SS#2: "Very Barbara Pym" by Alexander McCall Smith

Smith, Alexander McCall. “Very Barbara Pym.” The Guardian 4 April 2008 19.15 EDT. Web.

Summary: Novelist Alexander McCall Smith makes a case for the timelessness of Barbara Pym’s work, in particular Excellent Women. He focuses on Pym’s ability to observe how the small things in our lives can take on a great influence.

Quotation #1: “And yet although Pym's novels are about as far away as possible from engagement with the great political and social issues, they are powerful reminders that one of the great and proper concerns of literature is that motley cluster of small concerns that makes up our day-to-day lives. This is what gives her novels their permanent appeal.” (Smith par. 2)

Paraphrase #1: Even though Pym does not directly address events falling under broad political or social categories, her novels serve as reminders that much of literature deals with the quotidian. This focus on the everyday is why her novels remain relevant.

Evaluation #1: I agree with Smith’s claim that “one of the great and proper concerns of literature” is the small stuff and that Pym is a master of such stuff. I wonder if I could somehow connect this idea to something having to do with keen observation. Since Mildred is such a keen observer herself, she is able to witness and reflect upon “small concerns” and is - arguably - more fulfilled by it.

Quotation #2: “To say that a moment is ‘very Barbara Pym’ is to say that it is a self-observed, poignant acceptance of the modesty of one's circumstances, of one's peripheral position. Such a moment also occurs when one realises that for those whom one is observing, one will never be an object of love. Tolerant affection, perhaps, but never deep, passionate love. Indeed, one is not really entitled to expect such an emotion, although it is ennobling, some say, to observe it in others.” (Smith par. 7)

Paraphrase #2: Something described as “very Barbara Pym” meets the criteria of demonstrating self-awareness and self-acceptance (especially of a humble situation). It also has to do with detachment from a situation that one might have hoped for but now only witnesses (without envy or ill-will or regret) in the lives of other people.

Evaluation #2: I think it is significant that Smith describes the use of Pym’s name as an adjective for “a moment” (he notes how Graham Greene’s is used for settings or situations). It is in keeping with her work and emphasizes how one of her great strength is capturing such moments that mix wisdom and humility and a bit of sadness.

Quotation #3: “We fill our lives with small things, and they become immensely important to us. Barbara Pym understands that, and in celebrating these little things so vividly, she helps us, I think, to be more sympathetic to others. If it is a mark of a great novel that it should help us to feel for others, that it should touch our human capacity for sympathy in an important way, then Excellent Women, a novel that on one level is about very little, is a great novel about a great deal.” (Smith par. 11)

Paraphrase #3: Barbara Pym knows how significant the little details are to so many people, and through this understanding she compels her readers to be more considerate of others. Important fiction should improve our capacity for sympathy, and although Excellent Women seems to be about small things, it does so.

Evaluation #3: I agree with Smith’s take on Pym’s work. While reading Excellent Women, I was most drawn to Mildred’s keen observations about the seemingly trivial matters that truly mean so much to us. I like how work that appears so attached to a particular time and place can really contain such a wise understanding of the human condition.