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Is too much space given to the less enthusiastic parts of Larkin's Foreword? I know I need to come up with something more positive to balance it, and that my complaint is partly because I think Larkin is unfair. Finding the novel too much of the 'same old same old' is like complaining that Austen includes too many sisters, or Trollope too many clergy. Snugglepuss (talk) 17:20, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
But Austen's sisters and Trollope's clergymen are usually quite distinctive in character as individuals, whereas Larkin was saying that there was not enough differentiation between Pym's characters - perhaps because the settings and so some extent the plots were too similar so there was less scope for different characters. The fact is that this book is far from her best. Sbishop (talk) 18:30, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I wasn't making a comparison between Pym and Austen; I was suggesting that Larkin's view that some of the characters in An Unsuitable Attachment were recycled from earlier novels is as superficial as suggesting that Austen's characters are too similar, just because sisters often feature. He suggests that Sophia and Penelope recall Jane and Prudence: Sophia and Jane are both married to clergymen, and both would like a younger woman (friend or sister) to get married. But they're not especially alike, and Penelope with her collapsing beehive and rather gauche attempts to be fashionable is not at all like Prudence with her perfect poise. Nor can I see any resemblance between Arthur Grampian and Mervyn: both middle-aged men with a grumpy streak?
But my main point was that Larkin's negative comments take up too much space under the Reception heading – not much short of two-thirds, rather overbalancing the opening remark that the novel was well received. I looked for more reviews (via Google), but so far haven't found anything sufficiently relevant or succinct. Snugglepuss (talk) 11:54, 3 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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