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Completed	06 January 2005
Title	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Author	Muriel Spark
Published	1961
Quote	"Sandy, please try to do as I say and not as I do. Remember, you are a child, Sandy, and far from your prime."
Review	I thought it applicable to read this book at the beginning of this year, 2005, the year I turn forty. I had often heard about this book, and the movie with the great Maggie Smith, but I didn't know what it was about. Now I know. Set in 1930s Edinburgh, Scotland, schoolteacher Miss Jean Brodie forms a bond with some of her students. I love the way Miss Brodie "educates" these girls in the ways of the world. She talks of travel and of love. Miss Brodie talks of her being "in her prime". I just checked Maggie Smith's birthdate (1934) and the date the movie was made (1969) and realize that Maggie Smith was only 35 years old when she made the movie. Gosh, I thought she was much, much older than that. I thought her "prime" was, say, 48, not 35. Oh no. That doesn't bode so well for me. ;-) Apparently, Maggie Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this role, which doesn't surprise me. The movie is great. The book, of course, is better. I love the descriptions of the 1930s life and the ways that the schoolgirls acted, and what they wore. Also, there is that sub-theme of war. I give this book two knitting needles up. It is a very readable book, and enjoyable.

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