Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Group Read -> Jan 2018 -> Nomination thread (A book about London won by Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf)
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From the Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Offshore’, ‘The Blue Flower’ and ‘Innocence’, this is a funny, touching, authentic story of life at Broadcasting House during the Blitz.
The human voices of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel are those of the BBC in the first years of the World War II, the time when the Concert Hall was turned into a dormitory for both sexes, the whole building became a target for enemy bombers, and in the BBC – as elsewhere – some had to fail and some had to die.
It does not pretend to be an accurate history of Broadcasting House in those years, but ‘one is left with the sensation’, as William Boyd said, reviewing it in the ‘London Magazine’, ‘that this is what it was really like.’
I keep meaning to read more Penelope Fitzgerald and this looks an interesting subject, which is suited to our theme.
Great nomination Susan - I have read all of Fitzgerald's novels and this is one of the most enjoyable ones.
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My nomination for our London-themed group discussion is....
'Absolute Beginners' (1959) by Colin MacInnes
...which I regard as a classic London book.
Lots of cheap second hand physical copies are available, and it's on Kindle for £4.68.
Here's the synopsis...
London, 1958—Soho, Notting Hill... a world of smoky jazz clubs, coffee bars and hip hang-outs in the center of London's emerging youth culture. The young and restless—the Absolute Beginners—were creating a world as different as they dared from the traditional image of England's green and pleasant land. Follow our young photographer as he records the moments of a young teenager's life in the capital—sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, the era of the first race riots and the lead-up to the swinging sixties.
A twentieth-century cult classic, Absolute Beginners remains the style bible for anyone interested in Mod culture and paints a vivid picture of a changing society with insight and sensitivity.
It's been quite some time since I read any books by Colin MacInnes, however I have very fond memories of his trilogy...
City of Spades, 1957
Absolute Beginners, 1959
Mr Love And Justice, 1960
All three books are available in a compendium edition however I am nominating just 'Absolute Beginners'. Although the books form (a very loose) trilogy they work just as well (maybe even better) as stand alone reads.
The issues raised in the books, whilst rooted in the 1950s, are still with us, tensions around new immigrant arrivals, and inter-generational conflict.
I should add the book was made into a film in the 1980s which I have never seen but is, reportedly, atrocious. So, if you've seen the film, be reassured the book is much better.
Earlier this year listened to the Absolute Beginners Backlisted podcast and that discussion makes me keen to read the book again....
https://soundcloud.com/backlistedpod/...
^ Also available on iTunes etc.
I love the cover of this first edition....
From Wikipedia:
MacInnes served in the British intelligence corps during World War II, and worked in occupied Germany after VE Day. This led to his first novel, To the Victors the Spoils. Following his return to England, he worked for BBC Radio until he could earn a living from his writing.
He was the author of a number of books depicting London youth and black immigrant culture during the 1950s, in particular City of Spades (1957), Absolute Beginners (1959) and Mr Love & Justice (1960), collectively known as the "London trilogy". Many of his books were set in the Notting Hill area of London, then a poor and racially mixed area, home to many new immigrants and which suffered race riots in 1958. Openly bisexual, he wrote on subjects such as urban squalor, racial issues, bisexuality, drugs, anarchy, and "decadence."
I will nominate
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon.It tells the story of a group of recent British Afro-Carribean immigrants trying to find their place in their new homeland. Selvon based the book on the experiences of people he met when he came to London, rather than his own (he was more middle-class and better educated than most of his characters, so did not experience quite the same problems or speak the same way). The book is generally considered a classic. It is also a great read.
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This theme is already full of great choices. However, the more choice the better, so if you feel inspired, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
The poll will go up early next week, so there's still plenty of time to ponder a nomination.
Great nominations so far. I think I already discern my favorite... But I can change my mind...
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It's one of Woolf's most popular books apparently, so may be a good introduction to anyone new to her plus also stands up to re-reading with lots to discuss in terms of the story and the way that it's told.
The Penguin blurb says:
'The book's celebrated stream of consciousness is one of the few genuine innovations in the history of the novel.' -- New Yorker
Clarissa Dalloway, elegant and vivacious, is preparing for a party and remembering those she once loved. In another part of London, Septimus Warren Smith is shell-shocked and on the brink of madness. Smith's day interweaves with that of Clarissa and her friends, their lives converge as the party reaches its glittering climax.
Past, present and future are brought together one momentous June day in 1923.
Hmm, it makes me want to read Peter Ackroyd's London. It seems quite challenging to focus on a single century with the theme of a metropolis. It lives in so many centuries simultaneously, which (to me at least) is one of the most fascinating aspects of a city. I suspect I'm more fond of history reaching deeper back in time when it comes to cities. I also hanker for Charles Dickens.. ha ha (I know - wrong century)!Regardless, there must be tons of fiction taking place in London's 20th century....hmmm
Would it be ok to nominate a biography of a person that lived most of their life in London?
Roman Clodia wrote: "I'll nominate Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf which takes place over a single June day in London in the 1920s. It's one of Woolf's most popular books apparently, so may ..."
So funny, Roman - I was thinking about that novel as well while you were writing your post!!!
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Absolutely.
I've read some great ones in the last few years
For example....
Journey Through A Small Planet by Emanuel Litvinoff
Emanuel Litvinoff recalls his working-class Jewish childhood in the East End of London: a small cluster of streets right next to the city, but worlds apart in culture and spirit. With vivid intensity Litvinoff describes the overcrowded tenements of Brick Lane and Whitechapel, the smell of pickled herring and onion bread, the rattle of sewing machines and chatter in Yiddish. He also relates stories of his parents, who fled from Russia in 1914, his experiences at school and a brief flirtation with Communism. Unsentimental, vital and almost dream like, this is a masterly evocation of a long-vanished world.
Here's a review from Amazon UK...
This is a re-issue, as a Penguin Modern Classic, of a book first published in 1972. In twelve short chapters Litvinoff wonderfully evokes his childhood and adolescence in the crowded inter-war Jewish East End. While bringing out the poverty, squalor and stench in which the immigrants from Eastern Europe lived, there is a rich and vibrant community life, and his observations of characters and situations are mostly humorous - though the chapter on his experience of coarse antisemitism from staff and fellow-pupils at a trade school for shoe-makers is too grim for humour. He did not seem to show much promise as a youngster and had a series of dreary and humdrum jobs. At the very end of this memoir, when he was 19, a poem suddenly came to him, and "things would never be the same again."
He would of course not be the only upwardly mobile Jew coming from that unpromising setting, but, as in all these cases, each such ascent seems like a small miracle.
There follows an appendix of two essays and two poems. The first essay, here published for the first time, was originally written just after the War. It is a powerful, slightly over-written story about a solar eclipse; but it shows the progress he had made as a writer in the dozen years since that first literary effort. The memoir itself, written a quarter of a century later still, is not over-written at all: by that time his style had become worthy of being a classic.
The second essay, originally published in 1967, sets out his views of what it has meant to him to be `A Jew in England'. That theme is further elaborated by the 35 page introduction to the book. Written by Patrick Wright, it sets Litvinoff's memoir into the context of his whole remarkable life, and is a small masterpiece in itself. Litvinoff's reflections on his experiences as a Jew have varied over a long life-time: how he relates and has related to his background, to his Englishness, to Communism, to the Soviet Union, to Zionism and to Israel.
His last book was published a quarter of a century ago, and none of his novels are currently in print. See my Amazon reviews of The Faces of Terror; Blood on the Snow; The Face of Terror; The Man Next Door). He is now 92; and it must be gratifying for him that this memoir at least has been re-issued, and as a classic at that.
AND
Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics: A Sideways Look at Twentieth-Century London by Rob Baker
Entertaining and engagingly written, Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics explores fascinating stories from London in the twentieth century. From the return to South London of local hero Charlie Chaplin to the protests that blighted the Miss World competition in 1970, the book covers the events and personalities that reflect the glamorous, scandalous, political and subversive place that London was and is today. Learn about, among many other captivating tales, exactly where and how the spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean spent their last ever day in London, the grisly murder of Stan the Spiv and the unlikely death of a defrocked girl-crazed priest. A cast of suffragettes, fascists, ‘nancy-boys’, showgirls, prostitutes, terrorists, Nippies and beauty queens features in stories containing a myriad of unexpected tangents and untold facts that cover the width and breadth of the world’s greatest city.
Bit more here....
http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/201...
OR ONE I'VE YET TO READ (but really like the look of)
Tiger Woman by Betty May
The incredible life story that inspired the forthcoming new musical, Tiger Woman Versus The Beast Dancer, singer, gang member, cocaine addict and sometime confectionist, Betty May's autobiography Tiger Woman thrilled and appalled the public when her story first appeared at the end of the roaring twenties. 'I have often lived only for pleasure and excitement but you will see that I came to it by unexpected ways' Born into abject squalor in London's Limehouse area, May used her steely-eyed, striking looks and street nous to become an unlikely bohemian celebrity sensation, a fixture at the Cafe Royal, London, marrying four times along the way alongside numerous affairs. 'I wondered why men would not leave me alone. They were alright at first when they offered to show one life, and then at once they became a nuisance' She elbowed her way to the top of London's social scene in a series of outrageous and dramatic fights, flights, marriages and misadventures that also took her to France, Italy, Canada and the USA. 'I learnt one thing on my honeymoon - to take drugs' Her most fateful adversary was occultist and self-proclaimed 'Great Beast' Aleister Crowley, who intended her to be a sacrificial victim of his Thelemite cult in Sicily, but it was her husband - Oxford undergraduate Raoul Loveday - who died, after conducting a blood sacrifice ritual. Betty May's vitality and ferocious charisma enchanted numerous artistic figures including Jacob Epstein and Jacob Kramer. A heroine like no other, this is her incredible story in her own words, as fresh and extraordinary as the day it was first told.
Ha ha ! You must have read most of the books being nominated! :P
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Thanks Roman Clodia.
I'd like another run at Mrs Dalloway. I abandoned it on my first attempt as I wasn't enjoying it, so a second go, with the added interest of a group discussion, would be just the motivation I need to see it through, and hopefully gain more of an appreciation of its charms.
Carol wrote: "I nominate The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen."
Thanks Carol.
I'm very keen to give Elizabeth Bowen another go too.
This is going to be a very tough choice - and getting tougher by the hour.
Thanks to everyone for so much enthusiasm and for your nominations.
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Well spotted! Books about London are something of a passion Haaze. I even resisted the urge not to mention one of my all time favourites (until now)...
'Hangover Square' (1941) was written and published at the peak of Patrick Hamilton's fame which was by then considerable. Where 'Hangover Square' really succeeds for me is in its evocation of London as war looms. The book was written under the shadow of the seemingly unstoppable advance of Germany and Nazism. The novel searches for a human metaphor to express the sickness that Patrick Hamilton perceived in this period.
As Haaze has astutely gleaned, I really enjoy good quality London fiction and continue to mine this rich literary seam. I think Hangover Square is right up there with the best London fiction. As the back of my edition accurately states "you can almost smell the gin". By the end of the book I felt I'd been in and out of a succession of smoky, shabby Earls Court boozers with George and his unsavoury companions.
BUT, I'm not nominating it.
Nope, my nomination remains Absolute Beginners
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Susan: Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Nigeyb: Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Val: The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Roman Clodia: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Carol: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
I nominate Wise Children by Angela Carter. OK it is not 100% London or 100% set in the 20th century but I think it has enough of both to qualify and I'd like to reread it.
I'd like to chuck in a nomination but I'm not sure how available it is or if its on kindle.Anyhow the book is A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz.
It's a very short book set int he East End about a small boy trying to help out the people in his small and poor neighbourhood.
It was filmed by Carol Reed in the mid fifties with Diana Dors, Sid James, Celia Johnson and lots of great old British actors.
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Thanks Hugh - I've yet to read any Angela Carter so this could be a welcome opportunity
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Thanks CQM
I can confirm that A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz is readily available on Kindle and in physical book form too, and there are plenty of cheap second hand copies floating about too.
I'd love to read A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
A six-year-old boy in the British immigrant community of Whitechapel believes he has discovered a unicorn for sale at the market. Though it looks to most people like a white goat with a bump on its head, young Joe is certain it will make the dreams of his friends and neighbors come true—a reunion with his father in Africa, a steam press for a tailor shop, a ring for a girlfriend. Others may be skeptical of the unicorn’s magic, but with enough effort, Joe believes he can make it all real
That film adaptation sounds worth a watch too.
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Susan: Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Nigeyb: Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Val: The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Roman Clodia: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Carol: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
Hugh: Wise Children by Angela Carter
CQM: A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
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A great choice already. I'd like to add one however.Lux the Poet by Martin Millar. It takes place during the Brixton riots and follows Lux who has a flaming mohawk and legs like Betty Grable and dreams of being a published poet. He spends the day trying to rescue Pearl, his true love from rioters and avoiding members of a Death Metal band called the Jane Austen Mercenaries because he destroyed their demo tape for the good of humanity and snorted all their coke because the police were at their door.It's been many years since I read this, but would be happy to read again, although there are many books on this list I'd be happy to read.
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Susan: Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Nigeyb: Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Val: The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Roman Clodia: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Carol: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
Hugh: Wise Children by Angela Carter
CQM: A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
Tania: Lux the Poet by Martin Millar
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
I think there are so many great nominations so I don't feel inclined to put one forward. :)
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I think it will be difficult to vote on so many - there will be like 1-4 votes per book equally spread out... tricky!
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I am happy to nominate The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham. Set in London during a pea souper, it's said to be J K Rowlings' favourite crime novel.
I would like to nominate A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch. It takes place primarily in London and there are a lot of scenes in the Boltons, at the Tate, and in the tube. Another of her books, Bruno's Dream is likewise saturated in London and is equally good.
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Susan: Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Nigeyb: Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Val: The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Roman Clodia: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Carol: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
Hugh: Wise Children by Angela Carter
CQM: A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
Tania: Lux the Poet by Martin Millar
Rosina: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
Natalie: A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch
If you feel inspired to add to this already impressive list, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
Not sure if this is London-y enough for this group but can I nominate Foreign Affairs by Alison Laurie?
Mod
Summary of nominations so far for our January 2018 group read based around a theme of London....
Susan: Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Nigeyb: Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Val: The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Roman Clodia: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Carol: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
Hugh: Wise Children by Angela Carter
CQM: A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
Tania: Lux the Poet by Martin Millar
Rosina: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
Natalie: A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch
Brina: Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
If you feel inspired to add to this already impressive list, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
Glad to contribute. There are a lot of interesting choices here.
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It looks as though everyone who wants to nominate has done so now. If you do want to add a nomination there is still time. I'll leave it another 24 hours or so and then I'll publish the poll for this, our January 2018 Group Read, themed around London.
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The discussion will start on 1 January 2018.
The poll is now open and you can vote for the book you'd most like to discuss...
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
The poll also appears on the group's home page...
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Mod
Mrs. Dalloway 5 votes, 25.0%
Human Voices 3 votes, 15.0%
A Kid for Two Farthings 3 votes, 15.0%
The Tiger in the Smoke 2 votes, 10.0%
The Lonely Londoners 2 votes, 10.0%
Wise Children 1 vote, 5.0%
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen 1 vote, 5.0%
Lux the Poet 1 vote, 5.0%
A Fairly Honourable Defeat 1 vote, 5.0%
Foreign Affairs 1 vote, 5.0%
Absolute Beginners 0 votes, 0.0%
If you haven't voted and you'd like to, or if you want to change your vote, then click on the link below...
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
There's still five days left
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Human Voices 7 votes, 28.0%
Mrs. Dalloway 6 votes, 24.0%
The Lonely Londoners 3 votes, 12.0%
A Kid for Two Farthings 2 votes, 8.0%
The Tiger in the Smoke (Albert Campion Mystery #14) 2 votes, 8.0%
A Fairly Honourable Defeat 1 vote, 4.0%
Absolute Beginners 1 vote, 4.0%
Lux the Poet 1 vote, 4.0%
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen 1 vote, 4.0%
Foreign Affairs 1 vote, 4.0%
Wise Children 0 votes, 0.0%
#pollwatch
If you haven't voted and you'd like to, or if you want to change your vote, then click on the link below...
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
The human voices of Penelope Fitzgerald's third novel are those of the BBC in the first years of the Second World War, the time when the concert hall was turned into a dormitory for both sexes.
Mod
https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscriptio...
London: From the seedy streets of '60s Soho to the city's metropolitan sheen.
Welcome to the London collection.
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hours (other topics)The Hours (other topics)
The End of the Affair (other topics)
Mrs. Dalloway (other topics)
Tiger Woman (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Virginia Woolf (other topics)Colin MacInnes (other topics)
Virginia Woolf (other topics)
Penelope Fitzgerald (other topics)
Sam Selvon (other topics)
More...
1st of the month - request nominations
7th of the month - publish poll
14th of the month - announce winner
Our first theme is (drum roll please) London and we will be reading and discussing the winning book in January 2018.
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book about London (in the twentieth century) that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.
If your nomination wins then please be willing to fully participate in the subsequent discussion.
Happy nominating.
If you're seeking inspiration you might find the London Fictions website a trove of ideas....
http://www.londonfictions.com