I revisited Miss Brodie after a DNF last year - this book is among the Viking Top 100 of the 20th century. Spark was also a favorite author of an English professor of mine. I liked this book, didn't love it.
Jean Brodie comes off as somewhat vain and self-important, constantly reminding her students of "her prime" and intent to mold them into the "creme de la creme." Her story, presented here, is a series of tugs back and forth through time as some of her students come to remember her. Brodie offers an unconventional method of teaching, enough to raise the ire of the higher-ups at the private girls' school, who wish to get rid of her. When they finally succeed, though, it seems a bit anti-climatic as the "Brodie set" waver between being awed with and becoming bored by this woman.
Throughout the story Brodie dallies with two men on the faculty, taking pride in playing the part of muse and even suggesting an heir apparent from her class. The story recounts scandal and gossip and betrayal, yet in Spark's style it doesn't seem so sensational. It's almost..posh.
Now that I've read the book, I'll look for the film to see how the story is realized in that medium.
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