Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – February CC Book Club Selection

[BUandBC82]

<p>

Originally Posted by ignatius
The young Major, on the other hand, fell in love with a strong-minded young girl (Nancy), in spite of any benefit - or lack of benefit - to him.

</p>

<p>

Originally posted by fireflyscout
I think we got a pretty good read on the Major’s character at the very beginning - when he is caught wearing his wife’s housedress during cleaning. The straight-backed military man has depth!

</p>

<p>Good points. You’ve convinced me that I would have liked the Major as a younger man.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@Mary13

He is too shallow-- although as psychmom points out, this may be more of a writing flaw than anything else. Roger is a one-dimensional character. That simplicity works with the true comic extras like Daisy and Alma, but Roger is a major character and I think he should have had more “layers.”

</p>

<p>Sandy tells Roger that he’s "so shallow a minnow would drown in [his] depths. I decided that Roger really has no hidden layers, no depth worth acknowledging. Some people just don’t. ;)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>What did you think of the guns—the Churchills? They were almost characters unto themselves, weren’t they? To me, they were one of the most significant symbols in the novel, as this is a story about mismatched pairs, both guns and people.</p>

<p>Sometimes, despite the fact that the two halves appear to “belong” together, they just aren’t a permanent match. The Major cleans and oils Bertie’s gun, trying to make the perfect set, but in the end that gun goes down the ravine. Mrs. Ali does her best to push Amina and Abdul Wahid together, to patch up their relationship, but in the end, they split up. Roger and Sandy, despite their shared class and race, are another mismatched pair. And yet the two that do not seem to belong together—the Major and Mrs. Ali—become the set that endures. Even the Major says to Abdul Wahid at the end: “Either shoot me or choose to live yourself,” said the Major. “I can’t face your aunt any other way. How strange to think that we come as a pair now.”</p>

[ignatius]

<p>Referring back to Mary’s earlier post: </p>

<p>

@Mary13

</p>

<p>

@BUandBC82

I think his [the Major’s] personality influenced the person Roger became as an adult.

</p>

<p>Good point. To what extent is the Major responsible for the person that Roger turned out to be? The story of Roger’s youthful shooting trauma is rather telling:</p>

<p>

”I seem to remember a small boy blubbering over a dead woodpecker and vowing to never pick up a gun again,” said the Major. “Are you really going shooting?” He leaned toward Sandy and poured her more tea. “Could never get him to come out with me after that,” he added.

</p>

<p>Roger’s response is:</p>

<p>

”My father.” Roger rolled his eyes. “A great believer in the cold-baths-and-blistering-rebuke school of compassion.”

</p>

<p>Maybe the Major told Roger to “man up” one too many times…and the result was a son he couldn’t be proud of. Be careful what you wish for…

</p>

<p>I think Mary hit the nail on the head. The Major himself senses that he missed teaching opportunities:</p>

<p>

He felt, in the area of his heart, a slow constriction of sorrow for his son and wondered where or when he had failed, or forgotten, to teach this boy compassion.

</p>

<p>Back to Mary’s really good Churchills (guns) comments. :)</p>

[nicksmtmom]

<p>I really enjoyed the book…it was funny and low-key with a good ending (glad the author threw in a little suspense at the end)</p>

<p>I felt that even tho the book was written in third person, it was really all from the perspective of Major Pettigrew…almost as if it was written in the first person. We didn’t get to hear the thoughts in anyone else’s head. </p>

<p>So, from his perspective (as is almost always the case of the older generations towards the younger) the new generation is loud, rude, materialistic and greedy, wasteful, etc. Older generations usually shake their heads in disbelief at the younger…they can’t believe they raised such rebellious, un-centered youth without any traditional values. They forget that the generation before them probably felt the same about them.</p>

<p>Not that Roger didn’t act like an ass, he often did deserve a slap. But I don’t think we can discount that even with his impeccable manners, the Major couldn’t resist egging his son on when they disagreed…almost talking “down” to him, chastising him for being “modern.” And how many of us haven’t chafed and behaved badly when treated like that by our parents? I think Roger needs the benefit of age and experience, as we all do. Let’s hope he improves by being “at home” with his dad.</p>

<p>And, sorry, I have to disagree about the portrayal of Americans. I found myself getting really irritated after Ferguson was described as loud, a tacky dresser, manipulatvie and money hungry, etc. Sandy was originally equally obnoxious, showed too much skin, overly done up. This is so often the case in a “British” book…Americans are just portrayed badly…as a cariacture. Surely there is ONE American who can have some couth…do we all have to be seen as objects of eye-rolls?</p>

<p>That being said, the thing I enjoyed most was the author’s use of similes and metaphors…some really clever and unique ones. (Sorry, I started reading the book without marking them so I can’t quote specifics…but maybe someone can). One I am thinking of is something like “his eyebrows shot up like two rabbits scared out of the brush.” Maybe you all can quote some you marked…some made me laugh out loud.</p>

<p>thanks for the suggestion of a great book! I look forward to her next novel.</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>

Originally Posted by Mary13
What did you think of the guns—the Churchills? They were almost characters unto themselves, weren’t they? To me, they were one of the most significant symbols in the novel, as this is a story about mismatched pairs, both guns and people.

I love these comments about the guns. At the end of the story, when the Major was trying to talk Abdul out of jumping, the Major came to grips with his feelings for the guns and for Jasimina. He said

I was more proud of these guns than I was of your aunt Jasmina. For the sake of these guns, I let down the woman I love in front of a whole community of people, most of whom I can barely tolerate. I let her leave, and I will never get rid of that sense of shame.

</p>

<p>

Originally Posted by nicksmtmom
And, sorry, I have to disagree about the portrayal of Americans. I found myself getting really irritated after Ferguson was described as loud, a tacky dresser, manipulatvie and money hungry, etc. Sandy was originally equally obnoxious, showed too much skin, overly done up. This is so often the case in a “British” book…Americans are just portrayed badly…as a cariacture. Surely there is ONE American who can have some couth…do we all have to be seen as objects of eye-rolls?

</p>

<p>But this portrayal of Americans was the Major’s perspective. The portrayal of the English in this book was also somewhat unflattering. I smiled at Sandy’s character from the start and, in the end, she ended up being one of the characters with the most depth. I will agree that Ferguson was a American caricature.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@nicksmtmom

the thing I enjoyed most was the author’s use of similes and metaphors…some really clever and unique ones…… Maybe you all can quote some you marked…some made me laugh out loud.

</p>

<p>Simonson does have a penchant for metaphors! nicksmtmom, here’s the one you were trying to remember: “‘Didn’t you know he was here?’ asked Alec, his eyebrows stretching like two rabbits getting up from a nap.”</p>

<p>And there are so many more. A few examples (with thanks to my Kindle’s search engine):</p>

<p>

“The Major waved and began a reluctant voyage across the room between groups of people whose conversations had whipped them into tight circles, like leaves in a squall.”</p>

<p>“Sandy slid over the gear shift into the driver’s seat, legs flashing like scimitars.”</p>

<p>“In an attempt to sound delicate, he squeezed the words out of his mouth like the last of the toothpaste from the tube.”</p>

<p>“His spirit by contrast was mean, like a slug shriveling on the bricks at midday.” </p>

<p>“Memories were like tomb paintings, thought the Major, the colors still vivid no matter how many layers of mud and sand time deposited. Scrape at them and they come up all red and blazing.”</p>

<p>“The words had been cast at them like boulders from a catapult,; now he could only stand his ground and brace for the counterattack.”</p>

<p>“The flicker of filial love went out like a pilot light in a sudden draft.”</p>

<p>“In the mirror, he caught a glimpse of a gray face in which Grace’s pink lipstick stood out like new bricks.”

</p>

<p>And here’s one of my favorites:</p>

<p>

”There was a pause that seemed to expand slowly, like the universe, which, he had just read, was pushing itself apart as it aged. ‘Senescence,’ they had called it in the Sunday paper.”

</p>

<p>I’d say that “Senescence” applies to the Major as well as the universe. :)</p>

[nicksmtmom]

<p>^^that’s a good point about Sandy and the Major’s perspective…I can’t have it both ways! It was sort of a “general rant” in a lot of books I read where Americans are so materialistic and loud and unaware of how inappropriate they are. </p>

<p>Actually, this author did a good job of showing foibles across the board, as you said. (Reminds me of South Park…you can’t take offense because they make fun of BOTH sides! Don’t tell anyone I watch that! :D)</p>

<p>Man, I need a Kindle…</p>

[nicksmtmom]

<p>I loved this:

“Ernest, how lovely to see you. You should have called and let us know you were coming,” Marjorie came in wearing a voluminous black wool skirt and a ruffled blouse of black and purple that looked as if it had been whipped up out of funeral bunting. He stood, wondering whether the circumstances required him to hug her, but she slipped behind the counter with Jemima and the two of them looked at him as if he had come to buy stamps at the post office."

</p>

[newccuser]

<p>Interesting to note that I’m not the only reader, for whom this book reminded me of another one. And in my case, it is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day. If any of you are familiar with that story - the themes of dignity, aging, replacement by younger generations, English countrysides, veiled subtle romance, etc are common between the two. The Major and Mrs. Ali are like parallels to Butler Stevens and the maid Miss Kenton.</p>

<p>As for the depiction of Americans, it was obviously meant to be exactly a superficial, tongue-in-cheek, humorous, no offense-intended, stereotypical poking-fun portrayal. However, with that said, it does fall into one of the more weaker, ‘stock’ character type of writing, along with the frivolous socialites and the materialistic big-city modern son.</p>

<p>And thanks to my Kindle’s online archivial highlights/annotations feature here are some quotes I liked:</p>

<p>(guess who this is about, haha!) But though the poem was indeed atrocious (he remembered only a surfeit of teddy bears and angels quite at odds with the severity of Presbyterian teachings), her genuine grief transformed it into something moving.</p>

<p>(nice capture of awkwardness) Unlike her husband, Alec, who was proud of his history as an East End boy, Alma tried hard to forget her origins in London; but she sometimes betrayed herself with a taste for showy luxuries and the sweet tooth of someone who grew up without quite enough to eat. The other ladies, he suspected, were hiding their mortification. He selected an undecorated shortbread and took a bite. The ladies settled themselves on chairs, smiling at him with compassion as if watching a starving cat lap from a saucer of milk. It was somewhat difficult to chew under the scrutiny and he took a large swallow of tea to help the sandy biscuit down. The tea was weak and tasted of paper. He was rendered speechless by the realization that they had brought their own teabags as well.</p>

<p>(nice moving prose) It surprised him that his grief was sharper than in the past few days. He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child’s math book. Instead, it was almost as if his body contained a big pile of garden rubbish full both of heavy lumps of dirt and of sharp thorny brush that would stab him when he least expected it. If Mrs. Ali had dropped in—and he felt again the slight pique that she had not—she would have understood. Mrs. Ali, he was sure, would have let him talk about Bertie. Not the deceased body already liquefying in the ground, but Bertie as he was.</p>

<p>(more good prose) Memories were like tomb paintings, thought the Major, the colors still vivid no matter how many layers of mud and sand time deposited. Scrape at them and they come up all red and blazing.</p>

<p>(more good prose) “It is so beautiful here,” she said at last, cupping her chin in one hand. “It’s just a small view,” he said, “but for some reason I never tire of coming out in the evening to watch the sun leaving the fields.” “I don’t believe the greatest views in the world are great because they are vast or exotic,” she said. “I think their power comes from the knowledge that they do not change. You look at them and you know they have been the same for a thousand years.” “And yet how suddenly they can become new again when you see them through someone else’s eyes,” he said. “The eyes of a new friend, for example.” She turned to look at him, her face in shadow; the moment hung between them.</p>

<p>(funny joke)“Roger doesn’t like to talk about religion, do you?” said Sandy. She started to tick subjects off on her fingers: “No religion, no politics, sex only through innuendo—it’s no wonder you British obsess about the weather, darling.”</p>

<p>(so true, more about journey than destination, whenever we strive for something hard enough, obtaining it is always a letdown in a way) He remembered standing with Mrs. Ali outside the golf club, both of them tense with anticipation. He was sure, now, that life could never live up to its anticipatory moments.</p>

<p>(motivational thought) “This is not the solution,” said the Major. “The solution is to make things right, or at least to work every day to do so.”</p>

<p>(the worth we attach to objects are only as much as what they mean to us, like we may deeply treasure a fading photograph, but we treasure more so the memories it contains than the actual picture itself.) “Actually, I lost Bertie’s gun,” said the Major. He yawned and felt himself growing sleepy. “Happened to be the closest one to grab. That’s not my gun at the bottom of the English Channel.” “Are you serious?” said Roger. “And I’m glad,” said the Major. “Now I won’t have to be reminded that sometimes it might have been more important to me than my brother.”</p>

[SouthJerseyChessMom]

<p>Enjoying this discussion, and appreciating the book much more.
I did enjoy the book, but do agree with Psychmom, that some of the characters seem quite “cartoon-ish”-one dimensional, but thankfully, not the Major, he quite the “curmudgeon” and more complex.
BUandBC, like you, I may “like” Major more after reading many CCers posts.</p>

<p>Love the posts about Simonson’s writing style-Nicksmtmom, and Mary13, thank you. In my haste to read the book, I missed the writer’s elegance, which I can appreciate with your quotations.</p>

<p>Also, Mary13 your insight about the guns is especially enlightening. The guns representing the mix matched pairs.Perfect.</p>

<p>For me the book was so much a book about change, “personal, societal and environmental”. Cultures and generations constantly clashing.</p>

<p>I can understand the comparison by Newccuser to “Remains of the Day”, but I don’t recall those characters evolving and adapting to the changing world. Didn’t the butler remain stuck in the rigid class system, even though he attempted to reach out to his “love/ friend” ? </p>

<p>This book reminded me somewhat of parts of many we have read
The Help- the women’s club characters, and prejudice.
The Hedgehog-substitute “well- read” Major for the main character in that book,
The lovely English countryside- The 13th Tale, and the Moonstone. </p>

<p>Carry on- Mary13, hope all is well in Chicago-Lake Shore Drive looks like a scene from a movie.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>Hi SJCM! Yesterday, as I trudged down a cold street under grey skies, surrounded by abandoned vehicles and only a few demoralized humans, I felt like the protagonist of The Road. But today the skies are blue and sunny, and the newspapers have been delivered, so things are looking up!</p>

<p>newccuser, thanks for all the quotes. Here are a couple examples of the dry British wit that I enjoyed (hmmm…am I guilty of stereotyping when I label them “British”?): </p>

<p>

“Her mother was such a great beauty, you know,” he said. “But she’s happiest in the stables shoveling manure. In my day that would have sufficed, but these days, men expect their wives to be as dazzling as their mistresses.”</p>

<pre><code>“That’s shocking,” said the Major. “How on earth will they tell them apart?”

</code></pre>

<p>and</p>

<p>

“Plant burglary?”</p>

<p>“Yes, there was quite a rash of it,” he said. “Part of a larger crisis in the culture, of course. My mother always blamed it on decimalization.”</p>

<pre><code>“Yes. It almost invites disaster, doesn’t it, when people are asked to count by ten instead of twelve?”

</code></pre>

<p>I do agree with other posters who said that the Americans in Major Pettigrew were mostly caricatures. It’s somewhat surprising, as Helen Simonson has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years. Maybe I should give her the benefit of the doubt and say that her portrayal of a character such as Ferguson was actually a parody of all the stereotypical Americans found in bad British literature.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@SouthJerseyChessMom

For me the book was so much a book about change, “personal, societal and environmental”. Cultures and generations constantly clashing.

</p>

<p>Yes! And I think the environmental piece is important. There is an emphasis in the novel on green countrysides and gardens, and the potential and unsettling loss of these beauties, whether through “plant burglary” or through the development plans of Lord Dagenham.</p>

<p>Author Helen Simonson has a few more themes to add to SouthJerseyChessMom’s. On her website, Simonson says of Major Pettigrew themes:</p>

<p>

I came up with **inheritance<a href=“an%20endless%20source%20of%20both%20comedy%20and%20tragedy”>/b</a>, **parents and their adult children<a href=“King%20Lear%20having%20the%20ultimate%20in%20bad%20offspring”>/b</a>, defining community by exclusion of the ‘other,’ and of course, that comment your neighbor made last week that you didn’t realize, until half an hour later, was a complete insult. These themes and some good salty snacks should keep the conversation going. If all else fails, discuss whether love is ageless.

</p>

<p>[Helen</a> Simonson FAQ](<a href=“http://helensimonson.com/tea_and_conversation/category/faq/]Helen”>http://helensimonson.com/tea_and_conversation/category/faq/)</p>

[nicksmtmom]

<p>I loved their late-in-life romance. Very pure and intellectual, but they couldn’t help themselves…passionate as well. Hope we are all lucky enough to have that well into the golden years.</p>

<p>Also, no one else in the story seemed to be a successful love match, did they? Interesting…</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@nicksmtmom

no one else in the story seemed to be a successful love match, did they?

</p>

<p>A bit of a tongue in cheek answer here, but I thought of a conversation between the Major and Vicar:</p>

<p>

“Bit of a shambles, that dance,” said the Vicar at last. “Daisy was very upset.”</p>

<p>“Was she?” said the Major in a dry tone.</p>

<p>“Oh, she worries about everyone so much, you know,” said the Vicar. “She has such a big heart.” The Major looked at him, astonished. Such touching delusion must underlie many otherwise inexplicable marriages, he thought, and liked Christopher all the better for loving his wife.

</p>

<p>Also both the Major and Mrs. Ali’s first marriages - til the deaths of their respective spouses - seemed successful. Each felt a connection to the other stemming from living with such a loss.</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>I’m enjoying all the quotes and comments being shared. </p>

<p>I marked some quotes that showed the prejudice of some of the characters. </p>

<p>On page 178 Sandy saw Abdul Wahid only as a Pakstani –

”Do come sit down by me, Abdul Wahid,” said Sandy. “I want to ask you more about traditional weaving in Pakistan.”
“I won’t be much help,” said Abdul Wahid. “I was raised in England. I was considered a tourist and an Englishman in Pakistan. I bought my scarf in Lahore, in a department store.”

</p>

<p>This quote on page 265 shows prejudice and humor as Sadie Khan was talking with Daisy about club membership for herself and her Doctor husband.

……he heard Sadie Khan speaking. Daisy’s response, in a crystal voice, carried over the music and voices: “Yes, of course, you would be so much more suitable, my dear, only we are quite oversubscribed in the medical professions and the club works so hard to promote diversity in the membership.”

</p>

<p>Much of this story was the Major getting beyond his own prejudice. This next quote from page 303 is telling -

The Ali family’s house was one of the more prosperous. It retained half a garden with a gravel area on which stood a small two-seater sports car. The elegant effect of the car and the new white-painted windows was overshadowed by the neighboring house, which bore leaping dolphins on its gateposts and purple shutters around dark wood window frames The Major was just allowing himself a small sniff of disapproval at such obviously foreign excess when a white woman with streaky hair and a pink fur jacket over green jeans tripped out of the front door in her black patent boots and drove away in a small green car with an “Ibiza Lover” bumper sticker.
Mentally apologizing to the rest of the neighborhood, the Major……

</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@BUandBC82

This quote on page 265 shows prejudice and humor as Sadie Khan was talking with Daisy about club membership for herself and her Doctor husband.</p>

<p>

….he heard Sadie Khan speaking. Daisy’s response, in a crystal voice, carried over the music and voices: “Yes, of course, you would be so much more suitable, my dear, only we are quite oversubscribed in the medical professions and the club works so hard to promote diversity in the membership.”

</p>

<p>^And that’s a perfect example of Helen Simonson’s theme of “defining community by exclusion of the ‘other’”.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>Abdul Wahid is an interesting character. In a way, he is the Major’s other son: For a time, he lives under the Major’s roof, and the Major even has to initiate an awkward “man-to-man” talk with him (at the request of Mrs. Ali). Yet Abdul Wahid is the antithesis of Roger. They are another mismatched pair, of sorts. What one lacks, the other has too much of. Roger is overly glib; Abdul Wahid is too serious. Roger is fickle when he should be steadfast; Abdul Wahid will not bend when compromise is called for. Roger is “consumed by material wants"; Abdul Wahid lives an almost ascetic existence. It’s as if, melded together, they might make one “normal” man.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>Yet neither Roger and Abdul Wahid handle an unwanted pregnancy well. Mary points out that Roger “is fickle, when he should be steadfast; Abdul Wahid will not bend when compromise is called for.” </p>

<p>As for Roger, well, …</p>

<p>Roger manages to combine arrogance, prejudice, and ignorance in one brief moment:</p>

<p>

“Abdul Wahid has just discovered he has a son,” said the Major. “It is a warning to all of us that unorthodox romantic arrangements are not without consequences.” </p>

<p>“I agree you’re right, at least when it comes to the working class and foreigners,” said Roger. “Totally oblivious about birth control and things. But we’re not like them, Sandy and I.”

</p>

[ignatius]

<p>Religion and its role in one’s life could be another theme.</p>

<p>A conversation between the Major, Sandy, Roger, and Abdul Wahid:

“And what, may I ask, is your religion?”</p>

<p>“Good heavens, Sandy’s family is staunch Anglican,” said Roger in a clipped voice. […]</p>

<p>[…]I think we’re now one Buddhist, two agnostics, and the rest are plain old atheist."</p>

<p>“Nonpracticing Anglicans,” said Roger.</p>

<p>“The word ‘atheist’ does rather give that impression, Roger,” replied the Major.</p>

<p>“Roger doesn’t like to talk about religion, do you?” said Sandy. […]</p>

<p>“I feel it is important to discuss our different religions,” said Abdul Wahid. “But in Britain, we keep it all behind closed doors and swept under the wall-to-wall carpet. I have not found anyone to sit down and discuss this topic.”</p>

<p>“Oh, my God–an ecumenical Muslim,” said Roger. “Are you sure you’re talking about the right religion?”</p>

<p>“Roger!” said Sandy.</p>

<p>“It is all right,” said Abdul Wahid. “I prefer such directness. I cannot defend my religion against evasion and the politeness which hides disdain.”</p>

<p>The Major felt the urgent need to change the subject.

</p>

<p>Abdul Wahid:

“Only sometimes when we pick and choose among the rules we discover later that we have set aside something precious in the process.”

</p>

<p>

I do not wish to be one of those men who bends and shapes the rules of his religion like a cheap basket to justify his comfortable life and to satisfy every bodily desire."

</p>

<p>Mrs. Ali (in direct contrast to her nephew Abdul Wahid) and the Major:

“Abdul Wahid is still exploring his relationship to his faith. We all pick and choose and make our religion our own, do we not?”</p>

<p>“I can’t imagine the various ayatollahs or the Archbishop of Canterbury agreeing with you,” said the Major. “I believe you are being unorthodox.”</p>

<p>“I am being realistic,” said Mrs. Ali.

</p>

<p>The Vicar (in direct contrast to Mrs. Ali, but along the same lines as Abdul Wahid) and the Major:

“They want me to promise they’ll be together in heaven, when the truth is I can’t even offer both a plot in the cemetery. They expect me to soft-pedal Jesus as if he’s just one of the many possible options.”</p>

<p>“Sort of like a cosmic pick-and-mix?” said the Major.</p>

<p>“Exactly.” […] “Often, I think, they don’t believe in anything at all and they just want to prove to themselves that I don’t really believe anything either.”

</p>