Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2021), 320 pages
Description
I do know how to behave - believe me, because I know. I have always known...' Behind the gates of Temple Alice the aristocratic Anglo-Irish St Charles family sinks into a state of decaying grace. To Aroon St Charles, large and unlovely daughter of the house, the fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behaviour. But crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of the St Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires. This elegant and allusive novel established Molly Keane as the natural successor to Jean Rhys.
Media reviews
Molly Keane achieved fame and critical acclaim in 1981 aged 75, when she published the novel Good Behaviour, a razor-sharp social comedy about the Anglo-Irish in the 1930s. Her success was the more sensational because it was unexpected.
In Good Behaviour, she had the bold idea of inventing a character, upper-class Aroon, who did not know herself at all: readers had the satisfaction of knowing her best. The novel was dark, singular and had her hallmark charm. She followed it with Time After Time (1983) and Loving and Giving (1988),
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written when she was in her 80s. Fans disagree about the trio’s relative merits, but she is rightly acclaimed in this book as the best of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy writers – and the last. Show Less
With Good Behaviour she achieved something quite extraordinary. She makes Aroon, her narrator, tell a long and complicated story without ever understanding what that story is about. This is mindblowingly clever – and the best thing about it is that it is never clever for the sake of cleverness.
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There are moments when the reader pauses to congratulate him or herself for being astute enough to twig what is really going on – but never any when he or she is exclaiming “Clever Molly”. But clever Molly has used her “distancing” technique to turn us into something nearer watchers than story-readers. It is as though we are seeing events unfold which we can then interpret for ourselves, and the effect of this is much more poignant than explication would be. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member charbutton
I have to admit that I am prone to inverse snobbery. I don't enjoy reading about the 'problems' of the upper-middle/upper classes. Books like Atonement and A Handful of Dust just don't interest me. But maybe my opinions on this are changing (or maybe I'm finally growing up and gaining a broader
I absolutely enjoyed Good Behaviour; it really touched me. It is the story of a upper-middle class family living in rural Ireland in the inter-war period. The narrator is Aroon, the daughter of the family, who is recalling her childhood/young adulthood upon the death of her mother.
Keane skilfully creates a family environment that is both suffocatingly unemotional, but also pervaded by sex. Feelings are never discussed; indiscretions are common, and often very obvious, but rarely acknowledged.
She also cleverly depicts the lot of the unmarried daughter of the period. Fat and too tall, shy and very innocent in the ways of the world, Aroon has no real social life beyond the home and seems to be doomed to spend the rest of her life with her emotionally distant parents.
The bordeom and aimlessness of such a life is clear and very depressing. Aroon is powerless to change her life or to influence others. When she tries to take make decisions she is slapped down. When she finally does gain power, the reader is left with a chilling feeling about how she will exercise it.
And finally, as a fat bird myself it was good to read about another over-sized woman. Her family and acquaintances constantly allude to her size and she is acutely aware of it. The book is a good reminder that the size zero debate isn't a new phenomenon!
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outlook!). I absolutely enjoyed Good Behaviour; it really touched me. It is the story of a upper-middle class family living in rural Ireland in the inter-war period. The narrator is Aroon, the daughter of the family, who is recalling her childhood/young adulthood upon the death of her mother.
Keane skilfully creates a family environment that is both suffocatingly unemotional, but also pervaded by sex. Feelings are never discussed; indiscretions are common, and often very obvious, but rarely acknowledged.
She also cleverly depicts the lot of the unmarried daughter of the period. Fat and too tall, shy and very innocent in the ways of the world, Aroon has no real social life beyond the home and seems to be doomed to spend the rest of her life with her emotionally distant parents.
The bordeom and aimlessness of such a life is clear and very depressing. Aroon is powerless to change her life or to influence others. When she tries to take make decisions she is slapped down. When she finally does gain power, the reader is left with a chilling feeling about how she will exercise it.
And finally, as a fat bird myself it was good to read about another over-sized woman. Her family and acquaintances constantly allude to her size and she is acutely aware of it. The book is a good reminder that the size zero debate isn't a new phenomenon!
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LibraryThing member wendyrey
A story of a life of stiffled emotions and stiff upperlip, a world where appearing to do the right thing was more important than actually doing it and what you really thought and felt were unimportant.
Well written and enjoyable
Well written and enjoyable
LibraryThing member isabelx
That winter when he grew up, I enjoyed myself for the first time. I acquired consequence. To be needed and liked by two such popular characters as Papa and Hubert lent me an interest rather better than second hand. Maybe I was a parasite-but what a happy parasite, happy in their admiration and
I first read this book in the 1980s, but apart from feeling sorry for the large and unattractive Aroon, the only thing I remembered was the incident with the rabbit dish. But I remembered enjoying both the book and the television series based on it, and was looking forward to a re-read, even though it does hit some of my buttons. It's a sad book, She may not be the most likeable protagonist, but Aroon is stifled by her upbringing in a family of poverty-stricken Anglo-Irish gentry, and always seems unlikely to escape it through marriage, but she doesn't deserve to be treated as a figure of fun by her family, even if she often seems unaware of the mockery. I don't think that Aroon's description of events is deliberately misleading, but she often misreads what is actually happening, and there are some things, such as her father's relationships with Rose and the Crowhurst twins, that I think she won't allow herself to see.
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their kindness, happy in being their new joke. I first read this book in the 1980s, but apart from feeling sorry for the large and unattractive Aroon, the only thing I remembered was the incident with the rabbit dish. But I remembered enjoying both the book and the television series based on it, and was looking forward to a re-read, even though it does hit some of my buttons. It's a sad book, She may not be the most likeable protagonist, but Aroon is stifled by her upbringing in a family of poverty-stricken Anglo-Irish gentry, and always seems unlikely to escape it through marriage, but she doesn't deserve to be treated as a figure of fun by her family, even if she often seems unaware of the mockery. I don't think that Aroon's description of events is deliberately misleading, but she often misreads what is actually happening, and there are some things, such as her father's relationships with Rose and the Crowhurst twins, that I think she won't allow herself to see.
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LibraryThing member JRuel
Well-written enough, but peopled with thoroughly unlikeable characters.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
4.5*
Aroon St. Charles is an unlovely character but pitiable in her naiveté (or was it willful ignorance?). As she narrates the tale of her life, imagining herself to be, if not the heroine, the sympathetic protagonist, what clearly comes across to the reader is a different picture than sheRichard Massingham loved her. It is obvious to the reader (and indeed to several of the other characters) that instead Richard and Aroon's brother Hubert were having a homosexual affair.
Aroon, as she says multiple times, is big. It took me some time to decipher this code - she isn't just tall but tall and obese. Whether this is the cause of her inept searching for love & security or the result of not finding that love from her mother growing up is unclear to me. Certainly there are many indications in the book of an overwhelming Electra complex in Aroon. Her life in Anglo-Irish society in the years both before and after WW1 is extremely restricted. She doesn't go to school (she has a governess) and she is discouraged from associating with the children of the 'lesser' classes so basically she only has her brother as a companion. Since her mother is emotionally distant, she relies on her father and brother for love. As she grows up, her belief that she correctly understands social and emotional situations is increasingly laughable. Aroon has had a very sheltered upbringing but she never seems to feel the need to spread her wings, experience more of life, so it is hard to place all the blame of her ignorance on her upbringing.
Another example of her self-delusion involves the relationship between Rose & her fatherafter he has a stroke. There are several very transparent clues that Rose has been, to use vulgar parlance, giving the Major a hand job. Aroon even walks in on this once but says (believes?) that Rose was massaging the Major's cold foot! Even Aroon must know the location of a foot - it must have been obvious that the activity was occurring a bit higher than that!
While I can feel a certain amount of pity for the child and young woman Aroon was, the opening scene of the book makes it hard for me to like Aroon. Most of the book is a flashback, giving Aroon's view of life & events leading to a time some 25 years before the opening chapter. Her insistence on having things her own way in that first chapter as well as some of the events in it make her decidedly unappealing. Having finished the book and then reread that first chapter, the idea of her controlling behaviour with her mother lasting 25 years is appalling!
Aroon St. Charles is an unlovely character but pitiable in her naiveté (or was it willful ignorance?). As she narrates the tale of her life, imagining herself to be, if not the heroine, the sympathetic protagonist, what clearly comes across to the reader is a different picture than she
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desires. For example, Aroon tells herself & the reader that Aroon, as she says multiple times, is big. It took me some time to decipher this code - she isn't just tall but tall and obese. Whether this is the cause of her inept searching for love & security or the result of not finding that love from her mother growing up is unclear to me. Certainly there are many indications in the book of an overwhelming Electra complex in Aroon. Her life in Anglo-Irish society in the years both before and after WW1 is extremely restricted. She doesn't go to school (she has a governess) and she is discouraged from associating with the children of the 'lesser' classes so basically she only has her brother as a companion. Since her mother is emotionally distant, she relies on her father and brother for love. As she grows up, her belief that she correctly understands social and emotional situations is increasingly laughable. Aroon has had a very sheltered upbringing but she never seems to feel the need to spread her wings, experience more of life, so it is hard to place all the blame of her ignorance on her upbringing.
Another example of her self-delusion involves the relationship between Rose & her father
While I can feel a certain amount of pity for the child and young woman Aroon was, the opening scene of the book makes it hard for me to like Aroon. Most of the book is a flashback, giving Aroon's view of life & events leading to a time some 25 years before the opening chapter. Her insistence on having things her own way in that first chapter as well as some of the events in it make her decidedly unappealing. Having finished the book and then reread that first chapter, the idea of her controlling behaviour with her mother lasting 25 years is appalling!
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LibraryThing member otterpopmusic
Really good, but also really hard to take in places.
LibraryThing member mimal
bookshelves: booker-longlist, winter-20132014, play-dramatisation, radio-4x, britain-ireland, period-piece, published-1981, lit-richer, classic, families, suicide, filthy-lucre
Recommended for: BBC Radio Listeners
Read from February 06 to 08, 2014
BBC description: Behind the gates of Temple Alice, the
I warmed up nicely to the storyline and especially liked the way things were by the end. Lovely, loved, Aroon!
Recommended for: BBC Radio Listeners
Read from February 06 to 08, 2014
BBC description: Behind the gates of Temple Alice, the
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aristocratic Anglo-Irish St Charles family sinks into a state of decaying grace. To Aroon St Charles, the large and unlovely daughter of the house, the fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy, and love seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behavior. But crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of the St Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires. This elegant and allusive novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, established Molly Keane as the natural successor to Jean Rhys.I warmed up nicely to the storyline and especially liked the way things were by the end. Lovely, loved, Aroon!
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LibraryThing member TheWasp
The writing was excellent. I even reread the first chapter after i had finished the book as i knew there had been a murder, but i didn't get it the first time around. Unfortunately, i didn't like Aroon, or her mother and was glad to leave their household.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
Aroon St. Charles is an unlovely character but pitiable in her naiveté (or was it willful ignorance?). As she narrates the tale of her life, imagining herself to be, if not the heroine, the sympathetic protagonist, what clearly comes across to the reader is a different picture than she desires. Richard Massingham loved her. It is obvious to the reader (and indeed to several of the other characters) that instead Richard and Aroon's brother Hubert were having a homosexual affair.
Aroon, as she says multiple times, is big. It took me some time to decipher this code - she isn't just tall but tall and obese. Whether this is the cause of her inept searching for love & security or the result of not finding that love from her mother growing up is unclear to me. Certainly there are many indications in the book of an overwhelming Electra complex in Aroon. Her life in Anglo-Irish society in the years both before and after WW1 is extremely restricted. She doesn't go to school (she has a governess) and she is discouraged from associating with the children of the 'lesser' classes so basically she only has her brother as a companion. Since her mother is emotionally distant, she relies on her father and brother for love. As she grows up, her belief that she correctly understands social and emotional situations is increasingly laughable. Aroon has had a very sheltered upbringing but she never seems to feel the need to spread her wings, experience more of life, so it is hard to place all the blame of her ignorance on her upbringing.
Another example of her self-delusion involves the relationship between Rose & her fatherafter he has a stroke. There are several very transparent clues that Rose has been, to use vulgar parlance, giving the Major a hand job. Aroon even walks in on this once but says (believes?) that Rose was massaging the Major's cold foot! Even Aroon must know the location of a foot - it must have been obvious that the activity was occurring a bit higher than that!
While I can feel a certain amount of pity for the child and young woman Aroon was, the opening scene of the book makes it hard for me to like Aroon. Most of the book is a flashback, giving Aroon's view of life & events leading to a time some 25 years before the opening chapter. Her insistence on having things her own way in that first chapter as well as some of the events in it make her decidedly unappealing. Having finished the book and then reread that first chapter, the idea of her controlling behaviour with her mother lasting 25 years is appalling!
Show More
For example, Aroon tells herself & the reader that Aroon, as she says multiple times, is big. It took me some time to decipher this code - she isn't just tall but tall and obese. Whether this is the cause of her inept searching for love & security or the result of not finding that love from her mother growing up is unclear to me. Certainly there are many indications in the book of an overwhelming Electra complex in Aroon. Her life in Anglo-Irish society in the years both before and after WW1 is extremely restricted. She doesn't go to school (she has a governess) and she is discouraged from associating with the children of the 'lesser' classes so basically she only has her brother as a companion. Since her mother is emotionally distant, she relies on her father and brother for love. As she grows up, her belief that she correctly understands social and emotional situations is increasingly laughable. Aroon has had a very sheltered upbringing but she never seems to feel the need to spread her wings, experience more of life, so it is hard to place all the blame of her ignorance on her upbringing.
Another example of her self-delusion involves the relationship between Rose & her father
While I can feel a certain amount of pity for the child and young woman Aroon was, the opening scene of the book makes it hard for me to like Aroon. Most of the book is a flashback, giving Aroon's view of life & events leading to a time some 25 years before the opening chapter. Her insistence on having things her own way in that first chapter as well as some of the events in it make her decidedly unappealing. Having finished the book and then reread that first chapter, the idea of her controlling behaviour with her mother lasting 25 years is appalling!
Show Less
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
"All my life so far I have done everything for the best of reasons and the most unselfish motives."
This dark comedy of the decaying Anglo Irish aristocracy was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. As the book opens, Aroon St. Charles has prepared a delicacy for her mother's lunch: rabbit mousse, even
I enjoyed this book by sometimes overlooked novelist Molly Keane. I have two other of her books on my Kindle, and hope to get to them soon (Famous Last Words).
3 1/2 stars
First line "Rose smelt the air, considering what she smelt; a miasma of unspoken criticism and disparagement fogged the distance between us."
This dark comedy of the decaying Anglo Irish aristocracy was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. As the book opens, Aroon St. Charles has prepared a delicacy for her mother's lunch: rabbit mousse, even
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though she knows her mother hates rabbit. And, unfortunately, the dish proves to be the death of Aroon's mother. For the rest of the book, Aroon thinks back on her life, from childhood on, as the family fortunes and position of privilege go into steep decline. As she narrates her story, Aroon misinterprets everything, while making everything perfectly clear to us, the readers. She is, in fact, the perfect unreliable narrator.I enjoyed this book by sometimes overlooked novelist Molly Keane. I have two other of her books on my Kindle, and hope to get to them soon (Famous Last Words).
3 1/2 stars
First line "Rose smelt the air, considering what she smelt; a miasma of unspoken criticism and disparagement fogged the distance between us."
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LibraryThing member celerydog
A dark comedy, set in the Anglo Irish 1930's, narrated by Aroon an unattractive and generally unlikable character who misunderstands almost everything going on around her with a startling naivete. Written from the POV of this character, the author shows not tells us Aroon's world and worldview, and
Enormously good fun to debate with my book club pals.
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maintains this method for the whole book, which in itself is quite a feat. Enormously good fun to debate with my book club pals.
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Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 1981)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1981
Physical description
320 p.; 7.96 inches
ISBN
168137529X / 9781681375298