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Snobs
Edith Lavery, an English blonde with large eyes and nice manners, is the daughter of a moderately successful accountant and his social-climbing wife. While visiting his parents' stately home as a paying guest, Edith meets Charles, Earl Broughton, and heir to the Marquess of Uckfield, who runs the family estates in East Sussex and Norfolk. To the gossip columns he is one of the most eligible young aristocrats around.
When he proposes. Edith accepts. But is she really in love with Charles? Or with his title, his position, and all that goes with it?
One inescapable part of life at Broughton Hall is Charles's mother, the shrewd Lady Uckfield, known to her friends as "Googie" and described by the narrator---an actor who moves comfortably among the upper classes while chronicling their foibles---"as the most socially expert individual I have ever known at all well. She combined a watchmaker's eye for detail with a madam's knowledge of the world." Lady Uckfield is convinced that Edith is more interested in becoming a countess than in being a good wife to her son. And when a television company, complete with a gorgeous leading man, descends on Broughton Hall to film a period drama, "Googie's" worst fears seem fully justified.
When he proposes. Edith accepts. But is she really in love with Charles? Or with his title, his position, and all that goes with it?
One inescapable part of life at Broughton Hall is Charles's mother, the shrewd Lady Uckfield, known to her friends as "Googie" and described by the narrator---an actor who moves comfortably among the upper classes while chronicling their foibles---"as the most socially expert individual I have ever known at all well. She combined a watchmaker's eye for detail with a madam's knowledge of the world." Lady Uckfield is convinced that Edith is more interested in becoming a countess than in being a good wife to her son. And when a television company, complete with a gorgeous leading man, descends on Broughton Hall to film a period drama, "Googie's" worst fears seem fully justified.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Julian Fellowes
73 books1,455 followersJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford), DL. English actor, novelist, screenwriter, and director.
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,368 reviews
July 28, 2021
This is the first book I’ve read by Fellowes though I enjoyed Downton Abbey a lot. Snobs sort of takes one back into that world but in a more modern time (the 1990s) and certainly turned out quite different from what I’d expected. Our unnamed narrator (rather like Nancy Mitford’s Fanny Wincham, but a man) tells us the story of Edith Lavery, born into a middle-class family, who realises that she really can do nothing in life but marry well, and that she does, ‘catching’ Charles Broughton, heir to the wealthy Marquess of Uckfield. Charles’ family isn’t exactly thrilled with the development, but are welcoming enough with the exception of Charles’ brother-in-law who in fact has humbler origins than Edith herself. Once the initial happiness of newly-acquired wealth and position wears off, Edith however finds life, well—boring. And she ends up falling for the handsome actor Simon Russell, stirring up a storm in an otherwise mundane life. While this means losing all the perks of a life among the upper echelons of society, and the love (in his own way) of a thoroughly decent man, what she gets in return isn’t all she thinks it will be either. But how does it all fare for Edith, when she realises you really can’t have it all. Alongside, we also get glimpses of our narrator’s own life, love, and marriage.
This was indeed a compelling and enjoyable read. Fellowes, speaking through our narrator’s voice, knows the ins-and-outs of society and indeed about those who are trying so desperately to make a place for themselves in it with little clue as to how things work. But there are moments where one does feel just a tiny bit like one is being lectured to though our narrator is never judgmental (his observations are definitely sharp), but merely an observer for the most part; though he finds himself involved more than he’d probably like at others.
The ‘snobs’ themselves were surprising—while Edith isn’t their type and they know it and perhaps wouldn’t have ‘picked’ her to be part of their family, I thought their behaviour fairly welcoming once she was; they certainly didn’t ‘pick on her’ to put it bluntly, and their worries about her fitting in with the kind of life they actually led (versus what she dreamt of) did have a point to them, as becomes clear when things move along. Their lives certainly move along a different path than others’ and by an entirely different code, and that is what is intimidating, it is pretentious, and it of itself excludes everyone else no doubt—that I don’t deny (and really when one thinks about it, each segment in society has its ways, its mores, its ‘culture’ however much we try to deny difference)—but unlike other reviewers, I really didn’t feel that it presented them necessarily in negative light, satire though it may be meant to be (I’m not really trying to comment on the desirability of the whole set-up, etc. not defending nor praising it, simply saying it is what it is).
The plot itself kept me reading as well, wanting to see how things would turn out at the end, because here at least (as in life, many times), it isn’t all about happily ever after but more about what one really wants in life, and what one must give up to have it. May be I made it sound a touch dreary and serious but that it really isn’t—the issues it deals with may be that but the way it does is definitely not, and I had good fun reading it as I’m sure will others.
This was indeed a compelling and enjoyable read. Fellowes, speaking through our narrator’s voice, knows the ins-and-outs of society and indeed about those who are trying so desperately to make a place for themselves in it with little clue as to how things work. But there are moments where one does feel just a tiny bit like one is being lectured to though our narrator is never judgmental (his observations are definitely sharp), but merely an observer for the most part; though he finds himself involved more than he’d probably like at others.
The ‘snobs’ themselves were surprising—while Edith isn’t their type and they know it and perhaps wouldn’t have ‘picked’ her to be part of their family, I thought their behaviour fairly welcoming once she was; they certainly didn’t ‘pick on her’ to put it bluntly, and their worries about her fitting in with the kind of life they actually led (versus what she dreamt of) did have a point to them, as becomes clear when things move along. Their lives certainly move along a different path than others’ and by an entirely different code, and that is what is intimidating, it is pretentious, and it of itself excludes everyone else no doubt—that I don’t deny (and really when one thinks about it, each segment in society has its ways, its mores, its ‘culture’ however much we try to deny difference)—but unlike other reviewers, I really didn’t feel that it presented them necessarily in negative light, satire though it may be meant to be (I’m not really trying to comment on the desirability of the whole set-up, etc. not defending nor praising it, simply saying it is what it is).
The plot itself kept me reading as well, wanting to see how things would turn out at the end, because here at least (as in life, many times), it isn’t all about happily ever after but more about what one really wants in life, and what one must give up to have it. May be I made it sound a touch dreary and serious but that it really isn’t—the issues it deals with may be that but the way it does is definitely not, and I had good fun reading it as I’m sure will others.
July 9, 2015
Snobs was initially a pleasurably satirical and snippy read, but after numerous chapters of the seemingly endless and very tedious ins-and-outs of aristocratic society, it started to become - to employ a word used frequently in the book - dreary, and by the end I didn't care what happened. It was well-written, but suffered from the same problem as Fellowes' (superior) second novel Past Imperfect; too many digressions into intricate details of the upper echelons of the class system. Reading this, you'd be forgiven for thinking that upper middle class is the lowest of the low and not being on friendly terms with an aristocratic family is the worst thing imaginable - it's as if no life beyond this highly privileged world even exists. I know it's likely this attitude is part of the satire, but it still annoyed me. Plus the narrator is virtually invisible (we never even learn his name) and Edith isn't a sympathetic or likeable character, so it's hard to feel an attachment to anyone in the story.
August 19, 2008
As delicious as fizzy lemonade and only slightly more substantive, this novel by the screenwriter of “Gosford Park” takes you through the courtship and marriage of a middle-class beauty (“I knew she was a social climber; I didn’t realize she was a mountaineer!”) and an aristocratic dullard. No one escapes the dry acerbity of author Julian Fellowes, who was born into the bosom of the upper-class and obviously knows the species intimately. A very light, very fun, very delectably waspish portrait of a class of people who are polar opposites of the type populating reality-TV.
October 15, 2009
Wow. this guy really nailed it. This book reminded me of someone paring a fish with the ease of a surgeon. Fellows examines social protocol in a certain circle by flaking it from the chaos of conversation, holding it up to the light, and explaining exactly why everything about it is preposterous.
Ever wonder why some people call each other Sausage or Toffee? Turn to page 44. Want to know Fellow's theory about the patented British "stiff upper lip"? Try page 35. Or find out who fits this brilliant character description: "He talked of himself and his triumphs in that relaxed unselfconscious way that only the deeply egocentric can manage" (Hint, Page 107.)
Fellow's writing is beautiful and complicated. He's a mannered writer in the old-fashioned style of Warton and James, and his story is filled with expert plot twists. I was completely enthralled.
Ever wonder why some people call each other Sausage or Toffee? Turn to page 44. Want to know Fellow's theory about the patented British "stiff upper lip"? Try page 35. Or find out who fits this brilliant character description: "He talked of himself and his triumphs in that relaxed unselfconscious way that only the deeply egocentric can manage" (Hint, Page 107.)
Fellow's writing is beautiful and complicated. He's a mannered writer in the old-fashioned style of Warton and James, and his story is filled with expert plot twists. I was completely enthralled.
July 26, 2016
Reads like an essay or etiquette book about the upper classes, disguised as a novel. Self consciously clever and witty insights, but very unoriginal plot. First person narrator knows more of Edith's inner thoughts than makes sense. Only "enlivened" by an implausible ending.
It's a shame, because he's much better as a screenwriter: Gosford Park was wonderful, and the first series of Downton Abbey was excellent (subsequent series bordered on parody, but by then it was an international brand, so the market requirements were different). Maybe he appeals more to non-Brits, as a describer of the alien and exotic, than to Brits who think (often erroneously) that they're more familiar with his subjects?
It's a shame, because he's much better as a screenwriter: Gosford Park was wonderful, and the first series of Downton Abbey was excellent (subsequent series bordered on parody, but by then it was an international brand, so the market requirements were different). Maybe he appeals more to non-Brits, as a describer of the alien and exotic, than to Brits who think (often erroneously) that they're more familiar with his subjects?
May 20, 2016
This was actually a quick re-read of this novel, Snobs, which I believe I originally read a couple of years ago and found delightfully droll. I've noticed that it seems to have made a bit of a comeback on to book shelves, perhaps because of Fellowes' now well known association with writing Downton Abbey.
I found this a subtle book, recounting the story of this rather ambitious yet very decent middle class British young woman, Edith, being star struck by the aristocratic gentleman Charles, wooed to join him as his partner and in the end having to fight to keep her personality from being totally eroded by the "snobs" of the class system of which she is pointedly reminded she does not belong.
I'm not a Brit, but I married into a pseudo British family in Canada which held onto its Colonial pretences for two hundred years after it had arrived in the country. It took me at least a decade to understand how "one behaved" within the antiquated social system that this family continued to rank itself highly within, to anticipate how to be part of this "special" enclave with its singular mannerisms, language and social morés. I loved my in-laws dearly, but I had to scramble to prove my worth, even as the rest of Canada had a much more egalitarian system of acceptance.
As a result, I recognized the satire and mockery of Snobs. Anyone who had rank had status, but could be as dull as ditchwater and equally as stupid, which would be ignored. The young wife who became the wiley strategist and determined power to practically ensure her future security and that of her children had to relinquish all of her natural innocence and spontaneity. She had entered a world where everyone was constantly measured harshly against each other, and where she resolved to win with her sharp intelligence, besting her mother-in-law Lady Uckfield and keeping the "snobs" in check.
Again, a subtle novel which probably is robustly enjoyed with insight into the virtual caste system of British "society".
I found this a subtle book, recounting the story of this rather ambitious yet very decent middle class British young woman, Edith, being star struck by the aristocratic gentleman Charles, wooed to join him as his partner and in the end having to fight to keep her personality from being totally eroded by the "snobs" of the class system of which she is pointedly reminded she does not belong.
I'm not a Brit, but I married into a pseudo British family in Canada which held onto its Colonial pretences for two hundred years after it had arrived in the country. It took me at least a decade to understand how "one behaved" within the antiquated social system that this family continued to rank itself highly within, to anticipate how to be part of this "special" enclave with its singular mannerisms, language and social morés. I loved my in-laws dearly, but I had to scramble to prove my worth, even as the rest of Canada had a much more egalitarian system of acceptance.
As a result, I recognized the satire and mockery of Snobs. Anyone who had rank had status, but could be as dull as ditchwater and equally as stupid, which would be ignored. The young wife who became the wiley strategist and determined power to practically ensure her future security and that of her children had to relinquish all of her natural innocence and spontaneity. She had entered a world where everyone was constantly measured harshly against each other, and where she resolved to win with her sharp intelligence, besting her mother-in-law Lady Uckfield and keeping the "snobs" in check.
Again, a subtle novel which probably is robustly enjoyed with insight into the virtual caste system of British "society".
May 2, 2021
"Snobs" is an entertaining fictionalised study of the fascinating world of British snobbery. Due to his origin and life experience, Julian Fellowes is well-posed and well-equipped for writing about this topic.
Is "Snobs" likely to leave an everlasting, life-changing trace in the reader's heart? Definitely not. Neither it was meant to.
Does it provide an entertaining excursion into the labyrinths of British snobbery? Quite.
Is "Snobs" likely to leave an everlasting, life-changing trace in the reader's heart? Definitely not. Neither it was meant to.
Does it provide an entertaining excursion into the labyrinths of British snobbery? Quite.
June 16, 2016
Я почти придумала гадкую рецензию, где фигурируют фразы "секс плохой зато ко мне обращаются миледи", "лучше пересмотрите Аббатство Даунтон", "а у нас слуг в семнадцатом году отменили", "жаль что в начале века не было журнала Хеллоу", "занудство и морализаторство", "Кейт Миддлтон хотя бы милая", "мы все глядим в Наполеоны" -- короче, вы поняли, "Снобы" -- это очень скучно.
***
Вообще, моя основная к книге претензия (помимо постоянных нравоучительных и морализаторских лирических отступлений от автора) -- это то, что жители Лондона и окрестностей в 90-ые годы ХХ века, когда происходит действие, ведут себя и говорят, действительно, как персонажи Downton Abbey. Красивая девушка из богатой семьи, а точнее, ее мать, хочет стать не только богатой, но и называться "леди", поэтому ходит на экскурсии в поместья и на скачки и высматривает на вечеринках графов и проч. Графы, в целом, представлены в обществе в избытке, только они не самые веселые и симпатичные в мире ребята. Но героиня решает, что симпатичная мебель и симпатичная приставка к имени лучше, чем симпатичная физиономия супруга, и берется за дело. Ну, а про плохой секс я уже писала.
Очень интересно было бы узнать мнение настоящих британцев по поводу сюжета этого романа. Мне известно, что при кажущейся бьющей через край либеральности классовость английского общества сохраняется как нигде, но неужели все разумные и приятные девушки, у которых и так есть на что съездить на Майорку, так стремятся породниться с каким-нибудь скучным и лысоватым герцогом?
***
Вообще, моя основная к книге претензия (помимо постоянных нравоучительных и морализаторских лирических отступлений от автора) -- это то, что жители Лондона и окрестностей в 90-ые годы ХХ века, когда происходит действие, ведут себя и говорят, действительно, как персонажи Downton Abbey. Красивая девушка из богатой семьи, а точнее, ее мать, хочет стать не только богатой, но и называться "леди", поэтому ходит на экскурсии в поместья и на скачки и высматривает на вечеринках графов и проч. Графы, в целом, представлены в обществе в избытке, только они не самые веселые и симпатичные в мире ребята. Но героиня решает, что симпатичная мебель и симпатичная приставка к имени лучше, чем симпатичная физиономия супруга, и берется за дело. Ну, а про плохой секс я уже писала.
Очень интересно было бы узнать мнение настоящих британцев по поводу сюжета этого романа. Мне известно, что при кажущейся бьющей через край либеральности классовость английского общества сохраняется как нигде, но неужели все разумные и приятные девушки, у которых и так есть на что съездить на Майорку, так стремятся породниться с каким-нибудь скучным и лысоватым герцогом?
November 26, 2013
Slow to start. The characters have too much time on their hands. I read this like a science project, and from that point of view it was interesting. I'm too American for understanding the time wasting that goes on here. Somebody should just forget all this, go into the kitchen and bake a pie.
January 19, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2013
This book had the same effect on me as the screeching sound of chalk on a blackboard. After the first eighty pages I considered dropping it. The all too familiar traits of snobbery just didn't tickle my fancy at all. A snob is a snob is a snob, right?
It felt like detention homework. Please write out the following sentence two thousand times: " Snobs believe they are God's gift to mankind in every which way but death." ( I mean, they truly believe the sun sets over our planet when one of them sit down). Then repeat this sentence four thousand times to serve as a life lesson: "Do not confuse snobbery with etiquette, good manners and good genes." This is one of the good things coming from those lot actually!
To be fair, this click-ish enclave of the inbreds are not acting different from all the school jocks and clicks bullying and excluding anyone different from themselves. Their code of conduct is not unfamiliar to street gangs, bitchy cheerleader-squats, and Wallstreet at all. But in our western world, this British toffs are actually the cradle of this madness.
Besides, haven't most of us been taught that we are better than anyone else? India and Pakistan even have the strict caste system forbidding anyone from moving from one class of misery up to another. Nobody can ever skip the caste they were born in there apart from emigrating to free countries where social mobility is guaranteed(in Britain only to a point though!). It does sound quite similar to the English nobility and after reading this book the suspicion is stronger. And aren't we all reminded of the untouchables behind the railway lines? What about the new daughters-, or son-in-law that rocked many a family for being 'below standard'. Let's not even add skin color to this delightful imagery of excellence!
If my memory serves me correctly, there were even a few British laws prohibiting the marriage between Commoners and The Chosen Few. Wasn't it necessary to change a law or two so that Prince William could marry his highly intelligent, upper middle-class common wife Kate? I suspect it is the nearest to the French Revolution the poor British upper caste were forced to go.
What a painful submission to the will of the people and the true meaning of democracy it must have been for those Blue Bloods! But that was only after the death of Princess Diana which almost stirred up a revolution in the country that promised to be more vicious than those in Russia and France. The Queen was forced to give The People's Princess the burial they demanded, or else. Come to think of it: how many millions of flower bouquets and messages of love did it take against the bars of the gilded cages to get the Queen out of her castle back to London to do what was demanded from the thousands of people gathering at the Gates, not to even mention the reaction from the rest of the world? Princess Diana was chucked out like an old shoe from The Inner Circle after divorcing her two-timer husband who had one great ambition and that was to be his mistress's Tampax! Princess Diana broke all the rules of Royalty! How dared she expose her children to the common masses and make those two boys really love, respect and meet their own people? She clearly recognized a world-trend these old fossils could never grasp even if it was force-fed to them. But then she did the unthinkable: she had the audacity to expose her husband's affair!? That was an unforgivable blasphemy against the Noble Gods!
Although this book is not the story of Diana, it is an excellent portrayal of the circumstances in which she was 'handled' in this ancient class system. I am convinced that these events rattled a few gilded cages for years afterwards! Actually, still do.
It is an excellent book, despite my antagonism towards a Self-Protective, Chosen-Few, from a strictly secluded circle of blood, a stiff-upper-lip gang expecting everyone else to bow in their presence. It had, still have, ma' common nickers tied in a dangerous knot. What fascinates me the most though, is how did it happen that these toffs did not land up on the guillotine like their French counterparts? The French revolutionary slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" upturned many gravy trains all over the world in a spin-off effect, but not immediately in our dear Mother England. Not only that, how in the world did they manage to keep this exclusive closed-up society of power and privilege in such a pristine state without any opposition by the struggling masses ? Mind boggling for sure! Admirable? That depends on who you are and where you're coming from, I guess.
Down Town Abbey have enough fans all over the world to prove that the lives and times of nobility still have a highly popular place in fairyland, thanks to authors such as Barbara Cartland and company who promoted the romantic concept to a must-dream for every young girl. Some girls grasped the reigns, thinking they can ride this elaborately adorned dressaged horse, only to wake up the day after the wedding and discover that they were on the back of a dangerous buffalo dagga bull in royal disguise. They were left with only one option and that is to die with their fairy tale trampled into oblivion forever.
This book tells the story of Edith, an upper middle class girl who aspired to become a member of the nobility through marriage but discovered a reality nobody really talks about. The mean, cruel, conniving, heartless inbreds made sure she would be treated like a bad odor. They had enough influence to snub her where- and whenever they felt like it. She would learn a lot. Her choice in the end, was a surprising, but logical one I had to agree with!
After reading the book, and thinking of Kate, Prince William's wife, and how she is received in this vicious 'underworld' of power and privilege, I felt like encouraging Mother England to keep these lot isolated from the world as much as possible. Tax breaks and government subsidies must keep them locked up in the mausoleums they take pride in as their ancestral homes. The Brits are doing the world a gigantic favor to keep the walls around them as high as possible. If you have not figured it out yet, this is said with a tongue deeply buried in the cheek!
Okay, so you got it after reading my thoughts on the book and how the underlying message impacted on me. Not all of us are dying to become 'one of them'. You probably also concluded that some of us won't bother to even acknowledge them anywhere else but in their little secluded island west of France. Thank all the Gods of all humanity and beyond that the majority of Brits are not like them! And that America got us all liberated from that nonsense with their Boston Tea Party! Okay, give or take the Mayflower, at least the obsession with titles drowned somewhere in the waves on the way to America. Just the idea that there could have been a few million more polluting this earth makes me break out in uncontrollable shudders! Yes, the American Civil War removed all the doubt that ever existed of what freedom really means. Unfortunately, the world was not saved from snobbery at all.
The book is superbly written, the plot is working, the message powerful, the information worth another television series. Perhaps it might even become an hilarious comedy such as "Bridget Jones's Diary". I did not find the latter book funny at all, but the movie had me almost drowned in laughter. It probably can happen to this book as well.
Apart from bursting the romantic bubble of authors such as Barbara Cartland and a few hundred similar authors, Snobs by Julian Fellowes must have had quite a few members of the High N' Mighty-clan red-faced and furious - for various reasons. Well Jeepers Jeeves, I would sincerely hope so!
Yet the author was still kind enough not to reveal all the gunk and gore locked behind those palatial doors and high walls. It also indirectly explained the reality behind the tragedy of princes Diana and now a new challenge for dearly beloved Kate. Their names is never mentioned. The readers get an insider's view on those exclusive power palaces.
I do give this book five stars for masterful penmanship. Some even regard it as a satire. I did not get that impression. But then again, I am not British. The topic of the book was handled graciously. It is an easy, compassionate read. I really enjoyed the book. If it wasn't for a well-plotted story line, I would not have continued after page 100. But I am so glad I did. There's actually good in all of us. In the end, the pot dare not call the kettle black.
It felt like detention homework. Please write out the following sentence two thousand times: " Snobs believe they are God's gift to mankind in every which way but death." ( I mean, they truly believe the sun sets over our planet when one of them sit down). Then repeat this sentence four thousand times to serve as a life lesson: "Do not confuse snobbery with etiquette, good manners and good genes." This is one of the good things coming from those lot actually!
To be fair, this click-ish enclave of the inbreds are not acting different from all the school jocks and clicks bullying and excluding anyone different from themselves. Their code of conduct is not unfamiliar to street gangs, bitchy cheerleader-squats, and Wallstreet at all. But in our western world, this British toffs are actually the cradle of this madness.
Besides, haven't most of us been taught that we are better than anyone else? India and Pakistan even have the strict caste system forbidding anyone from moving from one class of misery up to another. Nobody can ever skip the caste they were born in there apart from emigrating to free countries where social mobility is guaranteed(in Britain only to a point though!). It does sound quite similar to the English nobility and after reading this book the suspicion is stronger. And aren't we all reminded of the untouchables behind the railway lines? What about the new daughters-, or son-in-law that rocked many a family for being 'below standard'. Let's not even add skin color to this delightful imagery of excellence!
If my memory serves me correctly, there were even a few British laws prohibiting the marriage between Commoners and The Chosen Few. Wasn't it necessary to change a law or two so that Prince William could marry his highly intelligent, upper middle-class common wife Kate? I suspect it is the nearest to the French Revolution the poor British upper caste were forced to go.
What a painful submission to the will of the people and the true meaning of democracy it must have been for those Blue Bloods! But that was only after the death of Princess Diana which almost stirred up a revolution in the country that promised to be more vicious than those in Russia and France. The Queen was forced to give The People's Princess the burial they demanded, or else. Come to think of it: how many millions of flower bouquets and messages of love did it take against the bars of the gilded cages to get the Queen out of her castle back to London to do what was demanded from the thousands of people gathering at the Gates, not to even mention the reaction from the rest of the world? Princess Diana was chucked out like an old shoe from The Inner Circle after divorcing her two-timer husband who had one great ambition and that was to be his mistress's Tampax! Princess Diana broke all the rules of Royalty! How dared she expose her children to the common masses and make those two boys really love, respect and meet their own people? She clearly recognized a world-trend these old fossils could never grasp even if it was force-fed to them. But then she did the unthinkable: she had the audacity to expose her husband's affair!? That was an unforgivable blasphemy against the Noble Gods!
Although this book is not the story of Diana, it is an excellent portrayal of the circumstances in which she was 'handled' in this ancient class system. I am convinced that these events rattled a few gilded cages for years afterwards! Actually, still do.
It is an excellent book, despite my antagonism towards a Self-Protective, Chosen-Few, from a strictly secluded circle of blood, a stiff-upper-lip gang expecting everyone else to bow in their presence. It had, still have, ma' common nickers tied in a dangerous knot. What fascinates me the most though, is how did it happen that these toffs did not land up on the guillotine like their French counterparts? The French revolutionary slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" upturned many gravy trains all over the world in a spin-off effect, but not immediately in our dear Mother England. Not only that, how in the world did they manage to keep this exclusive closed-up society of power and privilege in such a pristine state without any opposition by the struggling masses ? Mind boggling for sure! Admirable? That depends on who you are and where you're coming from, I guess.
Down Town Abbey have enough fans all over the world to prove that the lives and times of nobility still have a highly popular place in fairyland, thanks to authors such as Barbara Cartland and company who promoted the romantic concept to a must-dream for every young girl. Some girls grasped the reigns, thinking they can ride this elaborately adorned dressaged horse, only to wake up the day after the wedding and discover that they were on the back of a dangerous buffalo dagga bull in royal disguise. They were left with only one option and that is to die with their fairy tale trampled into oblivion forever.
This book tells the story of Edith, an upper middle class girl who aspired to become a member of the nobility through marriage but discovered a reality nobody really talks about. The mean, cruel, conniving, heartless inbreds made sure she would be treated like a bad odor. They had enough influence to snub her where- and whenever they felt like it. She would learn a lot. Her choice in the end, was a surprising, but logical one I had to agree with!
After reading the book, and thinking of Kate, Prince William's wife, and how she is received in this vicious 'underworld' of power and privilege, I felt like encouraging Mother England to keep these lot isolated from the world as much as possible. Tax breaks and government subsidies must keep them locked up in the mausoleums they take pride in as their ancestral homes. The Brits are doing the world a gigantic favor to keep the walls around them as high as possible. If you have not figured it out yet, this is said with a tongue deeply buried in the cheek!
Okay, so you got it after reading my thoughts on the book and how the underlying message impacted on me. Not all of us are dying to become 'one of them'. You probably also concluded that some of us won't bother to even acknowledge them anywhere else but in their little secluded island west of France. Thank all the Gods of all humanity and beyond that the majority of Brits are not like them! And that America got us all liberated from that nonsense with their Boston Tea Party! Okay, give or take the Mayflower, at least the obsession with titles drowned somewhere in the waves on the way to America. Just the idea that there could have been a few million more polluting this earth makes me break out in uncontrollable shudders! Yes, the American Civil War removed all the doubt that ever existed of what freedom really means. Unfortunately, the world was not saved from snobbery at all.
The book is superbly written, the plot is working, the message powerful, the information worth another television series. Perhaps it might even become an hilarious comedy such as "Bridget Jones's Diary". I did not find the latter book funny at all, but the movie had me almost drowned in laughter. It probably can happen to this book as well.
Apart from bursting the romantic bubble of authors such as Barbara Cartland and a few hundred similar authors, Snobs by Julian Fellowes must have had quite a few members of the High N' Mighty-clan red-faced and furious - for various reasons. Well Jeepers Jeeves, I would sincerely hope so!
Yet the author was still kind enough not to reveal all the gunk and gore locked behind those palatial doors and high walls. It also indirectly explained the reality behind the tragedy of princes Diana and now a new challenge for dearly beloved Kate. Their names is never mentioned. The readers get an insider's view on those exclusive power palaces.
I do give this book five stars for masterful penmanship. Some even regard it as a satire. I did not get that impression. But then again, I am not British. The topic of the book was handled graciously. It is an easy, compassionate read. I really enjoyed the book. If it wasn't for a well-plotted story line, I would not have continued after page 100. But I am so glad I did. There's actually good in all of us. In the end, the pot dare not call the kettle black.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
July 29, 2012The fourth of four (so far) books in a row that I've abandoned. Maybe it's just me.
I just started watching Downton Abbey a couple of months ago (two years after it began airing) and my reaction was, "why didn't anyone tell me how great this show is?" Then I remembered that, oh right, everyone did. This caused me to also seek out Gosford Park, which I didn't like nearly as much as Downton Abbey, although it did make me feel that Maggie Smith should be in all movies (along with Don Cheadle, about whom I feel the same). Eventually, I picked up this book, as Julian Fellows wrote both Downton Abbey and Gosford Park, and ... disappointment. It's more exposition than anything else. The theme is that the elite are elitist, and instead of just telling a story that illustrates that, Fellows's unnamed narrator talks and talks about it. I got to the halfway point, and the central drama (of a middle-class woman who'd married a man she finds boring just for the position taking up with an actor who's at the estate filming a period piece) hadn't even started yet, which led me believe that it wasn't going to, although the narrator would probably talk a lot more about why it was likely to happen. It wasn't horrible, just a little dull, and I probably could have powered through to the end, but it was due at the library so back it went.
I just started watching Downton Abbey a couple of months ago (two years after it began airing) and my reaction was, "why didn't anyone tell me how great this show is?" Then I remembered that, oh right, everyone did. This caused me to also seek out Gosford Park, which I didn't like nearly as much as Downton Abbey, although it did make me feel that Maggie Smith should be in all movies (along with Don Cheadle, about whom I feel the same). Eventually, I picked up this book, as Julian Fellows wrote both Downton Abbey and Gosford Park, and ... disappointment. It's more exposition than anything else. The theme is that the elite are elitist, and instead of just telling a story that illustrates that, Fellows's unnamed narrator talks and talks about it. I got to the halfway point, and the central drama (of a middle-class woman who'd married a man she finds boring just for the position taking up with an actor who's at the estate filming a period piece) hadn't even started yet, which led me believe that it wasn't going to, although the narrator would probably talk a lot more about why it was likely to happen. It wasn't horrible, just a little dull, and I probably could have powered through to the end, but it was due at the library so back it went.
March 27, 2022
This book just never got interesting for me I kept hoping it would but by the end I was completely bored by the story. Simply not my cup of tea
March 14, 2014
This was such an entertaining, fun book.
The author, Julian Fellowes, has had an illustrious career in film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the Oscar-winning Gosford Park, The Young Victoria, and Vanity Fair. He also created and writes the spectacular Downton Abbey.
In the same way that Dominick Dunn’s books offer an insider peek into the elite lives of Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, Snobs is a funny, sharp-eyed study on contemporary British aristocracy. The gossipy story is told through a series of sophisticated dinner parties and social events.
At the center of the book is Edith, a middle-class English woman who hits the royal jackpot when she meets and marries Charles Broughton a wealthy Earl. On the honeymoon, cracks already emerge in the marriage. Charles is a kind but dull and simple man. He is "not exactly handsome” and he is terrible in bed. Edith quickly finds herself in a passionless, dreary marriage and bored stiff with the surprisingly tedious routines of the nobility. Edith’s boredom gets the best of her and she quickly lets things spiral out of control.
If you have ever wondered what the decedents of Lord Grantham might be doing in a few decades in the future, this book is for you! Don’t miss it!
The author, Julian Fellowes, has had an illustrious career in film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the Oscar-winning Gosford Park, The Young Victoria, and Vanity Fair. He also created and writes the spectacular Downton Abbey.
In the same way that Dominick Dunn’s books offer an insider peek into the elite lives of Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, Snobs is a funny, sharp-eyed study on contemporary British aristocracy. The gossipy story is told through a series of sophisticated dinner parties and social events.
At the center of the book is Edith, a middle-class English woman who hits the royal jackpot when she meets and marries Charles Broughton a wealthy Earl. On the honeymoon, cracks already emerge in the marriage. Charles is a kind but dull and simple man. He is "not exactly handsome” and he is terrible in bed. Edith quickly finds herself in a passionless, dreary marriage and bored stiff with the surprisingly tedious routines of the nobility. Edith’s boredom gets the best of her and she quickly lets things spiral out of control.
If you have ever wondered what the decedents of Lord Grantham might be doing in a few decades in the future, this book is for you! Don’t miss it!
February 8, 2011
After being dazzled by two Julian Fellowes screenplays (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey), I had expected to find sparkling little gems of conversaton and observations reformed into this present-day setting. Instead, it was the average girl-meets-rich-boy-then-regrets-choosing-money-over-love kind of a story. The cliche roles of the looming mother-in-law matriarch, the overstuffed, rose-covered couch of a mother, the slightly slimy, ladder-climbing lover... all of it just exasperated me. After seeing the author's Trollope like insights into the class-conscious era of the Edwardian household, I had hoped to find him deliciously snobby, bridging old-world aristocracy with new-world realities. Instead, I spent three days reading what appeared to be the screenplay to a bad soap opera pilot that never made it on air.
September 14, 2015
Welcome to the company of a condescending, judgmental narrator who loves inflicting lengthy discourses, based on clichéd generalisations, on the reader. This guy has no investment in the plot or in the fate of his fellow characters... he doesn't go anywhere as a character... he's boring and humourless... and he's a vehicle for the author's wooden tell-don't-show.
What's to like? Almost nothing. We get the posh-boy-turned-actor narrator describing how a pretty, but talentless and lazy, middle-class woman (Edith) implements her livelihood strategy: "My tastes need at least £80,000 a year". She does this by getting a boring but rich aristocrat to marry her. Then she gets bored. Then she has an affair. Then she goes back to her husband.
It's a plot that would make sense in pre-electricity times but for some reason it's set in the 1990s. This means that Julian Fellowes has to get desperate in explaining why the hell Edith doesn't just get an education and a job and enjoy life like the rest of us: 2/3 in we get a brief discourse on how difficult it is to attain a pleasant quality of life when you're stupid and lazy. The other characters are just as riveting: the husband is decent but unimaginative, the narrator is waspish and dull, the lover is handsome and vain. The mother-in-law is perhaps a bit interesting, a puppetmistress in perfect command of pre-war etiquette and values. Apparently people like this book because it goes into aristo-porn, letting us drool over the descriptions of fine wines in crystal glasses and uhhh... old furniture. The supposedly brilliantly insightful dissections of aristocratic behaviour didn't convince me: sweeping generalisations about "their class" that sound like they're droned out by one of those insufferable, self-centred bores you sometimes have to chew your arm off to get away from at parties.
Read something good instead. Definitely do not buy this.
What's to like? Almost nothing. We get the posh-boy-turned-actor narrator describing how a pretty, but talentless and lazy, middle-class woman (Edith) implements her livelihood strategy: "My tastes need at least £80,000 a year". She does this by getting a boring but rich aristocrat to marry her. Then she gets bored. Then she has an affair. Then she goes back to her husband.
It's a plot that would make sense in pre-electricity times but for some reason it's set in the 1990s. This means that Julian Fellowes has to get desperate in explaining why the hell Edith doesn't just get an education and a job and enjoy life like the rest of us: 2/3 in we get a brief discourse on how difficult it is to attain a pleasant quality of life when you're stupid and lazy. The other characters are just as riveting: the husband is decent but unimaginative, the narrator is waspish and dull, the lover is handsome and vain. The mother-in-law is perhaps a bit interesting, a puppetmistress in perfect command of pre-war etiquette and values. Apparently people like this book because it goes into aristo-porn, letting us drool over the descriptions of fine wines in crystal glasses and uhhh... old furniture. The supposedly brilliantly insightful dissections of aristocratic behaviour didn't convince me: sweeping generalisations about "their class" that sound like they're droned out by one of those insufferable, self-centred bores you sometimes have to chew your arm off to get away from at parties.
Read something good instead. Definitely do not buy this.
April 8, 2015
Edith, a beautiful and kind English young woman, is introduced to the Earl of Broughton after touring Broughton Hall. Although not a social-climber herself, she is drawn to his lifestyle and the ways of his class. She agrees to marry him, but suddenly finds life dull. One day, when actors and a camera crew arrive on her doorstep, she is swept off her feet and begins to question her decisions.
While I found the social commentary amusing, intellectual, and informative, I had no invested interest in any of the characters. In fact, the commentary was more interesting than the plot. Fellowes, known for Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, is a brilliant story-teller, so I was taken aback when I found myself bored. Part of it could be Edith's bland character, the nameless narrator's creepily informed knowledge base, the double-meanings from the aristocrats, and Charles passionless expressions.
A neat insight on the English social class with a lackluster plot.
While I found the social commentary amusing, intellectual, and informative, I had no invested interest in any of the characters. In fact, the commentary was more interesting than the plot. Fellowes, known for Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, is a brilliant story-teller, so I was taken aback when I found myself bored. Part of it could be Edith's bland character, the nameless narrator's creepily informed knowledge base, the double-meanings from the aristocrats, and Charles passionless expressions.
A neat insight on the English social class with a lackluster plot.
February 1, 2016
Odličan prikaz života i odnosa engleske aristokracije u 21.st. ! Pratimo priču Edith, djevojke iz srednje klase kojoj uspijeva udati se za grofa Broughtona, na veliku nesreću njegove majke, markize od Uckfielda. Ipak, uprkos udaji, biti prihvaćen u taj uzak, zatvoren krug engleskih obitelji koje svoja rodoslovlja prate još od doba prvih engleskih kraljeva, nije nimalo lako niti ugodno. Baš mi je bilo zanimljivo čitati kako i dan danas ti engleski "snobovi" drže do svoje tradicije i njeguju svoja pravila ponašanja, izražavanja iako su, većini, dani njihova bogatstva i slave davno prošli. I sama priča je zanimljiva (ispričana iz kuta edithinog prijatelja iz djetinjstva) pa je ovo je definitivno knjiga koja se čita s užitkom.. Barem sam je ja tako doživjela. ;)
July 3, 2020
Entertaining and somewhat thought provoking, however not a real page turner. It was very slow to start and got more interesting towards the middle and end.
June 25, 2022
Pessimo, non ci sono altri aggettivi. Viene presentato – e immagino fosse questa anche l'intenzione dell'autore – come una spumeggiante satira dello snobismo inglese, una divertente presa in giro dell'aristocrazia e della nobiltà terriera britannica e dei "nuovi ricchi" che cercano inutilmente di entrare nella cerchia ristretta di quelli che contano. Un fallimento totale, il libro non ha niente di divertente, non c'è satira intelligente, non c'è autoironia aristocratica: la storia è banale e raccontata coi piedi, noiosa oltre ogni dire, i dialoghi sono intervallati da descrizioni e considerazioni così lunghe che trovi la risposta dopo 3-4 pagine da quando è stata posta la domanda. Ambientata negli anni '90, i personaggi parlano, pensano e agiscono come se fossimo negli anni '40 del secolo scorso. Sconsigliatissimo.
***
Bad, there are no other adjectives. It is presented - and I guess this was also the author's intention - as a bubbly satire of English snobbery, a funny mockery of the British aristocracy and landed gentry and the "new rich" who try in vain to enter the inner circle of those that matter. A total failure, the book has nothing funny, there is no intelligent satire, there is no aristocratic self-irony: the story is banal and badly told, boring beyond words, the dialogues are interspersed with such long descriptions and considerations that you find the answer after 3-4 pages from when the question was asked. Set in the 90s, the characters talk, think and act as if we were in the 40s of the last century. Not recommended.
***
Bad, there are no other adjectives. It is presented - and I guess this was also the author's intention - as a bubbly satire of English snobbery, a funny mockery of the British aristocracy and landed gentry and the "new rich" who try in vain to enter the inner circle of those that matter. A total failure, the book has nothing funny, there is no intelligent satire, there is no aristocratic self-irony: the story is banal and badly told, boring beyond words, the dialogues are interspersed with such long descriptions and considerations that you find the answer after 3-4 pages from when the question was asked. Set in the 90s, the characters talk, think and act as if we were in the 40s of the last century. Not recommended.
May 26, 2019
Listened to this so long ago. Joyce wrote a good review of this title
April 20, 2018
Julian Fellowes' insider understanding of the rarified world of the British aristocracy is on display again, but set in the '90's instead of the "Downton Abbey" era. Edith, a social climber marries into this world, not for love of the man but for his title. She soon begins to question if her choice was the right one.
I finished the novel and was satisfied with the ending, but this wasn't a page-turner as the pace was rather plodding. The most glaring fault was the odd choice of having a male narrator, who besides being smug and unlikeable, wasn’t even an intimate friend but only an acquaintance of lesser social standing on the periphery of the main couple's social orbit. I think the story would have been much more absorbing if it was told from Edith's, or at least the husband's, point of view.
I finished the novel and was satisfied with the ending, but this wasn't a page-turner as the pace was rather plodding. The most glaring fault was the odd choice of having a male narrator, who besides being smug and unlikeable, wasn’t even an intimate friend but only an acquaintance of lesser social standing on the periphery of the main couple's social orbit. I think the story would have been much more absorbing if it was told from Edith's, or at least the husband's, point of view.
January 11, 2023
I didn't hate this book
I just didn't like it
Maybe it's me but there wasn't a single character I cared about
This is the story of Edith a Middle class girl who was raised for greater things by her social climbing mother and who hits the jackpot by meeting an attracting a Marquess or prehaps an heir to one
Anyway soon Edith is Lady Edith well actually Lady LastNameIcan'tremember and it miserable because is sucks to get what you want a solid boring British husband.
Eventually Edith strays but soon learns this grass is greener when one is titled.
I just didn't like it
Maybe it's me but there wasn't a single character I cared about
This is the story of Edith a Middle class girl who was raised for greater things by her social climbing mother and who hits the jackpot by meeting an attracting a Marquess or prehaps an heir to one
Anyway soon Edith is Lady Edith well actually Lady LastNameIcan'tremember and it miserable because is sucks to get what you want a solid boring British husband.
Eventually Edith strays but soon learns this grass is greener when one is titled.
October 6, 2009
Absolutely loved this book about the English aristocracy and the ambitious young woman who tries to marry into it, all told from the ironic perspective of a nameless actor who is everyone's confidante.
I went back to look, and this is only the third book I've awarded 5 stars to this year (out of 180 or so). Not a great year.
I went back to look, and this is only the third book I've awarded 5 stars to this year (out of 180 or so). Not a great year.
February 12, 2022
I found this book so boring, it just failed to get my attention and I just couldn't find any reason to enjoy it.
Yes, okay it's well written, I'll give the author that but boy does it drone on and on and on.
Snobs just wasn't a fun read for me.
Sad, as I love the authors screen work but maybe his books just aren't for me.
Yes, okay it's well written, I'll give the author that but boy does it drone on and on and on.
Snobs just wasn't a fun read for me.
Sad, as I love the authors screen work but maybe his books just aren't for me.
January 9, 2024
«Felice quanto basta»
La penna di Julian Fellowes è sempre affilata e non delude mai, che si tratti di un romanzo o di una sceneggiatura.
Snob è la storia di una novella Madame Bovary. Negli anni Novanta Edith Lavery è una giovane, ricca e graziosa esponente dell'alta borghesia inglese. Ha tutto ciò che si potrebbe desiderare, tranne una cosa: l'accesso al mondo chiuso e dorato della nobiltà. Le persone come Edith si aggirano nelle immediate vicinanze di questo mondo e talvolta riescono perfino a farvi capolino, ma non ne fanno mai davvero parte.
Un giorno Edith incontra il conte Charles Broughton, che si innamora di lei. Un giovanotto mediocre praticamente in tutto, ma pur sempre un conte. Sembra perfetto. Dopo il matrimonio, tuttavia, Edith inizia a rendersi conto che un titolo e il ruolo sociale non sono sufficienti a riempire un'esistenza noiosa e vuota, senza amore, passione o anche solo interessi comuni e coglie la prima valida occasione per liberarsene. Sarà una scelta definitiva o tornerà sui suoi passi, accettando che nella vita il massimo che si possa desiderare è essere «felici quanto basta»?
Snob, pubblicato nel 2004, è il primo romanzo di Fellowes, ma non si direbbe affatto. La mano dell’autore corre sicura dalla prima all'ultima pagina. I personaggi sono solidi e divertenti e alla fine diventano dei vecchi amici. Si prova ben poca empatia per Edith, una viziata egoista e ipocrita che crede di poter ottenere tutto nella vita, soldi e potere e amore e fama, solo perché è carina. Certo, nella realtà accade spesso che qualcuno riesca a farsi strada e a cavarsela per questo motivo, quindi non è qualcosa di improbabile, ma è alquanto irritante.
Molto ironica e acuta è la voce narrante: un amico di Edith e Charles, giovane attore che pur appartenendo alla piccola nobiltà ha deciso di trovarsi una professione "singolare"; metà dentro e metà fuori dal mondo del sangue blu, può gettare su di esso uno sguardo consapevole e un po' distaccato. Chiaramente è un alter ego dello stesso Fellowes.
Charles Broughton è l'incarnazione perfetta del giovane gentiluomo inglese di campagna, ma il personaggio più riuscito è senz'altro sua madre: Lady Broughton, detta Googie, marchesa di Uckfield. Fellowes non ne fa la solita suocera odiosa che ci si aspetterebbe, pronta a detestare la nuora per puro principio, "perché sì". È un personaggio articolato e complesso, straordinariamente affascinate, intelligente e acuta, dura, ma non senza cuore, capace di risolvere in modo brillante e sicuro qualsiasi dramma sociale le si pari davanti e di cavarsela in ogni situazione, anche quando - o forse soprattutto quando - le cose non vanno a suo favore.
Anche lo stile è una certezza: deliziosamente ironico, leggero, gustoso e frizzantino come una flûte di spumante, venato di british humor. È perfetto per dare voce al mondo bizzarro e luccicante dell'aristocrazia inglese: tra battute di caccia, esclusivi ristoranti londinesi, tenute di campagna e ricevimenti a corte, leggere Snob è come gettare uno sguardo in una scatola chiusa e colma di deliziose meraviglie. Come sbirciare al di là di un vetro una sontuosa festa alla quale non siamo invitati.
La penna di Julian Fellowes è sempre affilata e non delude mai, che si tratti di un romanzo o di una sceneggiatura.
Snob è la storia di una novella Madame Bovary. Negli anni Novanta Edith Lavery è una giovane, ricca e graziosa esponente dell'alta borghesia inglese. Ha tutto ciò che si potrebbe desiderare, tranne una cosa: l'accesso al mondo chiuso e dorato della nobiltà. Le persone come Edith si aggirano nelle immediate vicinanze di questo mondo e talvolta riescono perfino a farvi capolino, ma non ne fanno mai davvero parte.
Un giorno Edith incontra il conte Charles Broughton, che si innamora di lei. Un giovanotto mediocre praticamente in tutto, ma pur sempre un conte. Sembra perfetto. Dopo il matrimonio, tuttavia, Edith inizia a rendersi conto che un titolo e il ruolo sociale non sono sufficienti a riempire un'esistenza noiosa e vuota, senza amore, passione o anche solo interessi comuni e coglie la prima valida occasione per liberarsene. Sarà una scelta definitiva o tornerà sui suoi passi, accettando che nella vita il massimo che si possa desiderare è essere «felici quanto basta»?
Snob, pubblicato nel 2004, è il primo romanzo di Fellowes, ma non si direbbe affatto. La mano dell’autore corre sicura dalla prima all'ultima pagina. I personaggi sono solidi e divertenti e alla fine diventano dei vecchi amici. Si prova ben poca empatia per Edith, una viziata egoista e ipocrita che crede di poter ottenere tutto nella vita, soldi e potere e amore e fama, solo perché è carina. Certo, nella realtà accade spesso che qualcuno riesca a farsi strada e a cavarsela per questo motivo, quindi non è qualcosa di improbabile, ma è alquanto irritante.
Molto ironica e acuta è la voce narrante: un amico di Edith e Charles, giovane attore che pur appartenendo alla piccola nobiltà ha deciso di trovarsi una professione "singolare"; metà dentro e metà fuori dal mondo del sangue blu, può gettare su di esso uno sguardo consapevole e un po' distaccato. Chiaramente è un alter ego dello stesso Fellowes.
Charles Broughton è l'incarnazione perfetta del giovane gentiluomo inglese di campagna, ma il personaggio più riuscito è senz'altro sua madre: Lady Broughton, detta Googie, marchesa di Uckfield. Fellowes non ne fa la solita suocera odiosa che ci si aspetterebbe, pronta a detestare la nuora per puro principio, "perché sì". È un personaggio articolato e complesso, straordinariamente affascinate, intelligente e acuta, dura, ma non senza cuore, capace di risolvere in modo brillante e sicuro qualsiasi dramma sociale le si pari davanti e di cavarsela in ogni situazione, anche quando - o forse soprattutto quando - le cose non vanno a suo favore.
Anche lo stile è una certezza: deliziosamente ironico, leggero, gustoso e frizzantino come una flûte di spumante, venato di british humor. È perfetto per dare voce al mondo bizzarro e luccicante dell'aristocrazia inglese: tra battute di caccia, esclusivi ristoranti londinesi, tenute di campagna e ricevimenti a corte, leggere Snob è come gettare uno sguardo in una scatola chiusa e colma di deliziose meraviglie. Come sbirciare al di là di un vetro una sontuosa festa alla quale non siamo invitati.
April 11, 2009
If only I had read this book before moving to the UK, instead of towards the end of my five year stay! Although this is a piece of fiction, it is an EXCELLENT guide to British mores and manners. Despite being set in the upper echelons of society, the unspoken rules and regulations apply to other social strata as well. As a novel, the book is less than satisfactory and rather cliche; a social climber hits the heights by marrying for status instead of love, falls from grace via an affair with a *gasp* actor, but when she discovers that love doesn't get you into Annabelle's, she finds a way back into her husband's good graces. There's no one to root for: the narrator, an actor himself of middling success, is pompous and self-satisfied (although he treads the boards for a living, he went to the right schools, you see, so he's somewhat acceptable to the titled crowd); the social climber is a, well, social climber; and their friends are mostly so desperate to be something they're not that they're rather too stupid to inspire care. The only character for which one feels anything is the cuckolded Earl, even though the reader is constantly told he is thickheaded and dull.
It is obvious that the author has great affection for British upper class, despite the brittle tone and the title of the book. I expected no less from the screenwriter of "Gosford Park" and an actor best known to me for playing the Prince of Wales in the Jane Seymour/Anthony Andrews TV movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's the perfect book for those looking for Noel Coward without biting wit, Bernie Wooster without Jeeves and/or any character empathy.
Still, I gave it four stars because as a social anthropology guide to the British, it's one of the best I've found.
It is obvious that the author has great affection for British upper class, despite the brittle tone and the title of the book. I expected no less from the screenwriter of "Gosford Park" and an actor best known to me for playing the Prince of Wales in the Jane Seymour/Anthony Andrews TV movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's the perfect book for those looking for Noel Coward without biting wit, Bernie Wooster without Jeeves and/or any character empathy.
Still, I gave it four stars because as a social anthropology guide to the British, it's one of the best I've found.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2013
After I realized that I had already read this book, I kept on reading because I was enjoying it so much. Then I remembered that 'Past Imperfect' was sitting on my shelf, waiting for me! So, I decided to read that instead.
April 1, 2016
It was entertaining and the plot was intriguing. The prose was a bit too wordy for me at times, but I would truly give the book a 3.5 and it did appeal to the Downton side of me.
November 6, 2018
Delightful book. Social commentary but also much fun; Fellowes is a fluid narrator. It was one of my travel reads and I found myself looking forward to my next reading. Do check it out especially if you like Austen.
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