Reading 1001 discussion

Review thread

1. Why does Edward Spencer want his tenants to sign the loyalty oath to the King? Why do the tenants refuse?

2. Why does Farrell use the hotel as the setting for his novel? What is the irony behind the name of the hotel...and in what way does it serve as a metaphor?

3. What is the cause of the hotel's increasing dilapidation...and why do its residents remain? As Farrell's descriptions of the hotel began to pile up, one after the other, does it elicit in you a sense of claustrophobia?

4. One reviewer says that the "decrepitude of the Majestic offers Farrell unlimited opportunities to indulge his formidable gifts of description and wry humor." Take a few moments to pick out some passages that demonstrate those descriptive and humorous gifts. How about the Palm Court...or the Imperial Bar? The peacocks...or cats? Or the Major switching from one room to another?

5. What about Angela Spencer, Major Archer's fiancee? What do you think of her? And how 'bout that Sarah Devlin? Discuss thoroughly...and defend your answer!

6. What attitude do the Protestants take vis-a-vis Sinn Fein and the killings? How do those in the hotel view the Irish people in general?

7. What is the significance of the shooting of the Majestic's cats...and Edward's shooting his beloved dog? What do the shootings foreshadow?

8. What do you come to learn about the effects of the 1916 Easter Rebellion and disturbances at the Peace Day Parade in Dublin? Do those events and others justify the actions of Sinn Fein? Or do the actions of Sinn Fein simply encourage reprisals on the part of the British? Can revenge killing be justified—on either side?

9. Farrell incorporates news stories into his novel. What is their purpose...what do they convey? Did you enjoy the tecnhique...or find it disruptive to the flow of the narrative?

10. How does Farrell's work present colonialism. Is his presentation fair...or biased? Were the effects of colonialism always negative; were there ever benefits?

11. As a writer does Farrell create sympathy with one side of the Irish conflict over the other? Or does he portray both sides in a compassionate, although perhaps satiric (even absurd), manner. Did you find yourself sympathsizing with the Anglo-aristocracy driven out of their homes, as well as with the oppressed Irish people?

I finished Troubles about a week ago. I had previously read his Siege of Krisnapur, which I enjoyed. I also liked this novel, actually more than Siege of Krishnapur. It has a bit of Dickens' flavor in the colorful characters and juxtaposition of the gritty tough life of most of the Irish of that time with the fantastic and crazy shenanigans of the well-to-do.
I read the Wikipedia article on Farrell and was particularly struck by this bit: "When The Siege of Krishnapur won the Booker Prize in 1973, Farrell used his acceptance speech to attack the sponsors, the Booker Group, for their business involvement in the agricultural sector in the Third World". I doubt if he was invited back.
I think answering most of the questions posed in the first post will take me the better part of a day so I will leave that for another day. I think Farrell's sympathies were more with the Irish (his mother was Irish) but he also portrays them as less than angelic, esp when they nearly kill our protagonist.

1. Edward is English and loyal to the King he wants to show his loyalty and the loyalty of his tenants. There are a couple of reasons why the tenants refuse - fear of reprisals from the IRA and other Irish and because they genuinely are not loyal to the King.

2. The hotel is a microcosm of life. The name Majestic is ironic as the hotel is falling apart like the loyalty to the King. The Majestic does serve as a metaphor as the hotel crumbles so do Anglo/Irish relationships.

3. Causes lack of care and lack of money, Edward interested in the land and animals not the building. Some residents are loyal others are living there free, none of them want change. Not a sense of claustrophobia but the sense of things coming to an end.

4. The murder of the cats could be seen as funny or tragic, the blood dripping the red carpet. The Major changes rooms to find more comfortable living space and clean sheets.


5. The whole romance side feels tacked on and bizarre we need Angela to get the Major to the Majestic and once she has fulfilled that role she is surplas to the story. Sarah as a character annoyed me.

6. Those in the hotel think it will all blow over that the Irish will once again accept English rule right up until the last when it is clear they need to abandon everything if they want to live. Terrorists or Freedom Fighters.

7. The cats are a problem that need to be resolved like the English? The dog is shot out of love and compassion it is better off dead again like the English they have had their life their time has come? Foreshadows attacks and murders that happen all over the country.

8. Revenge killing is not justified and it never ends it just becomes a blood feud that taints everyone.

9. I liked the technique showing how the Empire is viewed around the world as well as bringing the Troubles closer to the Majestic by showing what is going on in the outside world.

10. I think his presentation is fair the Colonials are sympathetic characters as well as flawed and human. Colonialism brings new ideas and new ways of life some of which will last after the end.

11. I did have sympathy for both sides although most of my sympathy was for the Major struggling to adjust to civilian life in an alien world. All the characters were human and I liked most of them apart from Sarah.

The Angela character was a strange one. She enjoyed having an officer boyfriend to write to during the war though she didnt seem to have any emotions in the relationship. Odd how she avoided ever talking to the Major when he returned from the war, but people do act in odd ways sometimes.
Sarah liked the Major as a friend but not enough to want to marry him. Perhaps if he had been Catholic (as she was) that would have helped, but she may have felt marrying an English protestant would be seen as a betrayal to Ireland under the circumstances (although her father seemed ok with it and was eager to unload her). I thought she was an entertaining character and liked her.
I was rather hoping Sarah and the Major would at least have a one-night stand.

1. Why does Edward Spencer want his tenants to sign the loyalty oath to the King? Why do the tenants refuse? Some people, Catholic people, did not want to pledge loyalty to the King/Queens of England.

2. Why does Farrell use the hotel as the setting for his novel? What is the irony behind the name of the hotel...and in what way does it serve as a metaphor? The hotel's name suggest British royalty. Grandeur.

3. What is the cause of the hotel's increasing dilapidation...and why do its residents remain? As Farrell's descriptions of the hotel began to pile up, one after the other, does it elicit in you a sense of claustrophobia? The dilapidation is mostly from neglect but it is also being destroyed by outside forces (weather, vegetation). People don't like change. Yes, the book does give a sense of rot/ruin that is going to overtake it.

4. One reviewer says that the "decrepitude of the Majestic offers Farrell unlimited opportunities to indulge his formidable gifts of description and wry humor." Take a few moments to pick out some passages that demonstrate those descriptive and humorous gifts. How about the Palm Court...or the Imperial Bar? The peacocks...or cats? Or the Major switching from one room to another? There are so much humor throughout the book and I didn't write down any particular ones. The humor helps the reader cope with the utter bleakness.

5. What about Angela Spencer, Major Archer's fiancee? What do you think of her? And how 'bout that Sarah Devlin? Discuss thoroughly...and defend your answer! Angela represents the Protestant. Her none involvement and withdrawal of England. Sarah represents the Catholic. She is in a w/c totally happered by English rule and slowly she comes out of the w/c as Ireland is rising up over its English rule.

6. What attitude do the Protestants take vis-a-vis Sinn Fein and the killings? How do those in the hotel view the Irish people in general? They they of them as trouble makers, stupid people.

7. What is the significance of the shooting of the Majestic's cats...and Edward's shooting his beloved dog? What do the shootings foreshadow? I am not sure about the cats or what that is foreshadowing. The dog could be the fact that England's time of rule is over, it is old and cannot survive.

8. What do you come to learn about the effects of the 1916 Easter Rebellion and disturbances at the Peace Day Parade in Dublin? Do those events and others justify the actions of Sinn Fein? Or do the actions of Sinn Fein simply encourage reprisals on the part of the British? Can revenge killing be justified—on either side?

I doubt that it is justified. It did make me think about the things that are still occurring around the world between people groups.

9. Farrell incorporates news stories into his novel. What is their purpose...what do they convey? Did you enjoy the tecnhique...or find it disruptive to the flow of the narrative? The news stories help the reader know what is occurring outside of the Magestic without making it part of the story. I thought it was a good tactic. I did not think of it as disruptive.

10. How does Farrell's work present colonialism. Is his presentation fair...or biased? Were the effects of colonialism always negative; were there ever benefits? Farrell is writing about the fall of the British empire in his trilogy. So in essence he is writing about the end of colonialism. I thought it was fair. I think Farrell had allegiance both British and Irish (I think his mother was from Ireland). I think he represented both sides.

11. As a writer does Farrell create sympathy with one side of the Irish conflict over the other? Or does he portray both sides in a compassionate, although perhaps satiric (even absurd), manner. Did you find yourself sympathsizing with the Anglo-aristocracy driven out of their homes, as well as with the oppressed Irish people?
I thought he represented both sides well. He certainly pointed out where the British made mistakes. I did not take sides.

A few spoilers here so do not read if you have not finished.
1. Why does Edward Spencer want his tenants to sign the loyalty oath to the King? Why do the tenants refuse?

Edward feels that his tenants should be loyal to the country and king that "supports" them but they are afraid they will be branded as pro-British and punished by the Sinn Feiners. Also, they do not feel truly supported in any sense and therefore don't particularly wish to declare allegiance to England.

2. Why does Farrell use the hotel as the setting for his novel? What is the irony behind the name of the hotel...and in what way does it serve as a metaphor?

The hotel reflects the crumbling empire in all its beautiful and majestic ambitions and its current state of fraying at the edges. At one point the majestic hotel reflected a life of grace and riches for the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Farrell also uses ships and being on or under the water frequently in this novel and the two added together become a Majestic ship of state that is awash at sea, unable to make shore.

3. What is the cause of the hotel's increasing dilapidation...and why do its residents remain? As Farrell's descriptions of the hotel began to pile up, one after the other, does it elicit in you a sense of claustrophobia?

Yes, I was claustrophobic from the get go, especially with all the cats.
Edward does not have the means to repair the hotel to its former glory and is emotionally unable to downsize it to a smaller, simpler hotel that could potentially support itself. The troubles between England and Ireland means that the tourist trade has evaporated but there are still members of the Angle-Irish aristocracy that feel that this old, fraying empire, or hotel, is still their place in the world.

4. One reviewer says that the "decrepitude of the Majestic offers Farrell unlimited opportunities to indulge his formidable gifts of description and wry humor." Take a few moments to pick out some passages that demonstrate those descriptive and humorous gifts. How about the Palm Court...or the Imperial Bar? The peacocks...or cats? Or the Major switching from one room to another?

My favorite had to be the linen closet. The only place in the huge hotel that was warm because it was next to the kitchen chimneys.

5. What about Angela Spencer, Major Archer's fiancee? What do you think of her? And how 'bout that Sarah Devlin? Discuss thoroughly...and defend your answer!

Angela probably knew she was dying when writing to Major Archer during the war. She was spinning a romance in her mind as she wrote endlessly about the small details of her daily life. Her mind's romance was much more real to her than the physical manifestation of Major Archer when he actually turned up. She then was able to envision a tragic ending to the romance even if the real Major didn't find it all that tragic. Sarah was an odd character to me. I understand that Farrell needed her to be Catholic and very independent but she was also relatively cruel to others, and although I didn't love her, I didn't want her ending up with Bolton either.

6. What attitude do the Protestants take vis-a-vis Sinn Fein and the killings? How do those in the hotel view the Irish people in general?

As always with cultural and political systems of those on top and others on the bottom, the Protestants felt that the Irish people were largely mad and there were some that thought them barely human. Also Protestants of that time evidently believed all the Catholics to be superstitious and under the spell of the Pope. I loved the reference to the old school colonialists in the Golf Club who came from campaigns in Asia or Africa, who didn't understand what this conflict was all about because "a white man was a white man"....
At first the people in the hotel tended to think the Sinn Feiners were not truly politically motivated, certainly not heroic, but just being unruly. Later, they came to see them to be truly dangerous although in general they couldn't ever get their heads around the Sinn Feiner's cause. Dr Ryan was an exception. He alone seemed to see them as rebels fighting for their independence.

7. What is the significance of the shooting of the Majestic's cats...and Edward's shooting his beloved dog? What do the shootings foreshadow?

They reflected the escalation of the conflict and the fact that Edward had gone a bit around the bend. He was now able to imagine shooting others. They also had a couple of unexpected consequences in regards the rats.

8. What do you come to learn about the effects of the 1916 Easter Rebellion and disturbances at the Peace Day Parade in Dublin? Do those events and others justify the actions of Sinn Fein? Or do the actions of Sinn Fein simply encourage reprisals on the part of the British? Can revenge killing be justified—on either side?

The troubles in the 1920s and in northern Ireland in the 1970's and 80's were always a mess of reprisals. The assumption was that those people, on either side, needed to be taught a lesson to prevent them from thinking about murderous outrages ever again, but it only caused an escalation and a stronger sense of divide. The book pointed out to me something that I did not consider previously. I am also not sure if it was true or if it was part of Farrell's satire. The British officers that were meant to keep the peace in Ireland were largely new to any kind of combat. They did not have the discipline nor the sense of honor that might have prevented them from retaliations.

9. Farrell incorporates news stories into his novel. What is their purpose...what do they convey? Did you enjoy the technique...or find it disruptive to the flow of the narrative?

I thought it worked really well. First of all, it captured the "voice", almost the voice of the BBC so to speak, so that you could imagine how the English came to feel about their empire. Also, it took the conflicts from being a personal story about a hotel to being world news. You began to understand the threat that the English aristocracy felt that they were under. They could see their whole way of life being undermined. It was also interesting to read about Gandhi, for example, as a rabble rouser, rather than a hero.

10. How does Farrell's work present colonialism. Is his presentation fair...or biased? Were the effects of colonialism always negative; were there ever benefits?

Clearly, this is an odd question. Farrell doesn't actually introduce us to any Sinn Feiners except the caterer at the end. He does introduce us to a few people that are sympathetic to the cause but the Major and Dr. Ryan don't see the conflict from the side of the Irish, they are merely sympathetic, not committed. Murphy was clearly against the English but one was lead to believe it was a result of a life time of subservience rather than support for a whole people's independence. Sarah, who could have been this voice, was not. In this way, the story is about the loss of empire and not about the rise of an independent nation. In that one can not see history that did not happen, it is difficult to tell the effects of colonialism that would be considered positive to those who were colonized (there were many positive effects for the colonizers).
I have read accounts about the starvation in Ireland. If the English had simply feed the people, one wonders if the rebels would have gained as much support. Of course, the greatest level of starvation since 1847 happened in 1925 under the new Irish government.

11. As a writer does Farrell create sympathy with one side of the Irish conflict over the other? Or does he portray both sides in a compassionate, although perhaps satiric (even absurd), manner. Did you find yourself sympathsizing with the Anglo-aristocracy driven out of their homes, as well as with the oppressed Irish people?

See my answer to 10. Farrell doesn't actually give us the other side in any depth. We are sympathetic to the Irish largely because the Anglos see them in such an odd way and we wish to be on the side of those seeking their independence. Farrell mocks the Anglo-aristocracy but they are really the only people we get to know well. There were exceptions including the servants and the Devlins, but largely we care about the people we have come to know. In this way, Farrell makes us sympathetic to the Anglos even if we don't agree with their position.

1. Edward Spencer is Anglo-Irish and believes that it is correct for his tenants to swear allegiance to Great Britain. They don't see things quite the same way.
2. The Majestic is anythig but by the time we meet it. It's decline is a metaphor for the decline of English power in Ireland.
3. The residents remain in the increasing dilapidation because they have no alternatives. Neglect and the weather combine to destroy.
4. There certainly was plenty of wry humour, combined with disbelief in my case!
5. I think Gail explains them both beautifully
6. The hotel residents view the Irish as uneducated and discount them so often that violence is the only option. Not unlike what is happening right now!
8. Revenge killings never solve crises, they only escalate conflict.
10. The British gave the colonies railways, law courts and brutal discipline. In Ireland they gave very little and took everything they could.

Where is the review thread?

Pip wrote: "Where is the review thread?"

I didn't realize that I hadn't made the link yet. Here it is; https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...