Dark Tide

Rating:
Summary: Romance After WW1 Written with Too Honest Pen
Review: Reading Vera Brittain's The Dark Tide" now makes us feel like watching old silent films. Though it still manages to fascinate us, you cannot deny the fact that it is dated. Still, the book has its moment, and does not lose its power and honesty.

[PLOT] The story largely revolves around the two characters: Daphne and Virginia. They both came back to Oxford after the interruption of WW1, and Daphne, good-natured but a little flamboyant, enjoys her life at her college until the appearance of Virginia, whom Daphne came to see with a deep enmity. Together being coached by their selfish tutor Sylvester, Daphne cannot help entering into rivalry with Virginia, apparently cold, cynical, but intellectual woman.

Now, the book's flaw is obvious. Characters are drawn too flat. They are not given enough complexity to make us relate to any of them, so we cannot simply believe that Daphne can fall in love suddenly and deeply with her tutor, to devote her life to him. Today's readers would be surprised (and even angry) to know that the heroine, who is hit (and almost killed) by her husband (who happened to have a mistress), can not only endure such humiliated position but refuses to go to divorce court (while she has hard evidence that proves his infidelity). Instead, she forgives him and lets him go on way to be England's "Minister of Arbitration." I do not quote the convoluted logic she uses at the end of the book. Remember, the book is, as its introduction says, "an amusing period piece."

[BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS] More interesting side of "The Dark Tide" is its biographical background. Vera Brittain, who would be forever remembered as the author of "Testament of Youth," fantastic memoir about the time during WW1, wrote "The Dark Tide" as a virtually autobiographical story. It is said that Virginia Dennison, a seemingly cynical student back from the war-time job of nursing, is a self-portrait of Vera Brittain herself; and Daphne Lethbridge is also considered to be a caricature (and very crude and cruel one at that) of Vera's close friend, Winifred Holtby.

The heroine who dominated the whole book is, strangely, Daphne. The story vividly describes the life during her college days at Oxford, but the latter half of the book is mostly devoted to the dismal descriptions of Daphne's failed marriage. Now suppose Daphne's portrait is based on a real-life person, abd in this case on the author's best friend. Things get very uncomfortable, and they did. Many people protested against the book (she wrote other caricatures), but how Holtby felt, I wish I know. (There is a short list of suggested reading, so that may help.)

Perhaps we should read "The Dark Tide" without any historical knowledge. However, as a novel per se, it is deeply flawed though it is very readable even today. Reading this book was a strange experiance for me; it was reading someone's personal journal, someone too vivacious, and a little careless.

Rating:
Summary: Romance After WW1 Written with Too Honest Pen
Review: Reading Vera Brittain's The Dark Tide" now makes us feel like watching old silent films. Though it still manages to fascinate us, you cannot deny the fact that it is dated. Still, the book has its moment, and does not lose its power and honesty.

[PLOT] The story largely revolves around the two characters: Daphne and Virginia. They both came back to Oxford after the interruption of WW1, and Daphne, good-natured but a little flamboyant, enjoys her life at her college until the appearance of Virginia, whom Daphne came to see with a deep enmity. Together being coached by their selfish tutor Sylvester, Daphne cannot help entering into rivalry with Virginia, apparently cold, cynical, but intellectual woman.

Now, the book's flaw is obvious. Characters are drawn too flat. They are not given enough complexity to make us relate to any of them, so we cannot simply believe that Daphne can fall in love suddenly and deeply with her tutor, to devote her life to him. Today's readers would be surprised (and even angry) to know that the heroine, who is hit (and almost killed) by her husband (who happened to have a mistress), can not only endure such humiliated position but refuses to go to divorce court (while she has hard evidence that proves his infidelity). Instead, she forgives him and lets him go on way to be England's "Minister of Arbitration." I do not quote the convoluted logic she uses at the end of the book. Remember, the book is, as its introduction says, "an amusing period piece."

[BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS] More interesting side of "The Dark Tide" is its biographical background. Vera Brittain, who would be forever remembered as the author of "Testament of Youth," fantastic memoir about the time during WW1, wrote "The Dark Tide" as a virtually autobiographical story. It is said that Virginia Dennison, a seemingly cynical student back from the war-time job of nursing, is a self-portrait of Vera Brittain herself; and Daphne Lethbridge is also considered to be a caricature (and very crude and cruel one at that) of Vera's close friend, Winifred Holtby.

The heroine who dominated the whole book is, strangely, Daphne. The story vividly describes the life during her college days at Oxford, but the latter half of the book is mostly devoted to the dismal descriptions of Daphne's failed marriage. Now suppose Daphne's portrait is based on a real-life person, abd in this case on the author's best friend. Things get very uncomfortable, and they did. Many people protested against the book (she wrote other caricatures), but how Holtby felt, I wish I know. (There is a short list of suggested reading, so that may help.)

Perhaps we should read "The Dark Tide" without any historical knowledge. However, as a novel per se, it is deeply flawed though it is very readable even today. Reading this book was a strange experiance for me; it was reading someone's personal journal, someone too vivacious, and a little careless.

Rating:
Summary: Vera and Winifred at Oxford
Review: Vera Brittain is best known as the author of "Testament of Youth", one of the finest memoirs to come out of the First World War. "The dark tide" is her first novel, written in the early 1920's when she was sharing a flat in London with fellow writer Winifred Holtby, the friend who helped her survive the crushing blows she sustained during the war. The novel is a thinly disguised account of their time at Oxford in 1919. Virginia Dennison (an idealised portrait of Vera) and Daphne Lethbridge (a sometimes cruelly caricatured picture of Winifred) meet as students and spend most of the novel at cross purposes. Their gradual friendship is beautifully described, although some of the incidents of the novel are rather melodramatic. One of the best scenes in the novel- the debate where Virginia feels betrayed and rejected because of her war service- is based on fact, and the scenes of Oxford student life are fascinating. The book was banned at Oxford when it was published as the dons considered that the book brought the college into disrepute. I see it as a fascinating first step in the career of one of the twentieth century's best writers on war and friendship.

Rating:
Summary: Vera and Winifred at Oxford
Review: Vera Brittain is best known as the author of "Testament of Youth", one of the finest memoirs to come out of the First World War. "The dark tide" is her first novel, written in the early 1920's when she was sharing a flat in London with fellow writer Winifred Holtby, the friend who helped her survive the crushing blows she sustained during the war. The novel is a thinly disguised account of their time at Oxford in 1919. Virginia Dennison (an idealised portrait of Vera) and Daphne Lethbridge (a sometimes cruelly caricatured picture of Winifred) meet as students and spend most of the novel at cross purposes. Their gradual friendship is beautifully described, although some of the incidents of the novel are rather melodramatic. One of the best scenes in the novel- the debate where Virginia feels betrayed and rejected because of her war service- is based on fact, and the scenes of Oxford student life are fascinating. The book was banned at Oxford when it was published as the dons considered that the book brought the college into disrepute. I see it as a fascinating first step in the career of one of the twentieth century's best writers on war and friendship.