Reseña: Cold Comfort Farm

 COLD COMFORT FARM

by

Stella Gibbons


Año 1a edición: 1932

BLURB: When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith; Amos; their sons, Seth and Reuben; and Aunt Ada Doom. But Flora loves nothing better than to organize other people.



My rating: 2 of 5 stars


2,5-2,75 aun no me decido.

¿Saben qué? Vean la pelicula mejor (la de 1995). De todos modos.


"There have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort!”




When Flora Post lose her parents, she really didn't feel sad, instead she decided to live with relatives. The chosen ones? the Starkadders in Sussex.




I feel kind of bad that I have not liked this book. I do not mean that it is a bad book, but I expected to find as promised: a Super fun story.

Flora is a 'modern' woman of the 30's, but she didn't want to work, prefers to go to change the life of her weird relatives.

It seems to be a novel for 'intellectual people' who make fun of 'intellectual people'. She criticize the cool society, the mediums and psychoanalyst, and specially the snob writers, the snob poets, the snob painters, the so many solicitors... oh, and everybody fly everywhere in biplanes.
And that everybody always think about sex...


Es una parodia de las novelas romántico-góticas-inglesas (incluso ella misma usa asteriscos en ciertos párrafos y explica que son para denotar cuando su prosa se vuelve exquisita... no, no es broma), para burlarse de su estilo pretencioso.

No digo que no tenga elementos simpáticos:

“I think if I find that I have any third cousins living at Cold Comfort Farm (young ones, you know, children of Cousin Judith) who are named Seth, or Reuben, I shall decide not to go.”
“Why?”
“Oh, because highly-sexed young men living on farms are always called Seth or Reuben, and it would be such a nuisance. And my cousin’s name, remember, is Judith. That in itself is most ominous.

Meet Reuben and Seth:
(Donde Rufus Sewell la lleva)

Y el clásico fanático religioso:
(otra vez donde Ian Mckellen hace el personaje, cuando no)

Pero ella es tan full of herself 'Flora knows best' : So, Flora mused, must Columbus have felt when the poor Indian fixed his solemn, unwavering gaze upon the great sailor’s face. For the first time a Starkadder looked upon a civilized being.

La verdad es que este es un clásico que ha llenado con esas frases que forman ahora parte de la cultura inglesa, al parcer, de "vi algo sucio en la leñera". Y lleno de frases y palabras de doble sentido que a los de habla hispana nos pasa por encima, si es que alguien no lo hace notar (como eso de la cuchara). Pero lo más perturbador son todas esas insinuaciones veladas incestuosas (¿¿se supone que son graciosas?? yuck)

Y luego está con ese personaje del escritor que dice que las mujeres no tienen alma y piensa sólo en el sexo, y viene a dar cuenta de una peculiar teoria con respecto a las Bronte.


Al final todo queda arregladito a la Flora, (bodas y todo)aunque hasta ella se queda con la duda acerca de los famosos 'derechos' que la llevan a la granja.

Como dije, no era la gran comedia que pensaba, pero la pelicula es buena ;)