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Group Read -> Feb 2018 -> Nomination thread (A book set in, or about, the 1950s, won by Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson)
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Room at the Top - a novel by John Braine, first published in the UK in 1957, about the rise of an ambitious young man of humble origin, and the socio-economic struggles undergone in realising his social ambitions in post-war Britain.
A film adaptation was made in 1959, followed in 2012 by a TV film. The film version launched the new wave of Kitchen Sink drama.
It's a short book - just 240 pages - so a quick read. I am confident this will powerfully evoke the 1950s (e.g. the class structure, ongoing rationing etc).
The novel is set in a period when class boundaries were clearly defined and social mobility was difficult. In a time when the effects of World War 2 were still evident, it's hardly surprising that the luxuries afforded the wealthy were coveted, and spawned a generation of Angry Young Men who lashed out at a world stacked against them. However, though his desire for a better life drives Joe forwards and allows him to break into the insular society at the top it is at a significant cost to himself.
Room at the Top is one of the best known examples of social realism in literature, a style that flourished in Britain in the 1950s. The powerful picture of Dufton, Joe's hometown, is of a stale and stagnant place, whose inhabitants go mindlessly about their business.
John Minton's cover art from the first edition was restored and used on the new edition by Valancourt Books in 2013.
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Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes
Once upon a time the well-bred daughters of Britain's aristocracy took part in a female rite of passage: curtseying to the Queen. But in 1958 this ritual was coming to an end. Under pressure to shine - not least from their mothers - the girls became the focus for newspaper diarists and society photographers in a party season that stretched for months among the great houses of England, Ireland and Scotland. Fiona MacCarthy traces the stories of the girls who curtseyed that year, and shows how their lives were to open out in often very unexpected ways - as Britain itself changed irreversibly during the 1960s, and the certainties of the old order came to an end.
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I always check there's a Kindle edition available Susan! I know that's often an important factor for many here at RTTC. A mere £3.99 at the moment.
Susan wrote: "I will offer a non-fiction choice:
Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes"
Very intriguing. It sounds like quite a lavish book - with lots of photos (always a plus!)
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So for something different, I shall nominate Bonjour Tristesse, published 1954 in France, translated into English 1955. According to the Penguin blurb, it 'scandalised 1950s France', the Sunday Times called it 'a remarkable book' and the Guardian described Sagan as 'the French F. Scott Fitzgerald'. It's ranked at #41 in Le Monde's top 100 novels of the twentieth century.
It's short (108 pp. in my Penguin edition) and its Riviera setting might cheer up those of us in the midst of a cold and grey February. I first read it during French A level and would love to revisit it with the group.
Here's the Goodreads blurb:
Set against the translucent beauty of France in summer, Bonjour Tristesse is a bittersweet tale narrated by Cécile, a seventeen-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood, whose meddling in her father's love life leads to tragic consequences.
Freed from boarding school, Cécile lives in unchecked enjoyment with her youngish, widowed father -- an affectionate rogue, dissolute and promiscuous. Having accepted the constantly changing women in his life, Cécile pursues a sexual conquest of her own with a "tall and almost beautiful" law student. Then, a new woman appears in her father's life. Feeling threatened but empowered, Cécile sets in motion a devastating plan that claims a surprising victim.
Deceptively simple in structure, Bonjour Tristesse is a complex and beautifully composed portrait of casual amorality and a young woman's desperate attempt to understand and control the world around her.
One major concern of the 1950s was the threat of nuclear war, so I am going to nominate
On the Beach, a post-apocalyptic novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1957 and set a fictional few years later.
Here is what a few reviewers said about it:
The New York Times called On the Beach "the most haunting evocation we have of a world dying of radiation after an atomic war."
Galaxy Science Fiction called the book "an emotional wallop. It should be made mandatory reading for all professional diplomats and politicians."
San Francisco Chronicle reviewer called it "the most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off."
Daily Telegraph called it "Shute's most considerable achievement".
The Times stated that it is "the most evocative novel on the aftermath of a nuclear war."
The Guardian commented that "fictions such as On the Beach played an important role in raising awareness about the threat of nuclear war. We stared into the abyss and then stepped back from the brink."
The Los Angeles Times described the novel as "timely and ironic... an indelibly sad ending that leaves you tearful and disturbed."
The Economist has called it "still incredibly moving after nearly half a century."
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Another couple of very enticing nominations
Wow, some great nominations here already!To make your decision even harder, I would like to nominate Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.
According to Goodreads :
"Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym's richest and most amusing high comedies. Mildred Lathbury is a clergyman's daughter and a mild-mannered spinster in 1950s England. She is one of those "excellent women," the smart, supportive, repressed women who men take for granted. As Mildred gets embroiled in the lives of her new neighbors--anthropologist Helena Napier and her handsome, dashing husband, Rocky, and Julian Malory, the vicar next door--the novel presents a series of snapshots of human life as actually, and pluckily, lived in a vanishing world of manners and repressed desires".
I haven't read it, but it sounds like the kind of book that this group would enjoy and appreciate. Also I think an amusing comedy of manners might be what we need to lighten a gloomy month like February!
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BTW, I just looked up the book and found a matching cup - Virago having joined Penguins marketing idea of creating mugs around popular book titles! You can get hardback books and a matching mug, which is a nice gift idea.
Susan wrote: "You can get hardback books and a matching mug, which is a nice gift idea..."Great idea, now to drop hints and leave web pages on computer....
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Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson
I've heard a lot of good things about this and nearly nominated it for London! It's also been mentioned in another thread that there is a film due to come out in 2018.
Goodreads blurb:
Harry Preston says goodbye to the provinces and comes to London looking for life and adventure. It is the mid-50s and he soon finds himself in the impoverished and slightly seedy world of the emerging Beat Generation.
As he progresses through the ranks of would-be artists and deluded romantics of Soho and Notting Hill, he begins to make sense of the world and his role in it.
Colin Wilson’s second, and most autobiographical novel.
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Susan wrote: "I have never read Barbara Pym, Pamela, but she is often mentioned on A Good Read, a podcast I listen to.BTW, I just looked up the book and found a matching cup - Virago having joined Penguins mar..."
I have that Pym mug! It's very pretty.
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...
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I would like to nominate The Quiet American by Graham Greene.This novel written in 1955 depicts the French colonialism in Vietnam being up rooted by the Americans during the 1950s. The novel implicitly questions the foundations of the growing American involvement in Vietnam.
Susan wrote: "They are lovely mugs, aren't they, Miss M? I have brought some for presents - along with the matching hardcovers. Very bookish!"Lucky people on your Christmas list!
Sounds good, Cordelia. I think I’ve already made my choice.
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Nigeyb: Room at the Top by John Braine
Susan: Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes by Fiona MacCarthy
Roman Clodia: Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
Val: On the Beach by Nevil Shute
Pamela: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Judy: Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson
Cordelia: The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Thanks so much for all the wonderful nominations.
Are there any more?
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https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
#vote
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Room at the Top by John Braine 3 votes, 37.5%
Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan 3 votes, 37.5%
Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson 1 vote, 12.5%
The Quiet American by Graham Greene 1 vote, 12.5%
Excellent Women 0 votes, 0.0%
Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes 0 votes, 0.0%
On the Beach 0 votes, 0.0%
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
#pollwatch
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Bonjour tristesse 4 votes, 25.0%
Adrift in Soho 4 votes, 25.0%
Room at the Top 3 votes, 18.8%
The Quiet American 3 votes, 18.8%
Excellent Women 1 vote, 6.3%
On the Beach 1 vote, 6.3%
Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes 0 votes, 0.0%
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
#pollwatch
#drama
#impossibletopredict
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Val wrote: "One major concern of the 1950s was the threat of nuclear war, so I am going to nominate On the Beach, a post-apocalyptic novel by [author:Nevil Shute..."
Great suggestion, Val. Although I have read it, I would certainly read it again. Very chilling
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Online reviews have to be viewed with a grain of salt, Susan. If only most sites have a decent protocol to accept reviews, you will not be exposed to such “beauties”.
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Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson
Adrift in Soho is set in late 1950s London, and is beautifully written, very easy to read, and contains a wonderful array of charming characters most of whom want to retain a sense of personal freedom by avoiding the tyranny and grind of daily work. Early bohemians, the lot of them, and writing the guide to alternative living years before Swinging London popularised a similar lifestyle.
Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson 6 votes, 28.6%
The Quiet American by Graham Greene 5 votes, 23.8%
Bonjour tristesse by Françoise [book:On the Beach by Nevil Shute 3 votes, 14.3%
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym 2 votes, 9.5%
Room at the Top by John Braine 1 vote, 4.8%
Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes by Fiona MacCarthy 0 votes, 0.0%
#pollwatch
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Adrift in Soho 8 votes, 36.4%
The Quiet American 5 votes, 22.7%
Bonjour tristesse 3 votes, 13.6%
On the Beach 3 votes, 13.6%
Excellent Women 2 votes, 9.1%
Room at the Top 1 vote, 4.5%
Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes 0 votes, 0.0%
#pollwatch
Released one year after Ritual in the Dark, Adrift in Soho is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, set in the 1950s, about a young man from the provinces searching for freedom in London. In his autobiography Dreaming to Some Purpose (2004) Wilson explained that the novel had, in fact, started out as a collaboration between himself and an old Soho friend called Charles Belchier, otherwise known as Charles Russell, a Bohemian actor who appeared uncredited as the bandleader on the Titanic in the film 'A Night to Remember' (1958)
https://www.londonfictions.com/colin-...
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Judy: Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson - 8 votes, 36.4%
Cordelia: The Quiet American by Graham Greene - 5 votes, 22.7%
Val: On the Beach by Nevil Shute - 3 votes, 13.6%
Roman Clodia: Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan - 3 votes, 13.6%
Pamela: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - 2 votes, 9.1%
Nigeyb: Room at the Top by John Braine - 1 vote, 4.5%
Susan: Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes by Fiona MacCarthy - 0 votes, 0.0%
Thanks so much for all your participation and wonderful nominations, any of which would have made a splendid group read.
In the next few days I'll add Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson to our bookshelf and set up a thread too in readiness
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A Fine Day for a Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story
The 1950’s is our theme for February - and our mod read, A Fine Day for a Hanging by Carol Ann Lee looks at the infamous case of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.
Carol Ann Lee has written extensively on Anne Frank, the Moors Murderers and her most recent true crime book looked at the Murders at White House Farm (the Jeremy Bamber case).
It is 1955 and former night club manageress Ruth Ellis shot her lover, David Blakely. Following a trial that lasted less than two days, she was found guilty and sentenced to death. She became the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and her execution is the most notorious of hangman Albert Pierrepoint's "duties."
Despite Ruth's infamy, the story of her life has never been fully told. Often willfully misinterpreted, the reality behind the headlines was buried by an avalanche of hearsay. But now, through new interviews and comprehensive research into previously unpublished sources, Carol Ann Lee examines the facts without agenda or sensation. A portrait of the era and an evocation of 1950s club life in all its seedy glamour, A Fine Day for a Hanging sets Ruth's gripping story firmly in its historical context in order to tell the truth about both her timeless crime and a punishment that was very much of its time.
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Just of interest to the group. Bonjour Tristesse was made into a movie in 1958 with David Niven and Deborah Kerr. I don't know how it compares to the book but it was a good movie. Of course, I love most movies with David Niven. Love him as an actor!
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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
And here's London Fictions article on the book...
https://www.londonfictions.com/colin-...
Roll on Feb 2018
Really looking forward to reading Adrift in Soho. I've never read any of Colin Wilson's novels. I read The Outsider three or four times during high school and thought it was terrific. At the time (half a century ago!) it seemed like one of the best books I'd ever read, so it will be interesting to see what I think about this semi-autobiographical novel.
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Adrift in Soho: A Novel (other topics)The Outsider (other topics)
A Fine Day for a Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story (other topics)
Bonjour tristesse (other topics)
On the Beach (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nevil Shute (other topics)Barbara Pym (other topics)
Fiona MacCarthy (other topics)
Françoise Sagan (other topics)
Colin Wilson (other topics)
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1st of the month - request nominations
7th of the month - publish poll
14th of the month - announce winner
Our second theme is the 1950s and we will be reading and discussing the winning book in February 2018
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book set in, or about, the 1950s 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.