This was a charming stroll, but where did it go? Was I just meant to enjoy the scenery? ( )

The Model is not a book that can be readily recommended to all readers. I enjoyed reading it because it was the produce of Robert Aickman and contains elements of style that demonstrate his sense of humour and his excellent writing. Also, it contains may examples of his insightful observation of both the individual and national character and custom.

This story is about many things with the kernel being the coming of age, predominantly in a maturing sense, of Elena, the central character and heroine.

I say it is not a book that can be readily recommended to all readers because not every reader is willing to take what is a relatively slow and gentle walk through the life of our young heroine. This walk introduces the characters that populate her initially privileged childhood. As she grows older she is exposed to the conflicting pressures of life, many emanating from within her own family.

As things are becoming more agitated and complex in her life, Elena is taken on an adventure that leaves one wondering what is real and what is not. As she progresses through her adventure Aickman blurs the boundaries between reality and something else. Is the supernatural impinging on Elena’s life? Is she in a dream? Has she gone crazy? Is this just the imagination of a troubled young girl as she approaches womanhood?

In her adventure Elena fulfils her ambition of becoming a ballerina achieving overnight success and adoration on her first night’s performance, in fact, on her first night in the theatre, without ever having practiced or rehearsed.

While this is part of the dreamlike nature of the episode in the book, it can be interpreted as a commentary on instant celebrity, a phenomenon that has become all too common in today’s world of showbiz. Elena finds herself the property of her adoring fans, even to the extent of requiring rescue from one who, it appears, is intent on devouring her.

Subsequent return to her home produces a maturity that leaves her unrealistic expectations behind and demonstrates sensible acceptance of reality rather than the assumption of achievement of the impossible.

Aickman started the book with the quotation below:

“All history is fiction, just as all fiction is history” – Benedetto Croce

I find this a very suitable description of how The Model works. One is never sure what is fiction and what is history. It reminded me of the phrase, “If you want to tell the truth, write fiction.” (Google tells me this is a quote from Joshua Halberstam.) It also reminds me of Umberto Eco’s novel, Baudolino, which intimates, in the most persuasive of ways, that all history is lies, I mean, fiction. 