| I remember when I first saw this immense book that Lytton Strachey must be a person of some importance. As I had at that point never heard of Lytton I was surprised that a person of such importance had escaped my notice. It was then that I discovered one of the important things in understanding books. The size is often related to the amount of material available rather than the importance of the person. Lytton Strachey was an English writer in the interwar period. He wrote a number of histories including a biography of Queen Victoria and another work called Eminent Victorians. At the time it was published Eminent Victorians was seen as a savage attack on the reputation of a number of English heroes. Nowadays it seen as an affectionate but realistic portrait of a number of figures who were previously given mythical status. The biography of Strachey is really a biography of the Bloomsbury Group. Keynes, Virginia Wolf and the others who lived or met around the London Suburb of Bloomsbury. It tells of their affairs, the ups and downs of their lives and how they interconnected. The portrait of Strachey is a gentle and affectionate one. Strachey was a person who was gay. He married Carrington a woman who became a minor artist. Their relationship has been turned into a recent film. The book is quite long but it is the portrait of an England that is long since gone. A description of a number of people who were once at the centre of their nations cultural life. It is a book that is gently endearing. |
Lytton Strachey Used Books New.