It can’t be relived except in memory
but it can be celebrated and
remembered with gratitude.
P.D. James fascinates me. She writes mysteries containing biblical allusions, phrases from the Book of Common Prayer and broad cultural references. Reading one of her novels, I am bound to learn ten new words, several new authors, poets, works of art, music or architecture. However, life in jolly England is not all tea and scones. Murder, infidelity and sex are part of her crime stories: disturbing but never salacious.
She calls her memoir a fragment of autobiography. I was eager to learn more about a lady who, in a catalog of people I admire, reminds me of David McCullough. Decent. Dignified. Distinguished.
Time to Be in Earnest
[Adam Dalgliesh is the chief detective in her series]
views on structuralism–or was it post-structuralism.
I replied that he had given it careful thought for
a number of evenings and had come to the conclusion
that it was nonsense.
The young chaplain sitting next to me murmured,
“In vain they lay snares at her feet.”
This quote is representative of her prose. I love the sibilance and onomatopoeia of susurration, a word spell-check is unfamiliar with.
only by the note of a song bird and the susurration
[a soft, whispering or rustling sound] of the breeze
in the wayside grasses. It was one of those moments
of happiness and contentment which give reality to death,
since however long we have to live,
there are never enough springs.
The appendix contains the full talk P.D. James gave to the Jane Austen society on 18 July, 1998. You can read all but a few pages of Emma Considered As a Detective Story here. Austen fans will love it!
A Living Pencil 
I love her work! Can’t wait to read this book!
Printing and placing inside the one P.D. James book I own (Death in Holy Orders) to remind me of you, when I finally get a rount tuit.
I have this book and have ben meaning to read it for some time. I, too, admire Ms. James’s dignity and talent for writing.
Good review of what appears to be a fascinating book! I’ve been wanted to read James’ The Children of Men for some time now… maybe later this year…
Gladys Hunt recommended this book in her HONEY FOR A WOMAN’S HEART. Do you have that book? You must get it, if you don’t.
I am definitely adding this one to my to-read list! I haven’t read much of her work – a couple Dalgliesh’s, Unsuitable Job for a Woman, and Children of Men – but what I’ve read, I’ve loved. 🙂
I’ve never even considered reading one of her books, but you’ve changed that, Carol. Thanks for putting me on to a new author! Do you have a recommendation for a first book to read?
@womanofthehouse1 – I think I would recommend this one as a first. I talked to a good friend who picked up one of the mysteries and couldn’t make any headway. She said she just didn’t care about any of the characters. The problem is that Adam Dalgliesh is James’ best character and you have to wait for a murder to happen before he is called in, usually not before the fourth or fifth chapter. That being said, I have not read all her books and certainly not in order. Cover Her Face is the first of the AD series. And my caveat: re-read the last sentence of the first paragraph. I’d love to know what you think!
I read and reviewed this a few years back and I agree that it’s a fascinating peek into her inner life. I love her books for the same reasons you do and was thrilled to learn a little more about the woman behind all those fascinating mysteries! Thanks for a great review.
@magistramater – Thanks for the advice! I’ll see if the library has it.