The Bachelors

By: Muriel Spark

Narrated by: Nadia May

A barrister, a "priest," a detective, a lovelorn Irishman, a handwriting expert, a heinous spiritual medium...the very British bachelors of Muriel Spark's supreme 1960 novel come in every stripe.

First found contentedly chatting in their London clubs and shopping at Fortnum's, the cozy bachelors are not set to stay cozy for long. Soon enough, the men are variously tormented - defrauded, stolen from, blackmailed, or pressed to attend horrid séances - and then plunged, all together, into the nastiest of lawsuits. At the center of that suit hovers pale, blank Patrick Seton, the medium.

Meanwhile, horrors of every size plague the poor bachelors - from epileptic fits to forgeries, spiritualists foaming with protoplasm, and murder - and each horror delights, lit up by Spark's uncanny wit, at once malicious, funny, and deadly serious.

©1960 Muriel Spark (P)1999 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Completely, searingly original." ( The Independent)
"One of the most decisive and unmistakable voices in contemporary fiction....Spark concocts a present-tense deadpan that is at once lyrical, extravagant, and gruesomely funny." ( The New Yorker)
"Incomparable reader May's gentle British accent perfectly animates The Bachelors, a novel of sophisticated wit." ( Booklist)

Rewards patience

An uneven, sometimes puzzling book, that starts slowly but rewards patience. Set in London in the 1950s, it tells an interlocking story about a group of bachelor men living in genteel bedsitters and the entanglement of some of them with the world of fly-by-night spiritualism.

Outwardly the book is black comedy in a minor key and it becomes very amusing once the characters blossom. There are moments early on when tedium threatens, but later there is much to enjoy. It may be that the narrative is also attempting some kind of biblical allegory but, if so, it is far from clear.

A fine reading of another unusual novel from Spark.

A perfect reading

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I'd recommend it to someone who likes stylish funny unsentimental British fiction. The meticulously rendered seedy London mid-twentieth century setting and the many diverse characters make it a joy to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters, and the way they were portrayed by the narrator. Some are sympathetic, most are funny, at least one is really quite awful!

Have you listened to any of Nadia May’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to several others. They're always good, including this one.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it was hard to put it aside.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended!

Wonderful

A somewhat different but very entertaining story and as always, read perfectly by Nadia May!

Captivating plot

I felt as though I was living in London in the 1940's. This author should get much more attention than she does Currently.

Good suspenseful telling of a crime and trial.

Loved Nadia May's telling. She manages to cross all social classes, occupations, sexes, to provide an all knowing, ironic delivery, as if Muriel Spark herself was telling the tale.

Give it a try

Another book that I decided to give a chance because it is part of the audible free catalog and I'm glad I did.

The book was published in 1960 and yet it doesn't feel dated. This isn't because Spark was creating modern, forward-thinking characters but rather it's because she paints them with such a cynical eye. The book is very character driven and, in spite of her cynicism, I think the author liked some of these characters. I think that's what keeps the book from getting too dark.

I personally enjoyed being immersed in her version of London in the 1950s (although I don't think she specifies the date).

philosophical black comedy

- expressed through description of actions and morality of mostly male singles in late 50s urban British setting. This novel is mostly dialogue and so reads like a play. Even though most of the characters are male, Nadia May seems a fitting narrator for the overall (and often ironic) tone of the book.

Similar to the more contemporary Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam," this is a reflection on responsibility, deception, and self-deception (individual and group). It's far from a light comedy, though there are laughs.

One of the very best novels

Wow. If only you could find a novel like this every day. If only everybody read a book as well as Nadia May! The characters are just great, the plot flies long, it’s that kind of humor that runs along steadily just below the level of laughing out loud.

Maybe I missed something...?

The book didn't live up to the reviews for me. I had a tough time recognizing which character was which, mostly because they didn't hold my interest. The book is mostly dialog, and there were times I wondered if I'd missed a chapter because suddenly the scene was completely changed.

Who's speaking now!? What are they talking about? Whose side are they on?

I've listened to a few other of Spark's books. Sometimes it took a while for the story to really come into focus for me. I enjoyed the others more than I did this one. Just didn't much hold my interest. But I held out until the bitter end. Still didn't really care much about any of the characters, or capture the inner relevance of the events.