Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My first encounter with Jean Brodie came via Maggie Smith's very memorable performance in the 1960s film of the same name--a very fine film indeed. But those who come to Muriel Sparks' novel through the film are in for quite a surprise: although the basic characters and the story itself are recognizable, the tone is quite different and the novel works to a greatly different point. In a general sense, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE is a portrait of a place, Edinburgh of the 1930s, a particular time, an era in which women were dominated by strict codes of behavior. Those who did not conform these codes were on a collision course with society, and so it is with Miss Jean Brodie, school teacher at the conservative Marsha Blaine School For Girls. A pseudo-intellectual with a sensual disposition, Miss Brodie sets out to visit her own ambitions on the next generation--and with very mixed results. The next generation in question is a particular group of girls who fall into Miss Brodie's hands through the school, a group that quickly becomes known as "the Brodie set" and are noted for their excessive loyalty to her and to her romantically inclined attitudes to life. But Miss Brodie has erred: for all her claim to special insight, she is largely oblivious to the true nature of their characters, and while she has an undeniable impact on their lives it is not precisely the impact she seeks or expects. There are no suddenly plot twists, no great turns in the novel in any dramatic sense; instead, the book is about the revelation of character that can only occur with time. Miss Brodie first appears as a fascinating figure, but as her students grow to maturity and perceive her in new and different lights our own impression of her changes. Is she, as one student says near the end of the novel, "a silly woman," a woman of false emotion and half-thought-out ideas, a Scottish Madame Bovary? And what of the children in her care, whose lives take such unexpected (and, to Miss Brodie, often undesirable) paths when they leave her behind? Are they really the "Creme de la Creme" after all? Sparks presents her story in what might be called layers of time, allowing us to see past, present, and future all at once; it is a remarkable bit of writing, alternately smooth and sharp, sweet and bitter, and all to surprising effect. At the same time the novel is concise, condensing a great deal into the fewest pages possible. A quick read, yes, but one that most will find unexpectedly demanding. In the end, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE is about character and how it is shaped by ourselves, by others, and by our various circumstances--and how we either accept or rebell against that impact. Although THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE is frequently offered in high school and early college literature courses, I personally do not feel it will have much relevance for any one much under the age of 40; it is the sort of novel that requires the reader to bring considerable life-experience of their own to the tale, and without it book may seem shapeless and trivial. It is very much an adult's book and should be approached with that fact clearly in mind. Strongly recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer