Memento Mori

Posted on | February 22, 2010 | 16 Comments

“Memento Mori” is a Latin phrase translated as “Remember You Must Die” and it is that phrase which is anonymously uttered in a series of insidious phone-calls to a group of elderly friends, the premise of the novel by Muriel Spark. This macabre tale was only the third of many novels published by Spark and yet is highly accomplished and vividly realised. Memento Mori is a cruel tragicomedy surrounding Dame Lettie Colston and her circle; it is exceedingly funny but it is very much a black humour. Spark is highly observant and even writing in her middle-age, she depicts old age to a tee with all its indignities and poignancies. In the hunt for the anonymous caller, who is reminding the recipients of that which they need not -nor seek- to be reminded, the circle are exposed for their sordid pasts, their past and present duplicities and their self-delusions.

None of the characters are likable, which I have no issue with, but I did sympathise with them. Spark’s “memento mori” to the reader is harshly achieved; I could find the characters amusing but there exists an underlying sadness to their plight as it is one we all face and the sadness of old age another (nature willing). The cast of septuagenarians and octogenarians are petty in their disputes and Spark makes caricatures of them; they are catty towards one another, frequently changing their wills, with the disembodied warning on the telephone and its preceding ring sounding like a death knell.

Spark seems to be rather sneering and scathing of her characters and it is for this reason that I call the novel cruel and not for its resounding memento mori. If I hadn’t read and enjoyed previous novels (and some exceptional short stories) by Muriel Spark then I may have been left disliking her for her darkness; as it is I love the macabre but it does leave me feeling unsettled and there is one scene in the text that shocked me considerably. What is lacking in Memento Mori is compassion and that is where the reader comes in: I pitied the characters even if I did not particularly like them. Spark shows no remorse in exposing the characters and all their flaws and it was like being privy to the juiciest, damaging piece of gossip and experiencing schadenfreude.

I admire Spark’s ambition in writing this novel so early in her career as it reads like a novel by a more seasoned writer who has nothing to lose. It has been a number of years since I read the wickedly delightful The Driver’s Seat but I remember being left similarly reeling by its dark brevity. The unsavoury geriatrics in Memento Mori are a wonderfully witty creation and the memory of them will not die.

Some favourite quotes:

After the first occasion Mrs Pettigrew had imagined, almost with alarm, that his request was merely the preliminary to more daring explorations on his part, but by now she knew with an old woman’s relief that this was all he would ever desire, the top of her stocking and the tip of her suspender. She took the pound note off the table, put it in her black suede handbag and loosened her stays. She had plans for the future. Meantime a pound was a pound.

Mrs Pettigrew, though she had in fact, one quiet afternoon, received the anonymous telephone call, had chosen to forget it. She possessed a strong faculty for simply refusing to admit an unpleasant situation, and going quite blank where it was concerned. If, for instance, you had asked her whether, eighteen years before, she had undergone a face-lifting operation, she would have denied it, and believed the denial, and moreover would have supplied gratuitously, as a special joke, a list of people who had ‘really’ had their faces lifted or undergone other rejuvenating operations.

Comments

16 Responses to “Memento Mori”

kimbofo
February 22nd, 2010 @ 9:38 pm

I recently read The Driver’s Seat and thought it was deliciously wicked and a complete masterpiece in terms of plotting and pared-down writing.

Now I really want to read Memento Mori. I love dark stories, and I particularly like Spark’s style, so this one will go promptly on the wishlist. I have to read The Ballad of Peckham Rye, and the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, both of which are in my TBR, first!
Steph
February 23rd, 2010 @ 4:36 am

Pre-blogging I read Sparks’s novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I liked it, but didn’t love it… there was just something about it that kept me from ever fully engaging with it. But this sounds like a lot of fun, and I feel like I’d give Sparks another try on the basis of this one. Also, I love the cover!
Verity
February 23rd, 2010 @ 8:42 am

Like Kimbofo I really admire Spark’s pared down writing; her novels are short but they really pack a punch. My favourite is still The Prime.
JoAnn
February 23rd, 2010 @ 11:36 am

The characters weren’t especially likable and I also pitied them, but it was that lack of compassion that left me a bit disturbed. I am glad to have read the book though… didn’t realize this was written early in her career.
Paperback Reader
February 23rd, 2010 @ 12:01 pm

Kim, Memento Mori is also a dark masterpiece; it has less of a detailed plot than The Driver’s Seat and is even more pared-down.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is fabulous; I hope you enjoy it! I’m hoping to read The Girls of Slender Means and The Comforters myself.

Steph, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was my first Spark and I loved it but there is an emotional distance in her work that is now apparent to me. I’m glad that my post has convinced you to give her another go! I adore the covers and have the full collection of the re-issues of Spark novels that Virago have recently released (you can find photos under the Muriel Spark tag).

Verity, as do I. Her brevity does not detract from the dramatic impact in the slightest. I am very attached to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

JoAnn, the lack of compassion made a considerable impression on me and I am now looking at Spark differently; if anything, I think she is the better writer for it and certainly more shocking. I think it is a dark masterpiece and I am very glad to have read it.
Nadia
February 23rd, 2010 @ 1:30 pm

I’ve never read anything by Sparks, but may have to after reading your review. This books sounds like its right up my alley. Thanks!
Sarah
February 23rd, 2010 @ 2:30 pm

This is the next Muriel Spark that I want to read. Love your review, which promises all the things I would be looking for in one of her novels. That first quote is great, and captures, I think, some of that sadness and sympathy.
Paperback Reader
February 23rd, 2010 @ 6:04 pm

Nadia, I hope that you do enjoy it if you do read it. I’m a huge Muriel Spark fan and highly recommend her.

Sarah, if you go in expecting dark and quirky then you are in for a treat. Spark really does pack a punch in her pared-down writing; she is the mistress of understated wow (think the fashion equivalent of the little black dress).
I loved the first quote; I read that over a few times whilst reading, completely stunned at how emotive the writing was.
Heidi
February 23rd, 2010 @ 8:01 pm

I found some of the characters actually to be sypathetic and even to be the voice of reason so to speak in particular Miss Taylor who was Charmian’s maid and Charmian herself (she seems to undergo a growth towards the end of her life that I thought was moving- makes her marriage better). I have forgotten who they bring the problem of the calls to (was it a former policemen?)- He and and his wife also seem to have come to turns with their aging (enjoying their grandchildren and life).
Paperback Reader
February 23rd, 2010 @ 9:52 pm

Hi Heidi, thank you for commenting. You are correct that some of the characters were sympathetic; Miss Taylor in particular began as a sympathetic character but then she cattily divulged Charmian’s secret. Charmian, on the other hand, was one of the more sympathetic characters, but she still wasn’t that likable. As I said in my post, some of the characters were sympathetic but none were likable (Henry Mortimer and his wife were nice but they were only fringe characters).
Simon (Savidge Reads)
February 24th, 2010 @ 1:15 pm

I am very much looking forward to reading this one in the not too distant future, just like Du Maurier I love it when they are that little bit more dark and macabre.
Novel Insights
February 24th, 2010 @ 2:48 pm

I really like Momento Mori, but you’ve hit the nail on the head about how she is cruel about her characters and exposing their flaws. I’ve been reading quite alot of Spark lately (or should I say even more than normal!) and noticed that I didn’t like any of the characters but that I still found the stories fascinating. I love the suspender quote…
www.buriedinprint.com
February 24th, 2010 @ 6:16 pm

This was a fun read, but I think my favourite Spark so far is Loitering with Intent. I’ve just picked up a copy of The Comforters though, so perhaps I’ll be tempted to choose a new favourite. “…wickedly delightful…”: I like that!
Paperback Reader
February 24th, 2010 @ 9:04 pm

Simon, I do love the dark and macabre of both Du Maurier and Spark; they are both exceptionally good writers and longstanding favourites.

Polly, it was interesting that I perceived it this time around; I could never quite put my finger on it before but in Memento Mori it was glaringly apparent. The suspender quote is fabulous; it is humorous, scathing and pitiful all at once.

Buried in Print, Loitering With Intent is a fabulously witty and funny read with less of an edge than Memento Mori. I have The Comforters lined up to read too.
Library Loot | Paperback Reader
March 15th, 2010 @ 9:03 am

[...] reading of Memento Mori by Muriel Spark fueled my desire to read more Spark; the only unread one of her novels that I had [...]
The Girls of Slender Means | Paperback Reader
March 18th, 2010 @ 9:02 am

[...] am still reeling from reading Memento Mori by Muriel Spark last month and I went into The Girls of Slender Means hoping for a [...]