Summer, Winter, names – welcome to episode 93.
In the first half, we ask: ‘Do we care what characters are called?’, looking at the strange and ordinary names that characters are given. In the second half, we compare Tove Jansson’s novel – or is it – The Summer Book and short story selection A Winter Book.
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The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Camilla by Frances Burney
Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Evelina by Frances Burney
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
The Half Crown House by Helen Ashton
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp
P.G. Wodehouse
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp
The Reading Group by Elizabeth [not Barbara!] Noble
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann
Patience by John Coates
Charles Dickens
Anthony Trollope
A Name to Conjure With by G.B. Stern
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Weather by Jenny Offill
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Chemistry by Weike Wang
Sarah Crossan
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Sex Education by Janni Visman
Yellow by Janni Visman
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
Lanny by Max Porter
Vanessa and Her Sisters by Priya Parmar
Lettice Delmer by Susan Miles
Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts
Tomas Tranströmer
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
Sun City by Tove Jansson
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
Frost in May by Anthonia White
Not my choice of topic! I completely understand… But the two of you have made some very relevant points about names.
Books about friendships are a subject dear to my heart (I think the later volumes of the Ferrante quartet are better in that regard). There seem to be more of them in Romanian (or other foreign) literature rather than in English literature, but the following come to mind: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer; Reunion by Fred Uhlman; Barbara Pym’s Quartet in Autumn; A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (although it’s grim reading and LOOOOONG); Brideshead Revisited, of course; Mary McCarthy’s The Group; The Heart is Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I have not been impressed by recent books I’ve read supposedly about friendship, like Sally Rooney’s and Anna Hope’s Expectation.
Interesting topic! Now I’ll be laying awake trying to remember interesting character names. While listening I thought of Cassandra Mortmain in I Capture the Castle; also her stepmother Topaz (I know it’s not her real name but it’s perfect for her). I also thought of the narrator in Rebecca who is never given a first name, I always wonder what it could possibly have been (I just remember that Max comments that it is beautiful and unusual — could it have been Daphne? Rachel mentioned Ianthe, that would work also).
And I agree about Dickens’ names, they’re brilliant. I’ve never minded Trollope’s names — I particularly remember in my very first Trollope read, The Way We Live Now, there are a Lord and Lady Damask. In the Warden there’s a Mr. Popular Sentiment which is a snark about Dickens! I remember reading once that Dickens gave a lot of his characters little catch-phrases because his books were so long and printed serially, it helped to remind readers who they were. I wonder if the distinctive names served a similar purpose — you could hardly forget a character named Pecksniff or Uriah Heep!
My big issue in books is when the character names are too similar and they run together. I’d much rather have distinctive names so I can keep all of them straight.
Aweskme article. https://latricia97asa.bravejournal.net/post/2021/02/05/Locating-The-Perfect-Floor-Covering-Service-Provider-By-Following-These-Techniques
I enjoyed the episode! I agree that the naming of The Winter Book sets the reader up for disappointment, I had the same experience when I bought it, hoping it would be a sequel to The Summer Book, which I’d read for the first time last year. At the beginning of lockdown I went through a period of not being able to read at all, and was terribly frustrated about it, as reading has always been my best coping mechanism. The NYT did a short article in which they asked several modern authors what books they turn to for comfort, and somebody mentioned The Summer Book. I ordered a few books off that list, but only The Summer Book worked for me. Somehow it snapped me out of my slump by being so perfect and transporting. I immediately called a friend who loves the Moomin books (Unusual in the states, I know few people who’ve ever heard of them) and she left the entire series on my porch for me to devour. I’m still working my way through Jansson’s other books for adults.
The Summer Book was my first adult Tove (possibly my first Tove, actually) and I absolutely loved it! While I also loved the stories in The Winter Book, I do agree that the title is a little misleading. Also, having since acquired all of her other short story collections, it’s a shame that this is simply a collection of stories from other collections. Not Tove’s fault, and they’re all brilliant, but I also recommend that people read the full collections and not The Winter Book!
P.S. I would love to be a student at Rachel’s school!!!
I recently finished Barbara Pym’s ‘An Unsuitable Attachment’ and the character Ianthe Broome immediately came to mind when hearing the topic on names – and then to hear that Rachel picked up on the same name in a different book! I also thought it very pretty and unusual. Pym actually does seem to use quite unique names – Dulcie, Wilmet – even Belinda seems uncommon for the time period.
Oh lovely! I don’t think I’ve ever come across an Ianthe, in or out of fiction.
I too thought of Ianthe in An Unsuitable Attachment! Barbara Pym must, I feel, have spent time thinking about her characters’ names – Dulcie, Viola, Wilmet, Mildred, Daphne, Julian – somehow (maybe because I’ve read all of these books so many times) they all seem so right for the people to whom they are assigned.
I enjoyed this episode a lot, and yes I do care what characters are called – it can say so much, especially in our class-ridden society. A non-book example is The Archers – working class: Brad, Chelsea, Tracy, Vince, Eddy, posh: Oliver, Caroline, Elizabeth, Nigel, aspirational: Susan, Lynda (with a ‘y’).
And I do agree about the confusion caused by having too many characters with similar-sounding names.
Novels about friendships are far more pleasing, in general, than romances. There aren’t enough of them.
Very interesting topic! I thought instantly of Tess of the d’Urbervilles and the importance of names— Tess Durbeyfield, Angel Claire, Alec Stoke-d’Urberville. They all speak volumes.