Differing Standards

Interim by Dorothy Richardson

Volume 2 of Pilgrimage is made up of two books – the first, longer “The Tunnel”, which I reviewed here, is followed by the shorter “Interim” and finishing this means I’m now halfway through my read of this epic modernist sequence of novels.

“Interim” takes up where the previous story left off – well, sort of. Miriam is still living in her garret but the start of the book finds her spending Christmas with the Broom family. As always, she struggles in situations which require her to deal with people – she’s always so much more comfortable on her own, and at the Brooms’ she find it hard to strike the right note. She’s also very aware of the subtleties of class, wondering why some should serve on others and not knowing quite how to address the maidservant.

Much of Miriam’s life continues in the same vein as “The Tunnel” – she works at the dentists, attends lectures and concerts, visits her friends Mags and Jan, and revels in a new bicycle. But it is the focus here that is different, which reminds the reader again of how we are seeing things filtered through Miriam’s eye. “Interim” is very much about her life in Mrs.Bailey’s lodging house, her interaction with the various lodgers and about how she not only misjudges social situations, but also how she is judged by men because of her behaviour. And despite the fact that sister Eve has left her governess post and moved to London to work in a flower shop, she makes only a fleeting appearance in the book.

Miriam’s accommodation has changed since Mrs. Bailey started providing meals for her boarders, and Miriam is gradually drawn into the more social side of the house (and also the occasional meal, finally stemming her constant hunger!). There are a number of characters living there, mainly men, and Miriam is able to hold her own in discussions. They seem to be mainly Canadian doctors, and one in particular, de Vere, is very taken with Miriam. However, her friendship with Mr. Mendizabal, a Spanish Jew, is misunderstood; the simple act of spending time with him causes the doctors concern, particularly when he boasts about his influence over her. Instead of asking Miriam’s opinion, they jump to stupid conclusions and de Vere draws away from her. Most of the Canadians return to their home country, and it seems that Miriam has lost the chance of finding someone who loves her.

All of this might seem a little prosaic were it not for Richardson’s extraordinary ability to capture Miriam’s thoughts and emotions; in fact, the whole human condition as we stumble through life attempting to relate to, and understand, each other and very often failing miserably. Richardson’s prose does bring the complexities of life into sharp focus, but it creates complexities of its own; and there are sections of stream-of-consciousness here where it is very hard to know quite what is happening and who is thinking/saying what. The book ends with the somewhat odd re-appearance of Miss Dear, who seems to stay for a short while with Miriam, causes disruption in the Bailey house, and then leaves. The whole thing feels a little abrupt and rushed, and bearing in mind the shortness of the book I did wish that if Richardson was going to introduce this element, she’d done more with it.

Occasional confusion is an occupational hazard of reading Richardson, and I can understand that it makes her a writer not for all. Woolf, for example, seems more structured and her presentation of the randomness of thought processes is still comprehensible. Despite that, I’m still enjoying my reading of Richardson very much and I’ve learned to let the parts that don’t make total sense slide past me, because the majority of this wonderful work is quite spellbinding – and I’m looking forward to the next volume!

(Jane at Beyond Eden Rock, who’s responsible for motivating this read, has done an excellent review of the book here and Liz has a review here)