Pilgrimage 1 (Pilgrimage, #1-3) in Reading 1001

Mar 21, 2019 Pip rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-challenge

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first three volumes, or chapters, as Richardson herself called them, of this saga of an independent woman. Her observations and innermost thoughts are conveyed with uncanny detail and the reader is placed right in the milieu so it is easy to picture the young governess in Hannover, the tutor in barren North London and the au pair/teacher in a wealthy home in precise word pictures.
Pointed Roofs
I started listening to this on Libravox, way back when it was
first announc I have thoroughly enjoyed the first three volumes, or chapters, as Richardson herself called them, of this saga of an independent woman. Her observations and innermost thoughts are conveyed with uncanny detail and the reader is placed right in the milieu so it is easy to picture the young governess in Hannover, the tutor in barren North London and the au pair/teacher in a wealthy home in precise word pictures.
Pointed Roofs
I started listening to this on Libravox, way back when it was
first announced last year, then wondered if I were breaking the rules and put it aside until I had the hard copy. The similarities between Dorothy and Miriam start with her being the third of four sisters, having a bankrupt father, having had an exceptionally good education for the time and the circumstances, both influenced by John Ruskin. They both taught at a finishing school in Hanover when they were still very young. Both were independent for their time.
I absolutely loved this story. I identified with the young Miriam so much: the impatience with the silliness of other girls; the self doubt; the horror of chapel or Roman Catholicism; the incident with the collecting of dishes at the table; the horror of contemplating the future as a housewife and the realisation that most men were patronising.
I also really enjoyed the details of what life would have been like in 1891 - the restrictive clothing, the compulsory gloves and hats, the restrictions on talking to or even about young men and the comparisons between England and Germany. I am familiar with modern Hanover, so it was delicious to imagine what it would have been like then. I thought that Richardson captured the female inner dialogue beautifully, in particular the dichotomy between being interested in appearances and despising their frivolity. From making this the last challenge of each month, I am sure I am going to make it the first!
Backwater
I can see why Miriam is hard to like. I think that most people would be difficult to befriend if we really knew what was going on in their heads. I love the way that Richardson points out small details, particularly in appearances and movements. "Flora's hands were small and pale and serenely despairing like her face". Or "In the cab Julia's face shone chalky white, and Miriam found that her eyes looked like Weymouth Bay - the sea in general, on days when clouds keep sweeping across the sun". This continues in a long paragraph which conjures up a vivid picture of what Julia was like.
Miriam compares North London unfavourably to Hanover (who wouldn't?) and really is not very sympathetic to her charges, so much so that she is surprised at the grief when she leaves. She develops a lot while here: she starts reading independently, finding enlightenment in the newspaper, although she only read it once! and in romance novels. She smokes her first cigarette and dallies with a young man although she has no feelings for him. Two of her sisters become engaged to be married, including her younger sister who has not been mentioned except in passing until this point.
I still identify with Miriam. She does things like leave her companions abruptly to walk on her own, which I have been guilty of doing more than once. She does not try to ingratiate herself with others, particularly authority figures like the sisters who run the private school. She criticises sermons, doubts whether God exists and realises that the teaching she is doing is mostly irrelevant. And she is still only about nineteen!
Honeycomb
I continue to enjoy Richardson immensely. I love her description of interior decor and flowers in particular, but also her musings about how dreadfully shallow and self-obsessed men are and how frivolous and unhappy women live their lives and her appreciation of the luxuries of the Corrie's household while wondering why the education of the children seems less important than in Banbury Park. The last quarter when she is with her family is first poignant then excruciating. I can't wait to start The Tunnel. ...more

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Apr 18, 2019 Kristel rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-challenge, 1001-books, stream-of-consciousness, london, annual

The first 3 chapters of the book Pilgrimage written by Dorothy Richardson in the early 1900's. It tells the inner thoughts of a young woman coming to age in a family that has lived as 'rich gentry' suddenly finds itself bankrupt. Miriam is the protagonist and it is through her thoughts and experiences that the reader catches the experience of questioning her future; shall she work, what work will she do, will she marry, does she want to marry, does she want to take care of her father's debt and ...more

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