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Barbara Pym

Barbara Pym Books

Novelist

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“But life can be interpreted in so many different ways,’ said Ianthe in her quiet voice. ‘Perhaps there the novelist has the advantage and he can let his imagination go where it will.’ She saw herself again in John’s room in Pimlico, washing up at the sink in the corner. ‘Even the most apparently narrow and uneventful life,’ she began thoughtfully, then stopped, uncertain of what she was going to say next. What did it mean for her — that little episode — what was its significance in the pattern?”

ImaginationNovelistMundane Life
Book:An Unsuitable Attachment
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“So many things seemed to come in plastic bags now that it was difficult to keep track of them. The main thing was not to throw it away carelessly, better still to put it away in a safe place, because there was a note printed on it which read 'To avoid danger of suffocation keep this wrapper away from babies and children'. They could have said from middle-aged and elderly persons too, who might well have an irresistible urge to suffocate themselves.”

AgeingPlastic BagsSuffocation
Book:Quartet in Autumn
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“These are quite obviously the books that nobody reads,’ said Rocky, studying their titles. ‘But it’s a comfort to know that they are here if you ever should want to read them. I’m sure I should find them more entertaining than the more up-to-date ones. Wild Beasts and their Ways; Five Years with the Congo Cannibals; With Camera and Pen in Northern Nigeria; Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia. I wish people still wrote books with titles like that. Nowadays I believe it simply isn’t done to show a photograph of “The Author with his Pygmy Friends”—we have become too depressingly scientific.”

ScienceAnthropologyAcademia
Book:Excellent Women
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“You could consider marrying an excellent woman?' I asked in amazement. 'But they are not for marrying.' 'You're surely not suggesting that they are for the other things?' he said, smiling. That had certainly not occurred to me and I was annoyed to find myself embarrassed. 'They are for being unmarried,' I said, 'and by that I mean a positive rather than a negative state.”

WomenMarriageIndependenceExcellenceSingle Woman
Book:Excellent Women
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“It was the ring on the left hand that people at the Old Girls' Reunion looked for. Often, in fact nearly always, it was an uninteresting ring, sometimes no more than the plain gold band or the very smallest and dimmest of diamonds. Perhaps the husband was also of this variety, but as he was not seen at this female gathering he could only be imagined, and somehow I do not think we ever imagined the husbands to be quite so uninteresting as they probably were.”

MarriageHusbands
Book:Jane and Prudence
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“She set about preparing her supper. It would have to be one of those classically simple meals, the sort that French peasants are said to eat and that enlightened English people sometimes enjoy rather self-consciously - a crusty French loaf, cheese, and lettuce and tomatoes from the garden. Of course there should have been wine and a lovingly prepared dressing of oil and vinegar, but Dulcie drank orange squash and ate mayonnaise that came from a bottle.”

PeopleShouldHas BeensSaidSelfSometimesCoursesEnjoySimpleFoodGardenShould HaveCookingWinePreparedOilMealsEnlightenedCulinaryBottlesCheesePreparingOrangeDressingsDrankPeasantsShould Have BeenTomatoesSupperSquashVinegarLettuceMayonnaiseOil And Vinegar
Author:Barbara Pym
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“Perhaps there can be too much making of cups of tea, I thought, as I watched Miss Statham filling the heavy teapot. Did we really need a cup of tea? I even said as much to Miss Statham and she looked at me with a hurt, almost angry look, 'Do we need tea? she echoed. 'But Miss Lathbury...' She sounded puzzled and distressed and I began to realise that my question had struck at something deep and fundamental. It was the kind of question that starts a landslide in the mind. I mumbled something about making a joke and that of course one needed tea always, at every hour of the day or night.”

NeedsMindLooksKindSaidNightCoursesHoursHurtToo MuchMissingNeededJokesFundamentalsAngryHeavyCupsTeaRealisingFillingCups Of TeaPuzzledTeapotsLandslides
Author:Barbara Pym
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“[The woman] paused and seemed to take a deep breath. 'You see,' she declared. 'I am Tom Mallow's aunt.' Catherine's first instinct was to burst out laughing. She wondered why there was something slightly absurd about aunts; perhaps it was because one thought of them as dear, comfortable creatures, somehow lacking in dignity and prestige.”

FirstsLaughingCreaturesComfortableDignityBreathsInstinctDearAbsurdTomsLackingAuntPrestigeDeep BreathTake A Deep Breath
Book:Less than angels
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