I Capture the Castle

Rating:
Summary: a very good, fun read
Review: Have you ever had lots of people tell you that you *have* to see this great movie, only to go and wonder what they were talking about? That's how I feel about this book. My expectations were so high after reading the reviews here, that I was expecting this to be one of my favorite books of all time. And although it did not live up to the hype, I still thoroughly enjoyed this engaging book -- I just didn't *love* it.

The story takes place in a more innocent time, in a lonely and dilapidated castle in England, where the impoverished Mortmain family lives. The narrator is the younger daughter of a once-successful author, and one of the sheer joys of this novel is the narrative voice -- it is charming and youthful, and wise yet perplexed in a way that intelligent young people can be -- remarkable since the author was in her 50s when she wrote it! This was also playwright Dodie Smith's first novel; often a playwright has trouble capturing the natural flow of conversation and description, but Smith accomplishes both here.

Another strength is that the author, like Alfred Hitchcock, does not *tell* so much as *show*. Related as diary entries, and therefore more intimate than straight narrative, illustrative anecdotes immerse the reader in the state of mind of the narrator, Cassandra: we are as confused by her father's peculiar behavior as she is, we do not know whether or not sister Rose really loves her fiancee, we do not know whether or not Stephen would be a desirable beau for our heroine. Late in the book, Cassandra's father develops a theory that readers create and discover as they read, and Dodie Smith has ensured that we experience this as well as read about it.

The Mortmains are complex -- stepmother Topaz is hard-working and kind, if a bit shallow; Rose is dramatic and moody, but also brave. Other characters, particularly the two American brothers who inherit the castle, are not as three-dimensional, and we are never as interested in them as we are in the English characters.

The ending is lovely -- no neat resolution here. Instead, the reader is left to conjecture about the future of the Mortmain family based on what we know about them, and thanks to the talents of the author, we know a great deal and care enough to wonder.

Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: Cassandra Mortmain is 17 years old and lives with her family in a damp old crumbling castle in England. She wants to be a writer, like her father. Long ago her father wrote a best seller and since then has had writers block, which has left the family in financial ruin.

Her older sister, Rose, may be the one to save the family, if she can marry well. And she hopes to marry very well, and soon! If only there were any available men!

The Cotton brothers arrive from the US to the adjacent property and there is excitement in the air. Could this be the answer to their dreams?

This is a simply wonderful book, set in the 1930's but is written so beautifully that it is not dated at all. There is a great many things to like about this book, the setting, the characters, if it could be captured right, it would make a brilliant movie.

Rating:
Summary: Cassandra's World
Review: I knew that the book was good the moment I realized that I was enjoying it -- because the first time I read "I Capture the Castle", I was only ten years old. Furthermore, my mother was forty-five, and she loved it just as much as I did. And, now that I think of it, so did my grandmother (sixty-eight, I believe).

"I Capture the Castle" is an amazing novel set in the thirties, near the town of Godsend, somewhere in England. The book is told in the form of a journal; seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, whose best poem was written on top of the henhouse (and it wasn't a good one at that), has finally given up on rhyme and meter, and has decided that the best way to train herself into "good writer" position would be to keep a journal in her own very unique shorthand.

Cassandra, her broody father, her eccentric stepmother Topaz, her older sister Rose, her younger brother Thomas, and Stephen (who helps with the gardening and things) all live in a large house -- well, mostly castle, but a bit house as well -- with very little money and not much hope ... until two strangers show up at their door after their car has been stuck in the mud, claiming to have seen some spirits dancing around atop the battlements.

Smith's style is whimsical at times, dead serious at others, but all the time managing to capture the reader's attention, as she captures the castle.

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite
Review: I Capture a castle is one of the best books ever written! Once you have read over 50 pages the words just flow of the pages in to your mind you find youself thinking acting and even hoping as Cassandra does. I found myself in love with the plot and the characters. When you read it you are truly feeling that you are on the Mound or in the flat in London or at the castle in Cassandra's bedroom with her sister lying there and talking of wonderful things in the dark...!

Rating:
Summary: A Delightful, Beautiful Book
Review: Each page of this remarkable book contains an enchanting tone. Cassandra Mortmain chronicles each event at Godsend Castle with such a distinct detail. Her narration of her exciting life is very readable and enjoyable. Dodie Smith obviously had a strong connection with this wonderful character.

The plot should not be discussed in too much detail because it takes so many turns. Cassandra's descriptions of the characters in her life and how she interacts with those characters is as delightful as her situation. A seventeen year-old girl living with her older sister, eccentric stepmother, and unusual father in a dilapidated castle in pre-war England? How could I resist such a romantic setting. Cassandra's story gives us a very unique look at the people in her life, and what unique people they are! The American Cotton family, the bashful Stephen, the mysterious father. We are given a thoughtful look into her life. Instantly, I won Cassandra's attention. I took interest in her thoughts and experiences. Her voice is wonderful, her experiences are unique, and her story is delightful. I was glad to have met her. I am not yet fifteen, and I heartily congratulate the reissue of this gem of a book. I hope other young people will enjoy this story. Similar to this is Cold Comfort Farm. On many occasions while I was reading Cassandra's story I was reminded of this story.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read
Review: I loved this book. I found it charming, humorous, a bit frustrating at times, but always enjoyable. I loved the eccentricity of the characters and was completely charmed by Cassandra. Rather than comparing the book to a Jane Austen novel, I felt Cassandra and Stephen were, at times, acting out a scene from Emily Bonte's "Wuthering Heights" only they both come to a happier end. This book left me feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Enid Blyton for grownups?
Review: If a book was a moment in time, this would be an idyllic summer evening in the English countryside of bygone days. If you read Enid Blyton's Famous Five books when you were a child, you might get a little of that feeling back reading this book. The castle, the eccentric family, the exotic American interlopers, the "bear", the steam trains, the thrilling moments of luxury and indulgence, tea with the vicar, fulfilment... it all reminds me of those times. It's simply enchanting.

Rating:
Summary: Charming, but lightweight
Review: This highly readable and entertaining novel has amassed a devoted cult following over the years, and you can see why. It's both a Bildungsroman about a young woman coming into her own as a writer, and a Jane Austenish marriage novel about the romantic entanglements of two sisters from a proud but impoverished family.

"I Capture the Castle" is witty, involving, and an all-round pleasure to read. I particularly liked the way Dodie Smith toys with the romance genre, building up reader expectations only to playfully subvert them.

For example, from the moment the character of Topaz is introduced, we're prepared to hate her as the stereotypical wicked stepmother. But actually, she turns out to be a rather lovely, if occasionally annoying, person. And, refreshingly, Rose is neither portrayed as being evil nor punished by the author for her frank desire to marry money. The novel's conclusion is also unusually satisfying and intriguing, in that Cassandra's destiny is left open-ended.

On the downside, though, this novel has a tad more whimsy than I'm comfortable with (the Mortmains do live in a castle, after all!), a few of the episodes are sit-commy, and the Cotton brothers, the objects of Rose's and Cassandra's romantic aspirations, never came alive to me in the way that all the other characters in the novel do. More fundamentally, "I Capture the Castle" lacks the emotional depth that would make it truly memorable. It's charming, but lightweight.

In short, I liked this novel very much, but I did not love it. I would recommend it with the caveat not to take seriously the comparisons that are frequently made between it and the novels of Jane Austen, because it's not really in Austen's class. Alas, few novels are!

Rating:
Summary: Absolute Fun!
Review: Here is a book you can "live in" and enjoy all the tears and laughter right along with this wonderful family. I hated it to end but look forward to reading it again. It's a true classic!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful tale of sisterhood, first love & family loyalties
Review: Cassandra Mortmain is the middle child in an eccentric English family. Her father is a once-published, once-celebrated author who has had writer's block for years, and as a result, his wife and three children are on the brink of starvation, although they live in a crumbling, albeit leased, castle. They hope that their father will one day begin writing again, or that Cassandra's beautiful elder sister, Rose, will marry well and save them all.

Enter the American Cotton brothers, who are wealthy and have just inherited the nearby estate of Scoatney, as well as the landlordship of the Mortmain's dwelling. Rose Mortmain and her stepmother see nothing but dollar signs as they scheme to marry Rose off to Simon, the eldest Cotton. But Cassandra has fallen for Simon herself...

I was skeptical of this book because the cover was so outdated and plain. The story itself is set in the 1930's, but the book was published in 1948, and it seemed so dated. But once I started reading, I could scarcely put it down. This is classic English literature at its best, with a storyline that will pass from age to age without ever seeming old-fashioned. I highly recommend it and plan to keep my copy forever!!