It is sometimes said that butlers only truly exist in England. Other countries, whatever title is actually used, have only manservants. I tend to believe this is true. Continentals are unable to be butlers because they are as a breed incapable of the emotional restraint which only the English race are capable of. Continentals- and by and large the Celts, as you will no doubt agree- are as a rule unable to control themselves in moments of strong emotion, and are thus unable to maintain a professional demeanour other than in the least challenging of situations. If I may return to my earlier metaphor- you will excuse my putting it so coarsely- they are like a man who , at the slightest provocation, tear off his suit and his shirt and run about screaming. In a word, 'dignity' is beyond such persons. We English have an important advantage over foreigners in this respect and it is for this reason that when you think of a great butler, he is bound, almost by definition, to be an Englishman.I wanted to like this book- it is well-written and received good reviews. Unfortunately, I found the book uninteresting. Not only does little happen in this book, but the characters are unappealing and we learn little about them. I finished the book feeling uncomfortable with the system which created nobility and its servants, but little sympathy for any of the characters. The butler at the center of the book is dedicated to his job, but not to a real life. How sad it is read about servants who must live lives only slightly better than slaves. But rather than exploring the contrasts betweent the two classes, the author chooses to explore things like the proper cleaning of silver for several pages.
No comments:
Post a Comment