I borrowed a copy of this book from the library but after reading it I immediately bought my own copy as I know it is one of those books that I will want to revisit. It is a beautiful work which so captures that state of being infatuated with another person. A love you want to be with all the time so you don't miss anything in their life; who you find yourself thinking about all the time, wondering what they are doing if they are not with you; wanting to be them.
Elio is a 17 year old Italian who has to vacate his bedroom for a visiting American, Oliver, who has come to stay in their idyllic family house as a retreat to write his academic thesis. A turmoil of teenage hormones, Elio is attracted to the older Oliver and following tentative moves, counter moves and rebuffs, they gradually, but inevitably, become physically and emotionally entwined.
The book, written in 1966, is set in a private boarding school for girls in Virginia during the American Civil War and is a cumulative first person narrative related by all the girls, teachers and a servant. In this way the reader gains insight into all the characters and reveals all the lies, petty dislikes and prejudices held amongst the group towards each other. The formidable Miss Martha Farnsworth and her slightly flaky and alcoholic sister, Harriet, keep a lid on this uptight and controlled community as the owners and teachers but with their own troubled past.
Into this powder keg is brought an injured Yankee soldier found in the woods by one of the girls. He is the catalyst, playing each and every one of the women and girls off each other in a bid to ingratiate himself into the school and avoid going back to the front, whereby events escalate to an inevitable death.
The whole brilliantly represents how mistrust, fear and a lack of candour in individuals can bring about war. There is also the literal reminder that we are all but our mothers sons and this delivers an emotional punch at the end after it is all too late. However, although the final lines addressed to the children seem to be directed at the reader - "You young ladies are at Farnsworth to learn and Miss Harriet and I are here to teach you. That is our duty and we must get on with it" - it doesn't feel as though the characters have learnt the vital lesson.
It's interesting that there have been various covers of the book and many, like the one above, play on the fact that there is a helpless man in the clutches of a group of haunted women! The author also wrote several plays, which is understandable as the book reads like a play, having the different characters telling their points of view. Cullinan also seems to have had a liking for the one word title as some of his other books are The Besieged and The Bedevilled.
The Film
There has been a previous 1971 film version of The Beguiled starring Clint Eastwood, which I was unaware of. I don't know how that one plays out or how the characters are portrayed, but like the new 2017 version it has cast actors far older than the ages of those in the book. Johnny McBurney the soldier is only a nineteen year old boy and most of the girls are between fourteen and eighteen.
This causes problems, because an older man making sexual advances to 14 year old girls on film would be just wrong! Therefore several character changes have been made: Harriet, the alcoholic sister, who I imagined Nicole Kidman would play well, is amalgamated with Martha and the backstory of their brother is not mentioned.
Edwina, the spoilt brat that all the other children dislike, becomes the teacher and her spurned chance of sexual awakening by McBurney thus more palatable.
Ella Fanning as the other eligible young woman does a good line in coquettish glances but the fact that unlike the book we are unable to see inside their heads leaves us at a disadvantage to what their motives are. Everything seemed rushed once McBurney has been operated upon by the "vengeful bitches". In the book by the end everyone was complicit in the final act as the soldier had made an enemy of them all but in the film we have Edwina giving herself to John in a rather unnecessary violent sex scene and is then distraught as he dies over his dinner in front of everyone. I'm not sure what the purpose of this was - was Edwina selflessly trying to quench McBurney's rage for the greater good or was it a last ditch attempt at her getting some?
The other puzzling unnecessary shots were of one of the girls looking in her telescope out from the front of the house. Was this to show how insular and isolated they were?
Another missed opportunity to adapt a book that's virtually given to the writer as a screenplay.
