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

[BUandBC82]

<p>ignatius -

“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.”

Thanks for sharing that quote. I totally missed the irony of Roger’s words.</p>

<p>I found the religious discussions interesting also. My favorite was mentioned earlier (by newccuser and partially by Ignatius) I’ll repeat it, because I like it so much.

“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>

[Mary13]

<p>And re religion…It’s interesting that although Abdul Wahid and the Vicar are worlds apart in age, race, social status and religion, each one (as Mrs. Ali put it) “is still exploring his relationship to his faith.” The subtle message may be that we human beings are far more similar than we are different. </p>

<p>And that goes for our bad qualities as well as our good ones! We see in the book how rudely Daisy treats Sadie Khan, using a false politeness, but then Sadie, in turn, does her utmost to put down Mrs. Ali in exactly the same way</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>So very true on both points Mary!</p>

[Mary13]

<p>I haven’t posted a list of discussion questions yet, in deference to Helen Simonson’s comment on her website, “I have to confess I’m not a huge fan of reading guides, which remind me too much of school and homework. “</p>

<p>But then I thought, “heck, she’s not in our book club,” so here goes. This is from LitLovers:</p>

<p>

1. Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali have known one another for a time. What is it about this one moment, when he opens the door to her at the story’s onset, that makes him fall in love with her?

</p>

<ol>
<li><p>How would you describe Major Pettigrew? In what way do we see him as “typically English”?

</p></li>
<li><p>Reading and love of books play a defining role in how we are to perceive characters in this book. Talk about the differences in reading habits among Roger, Mrs. Ali, and Mr. Pettigrew.

</p></li>
<li><p>How does Helen Simonson portray Americans in this novel? Is it a fair depiction…or over-drawn?

</p></li>
<li><p>How are outsiders treated in this village…and who are considered outsiders?

</p></li>
<li><p>Small mindedness is an underlying motif in this book. Who in the novel is small-minded? How does this parochialism lead to misunderstanding?

</p></li>
<li><p>Talk about some of the book’s humorous plot ingredients: the gun squabble, the aristocrat who loves to hunt, the golf club and its costume party tradition. 

</p></li>
<li><p>If you’re a fan of English novels, especially the comedy of manners type, you will recognize Simonson’s use of stock characters and set-up: a retired military man, a small quiet village, a local aristocrat, multiple misunderstandings. In what way does Simonson, while using these elements, create something deeper, more potent in Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>[LitLovers</a> - Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand Discussion Questions - Book Club Guide](<a href=“http://www.litlovers.com/guide_major_pettigrews_last.html]LitLovers”>http://www.litlovers.com/guide_major_pettigrews_last.html)

</p>

<p>I guess we’ve achieved a certain level of competence at this discussion thing, because you can see we have already covered most of these, either thoroughly or in part—4, 5, 6, 7…and even–sort of by accident–number 8. I had mentioned Old Filth and newccuser had mentioned Remains of the Day. Apparently, we were supposed to be reminded of other English novels because Simonson was working with a “stock” template. Who knew?</p>

<p>I did find question #3 interesting. After I read it, my knee-jerk reaction was two-fold: </p>

<p>1) “MR. Pettigrew”? To quote the man himself, “’Isss Major…’ he whispered. ‘Major Pettigrew.’” Shame on LitLovers. </p>

<p>2) Roger has reading habits? Roger reads?</p>

<p>But then I did find a funny exchange between the Major and Roger that highlights their very different habits:</p>

<p>

”No, no, it’s just a final deal book I have to read—make sure all the decimal points are in the right place this time,” said Roger. “I can read and chat at the same time.”</p>

<p>“How efficient,” said the Major. “Perhaps I should try a few chapters of War and Peace while we talk?”

</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>I’ll take a stab at answering #1 and #2.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>When Mrs. Ali caught the Major in his late wife’s housecoat the morning his brother died, she caught him in a private moment that no one else ever gets to see. Instead of turning away from that private moment she joined him, comforted him, and shared some of her private thoughts and feelings about her late husband. After that they were connected with the shared loss of their spouses and the shared understanding of life their losses gave them.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ll compare Major Pettigrew to my very limited association with a distant relative in England. When I read the description of the Major, in my mind I pictured my cousin. 20 years ago, traveling to England with my H, I looked up this relative having never met him before. His great grandmother and my great great grandmother were the same person. My grandfather had moved to America with his family as a child, so the family connection was lost as he and his family became Americans. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I believe my cousin was just as fascinated by my being American, as I was with him being English. He was a wonderful host. He had researched our family tree to the 12 century and spent the day showing us around the village and pointing out all the historic family connections. He was very proper in the way he spoke and in his pride over who we were in English history. In the evening he decided he needed to take us to the local pub for a pint. At the pub he told us there were two historical areas of the pub. One area had been for the working class and the other for the upper class. Although he told it as a history lesson, 20 years ago when we were there the separation still appeared apparent. The same exact size beer cost a little bit more in the “upper class” section. He sat us in the “upper class” section and I got the sense he would never sit in the “other” section. I think Major Pettigrew would also have difficulty sitting in the “other” section, at least the Major at the beginning of the story, perhaps the wiser Major at the end would be able to sit anywhere.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>^ Great story! Your cousin definitely sounds like Pettigrew stock. To me, Major Pettigrew has “typically English” class, which I would define as being comfortable (or more accurately, presenting the appearance of being comfortable) with people in all walks of life, while remaining unruffled in the most unexpected situations. I know that Major Pettigrew was churning inside during some of his experiences in the book, but he still managed to keep his cool, be unfailingly polite, and say things like “I can’t thank you enough for your gracious assistance.” Sometimes, there was a wee bit of (amusing) insincerity in such words, but the irony was usually lost on the recipient.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@BuandBC82

1. When Mrs. Ali caught the Major in his late wife’s housecoat the morning his brother died, she caught him in a private moment that no one else ever gets to see. Instead of turning away from that private moment she joined him, comforted him, and shared some of her private thoughts and feelings about her late husband. After that they were connected with the shared loss of their spouses and the shared understanding of life their losses gave them.

</p>

<p>Good answer! The Major felt a kinship with Mrs. Ali at that moment.</p>

<p>

They drank their tea and he felt a sense of wonder that Mrs. Ali, out of the context of her shop and in the strange setting of his own living room, should be revealed as a woman of such great understanding.

</p>

<p>After she left, the Major felt “the tiniest flowering of a new curiosity.”</p>

<p>

Mrs. Ali was, he half suspected, an educated woman, a person of culture. Nancy had been such a rare person, too, fond of her books and of little chamber concerts in village churches. […] Mrs. Ali was more like Nancy.

</p>

<p>The Major also noted Mrs. Ali’s voice at the time:</p>

<p>“Her crisp enunciation, so lacking among many of his village neighbors, struck him with the purity of a well-tuned bell.”</p>

<p>and later</p>

<p>“She had a low, clear reading voice and she read with obvious appreciation of the text.”</p>

<p>“He thought Kipling had never sounded better.”</p>

<p>I think I can now segue into question #3 about reading and the love of books. Obviously the Major and Mrs. Ali have common interests here. When the Major glances at Mrs. Ali’s library books he finds “a Colette novel, de Maupassant stories, a poetry anthology” - with the de Maupassant in French. </p>

<p>

“There’s nothing useless about reading the classics,” said the Major, weighing the books in his hand. “I salute your continued efforts. Too few people today appreciate and pursue the delights of civilized culture for their own sake.”</p>

<p>“Yes, it can be a lonely pursuit,” she said.</p>

<p>“The we–the happy few–must stick together,” said the Major.

</p>

[ignatius]

<ol>
<li>How would you describe Major Pettigrew? In what way do we see him as “typically English”?

</li>
</ol>

<p>Not really a response to the question, but I thought it a nice twist that the “typically English” Major was born and spent his early years in India while Mrs. Ali was born and raised in England. It calls to mind that Simonson acknowledges more than just American cultural sterotypes.</p>

<p>

“And Mrs. Ali is so quintessentially Indian, or at least quintessentially Pakistani, in the best sense.”</p>

<p>“Actually, I’m from Cambridge,” said Mrs. Ali in a mild voice. “The municipal hospital, ward three. Never been further abroad than the Isle of Wight.”</p>

<p>“But no one would know that,” said Alma.

</p>

<ol>
<li>How does Helen Simonson portray Americans in this novel? Is it a fair depiction…or over-drawn?
</li>
</ol>

<p>No one has yet mentioned my favorite portrayal of Americans - from the Major’s POV:</p>

<p>

The Major found much to admire in America but also felt that the nation was still in its infancy, its birth predating Queen Victoria’s reign by a mere sixty years or so. Generous to a fault–he still remembered the tins of chocolate powder and waxy crayons handed out in his school even several years after the war–America wielded her huge power in the world with a brash confidence that reminded him of a toddler who has got hold of a hammer.</p>

<p>He was prepared to admit that he might be prejudiced, but what was one supposed to think of a country where history was either preserved in theme parks by employees wearing mob caps and long skirts over their sneakers, or was torn down–taken apart for the wide-plank lumber?

</p>

<p>I do know that I didn’t directly respond to the question, but that passage made me laugh. My direct answer to the question might be a fair(ly) overdrawn depiction. ;)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@ignatius

I thought it a nice twist that the “typically English” Major was born and spent his early years in India while Mrs. Ali was born and raised in England.

</p>

<p>This makes their shared love of Rudyard Kipling all the more fitting. Per Wikipedia, Kipling “was born in Bombay, British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old… Kipling’s parents considered themselves ‘Anglo-Indians’ (a term used in the 19th century for people of British origin living in India) and so too would their son, though he in fact spent the bulk of his life elsewhere. Complex issues of identity and national allegiance would become prominent features in his fiction."</p>

<p>[Rudyard</a> Kipling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling]Rudyard”>Rudyard Kipling - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Also, as an aside, here is a Kipling quip from the same Wiki article that made me laugh–and sounded like something Major Pettigrew might say:</p>

<p>

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. He died of a perforated duodenal ulcer on 18 January 1936, two days before George V, at the age of 70. His death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, “I’ve just read that I am dead. Don’t forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.”

</p>

<p>In re-reading the above paragraph, one thought leads to another…Isn’t it another nod to the blended Anglo-Indian cultures that the young son of Amina and Abdul Wahid is given the quintessentially British name “George”?</p>

[ignatius]

<p>^^^ Loved the quote!</p>

<p>Couple comments re: 6. Small mindedness is an underlying motif in this book. Who in the novel is small-minded? How does this parochialism lead to misunderstanding?
</p>

<p>The wedding allowed a move in the right direction for any who chose to take it. </p>

<p>Despite his oppositon to the match, the Vicar attended without Daisy, though he “hung about looking lost.” </p>

<p>The Major’s longtime friend Alec attended “standing up for their friendship and quite demanding that his wife accompany him.”</p>

<p>Marlorie (SIL) … well … “The Major could only assume her acceptance of the coming nuptial did not preclude a continued gossiping about their unsuitability.”</p>

<p>I never doubted that Grace or the Major’s Alice would attend.</p>

<p>And for our fearless leader Mary - please note that Sandy’s absent. You may assume that just because she returned Roger’s text, she did not return to Roger. Though if she knew of the wedding, I bet she sent the perfect gift to the Major and Mrs. Ali. ;)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@ignatius

I bet she sent the perfect gift to the Major and Mrs. Ali.

</p>

<p>No doubt. Sandy had a lot of respect for the Major. Roger probably didn’t even bring a gift. Or a date. :)</p>

[nicksmtmom]

<p>^^that made me smile…I am sure you are right (on both counts)!</p>

[Mary13]

<p>One more observation, as our discussion winds down…Did anyone else notice how much time the novel’s characters spend in the car?</p>

<p>The Major and Mrs. Ali’s first outing together takes place in a car: “She drove like a man, aggressively changing gear into the turns, accelerating away, swinging the tiny Honda over the hills with relish.” And so does their last adventure, when they escape from Mrs. Ali’s family, “out of the city, heading west, and already, thorough the slightly open window, the gloom of the afternoon seemed colder and cleaner.”</p>

<p>We first meet Sandy stepping out of a car: “The Major, trudging back up the gravel incline, arrived slightly out of breath just as the driver reholstered a silver lipstick and opened her door. More from instinct than inclination, he held the door for her. She looked surprised and then smiled as she unfolded tanned and naked legs from the close confines of the champagne leather cockpit.”</p>

<p>Grace has her funny, half-tipsy illness in the car: “Grace elected to sit in the back of the car, where she sprawled at a strange angle and, after a few moment of heavy traffic out of the town, declared herself to feeling just the tiniest bit green.”</p>

<p>The local club ladies make quite a picture in the car: “’Major, yoo-hoo!’ He turned around and was greeted with the sight of Daisy, Alma, Grace, and Lord Dagenham’s niece, Gertrude, crammed into Daisy’s Mercedes with so many overstuffed and billowing bags and packages that they looked liked four china figurines packed in a gift box.” </p>

<p>There are plenty more examples, so many that I’d say the car qualifies as a recurring motif. Everybody is on some sort of journey, both literal and figurative. And it’s likely no mistake that Mrs. Ali’s trips in the car are fast-moving, focused and somewhat adventurous, while the society ladies vehicle is idle and overstuffed.</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>Mary -

And it’s likely no mistake that Mrs. Ali’s trips in the car are fast-moving, focused and somewhat adventurous, while the society ladies vehicle is idle and overstuffed.

I love this! I’m running late this morning and reading quickly. Thanks for the chuckle and starting my morning with a smile. :)</p>

[12rmh18]

<p>I’ve been lurking but enjoying the discussion. I really enjoyed this book because of the wonderful prose - the metaphors, the descriptions, etc. I couldn’t race through it like I usually do with books because I had to stop & savor the nuances, let the prose swirl around in my mind like a fine wine. Simonson is a master of her craft.</p>

[CBBBlinker]

<p>Forgot to post this last week when I first had the thought… Has anyone watched Blue Bloods? For some reason, at the end of last week’s episode, it struck me that Tom Selleck reminded me of Major Pettigrew. I know Selleck’s not English, but …</p>

<p>I’m sure I missed a lot of the “meaning/symbolism” in the book, but I just plain enjoyed it. :)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>^ Tom Selleck is a really likeable actor. But I’m trying to imagine him with a British accent…nope, does not compute. :rolleyes: He’s exactly the right age, though! (66)</p>

<p>CBBBlinker, I’m seldom aware of symbolism or other literary techniques while I’m reading. I just enjoy the story. It’s only later when we start to discuss the book that I think, “hey, there’s more to this than I thought” (Major Pettigrew) or “whoa, there is a whole lot here I will never understand (Elegance of the Hedgehog)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>Shout out to SouthJerseyChessMom: Thanks for posting this (on another thread). I was happy to read about the page number reference. It’s about time!</p>

<p>

It may be a minute tweak to the Kindle OS, but for the growing Kindle-owning masses who use their e-readers in classes or book clubs, it’s a godsend: A Kindle update soon to hit the newest-generation Wi-Fi and 3G models will grant books with “real” page numbers, corresponding with pages of popular print editions.</p>

<p>[Technolog</a> - Kindle books get ‘real’ page numbers](<a href=“http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/07/6007135-kindle-books-get-real-page-numbers]Technolog”>http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/07/6007135-kindle-books-get-real-page-numbers)

</p>

[CBBBlinker]

<p>^^^ Oh, I saw this too. Unfortunately I have the 2nd generation Kindle, so I guess this doesn’t apply. Bummer …</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@CBBBlinker

Forgot to post this last week when I first had the thought… Has anyone watched Blue Bloods? For some reason, at the end of last week’s episode, it struck me that Tom Selleck reminded me of Major Pettigrew. I know Selleck’s not English, but …</p>

<p>I’m sure I missed a lot of the “meaning/symbolism” in the book, but I just plain enjoyed it.

</p>

<p>We really like Blue Bloods but are behind an episode or two. As we catch up on our viewing, I’ll try to pick up on how ‘Chief of Police Francis Reagan’ reminds you of ‘Major Ernest Pettigrew’. Thinking on it I can already point to some similarities - obviously not the ‘typically English’ characteristics possessed by the Major nor the dry wit - but both are widowers who miss their spouses. Both have a sense of duty, honor, respect, and decorum. When I read your post, my thoughts immediately went to the episode where Reagan’s DIL and his son hit a marital rough patch. Reagan approaches his DIL in the kitchen. Without being intrusive, he tells her he thinks of her as a daughter, and he will listen if she needs to talk with someone. Though she declines, she appreciates his gesture. This interchange reminds me of the Major and Sandy the night before she leaves Roger.</p>

<p>Like CBBBlinker, ‘meaning and symbolism’ in the book probably slid right past me. My favorite - pointed out by Mary - is the guns/mismatched pairs. I thought that very interesting.</p>