Group Reads -> May 2021 -> Nomination thread (Penguin Paperbacks won by Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer)

[Nigeyb]

Our May 2021 group read will celebrate Penguin Books. Here's a bit more about Penguin...

Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. Penguin's success demonstrated that large audiences existed for serious books. Penguin also had a significant impact on public debate in Britain, through its books on culture, politics, the arts, and science.

Please choose a book published by Penguin written or set in the twentieth century that you would like to read and discuss.

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

[Nigeyb]

There's a plethora of titles to choose from. Here's some links to help you make a nomination


Penguin Modern Classics Listopia...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

List of Penguin Classics...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

1231 Penguin Modern Classics...
https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/penm...

Not all of them are written or set in the twentieth century however many, probably most, are.

[Susan]

Thanks, Nigeyb. Such an interesting topic. One book on my TBR list is Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane if anyone fancies a buddy read alongside the main read.

However, I will look forward to finding a Penguin title to nominate. We will certainly be spoilt for choice.

[Judy]

I'm wondering about nominating one of Penguin's collections, "The Penguin Book of..." - just having a look through these via a search for that phrase on the Penguin website, and they are certainly varied, including The Penguin Book of Hell, The Penguin Book of the Undead and The Penguin Book of Brexit Cartoons (the mind boggles at that one, which is ruled out anyway for being 21st century) as well as many short story collections.

[Judy]

The Life and Times of Allen Lane sounds good for a buddy read to me, Susan.

[Susan]

Good to hear, Judy. I am finding so many Penguin titles I have meant to read and never got to that I am finding it hard to pick. I will have a ponder...

[Judy]

There are also lots of other titles like "The Penguin Anthology of...", "History off..." etc, but lots of them are out of print so I may be barking up a blind alley.

[Judy]

I am quite tempted to nominate a book we talked about here a little while back, The Mersey Sound, one of the Penguin Modern Poets collections from the 1960s by the Merseybeat poets Adrian Henri, Brian Patten and Roger McGough.

But although it is on Kindle in the UK, it looks to me as if it might be hard to get hold of in other formats and other countries.

[Susan]

Love The Mersey Sound, Judy.

However, I will nominate: Paradise Postponed a Penguin Decades title by John Mortimer (of Rumpole fame).

Paradise Postponed - John Mortimer's classic novel, now part of the Penguin Decades series

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.

John Mortimer's Paradise Postponed was first published in 1985. At the heart of the story lies a mystery. Why, on his death, has Simeon Simcox, the CND-marching Rector of Rapstone Fanner, left his fortune not to his two sons but to an odious Tory Minister?

Paradise Postponed provides a brilliant, hilarious portrait of life in Margaret Thatcher's Britain, as well as an exquisitely drawn saga of ancient rivalries and class struggles, featuring a glorious cast of characters conjured by a master satirist. With a new introduction by Jeremy Paxman, this delicious journey through English country life will be loved by readers of P.G. Wodehouse and fans of Mortimer's Rumpole.

[Nigeyb]

Great nomination Susan 😍

[Susan]

Thanks, Nigeyb. I await the tempting nominations to follow mine.

[Roman Clodia]

Ooh, interesting ideas being floated here.

I don't think we've ever read any F. Scott Fitzgerald here, have we? But will we all have read him already?

I haven't read James Baldwin or Carson McCullers yet, and they both have lots to choose from in Penguin.

Or there's the one-off Perfume: The Story of a Murderer which will likely never fit another category... Lots to ponder.

[Susan]

I considered Perfume, RC, as I have never read it.

[Jan C]

I'll nominate Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee. I have it on kindle. I previously read his A Death in the Family which I thought was excellent (also on their list).

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Jan - don't know that one, off ot investigate


All your ideas are splendid RC

[Nigeyb]

According to Jonathan Coe...


The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) by David Nobbs is one of the great British novels of the 1970s – as a piece of comic fiction streets ahead of anything by Kingsley Amis, in my opinion – but it has never received its due because it was overshadowed by the TV adaptation (also brilliant in its own way).

It should be republished as a modern classic.

Now then, Jonathan Coe knows a thing or two about comedic masterpieces and so, if it's good enough for JC it's good enough for me.

I have long wanted to read the Reggie Perrin books having loved the TV series as a young person.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) is the first in the series. It was published by Penguin. Of course.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin is available in the Reginald Perrin Omnibus and as a stand alone book. Kindle editions of both are also available.



Reginald Iolanthe Perrin is sick to death with selling exotic ices at Sunshine Desserts. He's fed up with his boss C.J. who delights in making his life hell. And he's had enough of his eager young assistants who think everything is 'super'.

So begins Reggie's battle against consumerism. Driven to desperation by the rat race and the unpunctuality of Britain's trains, Reggie's small eccentricities escalate to the extreme.

Until, finally, he leaves behind the unacceptable face of capitalism altogether. Driven off in a motorised jelly, and creating the world's biggest loganberry slick on his way, he dumps his clothes on a Dorset beach and sets off for new adventures...

[Susan]

Oh, I remember the programme well, Nigeyb. What a good idea to suggest the book, which I haven't read either.

[Judy]

I really enjoyed Paradise Postponed and also don't think I've read Reginald Perrin though I really liked the TV series back in the day (but not the remake.) All the other suggestions sound great too.

[Susan]

Was there a remake?! I just remember Leonard Rossiter being brilliant.

[Nigeyb]

Yes, there was a remake about 10 years ago. Fine but not a patch on the original. No idea why the BBC wanted to try to do it again. Don't mess with perfection.

[Nigeyb]

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:


SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs

[Judy]

I considered nominating an anthology waiting hopefully on my shelf, The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories, but it's rather long and, as with The Mersey Sound, I think may be hard to get outside the UK.

I think perhaps I won't nominate this time unless I suddenly have a brainwave, as I'm already going to be spoilt for choice with the nominations so far.

[Brian E]

Jan C wrote: "I'll nominate Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee. I have it on kindle. I previously read his A Death in the Family which I thought was excellent (..."

I too would like to read Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and look at its photos. Perhaps we could have both a fictional and a non-fictional Penguin for May?
I just finished A Death in the Family at the end of January. It takes place in Knoxville, Tennessee, near Jan's neck of the woods.

I checked on American Amazon and the Penguin Mercy Sound was available here for about $16 in paperback and a $10 Kindle. I don't know the Reginald Perrin stuff but would be game. I also really like Mortimer's works.

[Nigeyb]

Brian wrote:


"Perhaps we could have both a fictional and a non-fictional Penguin for May? "

Some of us were in a previous group that used to do a fiction and non-fiction choice and invariably the non-fiction choice would get very little discussion. I am not sure why that would be.

That said, if others are keen to have a non-fiction choice we can give it a go. Alternatively just nominate Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and we can discover how it gets on.

[Judy]

Brian, thank you for checking re Mersey Sound - sounds as if it is a bit expensive so I won't nominate, though I definitely recommend it for anyone who is tempted.

[Brian E]

Nigeyb wrote: ".. just nominate Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and we can discover how it gets on"
That sounds right. I wasn't proposing anything formal, just thinking out loud. This group tends to adapt to certain group read poll results by using moderator choices and buddy reads. It's a pretty flexible group, in a good way.

Judy wrote: "...re Mersey Sound - sounds as if it is a bit expensive so I won't nominate."
Judy, it didn't seem that expensive to me. I was just curious as I hadn't heard of the Mersey Sound poets, though there's a lot of poetry that is unknown to me - I don't really read (or understand) much poetry.
I somehow was imagining that they might be to poetry like Nell Dunn was to the novel and short story. I hadn't heard of Dunn either before reading Up the Junction in this group.

[Susan]

I had posed Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane as a non-fiction buddy read around the theme, Brian, but it was at the very top of the thread and has since got a bit lost. Judy was keen, but not sure whether anyone else would be interested.

[Judy]

Brian wrote: "I was just curious as I hadn't heard of the Mersey Sound poets, though there's a lot of poetry that is unknown to me - I don't really read (or understand) much poetry...."

Brian, although this anthology was called The Mersey Sound, they are also often known as the Merseybeat poets, partly because there was a publication called Merseybeat and also in a sort of tribute to the Beats.

They were strongly associated with the Beatles and the other Liverpool groups and were also very popular poets in their own right, with quite a playful element to their work. I haven't found any good web pages about them, but this is the Wikipedia page about the anthology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mer...

[Brian E]

Susan, I'm not sure if I would be interested. I like the idea of reading about Penguins but, as it's a Penguin about Penguin, worry about whether it is a 400 page publicity pamphlet.

I do have many Penguin books and, based on my love of the books and mid-period Fleetwood Mac, even have a collection of penguin figures, some purchased but most gifted, on the top of my bookshelves.
Also, my wife gave me a set of 60 Penguin minis for my 60th birthday, as listed here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin...
It have the orange not the black set, and the UK not the US version, Despite what Wikipedia said in the first paragraph, the set has 60 not 30 books. They are great to take with you to read when you wait in line at an event.

And, Judy, thanks for the info. As this post shows, I accept Wikipedia as a good source of info. After reading some info it seems like, while the other two poets are liked, Adrian Henri is one people either really like or really dislike.

[Jan C]

Brian wrote: "Susan, I'm not sure if I would be interested. I like the idea of reading about Penguins but, as it's a Penguin about Penguin, worry about whether it is a 400 page publicity pamphlet.

I do have man..."

I did read the Rudyard Kipling mini - came across it years ago in a book store or used book sale. It was two works of his put out together, both semi-autobiographical.

[Nigeyb]

So far as I can discern we have no new nominations since my last summary. Just some interesting discussion. If I have misread please put me right.

Who else is nominating, or thinking about it?


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs

[Susan]

Perhaps everyone is just spoilt for choice?

[Roman Clodia]

I'll nominate Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

Amazon blurb:

In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immorality, or, more succinctly, wickedness, but because his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of scent . . .

'A fantastic tale of murder and twisted eroticism controlled by a disgusted loathing of humanity ... Clever, stylish, absorbing and well worth reading' Literary Review

'A meditation on the nature of death, desire and decay ... A remarkable début' Peter Ackroyd, The New York Times Book Review

'Unlike anything else one has read. A phenomenon ... [It] will remain unique in contemporary literature' Figaro

'An ingenious and totally absorbing fantasy' Daily Telegraph

'Witty, stylish and ferociously absorbing' Observer

'An astonishing tour de force both in concept and execution' Guardian

[Susan]

That has been on my TBR list forever, RC. Some great suggestions.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Roman Clodia.


I remember a time when I couldn't take a tube journey without seeing someone immersed in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Who else is nominating, or thinking about it?


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs
ROMAN CLODIA: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

[Nigeyb]

Have we got all our nominations?


Last call for nominations

Poll going up tomorrow


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs
ROMAN CLODIA: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

[Nigeyb]

The poll is up


Vote here...

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...


NOMINATIONS:

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs
ROMAN CLODIA: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

[Nigeyb]

Looking good for Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer


#pollwatch


Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer - 8 votes, 50.0%

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind - 5 votes, 31.3%

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs - 2 votes, 12.5%

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee - 1 vote, 6.3%


Vote here...

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...


NOMINATIONS:

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs
ROMAN CLODIA: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

[Susan]

Perfume also has a lot of interest. A novel I have meant to read forever. Some good choices this month.

[Nigeyb]

Still looking good for Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer with less than 24 hours to go


#pollwatch


Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer - 10 votes, 50.0%

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind - 5 votes, 25.0%

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs - 3 votes, 15.0%

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee - 2 votes, 10.0%

[Brian E]

Looks like Mortimer is ready to lap the field. In checking the voting choices out, I discovered that an actress I like, Emily Mortimer, is John Mortimer's daughter. How did I not know this already?

[Nigeyb]

Brian wrote: "Looks like Mortimer is ready to lap the field. In checking the voting choices out, I discovered that an actress I like, Emily Mortimer, is John Mortimer's daughter. How did I not know this already?"

I'm forever discovering stuff like that Brian

It was only when reading John Le Carre's Pidgeon Tales I discovered (realised) that actress Charlotte Cornwell is John Le Carre's half sister.

[Nigeyb]

It's confirmed


The winner of our Penguin Books celebratory group read in May 2021 will be Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer

Hurrah

Thanks to everyone who discussed, nominated, voted or thought about it

See you in May 2021

#pollwatch


Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer - 10 votes, 47.6%

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind - 5 votes, 23.8%

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs - 3 votes, 14.3%

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee - 3 votes, 14.3%

SUSAN: Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
JAN: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
NIGEYB: The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs
ROMAN CLODIA: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

[Susan]

Thanks, Nigeyb. Looking forward to it!

[Nigeyb]

No idea if this On the Road with Penguin Classic‪s‬ podcast is any good but I'll be giving it a try.


The reviews and ratings are very promising

On the Road with Penguin Classic‪s‬
The podcast that takes a stroll around the world's favourite books. In each episode, author and editor Henry Eliot travels to a different literary location to explore a brilliant book in the company of a remarkable reader.....

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...

[Susan]

Looks good, Nigeyb. Thanks for the suggestion.