"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
In Penelope Fitzgerald's fiction, affection and remorse are all too often allied, and desire and design seem never to meet. Frank wants little more than a quiet, confident life--something for which he is deeply unsuited, and which Russia certainly will not go out of her way to provide. The Beginning of Spring is filled with echoes of past wrongs and whispers of the revolution to come, even if the author evokes these with abrupt comic brio. (In one disturbance, "A great many shots had hit people for whom they were not intended.") As ever, Fitzgerald makes us care for--and want to know ever more about--her characters, even the minor players. Her two-page description of Frank's chief type compositor, for instance, is a miracle of precision and humor, sympathy and mystery. And the accountant Selwyn Crane--a Tolstoy devotée, self-published poet, and expert at making others feel guilty--is a sublime creation. His appetite for do-gooding is insatiable. After one fit of apparent altriusm, "Selwyn subsided. Now that he saw everything was going well, his mind was turning to his next charitable enterprise. With the terrible aimlessness of the benevolent, he was casting round for a new misfortune." As she evokes her household of tears and laughter, Fitzgerald's prose is as witty as ever, rendering the past present and the modern timeless. --Kerry Fried
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize.It is March 1913, and the grand old city of Moscow is stirring herself to meet the beginning of spring. Change is in the air, and nowhere more so than at 22 Lipka Street, the home of English printer Frank Reid. One day Franks wife Nellie takes the train back to England, with no explanation, leaving him with their three young children. Into his life comes Lisa Ivanovna, a country girl, untroubled to the point of seeming simple. But is she? And why has Franks accountant Selwyn, gone to such lengths to bring them together? And who is the passionate Volodya, who breaks into the press at night?Frank sees, but only dimly, that he is a rational man in Moscow, a city where love, and friendship, power and politics, are at their most unfathomable. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize.It is March 1913, and the grand old city of Moscow is stirring herself to meet the beginning of spring. Change is in the air, and nowhere more so than at 22 Lipka Street, the home of English printer Frank Reid. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780006543701
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780006543701
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780006543701
Book Description Softcover. Condition: new. Beginning of Spring. Seller Inventory # DADAX0006543707
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780006543701-GDR
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0006543707
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 256 pages. 7.87x5.04x1.02 inches. In Stock. This item is printed on demand. Seller Inventory # __0006543707
Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780006543701_new
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0006543707