Skip to main content

Old Filth (concluded)

Filth, at the end, wanders about revisiting his cousins from his earliest childhood days in England, Babs and Claire. Through various memories and discussions, it is revealed that he played a part in the death of their foster mother--a mean woman--Ma Didds. (The children cut off a chicken's head. Ma Didds, rushing up the stairs to beat one of them, is stopped by Filth. She falls and dies, though she also had cancer and would have died anyway. Albert Ross--his Chinese friend--dies in 9/11 attack. Filth decides to return to Singapore. When he gets off the plane, he feels home. Clearly set up for a Part Two as the reader learns very little about Filth's time in Hong Kong in part one. I will read the other books, but not immediately.
Beautiful writing and characterization. Plot wanders quite a bit . . . not the point, at least not yet.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oppenheimer . . . film

 Solid opening 30 minutes (we're treating this like a mini-series).  O's involvement with left-wing causes . . . rift with Einstein (O thinks of him as over-the-hill and Einstein knows it.)  First splitting of atom.  Lawrence Lab in Berkeley--Lawrence practical applied physics . . . not O's strength.  Main actor is from Peaky Blinders.

The Master Chapter 2

February 1895 (Alice died in 1892) Money problems, jealousy of Wilde; time spent with Lord Wolseley1; off to Ireland to lick his wounds; Irish unrest--Irish landlords boycott all social events; much time spent with manservant Hammond (homosexual attraction again); fancy dress ball, appalling to James, who is only happy in company of Hammond, though Hammond remains a servant and no more; little girl alone on the grounds--inspiration for Turn of the Screw?; conflict with Webster who alludes to Wilde's successful play and HJ's failure; Wolseley was an  Anglo-Irish  officer in the  British Army . He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, West Africa, and Egypt, followed by a central role in modernizing the British Army in promoting efficiency. He served in Burma, the  Crimean War , the  Indian Mutiny , China, Canada and widely throughout Africa—including his  Ashanti  campaign (18...