Concluding (British Literature)

By Henry Green

Book Overview

Considered by Henry Green to be one of his best novels, "Concluding" tells the story of the strange events events that occur in a single day at a State-run school for girls. Retired scientist Mr. Rock, "an old man in love with his goose," lives in a cottage with his adult granddaughter Elizabeth. Bordering the grounds of the school, the cottage--which the State has given Rock for the duration of his life in gratitude for his scientific contributions--is coveted by the school's two spinsterish governesses, Misses Edge and Baker. As the story opens, two students are missing. The resultant search for their whereabouts raises numerous fears and questions: have they been harmed? have they left on their own, alone? or have they perhaps been persuaded by the school's only male instructor, Sebastian Birt? how will the governesses keep the news from parents and State authorities until the girls have been found and an acceptable story contrived? will Rock report them for negligence? Meanwhile, as rumors and versions of the girls' disappearance spread through the school, and the governesses attempt to conceal their alarm by preparing for the school's tenth annual Founders Day Ball, the seemingly innocent proceedings take on an air of mystery, intrigue, and impending doom.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1564782530
• ISBN13: 9781564782533
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.6" x 5.5"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

another masterpiece

another brilliant beauty by green, this one more enigmatic and mysterious than NOTHING or DOTING. set in a sort of training school for girls, the story circles around the disappearance of two girls; the cross-purposes between the school's two principals and a mr. rock who lives in a cottage on the school grounds; and also between mr. rock's daughter recovering from a breakdown and her romance with one of the school's instructors. all in the shadow of an impending school dance. what green nails as always is the way people speak and totally misunderstand each other, all the while creating a seamless setting with his lyrical, idiosyncratic prose. you end up feeling like you understand a little more the inexplicable dance of life.

Extraordinary and idiosyncratic

Henry Green's Concluding is an extraordinary novel. Remarkably idiosyncratic, it is a work that may not appeal to everybody equally. Green humorously, and tragically, presents the common misunderstandings that language and our private emotions provoke. Although natural beauty and light's dazzling improvisations illuminate the novel, the recurrent theme of what is secret, underground and buried offers a disturbing and unsettling contrast. Passions bloom abruptly through the dryness and formality of a community stifled by Rules and Directives. A striking example of Green's powers is the lunch episode in which the manipulative Principal Miss Edge feels a missing girl's corpse is buried underneath the azaleas and rhododendrons behind her table. This book deserves to be read and reread.

HENRY GREEN WAS BRILLIANT!!!!

If you love human beings and/or are one, you will love Henry Green's books! REAL stories, told in VERY imaginative ways, about REAL people expressing REAL EMOTION. Check out: Living, Loving, Nothing, Party Going, Caught, Doting, Blindness, Back, and Pack My Bag; A Self-Portrait -- all by Green!!!