An account of first love

Image from the Victoria and Albert Museum Archives

I will not talk too much of the plot of 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith, here, I wanted to talk about the things I will always remember about this book, the only thing I want to stress is, please read it yourself. Do not dismiss it as a girl's, children's or 'young adult' book.

The first thing that makes an impression from 'I Capture the Castle', is the tear-inducingly vivid imagery of the Castle the Mortmain family inhabit and the countryside around it. The author was an Englishwoman marooned in the glaring sun and shiny automobiles of Hollywood, longing to see her home. Her descriptions of forests and grass make you feel as if you were pressing your nose into a field of wildflowers.
Further into the book, the sharply exact way Smith recounts the agonies of first love are at times so evocative that you have to stop and gape. The desperation, sleepless nights and endless daydreams Smith has her heroine, Cassandra experience are so beautifully truthful and universal, the book could have been written for anyone and about everyone.

Two quotes that elaborate on the theme of first love and the sheer maddening torture/euphoria of it all:

'It hurt me so much that I moaned out loud. I wanted
to fling myself down in the mud and beat my way into
the ground... '

On suffering:
'I said aloud: "I don't want to miss anything." And then
misery came rushing back like a river that has been
dammed up. I tried to open my heart to it, to welcome
it as a part of my life's experience, and at first that
made it easier to bear. Then it got worse than ever
before - it was physical as well as mental, my heart and
ribs and shoulders and chest, even my arms ached. I
longed so desperately for someone to comfort me...'

I don't want to sound too gushing, but I haven't even said anything about the other characters, all very wonderfully formed, or about Smith's portrayal of London in the 1930's.
So, if you can't go and sit in a bluebell wood with someone you fancy the pants off, this is the next best alternative, or maybe even better!