I have enjoyed Pym's work in the past. I liked the humor in Crampton Hodnet, and I liked the characters in Excellent Women. But An Academic Question left me cold. While the other two books made me believe that Pym's reputation as a "20th century Jane Austen" was well-deserved, An Academic Question was missing the attention to detail and character that makes Pym's other works lovely.

And the main characters' attitudes about adultery was puzzling -- they treated it as if it were not related to their daily lives or relationships. There was no outrage or anger, few tears, and while the wife did leave the husband for a while, she went back later and the incident was ignored. Perhaps one would have to be English to grok what was really going on in their relationship. I didn't get it.

One curious thing I want to note: both this book and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil featured main characters who were tall women. And in both cases, the husbands of these tall women had an affair with a short woman. And as one of their responses, both tall women wondered what it would be like to look up to men rather than down on them. This was a small detail in both books, but it was oddly similar. I wonder if this is a sentiment felt by many tall women? or if the authors were trying to make a point about how the female characters view men more generally. Given my status as a short woman, I'm unsure how to answer that question.

Note: I read this book sometime in January.