دانلود کتاب An Experiment in Love نوشته Hilary Mantel

نویسنده:

هیلاری منتل – Hilary Mantel

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picador

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۱۹۹۵

زبان:

انگلیسی

فرمت فایل:

EPUB

درباره کتاب An Experiment in Love  :

“An Experiment in Love” is a novel by Hilary Mantel, first published in 1995. The novel is set in 1970s England and follows the story of Carmel McBain, a working-class girl from a northern town who wins a scholarship to study at a prestigious London university.

An Experiment in Love (1995), which won the Hawthornden Prize, takes place over two university terms in 1970. It follows the progress of three girls – two friends and one enemy – as they leave home and attend university in London. Margaret Thatcher makes a cameo appearance in this novel, which explores women’s appetites and ambitions, and suggests how they are often thwarted. Though Mantel used material from her own life, it is not an autobiographical novel.[30]

The novel explores themes of class, gender, and sexuality, as well as the complexities of female friendships. Carmel becomes friends with two other women at the university, Karina and Julianne, and the three of them navigate their way through the challenges of college life.

A chance discovery of a news article on a former schoolmate, Julia Lipcott, triggers a flood of memories for Carmel McBain, who reflects back on her experiences at school and university, and her relationships with Julia and another contemporary, Karina. The novel oscillates between Carmel’s time at a convent school in Lancashire where she first met Karina, the daughter of Eastern European immigrants, and later Julianne (Julia), the daughter of a doctor; and the 1970s when the three all attended the University of London together.

After an absence from school as a child, Carmel meets Karina. The two both live in the same row of houses and walk to school every day together, but never become close. Carmel attributes this to the fact that, as an infant, she kicked a doll of Karina’s. Class differences also separate the two girls: despite the fact that they both come from working-class families, Karina’s parents are even poorer than Carmel’s.

At the age of ten, Carmel’s mother pushes her to take the a scholarship exam for the Holy Redeemer, a prestigious Catholic secondary school, and persuades Karina’s mother Mary to let Karina apply as well. Both girls are successful and it is here they meet Julianne (as she is then known) for the first time.

All three are successful in applying to the University of London. Carmel shares a room in a hall of residence with Julianne, who later changes her name to Julia; while Karina stays with Lynette, a wealthy only child. Karina and Carmel grow further apart. Carmel’s university existence is marked by extreme poverty and hunger, while Karina somehow manages to subsist on even fewer resources.

“An Experiment in Love” is known for its vivid characterizations and its unflinching portrayal of the realities of female adolescence. Mantel’s writing is both incisive and compassionate, and she is able to capture the nuances of her characters’ experiences with remarkable clarity.

Overall, “An Experiment in Love” is a deeply engaging and thought-provoking novel that showcases Hilary Mantel’s talent for exploring complex human relationships with both depth and sensitivity. It is a must-read for fans of literary fiction and coming-of-age stories.

جملاتی از کتاب An Experiment in Love :

“You’re only young once, they say, but doesn’t it go on for a long time? More years than you can bear.”

“So many years of preparation, for what was called adult life: was it for this?”

“I was the subject of an experiment in love. I lived my life under her gaze, undergoing certain trials for her so that she would not have to undergo them for herself. But, how are our certainties forged, except by the sweat and tears of other people? If your parents don’t teach you how to live; you learn it from books; and clever people watch you learn from your mistakes. ”

“I think now that this is the great division between people. There are people who find life hard and those who find it easy. There are those who have a natural, in-built, expectation of happiness, and there are those who feel that happiness is not to be expected: that it is not, in fact, one of the rights of man. Nor, God knows, one of the rights of women.”

“Feminism hasn’t failed, it’s just never been tried.”

“The world moves on so fast, and we lose all chance of being the women our mothers were; we lose all understanding of what shaped them.”
― Hilary Mantel, An Experiment in Love

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