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Winifred Holtby , journalist, critic, feminist, pacifist and author won the James Tait Black Memorial prize with South Riding, her last novel.
The Land Of Green Ginger: Many characters are amusing stereotypes - and the vast differences of social conventions in Mandoan and European societies are hilariously highlighted. Books by Winifred Holtby. By Winifred Holtby was published in and its story takes place between and in England and in the fictional country of Mandoa which supposedly borders Abyssinia Ethiopia now , Somalia and Kenya. Books Winifred Holtby Mandoa, Mandoa!: Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby , journalist, critic, feminist, pacifist and author won the James Tait Black Memorial prize with South Riding, her last novel.
The World According to Anna. The Unfinished Novel and Other stories. From the Place in the Valley Deep in the Forest.
Books Winifred Holtby Mandoa, Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance. A Comedy of Irrelevance: More books by Winifred Holtby. Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby , journalist, critic, feminist, pacifist and author won the James Tait Black Memorial prize with South Riding, her last novel. Find a book you'll love, get our newsletter name email.
YES I have read and consent to Hachette Australia using my personal information or data as set out in its Privacy Policy and I understand I have the right to withdraw my consent at any time. A Comedy of Irrelevance 3. Mandoa is a small African state: There he discovers baths and cocktail shakers, motor cars and cutlery from Sheffield, telephones and handkerchiefs.
In short, he has seen an apocalyptic visio Mandoa is a small African state: In short, he has seen an apocalyptic vision — a new heaven and a new earth. Meanwhile in England it is His socialist brother Bill is unemployed and their friend Jean Stanbury loses her job on The Byeword, a radical weekly paper.
How all three, and others too, find themselves in Mandoa for the wedding of the Royal Princess to her Arch-archbishop is hilariously told in this wonderful satirical novel, first published in Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Mandoa, Mandoa!
Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Dec 13, Pat rated it really liked it Shelves: By Winifred Holtby was published in and its story takes place between and in England and in the fictional country of Mandoa which supposedly borders Abyssinia Ethiopia now , Somalia and Kenya.
Holtby had traveled extensively in Africa and seen at first hand the impact of colonialism on African cultures.
An ardent socialist, she wrote this novel, her last, as a satire on these clashes of culture. Mandoa is ruled by a princess, born of a virgin mother, who can only b Mandoa, Mandoa! Mandoa is ruled by a princess, born of a virgin mother, who can only be succeeded by a daughter mysteriously born nine months after a visit by an archbishop who then gets promoted to arch-archbishop. The main export of Mandoa is slaves which are kidnapped from neighboring countries and sent on the Arabia with much ceremony once a year. The people are Ethiopian-Portuguese and Catholic, although they seem to have forgotten about most tenets of Christian faith.
It all begins to unwind when the Lord High Chancellor Safi Talal visits Abyssinia for a royal wedding and tastes the delights of western life — cocktail shakers, puddings, electric lights, central heating, and the eternal youth of women aided by cosmetics not to mentions cars. Holtby brings a great deal of humour to the narrative even as she points out in some detail how colonial powers, both governmental and commercial, blunder into cultures they do not even try to understand.
Holtby also does an excellent job of illustrating the importance of understanding how someone like Maurice Durrant must work through the labyrinthine networks of professional civil servants to get his ideas to a minister. The VIP tourists that inaugurate the western style hotel built by Prince's Tours in Mandoa are enthusiastic travelers but are not so happy that the Mandoans might want to take advantage of things like plumbing and clean water because then they would no longer be primitive and therefore worth traveling to see.
The humor always underlines her political points without making them meaningless and the themes of cultural blindness and exploitation were very prescient as we see the results of it in failing African countries today. Aug 05, Jonathan rated it it was amazing Shelves: Oh Winifred, why were you taken from us so prematurely?
What delights could have been ours had your pen not been stilled?
A Comedy of Irrelevance (Virago Modern Classics) [Winifred Holtby] on Amazon. com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mandoa is a small African state. bahana-line.com: Mandoa, Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance (Virago Modern Classics) () by Winifred View all 20 copies of Mandoa, Mandoa!.
What moments of joy and laughter could we have experienced had there been time for even one more delightful novel? I must admit that a story mostly set in a fictitious African country seemed more than a world away from the Yorkshire Wolds I had grown accustomed to reading about in Winifred Holtby's novels. I was a little unsure, but I should have kept the faith.
As a varied g Oh Winifred, why were you taken from us so prematurely? As a varied group of English visitors descend upon the African state of Mandoa, all with their own agendas, they find a country on the verge of breaking with its traditions and joining the modern world. The business people among them want to stake their claim, the tourists want an authentic experience, and all get more than they bargained for. This wonderfully comic book manages to satirise many aspects of the political world of the s, while not ignoring the worrying threats that were on the rise in Europe, or the more serious repercussions of the last faltering days of the British Empire.
Sometimes the characters and language can be quite shocking, especially concerning the attitudes to women one of Winifred Holtby's themes in all her novels and to the people of her invented country. This is an intriguing, funny and highly enjoyable novel from a great novelist. Oct 29, Ali rated it really liked it.
This is a book that is hard to get hold of now, and so although I would have preferred a virago edition of it to read I was glad of the chance to read it via kindle. I really enjoyed this slightly unusual novel. Written in the wake of the general election of , and during the depression, it is an enormously intelligent political satire. Alongside the story of the launch of the new Mandoa is the story of the relationship between Maurice and Bill Durrant - between whom there exists terrible sib This is a book that is hard to get hold of now, and so although I would have preferred a virago edition of it to read I was glad of the chance to read it via kindle.
Alongside the story of the launch of the new Mandoa is the story of the relationship between Maurice and Bill Durrant - between whom there exists terrible sibling jealousy, and Jean Stanbury friend of the Durrants, who becomes involved with the campaign against the involvement of Prince's tours in Mandoa. In this novel Holtby raises interesting questions about the modern 's world verses a more primitive one.
Many characters are amusing stereotypes - and the vast differences of social conventions in Mandoan and European societies are hilariously highlighted. I found this a very readable novel, well written - and although some aspects of the societies described are rather dated now, is interesting still, for what it can tell us about the time it was written. Jan 25, Jane rated it it was ok. Don't you just hate it when you've discovered a magnificent writer, someone whose novels are right up there in the Pantheon, and then she goes and writes something clunky? It had its moments, its enjoyable characters and situations, but mostly it was a slog through the sand.
Holtby is pitch perfect in her native land, Yorkshire. She does not speak fluent Mandoanese. Jun 11, Richard rated it really liked it. This is a really delightful book -- a satire, I suppose -- about a small emerging African nation that is just discovering 20th century technology and luxuries. Oct 20, Jesi rated it it was amazing.
I'm not sure who exactly I would recommend this book to, but I'd do it wholeheartedly. What a bizarre, hilarious, and moving novel. Pipkia rated it really liked it Apr 16,