Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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Romans a clef

Maud Newton keeps raving about books I used to love as a kid. First she went back and reread East of Eden and found it just as fabby as the first time she read it thus compelling me to do the same and find the same (ah, the bliss of that book!) and now she’s talking about Somerset Maugham with whom I was OBSESSED in years seven and eight. Me and my friend Michal read all his novels and short stories we could find. It was heaven. So much melodrama! So much angst! And unlike (most) Steinbeck—so many funny bits!

My Maugham love is why I booked us into the Somerset Maugham Suite at Raffles1 for Scott’s birthday. Twas a ittle bit naughty seeing as how I didn’t know Scott’s feelings about Mr Maugham. I am so glad I did because on the writing desk of the suite we found several collections of Maugham’s essays and memoirs which I’d never read before. We spent a whole day lazing about reading his thoughts on writing, which led to much reading out loud of particularly excellent passages and then long discussions.2 Most. Relaxing. Day. Ever.

Maud mentions Somerset Maugham’s most excellent roman a clef, Cakes and Ale, which deals with London literary life in the 1920s and is deliciously catty about several writers, most notably Horace Hugh Walpole. Maugham wrote to Walpole to deny having lampooned him even though it was obviously true3. I can just see Walpole’s response: “Please!”

I now have to reread Cakes and Ale because I distinctly remember that it was the one book of his that did not impress me at thirteen. Who cares about a bunch of whingey writers? BORING!

I doubt I will have the same response now that I am a whingey writer myself. And more to the point I’m a whingey writer who hangs out with other whingey writers. This is very strange but somehow I have wound up being part of a literary circle.4 We hang out together. We talk books and writing. We read and comment on each other’s work. We bitch about each other. We are just like Maugham and co way back when.5

Oh. My. Elvis!

Which raises the question who will be the first to write the roman a clef about the YA writers scene in New York? Surely it’s time! I demand that we be satirised!6 Immediately! Hurry up!

Why is no one scribbling away?!

Do I have to do this myself?

  1. Is there any way to type those words without coming across like a wanker? Though actually those words are more wanky back home than in the US of A. When boasting that we were going to be at Raffles I discovered that nobody in America has even heard of it. Good Grief. It’s only one of the most famous hotels in the world! What on Earth do USians learn in school anyway? [↩]
  2. I must get copies so that I can share all the good bits. He has much to say about a working writer’s life. [↩]
  3. He admitted it after Walpole’s death. [↩]
  4. I’m not going to link to those people because I’m jetlagged and it’s the wee hours and I’m bound to leave someone out and offend them. Or include someone and offend them. [↩]
  5. Except not as talented. I speak for myself on that one. There will be no tickets written on this blog! [↩]
  6. By someone other than Gawker. [↩]

Posted by Justine at 4:53, 1 June 2007 under Frippery, New York City/USA, Praising, Travelling, Vainglory, Young Adult literature | 18 Comments »

Comments

  1. Sir Tessa Says:

    *had not heard of raffles*

    *flee*

    June 1st, 2007 at 5:47 AM

  2. bo Says:

    I can confirm that by admitting to staying at the Raffles you are indeed sounding like a wanker. It does wear off, however.

    June 1st, 2007 at 5:48 AM

  3. simmone Says:

    I too was a big somerset maugham fan in my formative years – mostly because I liked his name (so writerly!) and then because i read The Razor’s Edge. Also love his book A Writer’s Notebook…and ditto on east of eden which I read one rainy weekend at someone’s holiday house in Shoreham – back in the days when I could spend whole weekends in bed. God. Do some lolling for me willya?

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:12 AM

  4. Malcolm Tredinnick Says:

    Justine, we have to talk about this footnoting thing you have going on. You aren’t writing an academic paper or a legal brief. A little restraint, perhaps? Not so much scrolling back and forth for the audience?

    (Okay, I can see the response now: “my blog, my writing, my choice”, so I’ll just get this comment off my chest and move on. Looking forward to seven or more footnotes in the near future.)

    On a more relevant note, did you try out the ice-cream cafe in Raffles? I haven’t ever stayed at the hotel, but I’ve eaten there a couple of times and I remember the ice-cream place with fondness (in a “I can hardly move any more” way).

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:26 AM

  5. Chris McLaren Says:

    Actually Justine, we should talk about adding a plugin to make footnoting automatic–and to provide clickable links so people don’t have to “scroll back and forth” as malcom says. It’s easy stuff.

    Also, while I’ve been a fan of Maugham’s novels since my teens, I had somehow never run into the Ashenden stuff. On my recent Melbourne trip my local bookstore guide was aghast to find this out (I forget how it came up), and we had to spend an hour traipsing around used book shops to find a copy. Lovely spy stuff.

    June 1st, 2007 at 8:53 AM

  6. marrije Says:

    i nominate maureen johnson for the writing of the roman a clef.

    June 1st, 2007 at 10:14 AM

  7. Dess Says:

    i want to read east of eden but my library never has it. either that or i can’t find it… totally off topic but since marrije mentioned maureen johnson, that reminded me that im meeting her on tiesday. i told you it was off topic.

    June 1st, 2007 at 11:12 AM

  8. Rebecca Says:

    “we should talk about adding a plugin to make footnoting automatic”

    hear hear! (or is it here here? I do not know) i love footnotes. yum.

    the law of footnotes: one footnotes leads to another which leads to another which leads to another….

    June 1st, 2007 at 11:44 AM

  9. alisa Says:

    never heard of raffles either. :)

    i have to say, i was delighted when i discovered the ny circle you speak of, and it was all through you. amazing, to how things come across my radar in different directions – like cecil on “around comics” begin the one who does “i so much for giving me more books i have to check out. :D

    June 1st, 2007 at 12:18 PM

  10. Ally Says:

    i know what raffle tickets are but i don’t know about the rest of stuff

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:39 PM

  11. Mary S. Says:

    I love the whole idea of you and your group of NY yaers, Justine. (Yes, yaers is now a word, and it sounds like “stairs”, and it’s cool. So there.)

    If I move to NY, can I join? I’m a YA writer. A published one. *proudly brandishes short story clips* And if I can’t join, can I stalk the group? Wait…I’m not supposed to ask permission for that, am I?

    Yeah, right. As if I could move to NY. *is sad*

    Someday…

    ~Mary

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:15 PM

  12. Walter Jon Williams Says:

    Another fan of Maugham here. Have you read the new biography, which supposedly includes a lot of his secret service work that was classified up till now?

    Horace Walpole died something like 87 years before Maugham was born. I think it’s the other H. Walpole you had in mind.

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:17 PM

  13. Dawn Says:

    Apparently they don’t teach us enough in those public schools, because you’re right…I’d never heard of Raffles previous to this post.

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:41 PM

  14. Gabrielle Says:

    I luuuuve footnotes. Read E. Lockhart’s Boyfriend List. Yeah.

    June 2nd, 2007 at 12:45 AM

  15. 15. Justine Says:

    Bo: You’re just jealous!

    Simmone: I plan to loll for a whole day reading just for you. Writer’s Notebook is what I read in Singapore. Awesome!

    Those who whinged about the footnote thing: Oh hush!

    Marrije: That would be so cool!

    Dess: Talking about Maureen is always on topic.

    Alisa: I too was delighted to discover all the YA peoples in NYC. It was David Levithan’s doing. Yay David for bringing us altogether!

    Mary S: Publish a YA novel with a reputable publisher and you’re in. Dead easy.

    Walter Jon Williams: Ooops! And fixed. Thanks.

    I have not read the new bio. Had not heard of it. Will now chase it down.

    Gabrielle: Have you read Dramarama by E. Lockhart yet? It’s her bestest book which is saying something because The Boyfriend List was, as you say, fantabulous.

    June 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 AM

  16. Elmo Says:

    justine: very impressive comment. HOw much up and down scrolling did that take?

    June 2nd, 2007 at 8:25 PM

  17. Josh Says:

    Raffles, he’s like an anti-Sherlock Holmes, right? Dazzles his naive biographer with crimes rather than solutions?

    June 5th, 2007 at 10:48 PM

  18. Aaron Says:

    Cannery Row is funny. The turtle scene in The Grapes of Wrath is funny.

    June 7th, 2007 at 6:52 PM

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