Pym Week comes to a close

Thomas


  

No clever way to end our week of all things Pym. It’s been wonderful seeing so many different people share their Pym experiences. Some of you were old friends with Barbara and some of you had never even heard of her before.  For me, my interest in Pym has increased exponentially. Late last fall when Amanda suggested we do something to recognize Pym for her centenary, it seemed like a great idea, but to be honest, my interest in Pym and her work was just slightly more than average.  As I looked around the Internet for more information on Pym, I soon came across the website for the Barbara Pym Societyand was particularly intrigued by notice for their March 2013 annual conference in Boston. Once I made the decision to go to the conference, things really started to snowball.
In preparation for the conference I reread Crampton Hodnet, Jane and Prudence, and A Glass of Blessings. What I discovered was that rereading Pym is almost better than reading her for the first time. Without wondering where the plot is going, one can really focus on Pym’s amazing ability to paint a scene and create wonderful characters. My fascination with Pym leaped forward considerably. Then I got to the Pym conference in March and was delighted to meet so many friendly people with so much in common and to do nothing for 48 hours except talk about Pym. I am not sure at what point over the weekend that my interest leaned toward the fanatic. Since then I read No Fond Return of Love for the first time which only increased my devotion. And I have never looked forward to a trans-Atlantic flight as much as I did earlier this week. Not just because I was going to visit good friends in the Netherlands, but because I would have almost 8-hours of uninterrupted reading time. Now normally, sleep, inflight entertainment, and general discomfort and ennui can keep me from reading on a flight as much as I want to. But this time, with An Unsuitable Attachment in my hand, the flight literally flew by and I read the whole thing cover to cover.
Thanks to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun interacting with all of you over our common interest. 

I am particularly happy that through Twitter and all the different bloggers who posted this week, we have introduced Pym to a lot of folks who might not otherwise have ever come across her work.

I have lots of prizes to give away. A couple of books, tea towels, a tote bag, etc.  I am going to wait to announce winners until the upcoming week when I have better Internet access and I have a chance to confer with Amanda. 
In the meantime, here is a recap of Pym posts over the past three days. If I missed yours, as usual, please let me know.
Harriet Devine reviews No Fond Return of Love
Lyn at I Prefer Reading writes about food in Pym novels and the Barbara Pym Cookbook
Sunday Taylor at the beautiful Ciao Domenica gives us a great overview of Barbara and her career
The Indextrious Reader comes up with two great Pym covers
For a look at A Very Private Eye, Barbara’s autobiography, check out Heavenali
Alex in Leeds is giving a way a copy of A Very Private Eye, make sure you sign up by tomorrow
Virago posts a piece by Hazel Holt about her friendship with Barbara
Less than Angels made a fan of first time reader She Reads Novels
Stuart Aken reviews Excellent Women
 Author Harrison Solow writes about her introduction to Pym
Clothes in Books covers No Fond Return of Love and takes on Excellent Women as well

Geranium Cat answers An Academic Question

JoAnn at Lakeside Musing makes cauliflower cheese! (and reviews Some Tame Gazelle)

The Indextrious Reader pours some tea

14 thoughts on “Pym Week comes to a close”

  3. Unknown's avatar travellinpenguin June 8, 2013 / 6:10 am

    I didn't participate (well actively) in this week but I did read all the entries in the various blogs and learned an enormous amount about Pym who I previously had no knowledge. I have begun one of her books that is on my Kindle and am enjoying it so far but more b/c I got so motivated by this week. Never having participated in an author week before I now can see how it works and will look forward to the next author celebrated and hopefully will jump right in. Great job to everyone who did participate. I enjoyed the effort.

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  4. Unknown's avatar Lisa May June 8, 2013 / 7:58 am

    Adding my thanks to you & Amanda for hosting this. I'm sure you'll be seeing more Pym posts – I can't be the only one who went looking for more of Pym books after reading such great reviews!

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  5. Unknown's avatar Susan in TX June 8, 2013 / 8:34 am

    Thanks for keeping up the interest all week. I picked up Jane and Prudence late this week, so have it to look forward to as my next Pym. I also think that before summer is out I'm going to reread Excellent Women and see if it has improved now that I've had more positive experience with Pym in Some Tame Gazelle. I must say it has been quite exciting to see the number of bloggers who have joined in and wonderful to see so many reviews. Thanks again to you and Amanda for putting it all together. Enjoy your trip!

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  10. Unknown's avatar FleurFisher June 8, 2013 / 3:49 pm

    I'm horribly late, but I have re-read The Sweet Dove Died.

    Thank you so much for doing this – I haven't had much reading time this week but it's been lovely to see so many Pym posts popping up.

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  12. Unknown's avatar Geranium Cat June 8, 2013 / 5:53 pm

    Thanks to both you and Amanda for a glorious week of Pym! I've had a wonderful time, reading her books, reading about her, and reading some very insightful posts about her writing both by people who already knew her work and those who are reading her for the first time. I'm going to be completing my re-read of all her books over the summer, I'm enjoying them too much to stop now.

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  13. Unknown's avatar Mary June 8, 2013 / 6:28 pm

    This has been a wonderful week. I've met so many bloggers and discovered some new interpretations of things I had made my mind up about.

    Thanks again, and if you want to do an Anita Brookner week . . .

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