I Capture the Castle

For years I have come across references to the book I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (who is better known to many as the author of One Hundred and One Dalmations). It's supposed to be a classic coming-of-age book with comedic and romantic overtones, set in the English countryside.  When I saw a blog post about a line in How I Live Now being "borrowed" from Smith's classic 1949 novel, I thought that perhaps now is the time to give it a whirl.

It is charming, and certainly has overtones of Austen and Brontë, and maybe even more of stories like A Room with A View. Gentlewomen living in reduced circumstances, whose only hope for the future may be to make a good marriage. But the storytelling bored me after a while, as much as I enjoyed the characters and the overall tone of the book, I just couldn't quite keep going.

Still, my fond recollections of A Room With A View made me look for the DVD of the 2003 movie version to see how the story ends up. It actually reminded me more of the J. Geils song, "Love Stinks:"

You love her
but she loves him
And he loves somebody else
you just can't win

There are three young men and two young women, and none seem quite able to connect with the ones who they want to or ought to, and there's even a hint of love intrigue among the parental set as well. I loved Topaz (the stepmother) as played by Tara FitzGerald even more in the movie than in the book. She's sort of nuts in an artsy way, but manages to keep the character very genuine. But Romola Garai, who plays the central character and narrator Cassandra, really drives the story. The humor is the book is largely visual, and it worked for me better in the film than it did in the book, where I found some of the pivotal scenes a bit confusing.