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The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
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By Muriel Spark
avg rating
1 review
‘One of the greatest books about growing up’ James Wood, Guardian
‘You girls are my vocation . . . I am dedicated to you in my prime’
Miss Jean Brodie is a schoolmistress with a difference. She is proud, cultured and romantic but her educational ideas are highly progressive and even deeply shocking. So when she decides to transform a group of ‘special girls’ into the crème de la crème at Marcia Blaine School they are soon known, perhaps suspiciously, as the Brodie set.
Introduced to an unsettling world of adult games and curious intrigues, the Brodie Set know that they are privileged. Yet there is a price to pay – they must give Miss Brodie their undivided loyalty . . .
‘The most gifted and innovative British novelist of her generation’ David Lodge, The New York Times
’Spark’s novels linger in the mind as brilliant shards’ John Updike, New Yorker
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Almost everyone got through this months book, some people have even read it twice! On the second reading and after having watched the online bookclub it was felt that more could be found in the book.
We all thought that Jean Brodie was an "interesting" character, she seemed to have some very odd relationships with the men and also the girls in her life. We weren't sure why she seemed to have lots of holiday romances but the two men in the school with whom she could have a proper relationship with she shied away from. We weren't sure if this had anything to do with her first romance, and the fact that he had been killed in a situation outside her control. This lack of control could have then created the creature Jean Brodie became in this novel.
Jean Brodie seems to have been very egocentric, setting up situations to please herself not caring about the lives of those around her. In some cases she seems to be actually living through the girls, especially when it comes to a sexual relationship with the art teacher.
When it comes to the "betrayal" we were sure it wasn't actually a betrayal, but really a protection of the new Brodie set. We felt that the girl who let Miss MacKay know about Jean Brodie's facist side was doing so for the right reasons.
It was felt that the writing style was very sparse with no waste. Some people enjoyed this style along with the lack of a strong plot structure. Others felt they didn't get on with this style.
Overall we gave this book a 5 out of 10 with a pretty even spread of marks from 2-7 out of 10.
