I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

[Scheherazade]

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I have been hearing so much about this book that I started with lots of expectations, which usually results in some kind of disappointment and it was true in this case as well.

It is the story of one year in Cassandra Mortmain's life, who lives in poverty with her unusual family in a derelict castle. During that year, she falls in love and stops being a teenager, stepping into the confusions and responsibilities of the 'adult' world.

It is an easy reading and entertaining book, which would be much better appreciated by teenage readers, no doubt.

7/10 KitKats!

[Literary_Cat]

Scheherazade,

Your comment that this book would be better appreciated by teenage readers was what I thought the first time I read it. However, as I had heard many glowing recommendations about it, as you had, I decided to give it a second try. I discovered many more subtleties than I had been able to appreciate the first time through, and which I think an average (or even above average) teenager would miss.

For instance, the book's structure is based upon the three journals that Cassandra writes in, which are each more elegant and expensive than the last. This parallels her family's rise from poverty into a more respectable and comfortable living situation, and it also mimics Cassandra's own "coming-of-age," if you will, or at least her writing skill. Also, the play between many of the incidental characters from the town, for instance, the rector and the schoolmistress, brings up a number of themes about religion and loss. And her father, the blocked writer, is positively hilarious.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the book; I'm convinced you would enjoy it more if you read it again in a few months. However, please don't restrict recommending it only to adolescents--adults will appreciate different subtleties.