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Master Georgie

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 534 ratings · 50 reviews

The highly acclaimed New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 1998 and Booker Prize Nominee that reinvents the historical novel from Beryl Bainbridge, the distinguished author of The Birthday Boys and Every Man For Himself. A misadventure in a brothel links the destiny of the enigmatic George Hardy, a surgeon and amateur photographer, to a foundling who becomes his obses...more

Paperback, 192 pages

Published October 15th 1999 by Da Capo Press (first published 1998)

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Apr 03, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

First off, I would definitely recommend this book, but not to the casual reader. It's not an entertaining beach read nor is it something that you can get through easily. It requires much concentration and focus. I have never yet met with a book by Beryl Bainbridge that I did not like and this one is no exception.

first, a bit about the Crimean War (the backdrop for this book):

The Crimean War 1854 - 1856
In 1853, Russia sent troops to defend Christians within the Ottoman Empire. Within months, R...more First off, I would definitely recommend this book, but not to the casual reader. It's not an entertaining beach read nor is it something that you can get through easily. It requires much concentration and focus. I have never yet met with a book by Beryl Bainbridge that I did not like and this one is no exception.

first, a bit about the Crimean War (the backdrop for this book):

The Crimean War 1854 - 1856
In 1853, Russia sent troops to defend Christians within the Ottoman Empire. Within months, Russian troops had occupied parts of the Ottoman Empire and the Turks declared war. On 28 March 1854, looking to prevent Russian expansion, Britain and France (with Austrian backing) also declared war on Russia. In September 1854, Allied troops invaded the Crimea and within a month were besieging the Russian held city of Sebastopol. On 25 October 1854, the Russians were driven back at the Battle of Balaclava (including the foolhardy Charge of the Light Brigade). Eleven days later, the Battle of Inkerman was also fought (with high casualties on both sides). Poorly supplied and with little medical assistance ... the British troops suffered immense casualties - 4,600 died in battle; 13,000 were wounded; and 17,500 died of disease."

With this as the setting for Master Georgie, the book is divided into six "plates," or photographs, each capturing a specific moment in time as related by three separate narrators. Each is a focus on love and death, although through the story, you get the sense that the author is looking at the realities of war as set against the notion of the heroic history of war during the period of British empire. The main character is George Hardy, who tries to enlist in the war as a surgeon, but who is rejected due to his marital status. He signs up independently instead, and takes his family including wife, kids, brother-in-law Dr. Potter and his wife (George's sister Beatrice) and Myrtle, a woman in the employ of the Hardys who has some mysterious connection to George. Eventually the family is sent home after George is ordered to serve as doctor for the British in the Crimean theater, and the rest of the book is a look at the effects of war and the realities of life as viewed by those who are a part of it, even though their experiences and place in the scheme of things are largely different to one another.

It is a fine piece of writing, and should not be missed. Highly recommended.(less)

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Aug 11, 2012 Sean McLachlan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

This is the first book of read by the famous Beryl Bainbridge. While I was impressed with this short historical novel, I did have some reservations and was somewhat surprised it was shortlisted for a Booker.

The story follows several people in the circle of the eponymous Master Georgie. Each gets to narrate for a short time and we learn the intricacies of this group of followers who adore the hero without really understanding him. Like many people who attract little coteries of admirers, Georgie...more This is the first book of read by the famous Beryl Bainbridge. While I was impressed with this short historical novel, I did have some reservations and was somewhat surprised it was shortlisted for a Booker.

The story follows several people in the circle of the eponymous Master Georgie. Each gets to narrate for a short time and we learn the intricacies of this group of followers who adore the hero without really understanding him. Like many people who attract little coteries of admirers, Georgie is a charismatic, a bit mysterious, and takes his friends for granted. I found the interpersonal relationships between these people as they orbit Georgie desperate for his attention to be expertly drawn.

I would have liked the book to be longer, however. We don't get to know the characters as much as I'd like to, and we never get to know Georgie at all. While that's annoying with the other characters, in the case of Georgie that's not surprising. In real life, people like Georgie must keep a bit of distance to keep their sparkle.

I was also bothered by a series of anachronisms about early photography and period armaments. Unless you're a history buff you'll miss them, but those who do detect them will wonder why Bainbridge didn't do a bit more research.

Much of the plot takes place in England, but when Georgie volunteers as a doctor in the Crimean War, his gaggle of admirers come with him. As part of the army's retinue, we are treated to the real hardships of war--starvation, harsh elements, and homesickness. Bainbridge brilliantly writes off the war's most famous event with the lines,

"I am at least better off as far as transport is concerned; three days ago over two hundred cavalry horses of the Light Brigade stampeded into the camp, their riders having perished in a charge along the north valley. An auction was held, and I bought another mare so shocked by its recent subjection to bombardment as to have passed beyond nervousness into a state bordering on imbecility."

I found this book a compelling read but not good enough to merit five stars or a Booker shortlist.(less)

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Jun 04, 2011 Mary Stephanos rated it 4 of 5 stars

A novella rather than a fully realized novel, Beryl Bainbridge's Booker-nominated Master Georgie tells the tale of George Hardy, a doctor and amateur photographer from Liverpool, and Myrtle, a young woman taken in by the Hardy family as a young girl. At the heart of this elliptical story--which unfolds in six chapters, each narrated by one of three characters: Myrtle, Dr. Potter (George's brother-in-law), and Pompey Jones (a photographer's assistant)--is a powerful meditation on the nature of de...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Ted rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-british, historical-fiction, fiction-of-wartimes

3 1/2? 3 3/4? Well ...
Suppose you teach creative writing, and you've given an assignment (call it a term paper) to write a novella. Your star pupil, Ms. Bainbridge, turns in something called Master Georgie (forget the "a novel", at maybe 50-55000 words, this is a novella, as assigned).

Okay, you read it, and enjoy it quite a bit. Also, you're pretty impressed with some of the inventive things this pupil has done. You give it something in the "A" range. Ms. Bainbridge shows a lot of promise.

For e...more 3 1/2? 3 3/4? Well ...
Suppose you teach creative writing, and you've given an assignment (call it a term paper) to write a novella. Your star pupil, Ms. Bainbridge, turns in something called Master Georgie (forget the "a novel", at maybe 50-55000 words, this is a novella, as assigned).

Okay, you read it, and enjoy it quite a bit. Also, you're pretty impressed with some of the inventive things this pupil has done. You give it something in the "A" range. Ms. Bainbridge shows a lot of promise.

For example: instead of chapters, she has called the six parts of the work "Plates", as in photographic plates. It's an historical novella, taking place in the period 1846-1854. Right, this is 20-30 years after the very earliest steps in the development of modern photography; not only that, but at least two of the main characters are actually interested and involved in this early photography (although not playing significant historical roles, by any means). But even more to the point, Ms. Bainbridge has written these segments very much in the manner of snapshots in time, capturing a brief piece of the story, which takes place over a period of as little as a day, to as much as a few weeks.

Three different people take these six photographs (telling the story of that segment in the first person, thus also appearing in the plate themselves, so that the plates are all, to some extent, self-portraits). Myrtle, a waif that has been adopted into Georgie's family when Georgie is a young man, and falls in love with him, takes the first and fourth plates. Dr. Potter, a hanger-on of the family's who eventually marries Georgie's sister, takes the third and fifth plates. And Pompey Jones, a destitute, but smart, lad of about Myrtle's age, who comes into contact with Georgie and Myrtle by happenstance (appearing over on the edge of the first plate) floats in and out of view, and takes the second and last plates.

And Georgie himself? Frankly, even though he's easily identified in each of the plates, he doesn't really seem to be the main person in the portrait. But in this he is illustrative of all the persona who appear in these plates. They are portrayed from various views, but always somewhat out of focus, always from a slightly odd angle, with an enigmatic expression on their face (if their face is even shown full-on); that is, neither Georgie nor any of the other persons shown are ever portrayed in a revealing close-up.

So in summary, I found this a fun book to read, but also one which left a very curious impression. It's like looking at old pictures of people you just barely know. You wonder about them, questions form, but nothing is really answered, and in the end you just close the album and forget about them. You don't really care. There really is no story here: how could one make a story out of six photographs?

(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Huw Rhys rated it 1 of 5 stars

Right - this is Beryl Bainbridge; it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; it is obviously a brilliant work of literature as judged by the "Literaty". There is obviously a great deal of clever literary mechanisms being used here; therefore how dare I not give this the most possible amount of marks that Goodreads allows?

But is it a "good read" for the casual reader? No, I'm afraid it wasn't. I found the plot far too fragmented; it required great leaps of imagination - or diligent back checking -...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Brilliant. I am ashamed to say that I had never read any Beryl Bainbridge before but I certainly will again. A great example of a wonderful plot enhanced by a literary device. Not only does the plot and characterization unfold and progress as each chapter is told from the first-person perspective of a different person but also the events and devastation of the Crimean War are opened and examined for us. This book was of particular interest to me for the spotlight it put not only on a period and...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Sophia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Master Georgie is a historical novel set in the mid 19th century. The story has three narrators, each of whom are connected in some way with the eponymous George Hardy. Myrtle, his adopted sister and one of our narrators, calls him Master Georgie, and she is devoted to him from an early age, following him around like a shadow wherever he goes. Also taking up the tale is Dr Potter, a close family friend, and Pompey Jones, who we first meet as a young ragamuffin on the streets of Liverpool.

This is...more Master Georgie is a historical novel set in the mid 19th century. The story has three narrators, each of whom are connected in some way with the eponymous George Hardy. Myrtle, his adopted sister and one of our narrators, calls him Master Georgie, and she is devoted to him from an early age, following him around like a shadow wherever he goes. Also taking up the tale is Dr Potter, a close family friend, and Pompey Jones, who we first meet as a young ragamuffin on the streets of Liverpool.

This is a short book, but manages to cover an awful lot lot of ground, spanning a good portion of our protagonists' lives and following them from Liverpool to the battlefields of the Crimea, via Malta and Constantinople. There's not a great deal of plot, however, and the story does meander along in a seemingly aimless fashion.

I say seemingly aimless, but in actual fact I'm convinced it was anything but. I had the constant feeling while reading Master Georgie that there was much more going on than I had managed to grasp. The book appears disconnected, sometimes even a little dull, with characters it's hard to understand who do things for incomprehensible reasons. George is the biggest enigma of them all. Though he's the lynchpin of the whole book and the character around which the others revolve, he's the only one with no voice, and I had no idea what kind of person he really was.

I noticed that the author delighted in throwing in shocking statements in a casual, offhand manner - something which reminded me of Muriel Spark's writing. In the middle of an otherwise unremarkable passage there would be a remark that completely changed the way I looked at a character, so quietly done that I thought I must have dropped off and missed a big revelation. I actually started flicking back through the pages to find what I thought I'd missed. I like these little literary tricks and surprises.

I did enjoy Bainbridge's portrayal of the Crimean war, and her descriptions of early photography practised there. Though very graphic and gory in places, it appeared to be dilligently researched and certainly made an impression.

Apparently Beryl Bainbridge herself said that one needs to read Master Georgie at least three times to be able to understand it, which made me feel a bit better about my own mental powers. It's true that my first impulse on finishing the book was to go back and read it again, to see if I could understand a little more. I can't exactly say I liked this book, but it did intrigue me and has made me keen to try more(less)

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Sep 12, 2011 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book very much indeed. It is a tale of historical fiction, a series of tableaux or short narrations by 3 different characters, all of whom are drawn to, or love George Hardy, the Georgie of the title. Initially he is a medical student but later in the story is a practising doctor in makeshift hospitals on the battlegrounds of the Crimean War in 1853.

The first 2 narrations take place in and around Liverpool city centre and also Ince Blundell (very close to my childhood home). The s...more I enjoyed this book very much indeed. It is a tale of historical fiction, a series of tableaux or short narrations by 3 different characters, all of whom are drawn to, or love George Hardy, the Georgie of the title. Initially he is a medical student but later in the story is a practising doctor in makeshift hospitals on the battlegrounds of the Crimean War in 1853.

The first 2 narrations take place in and around Liverpool city centre and also Ince Blundell (very close to my childhood home). The story is blunt and at times, uncomfortable to read. Bainbridge was a true word-smith and her ability to depict scenes and real living people and how she makes you feel as though you are there, is very palpable. She notes everything from bodily smells, textures and tones, unspoken messages in a flash of the eye, class distinction and repressed passion in a beautiful mixture of words put together brilliantly. Her style is edgy, blunt, poetic and exquisite.

Pompey Jones is another of the narrators; a young working man who has had a long association with Georgie, mainly as his photographic assistant and sometimes lover. His career progresses as a professional photographer and ends up in the same battlefield as Georgie and Myrtle in the Crimea. I have always found photography and its earliest forms, very interesting so this was another sideline to the story (photographs of wounds for the local surgeons association in addition to moral boosting images one would expect).

Later in the story, the plot culminates during the Crimean War where many officers took their families and wives out to live near the battlefields. A weird and frightening concept which progresses with the children being sent away but Myrtle, who adores Georgie, stays and ultimately becomes embroiled in the battle as the war worsens. She cuts her hair, becomes sunburnt, wears dead men's clothing and does everything to remain true and nearby to Georgie, the subject of her undying love. The end of this story made me shed tears and bought the horror of war and loss to a brutal conclusion in few cleverly chosen words.

I would highly recommend this and am including a quote below which I think illustrates Bainbridge's haunting writing style. This passage follows Myrtle and another officer's wife coming back from riding their horses having seen two young injured solders who they now pass again to find one of them has since died where he lay:

'There's a sameness about death that makes the emotions stiffen - which is for the best, else one would be uselessly crying the day long. It's why Georgie often seems insensitive to other people's feelings. Dealing with the dying, one must either blunt the senses or go mad. The soldier wouldn't come with us, or speak. He and the dead boy stared at each other. We told him we'd send someone back to help carry the body down to the camp. He didn't seem to hear, just stood there, hugging himself. Mrs Yardley jerked the jackets from the trees and covered that purple face from view. It made no difference, the birds kept on singing and the men went on staring. Mrs Yardley wept as we continued on our way. I was thinking about a fable I'd read about a monk who every evening heard the song of a nightingale. He asked permission to go and find the bird, but the Abbot said it was not for man to listen too closely to the voice of God. One night the monk crept from his cell, entered the forest and listened for an hour to the glorious outpouring of melody. He returned to find fifty years had passed in his absence and there remained but one member of the order alive to recognise him, the rest being buried beneath the swaying poplar trees. I considered telling Mrs Yardley the story, to take her out of herself, but suddenly grew confused as to its meaning. Was it joy that had made the years fly, or was the monk being punished for disobedience? When we came out of the woods I was weeping too, for I had pushed out the monk and fitted myself into the fable, and fifty years had passed since we'd set out that morning. I looked below, at the glitter of the lake and the spread of white tents, and dwelt on how bitter life would be if someone other than Georgie was left to remember me. Then I thought of him old, his hair grown white and me still a girl, and all that love I'd given him rotting like the cherries on the dead solder's lap.'

(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Louise Armstrong rated it 1 of 5 stars

I thought I was going to enjoy this because it is well written, but then it started jumping from narrator to narrator and then it jumped years of time and then (SPOILER ALERT) people started dying, and it fizzled out, and I just thought, why bother?

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Dec 05, 2011 Alan S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel brilliantly exposes much of the psyche of Victorian England whilst, simultaneously, revealing the filth, misery and ultimately the pointlessness of war - as exemplified in the Crimean debacle. No details are spared in the horrors and deprivations suffered by the participants. Although the chronology of the novel is a little obscure at times, it is a great pity that those responsible for the equally futile First World War did not have this book to read beforehand - which might, arguabl...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Madeline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction, class, queer, the-victorians, family, tragedy, novels, sunday-morning

1. Master Georgie reminds me, for sad and obvious reasons, of Helen Humphreys's novel Afterimage - a book I sometimes think no one else has read, although that's obviously impossible. They are kind of contemporary with each other, published within a year of each other and with the action of both books set only 11 years apart. Both deal with photography, both have lower-class young women with odd and deep ties to the family. I haven't read Afterimage in a while so the details are fuzzy, although...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Antoinette rated it 2 of 5 stars

The second book I have read by Bainbridge and didn't particularly like. It is listed somewhere as historical fiction but the story is so personal that the history part seems to get lost with more history relegated to the last chapters.

If it is supposed to be a love story, it wasn't a good one. I didn't care about the characters. Each chapter is told by a different character and you sometimes had to be a page into the chapter before you could figure out who was narrating.

This is my last Bainbridg...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Sam Ruddock rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-prize-shortlisted-and-winne, read-2010, fiction

Read: July 2010

Master Georgie in one tweet-sized chunk:
Short and apparently simple, Master Georgie is an enjoyable snapshot of lives and the Crimean War.

It is a rare delight to encounter a book of such apparent simplicity as Master Georgie. The narration – split between three voices – is compelling and smooth, the prose wonderfully uncluttered. It is overloaded neither with explicit themes or complicated ideas. There is no sense of a writer trying to be clever. Master Georgie is storytelling of...more Read: July 2010

Master Georgie in one tweet-sized chunk:
Short and apparently simple, Master Georgie is an enjoyable snapshot of lives and the Crimean War.

It is a rare delight to encounter a book of such apparent simplicity as Master Georgie. The narration – split between three voices – is compelling and smooth, the prose wonderfully uncluttered. It is overloaded neither with explicit themes or complicated ideas. There is no sense of a writer trying to be clever. Master Georgie is storytelling of the finest order.

And yet I use the phrase ‘apparent simplicity’ advisedly, for the simplicity of style masks a cunningly composed narrative which questions how one can ever know something simply by looking at it. In Master Georgie, Beryl Bainbridge confronts the reader with an oddly compelling statement: you cannot know these characters.

When war breaks out in the Crimea George Hardy, surgeon and photographer, sets off to provide whatever services he can offer in support of the British effort. With him travel his adoptive sister Myrtle, amateur geologist Dr Potter and photographer’s assistant and fire-eater Pompey Jones. The narration is split between them, starting in the cold back streets of 19th century Liverpool, travelling through sweltering Constantinople and on to the battlefields of the Crimea. As each seeks to shed light on Master Georgie (as Myrtle terms him) a picture begins to develop of everyone but him. He remains the dark spot on the plate.

The Crimean War was the first to be extensively documented by photography and one gets the impression that Bainbridge spent a great deal of time searching for inspiration for her characters by looking at these pictures, only to come up with more questions than answers. That is how the book reads: a snapshot of a long dead, anonymous person who can never be resurrected, not even through literature. Master Georgie is all about what lurks beneath the surface of a photograph: the context, facets of themselves people choose to hide from the world, the misinterpretations that people ascribe to surface images. At one point a fellow character enquires as to why Myrtle often looks sad. “It’s the way I am on the outside”, she replies. “Inside, I assure you I’m quite happy.” This seems to sum up Master Georgie nicely.

There is an element of satire here, too. There are two targets for this: specifically the bombast of Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and generally those who gallantly march off at the first hint of war assuming victory. It reminded me very much of The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell with its portrayal of out of place Britishness, a pompous sense of worth that is never fully punctured, even while confronted by death, disease and defeat. There are some absurdly funny moments. The wealthy British bring trunk -loads of possessions and are accompanied as far as the Constantinople by their spouses and children as though for a bit of a summer jaunt. There is a funny scene when, having arrived in Constantinople, they go to the opera only for it to descend into a brawl over a perceived indiscretion towards Myrtle.

The satire is not biting though, and surrounding it is a tender portrayal of life, war and the consequences of our actions. Like the best war books, one comes away feeling that it was all so bloody pointless.

Yet none of this is to say that Master Georgie is an easy book. It is slippery, never quite giving the reader what one wants or expects. The drama is quiet, unassuming. Some of the supposedly dramatic aspects – particularly the shared and mysterious guilt the synopsis promises – didn’t really resonate with me at all. The prime feeling I came away with was puzzlement: I knew I had enjoyed the prose and the journey without really engaging with any of the characters; without being able to identify why. Others I know have reacted to it with utter indifference. Yet the fact remains that I enjoyed reading it, and it continues to challenge and interest me a month later. This was my first Beryl Bainbridge novel but I’m certainly going to read more by her in the coming months.

7 out of 10(less)

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Feb 01, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Structured around a series of photographic tableau, this novel illustrates majestically Bainbridge's talents as reconstructionist of historical period and charcaterisation. The eponymous character is unveiled to us by a series of chapters narrated by those drawn to his orbit and each setting the scene for memorable photographic snapshots of key moments in the life of George Hardy. Surgeon and amateur photographer, George's love of adventure and scientific curiosity draw inexorably to him the mor...more

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May 08, 2007 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not a long novel - more of a novella really - and I read it in four sittings in one day. It's an interesting portrait of a small set of dysfunctional individuals in a series of bizarre and unlikely relationships, who then depart England (for reasons made neither wholly clear nor particularly credible) for the Crimea where war is brewing. It is a tale of unrequited love, obsession, concealed homosexuality, many secrets and lies, hunger, need, war and of basic human instincts. I really str...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Caleigh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, 2012-fifty

I never read the cover of a book before I start it because I don't like anything to be given away, but maybe this is one case where I should have. I found the first two chapters wonderfully engrossing, but just didn't enjoy it once they went to war, and was disappointed to find that the tale never returned to England. Perhaps I wouldn't have approached it with such anticipation if I'd known, for example, that the book would be "Striking . . . in its companionable alliance between wry, deadpan hu...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Chris Herdt marked it as to-read

I read an overview of Bainbridge's work in the WSJ that included the passage: "Almost all of her books, written in a translucent prose, demonstrate a clear-eyed appreciation that for most people true happiness and career fulfillment will always be out of reach, sourness and failure the norm. This grim situation of a destiny in common she found to be awfully funny."

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Jun 28, 2012 Esther rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not sure what to make of this. Extremely absorbing in its vivid detail and scene setting, yet I felt oddly detached from all the main characters. They felt a little too story-book-esque to me, too exaggerated to resonate. Still well worth a read and I've read many inferior books which did win the Booker prize, so Beryl I think maybe you woz robbed.

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Dec 14, 2010 Barbara rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had lots of difficulty with this book. I don't recommend it.
The subject is quite gruesome. The characters were not likeable. There are 3 different narrators and they all speak with the same voice. (If you have read "Poisonwood Bible" you know how effective it is to have narrators who speak in different voices.)

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Mar 28, 2008 minnie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This book tells the story of George Hardy a Liverpool surgeon, who goes to the Crimean war, followed by Myrtle his besotted adoptive sister, Dr. Potter his brother in law and Pompey Jones a street urchin turned photographer. The thing I found vague was why they went, the story is told from the point of view of Georges three companions, while he remains an enigmatic character. The grotesque horrors of war are described in Bainbridge’s beautiful prose and little scenes have stuck in my mind since...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Brooke St. rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved that Bainbridge was able to condense the enormous sweep of history into such a concentrated story. The conciseness gives it more power rather than less, in my opinion. It's such an effortless read that it can almost slip past you -- it's worth reading twice to absorb the nuance.

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Feb 14, 2013 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thought I would like this much more than I did. It was interesting but more in terms of its literary style than in terms of a story, or theme, or even the characters. Just not much there, unfortunately.

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Mar 11, 2011 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most well written books I've read in a very long time. Short, but not simple, the writing and the novel's construction convey a lot in the space of less than 200 pages. Highly recommended.

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May 25, 2011 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, one-penny-wonder, paper-read, published-1998, period-piece, spring-2011, bedside, victoriana, booker-winner

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 29, 2013 Tracy Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not being a keen reader of historical literature, I thought that this would be a good starter as it was Beryl B & Booker etc, unfortunately not an easy read for the novice, disappointing!

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Dec 11, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

Strange little tale but enjoyable.A touch Dickensian and the reader is left to fill in the gaps in the character's lives rather than them being told in detail by Beryl Bainbridge.

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Nov 28, 2010 Kathrine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not hard to read in the sense that it flows well and keeps you interested. The story is extremely compact with layers of meaning. Reminds me of the way Hemingway's writing style was described: like an iceberg where 9/10 are below the surface. So all in all excellent and compelling writing but might be a bit unsatisfactory if you are expecting a more structured story.

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Mar 10, 2011 RUSA CODES rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: notable-books-2000

This was one of the 2000 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/aw...

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Jan 11, 2012 E DB rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to E by: Alexander Chee

Shelves: favorites

An excellent and highly entertaining stereoscopic narrative that tells not so much of the Crimean war (although that's in there) as about the odd and oblique ways that people form attachments to one another.

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Jan 31, 2011 Colin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, contemporary-fiction

Set in the Crimean War, the story of Master George Hardy, surgeon is told in six sections narrated by three supporting characters.

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About Beryl Bainbridge

Bainbridge was born in the port city of Liverpool in north-west England. Her agent, and her entry in Who's Who, gave the date as November 21, 1934, but records show her birth was registered early in 1933. Bainbridge herself sometimes said she struggled to remember her birth date, ever since she lied about her age so she could take a trip to France as a youngster without her parents' knowledge.

The...more Bainbridge was born in the port city of Liverpool in north-west England. Her agent, and her entry in Who's Who, gave the date as November 21, 1934, but records show her birth was registered early in 1933. Bainbridge herself sometimes said she struggled to remember her birth date, ever since she lied about her age so she could take a trip to France as a youngster without her parents' knowledge.

The gritty spirit of Bainbridge's home city informed her books, which blended humour, tragedy and the absurd.

'All the books I've written, even the historical ones, came from the place of my birth, the characters based on my parents and relations,' she once said.

She published more than 15 novels, including A Weekend With Claud, The Bottle Factory Outing, and Injury Time.'

Several drew directly on Bainbridge's own experiences. Her early career as an actress in provincial theatre provided the setting for the tragicomic An Awfully Big Adventure,' published in 1989 and made into a 1995 movie starring Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.

As time went by, she increasingly turned to historical settings. Every Man for Himself was set aboard the Titanic and Master Georgie in the Crimean War, while According to Queeney looked at 18th-century lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Young Adolf imagined the aspiring artist Hitler in Liverpool before World War I, to comic and disturbing effect.

Bainbridge was a five-time finalist for the Booker Prize, and twice won the Whitbread literary prize.

Robustly outspoken - she was no fan of chick-lit, which she dismissed as 'froth' - Bainbridge was unsentimental about life's hardships.

In her 20s she attempted suicide, an event she later said she was ashamed to remember.

Despite her reputation as an iconoclast, Bainbridge was delighted to be made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. The British government called her death 'a terrible loss'.

At the time of her death Bainbridge was working on 'The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress,' a novel set around the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

She is survived by two daughters and a son. (less)

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“There are many things in this life capable of throwing people off course - the death of someone close, the loss of income or health, the realisation that cherished hopes cannot always be fulfilled” — 1 person liked it

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