Perhaps A Family Failing by Elizabeth Taylor, 1958
The magic trick:
Farce presented as literary fiction
Much of this story plays out like an old English farce. The scene in the pub near the end with the warring dogs and the pitcher of water accidentally poured on a man’s head? It could be an episode of “Fawlty Towers.”
But elsewhere the story treats its subjects very seriously, employing techniques typical of very fine literary fiction.
We get probing internal point of view moments. We get the post-wedding evening scenes in four different rooms from four different perspectives. We get brief windows into entire relationships.
It’s a great combination – the farce presented as literature.
And that’s quite a trick on Taylor’s part.
The selection:
At six o’clock, Mr. Midwinter took his thirst and his derogatory opinions about the wedding down to the saloon bar of The Starter’s Orders. His rueful face as he described the jugs of orangeade convulsed his friends. “Poor Geoff, what’s he thinking of, marrying into a lot like that?” asked the barmaid.
“Won’t make no difference to Geoff,” said his father. “Geoff’s like his Dad. Not given to asking anybody’s by-your-leave when he feels like a pint.”
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