucketlist apparently it‘s my Diamond Jubilee Tour 🤣🤣

Some of my best reading of 2022 was re-reading. Loved all of these! Makes me think I'll revisit more old faves in 2023.

I read this a few years ago, then quickly re read it for a book club meeting. I'm not keen... almost a sinister undertone...

Not the book I was expecting. I didn‘t love it, but I don‘t think I was supposed to. I‘ll be thinking about this one for awhile: narcissism, fascism, education, feminism

October‘s #bookspin ✅ @TheAromaofBooks
#1001books

Turns out I love a lot of books that start with #letterP (Persuasion, Possession, Pond) but I went this marvel of a novel. Just brilliant! And compact! In a word, perfection! 😉
#Alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

@ozma.of.oz #sundayfunday
1.I do!
2.I listen to John Sandoe Books' podcast,the LRB podcast,BBC Book Club.One of the most stellar podcasts I've ever listened to was Muriel Spark on BBC Bookclub.
3.Reviews of books I've read!
Very late but was out of town till today!

I feel the same way about Muriel Spark as I feel about Shirley Jackson. I'm more intrigued by the life of the author than by what they wrote.

I found The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to be repetitive and, frankly, not all that interesting.

Granted, I was reading this while on vacation and I wasn't very focused, but still...

**Check out those Texas wildflowers 👀 💐

Inspired by On the Road with Penguin Classics, I'm re-reading Muriel Spark's masterpiece. It is so well done! Recommend the book and the podcast. https://shows.acast.com/on-the-road-with-penguin-classics/episodes/the-prime-of-...

(Edinburgh, 1934 photo)

My first read of Spark required some patience, and continual thinking and rethinking, trying understand what she is doing. 1930‘s school teacher Miss Brodie is presented as inspirational, a remarkable independent spirit, having the full devotion of her selected girls, and yet there is an odd uncomfortable aspect to her. Spark literally repeats points over and over, in different contexts as the reader‘s perspective evolves.

(Car service morning.)

I‘m reading Muriel Spark for the first time, and rewiring my brain for whatever she‘s doing here in the mindsets of the mid-1930‘s. Somehow unsettling.

“But she was not out of place amongst her own kind, the vigorous daughters … with shrewd wits, high-coloured cheeks, constitutions like horses, logical educations, hearty spirits and private means.”

I love Jean Brodie! But she is an avowed fascist. When does a charming person with a clear point of view that challenges the weaknesses of the norms become a dangerous and divisive demagogue? That is one of mind bending questions posed here. It‘s also a book about feminism, loyalty, global responsibility, revenge, the primacy of art, the strange heirarchy of female society, sexual aggression, unconscious lesbianism &religious devotion.

Listened to in the car. Delightful. Highly recommend with Miriam Margolyes reading. She is so good. I read this years and years ago so was special to hear it read so beautifully with all the different voices.
#joysbooks2021
@MrsMalaprop

An unsettling book that kept me reading. I have to say I cracked up at the real person fic that the girls were writing about Miss Brodie; it sounded exactly like the sort of writing I was producing at that age 😂 I want to see the movie with Maggie Smith now!
#ShutdownReadathon book 19

Final book to finish my Goodreads challenge for 2020. I always think I‘ve read this one but I don‘t think that‘s actually true. And now I want to watch the movie because...Maggie Smith!

I finished this short audiobook on my evening walk, and I have to say it‘s just not my cup of tea. For a lot of it I just felt like nothing much happened and then suddenly everything wrapped up quickly. I think it has some interesting points to consider about manipulation and individuality, but I can‘t say I enjoyed it. As a teacher, several parts made me cringe.

#1001books #audiobook #audiowalk
#ReadingEurope2020 Scotland

Miss Jean Brody is... creepy. In the sexual deviant way. But also fascinating. She is a narcissist that indoctrinates young girls into her life, and lives vicarously through them.

This is partly a coming of age story, partly about a desperate aging woman, and partly about the damage a manipulator can do. Great writing, but disturbing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Intricate and cleverly written, full of layers, I can see why this is considered a classic.

Fit in another book for #ReadYourSign
⚖️ a book you thought was artistic
⚖️ 7 in page count (170)
Not a prompt, but is my 7th read for the challenge ⚖️

An interesting book, it reminded me of The History Boys, but with more jumping back and forth of the narrative. I like stories of the private school with a “different” but highly influential teacher. This one went in some unexpected directions. A quick read and creatively written. 6/10

#BiblioMAYnia #cursive

This book of a free-thinking teacher in 1930s Scotland whose radical ideals both win-over & trouble her select pupils is an insightful character study. Miss Bodie- in her prime as she reminds everyone- picks & tries to enhance defining characteristics of the “Brodie Set, while creating a kind of cult of personality for her own ego. The story is rich & complex, yet still an easy read. The Maggie Smith film is significantly different, but wonderful.

I didn't know what to expect from Muriel Spark - this was my first book by her. And I admit I'm impressed. Very much by her fascinating character of Miss Jean Brodie, who's just so different from anyone else. She lives in her own world and does her own thing. This might be a reread worthy book.

This is ultimately a story about loyalty. You can tell because the character Sandy keeps on repeating “it‘s only possible to betray where loyalty is due”, which is an interesting moral philosophy in itself. It‘s also a funny book, in the way that Jane Austen‘s Emma was funny: I didn‘t laugh out loud, but I appreciated how it was witty and clever. Full review here: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-muriel-spark/

I am surprised that I liked this book, and I actually started out disliking it because of the writing style, but it got less obtrusive pretty early on. I don‘t know that I liked any of the characters very much, but I loved the story and found it so insightful. It‘s a wonderful examination of the methods and motives of wielding great influence over children as they develop into adults.

I‘d like to read this book set in #Scotland. Also, two of my favorite Scottish exports - shortbread and Richard Madden! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😊
#letstravelaugust

#Scotland

#letstravelaugust

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

For those of us who can‘t get to the festival - let‘s read instead! 🤣

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/aug/best-books-edinburgh.html

I ❤ summer! I spent 3 hrs reading in my backyard pool. Put my Kindle in a ziploc bag just in case! 🙂

Books set in #UnitedKingdom that I‘ve enjoyed!

#LetsTravelAugust

Remembering the time and place of the writing and the setting, makes this book more relatable. It also demonstrates the power and influence our teachers have over their students. I didn‘t particularly like Miss Brodie, nor some of the students, but I do think it was well written.

Thank you, Muriel Spark, for ending my recent run of so-so reads! This is kind of a sharper, darker Dead Poets' Society except with girls and more nuance. Miss Brodie is bold, charismatic, grandiose and just a bit ridiculous. But it's her unexpected naivety that sets her up to be brought down in her prime. The flashes of humour were a welcome surprise but it's the sense of slowly building menace beneath it that leaves a lasting impression.

What am I missing? This #classic is on the #1001Books list ... but I find it rather dull and simple.

My goodness, this was NOT what I was expecting! I guess I‘d presumed it to be a comedy of manners or something, but it‘s much darker and less straightforward, at times funny, often quite biting. I did like Sandy‘s character. Very glad to have finally read it - thank you for sending it my way @youneverarrived 😘

I‘ll be using this as a #novella for #readingwomen2019 (127 pages could be a novella, right?) and number 2 of #readinggifts2019.

Me, my blingy bag & Miss Jean Brodie are off on a jaunt. We took a brief detour on the way to the station to pop #lmpbc / #mhroundrobin robin books in the post to @ShookBelf and @daydreamin_star 📮📚

Yep! Was great. Witty and amusing in a tongue in cheek manner.

Found this at the library and decided it'd be an interesting one.
I seem to gravitate towards books from the first two or three decades of the twentieth century.

A book club pick by a Scottish friend. Very fast read. Should be an interesting discussion as a few former teachers in my group. I already know one woman was surprised there was so much about sex!! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Any insights from Littens to bring to the discussion? #bookclubread #modernclassics #aussiereaders #aussielittens

Book - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Author - Elizabeth Peters
Movie - Peter's Friends
Food - Pavlova

#ManicMonday #LetterP

I‘m very eager for September 20th to get here!!!! #TCPS

If you ask people what they "know" about Miss Brodie, they will likely recite a number of aphorisms: "I am in my prime", "you are the crème de la crème"...Miss Brodie, in other words, is not really "known" at all. We know her just as her young pupils knew her: as a collection of sayings, a rhetorical performance, a teacher's show...Around her very thinness as a character we tend to construct a thicker interpretative jacket.

'There was a wonderful sunset across the distant sky, reflected in the sea, streaked with gold and puffed with avenging purple and gold as if the end of the world had come without intruding on every-day life.' - Pg 95.

'The year to come was in many ways the sexual year of the Brodie set, who were now turned eleven and twelve: it was a crowded year of stirring revelations. In later years, sex was only one of the things in life. That year it was everything.' - Pg 44.