Book Beginnings on Friday: Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

 

I can't believe its Friday already. This week has gone by exceptionally fast but that means it is time for another Book Beginnings on Friday held by Rose City Reader. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line. 

"Dame Lettie Colston refilled her fountain-pen and continued the letter: One of these days I hope you will write as brilliantly on a happier theme. In these days of cold war I do feel we should soar above the murk & smog & get into the clear crystal."

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Muriel Spark. I have enjoyed several of her works and there are others that I find to be downright deplorable. I happen to have bunch of books scattered on the floor of my room and just randomly picked this one out of the pile last night around 1 am. I wasn't even planning on reading it but after the first couple of pages, I was hooked. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what grabbed my attention at first since the opening sentence isn't particularly striking in any way. A woman with a literary background is composing a letter to an undisclosed author. So what? Well, after reading a bit more, I instantly recognized Spark's penchant for acerbic wit, humor and satire. Even in my sleep deprived state, she managed to make me laugh. I soon got that wonderful feeling in the pit of my stomach that this novel might just prove to be one of her better works. Then again, I have been wrong in the past on my first impression, especially pertaining to The Ballad of Peckham Rye, which started off promising only to turn out as a complete abomination. Guess we'll just have to see how this one goes.