The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion
Hamilton-esque books, authors..
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Welcome to Hamilton-esque books and authors
I'm sure this won't be new to you [but then again, I was convinced that the Bay City Rollers were gonna be bigger than the Beatles, so I'm not always right about things] but this website's as good a source as any for pointing the discriminating Hamilton reader in some good directions...
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Yes it is. I've not had a proper look at it yet but it often comes up in searches and I've already read some great stuff on there.
Here's how they describe themselves...
LONDON BOOKS is an independent publisher which aims to bring old and new fiction together in a tradition that is original in its subject matter, style and social concerns. We believe that the marginalised fiction of the past can be as relevant and exciting today as when it was first published, and our classic reprints will reflect the language and politics of tougher eras, while our new fiction will focus on emerging authors with something to say and a novel way of getting their messages across.
London books published the wonderful "The Gilt Kid" by James Curtis who I mention elsewhere in Hamilton-esque books and authors. "The Gilt Kid" gets a thumbs up from this Hamilton appreciator.
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Yes it is. I've not had a proper look at it yet but it often comes up in searches and I've already read some great stu..."
By the by, London Books was set up John King and Martin Knight. I don't know Martin Knight's work, however I have read quite a few books by John King, for example The Football Factory, Headhunters, England Away (these three forming a football hooligan trilogy), and a few more besides. They are violent and visceral, however well worth reading if you have the stomach for the content.
Ah, okay, I've been well aware of London Books and their catalogue of titles, but have yet to take the plunge. I had absolutely no idea that John King was behind it... I've read nearly every book he's written, with his 'Human Punk' holding a very special place on my shelving.
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Good on you Mark. Always good to meet a fellow John King fan. Human Punk is great.
I assume, given your tolerance for stuff written in the vernacular, you're also into Irvine Welsh. In the unlikely event the answer is "no" then you should dive in. I can offer plenty of advice and guidance.
Irvine Welsh is one of those guys whom I've purposely avoided just because the film of 'Trainspotting' rendered him an obnoxiously obvious choice to read... but maybe it was unfair to be so dismissive. Any recommendations for introductory starting points would be appreciated! Would it be a mistake to also chuck Martin Amis into the same category?
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I would say so. The book was, rightly, a big hit well before Danny Boyle's film. Since then his critical stock seems to have fallen but I'd say he's still delivering the goods in his books. If you like John King then you will almost definitely like Irvine Welsh.
Obvious it may be, but Trainspotting is the place to start, although it you want to get into the long haul it might be interesting to start with the prequel to Trainspotting, Skagboys, which came out last year. So yes, I'd say go Skagboys, then (if you like that) onto Trainspotting, and then the final book featuring Renton, Sickboy, Begbie et al Porno, which is my personal favourite. If that all sounds too much then read Glue, which features a few of the Trainspotting crew, but they are not the main characters. It's brilliant and shares much in common with John King. I'd be amazed if you don't love it (and the others I mention). There's a few books that work less well but I'd say they all have something to recommend them.
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I think he's written some great London books: London Fields, The Rachel Papers, even Money, that said I don't think of him in the same context as Patrick Hamilton. I don't see the emotional connections that PH achieves - but I'm not stating this decisively. I need to mull it over whilst puffing on my clay pipe.
...and Success. These is a great sense of London as a place in Amis's novels. I stopped reading him at Money -- I'm not sure why. I recently read Lionel Asbo but found it quite disappointing, and had a sense that I was missing the point of it.
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I have been thinking about this and trying to work out what this might mean to me. I think it is more than a sense of time (first half of C20) and place (London etc). I think PH fits in with a tradition of more political (I think) writers who wrote about people who generally weren't written about. In particular, people who were marginalised because of the confines and peculiarities of the British class system, and were struggling with their station in life.Writers like Charles Dickens, George Gissing and George Orwell come to mind -- especially Gissing. I would imagine PH was a fan of GG since he used the surname in Twopence Coloured.
Oh I thought London Fields was before Money. I loved London Fields.
Many thanks for all the Amis recommendations... I fully intend to heed your good advice.Fionaonaona -- further to your point, have you read 'A Child of the Jago' by Arthur Morrison? It certainly deals with that particular section of the populace. It was recently brought back into print via Oxford University Press, and I think plans are underway for the aforementioned London Books to roll out an edition in the near soon.
Irvine Welsh-wise, his collection of shorter pieces, The Acid House, is a good starting point. Even as a Scot it took me a few pages to get to grips with the pace and language of Trainspotting and The Acid House illustrates the breadth of Welsh's talent in shorter pieces, preparing the unwary reader for the heavier duty full length material. Unless you have an intimate knowledge of Scottish football, especially the extraordinary summer of 1990, however, give the several levels of allegory-based Marabou Stork Nightmares a miss!
Mark wrote: "I'm sure this won't be new to you [but then again, I was convinced that the Bay City Rollers were gonna be bigger than the Beatles, so I'm not always right about things] but this website's as good ..."Thanks for this link, I hadn't seen it, and was pleased to see many of my fave London books and authors features.
I had been wondering whether to mention Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year which is mentioned on this list. This shows us a very different London, which is still similar in many ways.
The page also reminded me of another London author whose early works deal very well with the emotional connection with place - Peter Ackroyd. I have not been so keen on his more recent output.
Mark wrote: have you read 'A Child of the Jago' by Arthur Morrison? It certainly ..."Yes, I have read A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison, but a long time ago. I remember liking it, but can't remember too much about it, apart from the stealing of a smoked fish. I downloaded a free copy for my kindle so will be re-reading it soon.
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I quickly got into the language. I did live in Glasgow for a year and a half which may have made a difference but I don't think so. I did recognise a few of the places in the film version which, despite being set in Edinburgh, was partly filmed in Glasgow. I used to drink in The Maryhill Tavern which is the pub in which Begbie chucks the pint jug behind him and over the balcony. The Volcano club at the southern end of Byres Road was the club scene where Renton meets Diane, and where I spent many a happy night.
Getting back to the language, when I read Skagboys earlier this year I also noticed that Irvine Welsh has quite distinct words and phrases for each of his characters and, within a few lines, I could quickly work out who was narrating which chapter. I thought Skagboys was great. This is the review I wrote back in January 2013 once I'd finished it...
Since reading 'Trainspotting' around the time it came out I have read and, to one degree or another, enjoyed every one of Irvine Welsh's books.
Before writing this review I had a look round at some of the other reviews and notice that this book does seem to polarise opinion, generally though most of the readers who have enjoyed previous Irvine Welsh books have enjoyed this one - though certainly not all. One reviewer likened "Skagboys" to the extras that turn on up on some DVDs, specifically that "Skagboys" is the extras for "Trainspotting" - a more in depth look at the main characters on their path to drug addiction, prison etc. I feel that does this book a slight disservice. I think the book stands up on its own merits. Whilst probably mainly appealing to people who read and enjoyed "Trainspotting" and "Porno".
Irvine Welsh says that "Skagboys" was written as part of Trainspotting, and at the same time, which makes sense. It's like a Scottish literary version of the superb US TV series The Wire. The book directly or indirectly touches on all aspects of the world of heroin during the Thatcher years, with the focus being on the core of working class lads from Leith. During the course of the book some of the characters move from Edinburgh; to London; briefly to Amsterdam and a stint working on a Sealink ferry; to a rehab centre near Fife; and even the Battle of Orgreave during the Miners Strike.
Irvine Welsh weaves in plenty of real life incidents into his narrative. I just mentioned the infamous Battle Of Orgreave, I was visiting Amsterdam in the mid 1980s when West Ham United and Manchester United hooligans caused chaos on the ferry to Holland and in the city. Those events appear in "Skagboys" too. Talk about art imitating life.
As with the other books about these characters the stories are told by different characters and from their different perspectives. This is a real strength and gives the reader insights into each of the main characters, and many of the more minor ones too. I think the "Trainspotting" crew inspire Irvine Welsh's best writing. "Skagboys" is another visceral page turner. It's such a shame that he is no longer flavour of the month, as this book is absolutely superb. If you loved "Trainspotting" and "Porno", then you'll probably revel in this prequel. By turns hilarious, appalling, and frequently both at the same time. It's also quietly profound too - Irvine Welsh gives Renton numerous opportunities to take a route out of addiction, but each time he reasons that heroin addiction is a rational response to the futility of the alternatives on offer in Thatcher's Britain, and given his own personal history. The addict as the ultimate free spirited, non-conformist. That perhaps makes the book sound quite serious. It certainly has moments of profundity but is as much about Irvine Welsh's trademark hilarious, appalling, dark, witty, insightful set pieces, scams, and stories.
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I've not read A Journal of the Plague Year but think it's well worth mentioning. I love that idea of being able to still see similarities that connect us to the past and that resonate into the present.
Fionaonaona wrote: "I have read A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison, but a long time ago. I remember liking it, but can't remember too much about it, apart from the stealing of a smoked fish. I downloaded a free copy for my kindle so will be re-reading it soon. "
I was about to download A Child Of The Jago however couldn't see it in the Kindle store - let alone a free version. Still, I have a plethora of stuff on there, that I hope to get stuck into during August when I am on holiday for a couple of weeks.
Try Project Gutenberg -- I downloaded mine from there.
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Great. Thanks.
Definitely not Hamilton-shaped in any sense, but still a fantastic [and fun] London read -- 'Generation X' by Charles Hamblett and Jane Deverson [1964]. I'd meant to mention this title earlier and was just now reminded of the fact by serendipitously stumbling upon the following link which allows you [or you, or you] to download it free of cost. Recommended with supreme confidence...
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Thanks Mark. Been meaning to read this for eons.
What a classic cover...
Reminds me of the band too - who I always had a bit of a soft spot for (though not, I hasten to add, Billy's later solo career, which was far more variable).
Again, not at all Hamilton-shaped, but perfectly deserving to share shelf space alongside the works of The Great Man Himself -- 'The Journal of a Disappointed Man' by WNP Barbellion [1919]. Mercifully, the book is still in print, and quite deservedly so. Surely this one scoops up the prize in the 'Criminally Overlooked' stakes.From Amazon UK: "Likened to James Joyce and Franz Kafka, W.N.P. Barbellion's Journal is one of the great diaries and caused a sensation when first published in 1919. Begun when its author was 13 years old, the Journal at first catalogues his misadventures in the Devon countryside - collecting birds' eggs, spying girls through binoculars - but evolves into a deeply moving account of his struggle with multiple sclerosis. Yet, for all its excruciating honesty, W.N.P. Barbellion has an extraordinary lust for life. As Zeppelins loomed above South Kensington, the humour and beauty he found in the world around him - in music, friendship, nature and love - deepens not just the tragedy of his own life, but the millions of lives lost during the First World War. First published 1919 by Chatto & Windus."
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You're on fire Mark. Another one to add to the list...
The Journal Of A Disappointed Man and A Last Diary by W.N.P. Barbellion
Everything about this feels right: the title, the author's name, and then there's your description. Wonderful. Thanks so much.
Re: "Reminds me of the band too - who I always had a bit of a soft spot for (though not, I hasten to add, Billy's later solo career, which was far more variable)."Years ago there was a Gen X compilation cd released stateside titled 'Perfect Hits,' whose cover was a direct lift from the paperback cover that you posted, only with the white words replaced with the titles of songs on the compilation. It was much more than a mere nod in the direction of the book!
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Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking of.
They always acknowledged that they took their name from the book.
Ah, I was mistaken in thinking that they'd changed the words to song titles. But it's a fair trade -- my memory's fading, but I still retain absolute control over my bladder and bowels.Anyhow, if interested, you might want to download the book sooner than later... I'm not sure how quickly these things get yanked offline.
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Good news about ongoing bladder and bowel control too.
Not sure where to put this, but today (Tuesday 23 July 2013) on BBC2 @ 12.30 Hue and Cry Ealing Comedy with Alastair Sim shot in bombed out London.
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Radio Times review..
After this early effort, director Charles Crichton went on to greater acclaim for making The Lavender Hill Mob and, in the 1980s, A Fish Called Wanda. However there's much to enjoy in this slight but entertaining Ealing comedy caper - the first of the genre from the famous studio - as Alastair Sim and a gang of East End urchins set out to thwart some fiendish crooks. A fun frolic from a more innocent age, with Sim in fine form as well as some evocative location footage of postwar London .
Really glad to hear that you've been enjoying 'Adrift in Soho.' Along similar lines, I'm reading 'The L-Shaped Room' [Lynne Reid Banks, 1960] at the moment, and can strongly recommend it. It's along similar lines as 'Adrift in Soho' and also somewhat reminiscent of 'Craven House' & 'Slaves of Solitude' -- if only because it chronicles the lives of people on the fringes of society thrown together in a boarding house. That's my perception, at least. Much to the novel's great credit, it holds its own when stacked against other similar British writers of the same time [Stan Barstow, John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, Colin Macinnes, etcet].
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Just as an aside - The Journal of a Disappointed Man is available free for Kindle on Amazon.Have had this one on my TBR almost as long as I've owned the Kindle...
I recently stumbled upon a long-lost (to me) author - William Cooper and his Scenes From... books. I know I read these about 20 years ago but have absolutely no memory of them, except they must have been good enough that I still own my paperbacks from the mid-eighties. Hope to give them a re-read soon. I thought Cooper's obit in the Telegraph is interesting, and the books could be considered...post-Hamiltonesque...maybe?, though set a little farther afield than the dirty streets of London...
Scenes from Provincial Life and Scenes from Metropolitan Life
From the Telegraph - 7 Sep 2002:
William Cooper, the novelist who died on Thursday aged 92, was best known for the series of novels that began with Scenes from Provincial Life (1950), the book which became the prototype for Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim, John Wain's Hurry on Down, Malcolm Bradbury's Eating People is Wrong and other irreverent, iconoclastic novels of the 1950s, usually set in the provinces.
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Scenes from Provincial Life is a wry comedy of manners set in 1939 and constructed as a running report from the coal-face of life by Joe Lunn, a talented but frustrated science teacher at a Midlands grammar school, who enlivens an unsatisfactory existence by sleeping as often as he can with his girlfriend Myrtle (she wants marriage; he refuses to be tied), becoming involved in skirmishes with authority and trying to establish himself as a writer.
With its crisp dialogue, shrewd observation and often hilarious set pieces, the book brilliantly captured the faintly louche but stultifying atmosphere of the period, while at the same time making everyday events seem moving and real. The book was hailed as seminal by John Braine, Malcolm Bradbury and other writers of the period, who also chose provincial, anarchic but ambitious lower middle class heroes and a low-key realist tone in what some have come to see as a reaction against Modernism. When the novel was republished in 1982, together with two sequels in the series, it was judged by one critic to be more accomplished than anything of the same genre which followed.
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William Cooper was born Harry Summerfield Hoff at Crewe on August 4 1910, the only son of Nonconformist school teachers. As a young child he hardly saw his father, who was away for four years on the Western Front. When he returned home in 1918, he seemed to be in a permanent black mood, smoked heavily and received little sympathy from his wife. Later on Cooper concluded that his father was a nicer person than he had realised and his mother probably less so.
Cooper was educated at Crewe County Secondary School, where he confessed to having been something of a swot. An early instinctive faith in rationality led him to become a scientist and by a sheer effort of will and despite the best efforts of a hostile headmaster, he won a place at Christ's College, Cambridge, to read Natural Sciences.
At Cambridge he found himself overawed by the public schoolboys, who all looked "bigger and stronger" than he was; but he became life-long friends with C P Snow, his supervisor in physics.
After graduating, Cooper became a science master at Alderman Newton's school in Leicester, which Snow had attended as a boy. Later, after wartime service as a squadron leader in the RAF, he joined Snow at the Civil Service Commission, interviewing young scientists and technologists for jobs.
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After Scenes from Provincial Life, Cooper wrote four more novels before publishing his next book in the series. Notable among these was The Struggles of Albert Woods, concerning the travails of a eminent academic of lower middle class origins who marries well, but blows his chances of a knighthood. The novel was compared by John Betjeman in style and comic impact to the Grossmiths' The Diary of a Nobody. Other books of this period include The Ever Interesting Topic (1953), Disquiet and Peace (1956), Young People (1958) and a biography of C P Snow (1959)...
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A completely new name to me Miss M. Thanks for highlighting him. I agree that his "Scenes from..." books sound intriguing.
Miss M wrote: "Hope to give William Cooper's Scenes From... a re-read soon. "
Please report back. If you think they're worth a read then I will dive in too. My library doesn't have any, however I notice Amazon UK have copies of "Scenes from Provincial Life: Including Scenes from Married Life".
Miss M wrote: "Notable among these was The Struggles Of Albert Woods, concerning the travails of a eminent academic of lower middle class origins who marries well, but blows his chances of a knighthood. The novel was compared by John Betjeman in style and comic impact to the Grossmiths' The Diary of a Nobody. "
Sounds very promising, and yours for £2.81 via Amazon (second hand).
Thanks again Miss M. I have set up a William Cooper thread in readiness.
Just noticed that Penguin UK is preparing to roll this out in the near soon...I automatically pre-ordered a copy, but my previous experiences with Fallada have run the entire range from absolutely brilliant [Alone In Berlin] to essentially unreadable [A Small Circus].
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He's a new name on me Mark. Given your track record on recommendations I think we should probably set up his own thread.
I not only strongly recommend that you start with 'Alone in Berlin'... I strongly recommend you push it to the very top of the piles of books that await your grubby little fingers. I was able to draw a LOT of parallels with Patrick Hamilton, as well as with Collins' 'London Belongs To Me.' 'Alone in Berlin' may not be the best novel I've ever read, but I've certainly read none better. I know that it was something of a runaway success a few years back when it was first brought back into print in the UK and, for once, the accolades are wholly deserved.Other titles by Hallada that I truly enjoyed, amongst those in print, would include 'The Drinker' and 'Little Man, What Now,' and 'Once a Jailbird.'
Conversely, I struggled with 'A Small Circus' and 'Wolf Among Wolves,' finishing neither.
Additionally, Penguin brought a wonderful Hans Fallada biography back into print, which is titled 'More Lives Than One,' by Jenny Williams. It more than holds its own against the Hamilton and Maclaren-Ross novels, not least because of the stunningly incredible life that Fallada lived.
For an introductory overview, check wikipedia's entry for Hans Fallada.
I can't imagine that you -- or anyone, really -- would be disappointed.
That being said, I'll be very anxious to hear your eventual thoughts and critique.
Re: 'More Lives Than One' by Jenny Williams...I'd meant to say that it holds its own against the Hamilton and Maclaren-Ross biographies, NOT novels.
Sorry about that!
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I'll also add More Lives Than One: A Biography of Hans Fallada. Jenny Williams by Jenny Williams to the list, which is also in my library. It's a sign I tells ya. High praise by the way, comparing it to the JMC and Hamilton biogs.
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I now have The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks out of the library and hope to read it before the end of 2013 (two weeks and counting..)
Now then, I was just perusing some comments under a Guardian article, and came across this statement, which feels very pertinent to the discussion so far...
Iain Sinclair has said on a number of occasions that the English novel 'split' into two paths in the 1950s: the Kingsley Amis "Lucky Jim" provincial/campus novel (the antecedents of Martin Amis and, probably, Zadie Smith of whom Sinclair is no fan by all accounts) and the lost world of Alexander Baron and Gerald Kersh. The example he uses is "Scamp" by Roland Camberton, which won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1951 but left no trace thereafter.
The one and only follow up comment states.
...it's hard to tell if there are two wings of the English novel because, as you point out, one has been more or less been eradicated.... while the other looms very large...I think part of the reason for this is our increasing wealth as a society. It makes us want to engage in the 'campus' line rather than anything a bit murky...unless of course it comes from America. Then it seems we can't wait to read it.
What do we think?
We've already discussed Roland Camberton but let's just remind ourselves...
states...
“Lost� London Authors
The recent republication of Roland Camberton’s long out of print works highlights, once again, our periodic neglect of certain London authors. He won the Somerset Maugham Award for his first novel Scamp in 1951, had Rain On The Pavements published in the following year, and soon afterwards disappeared without trace.
The persistent sleuthing of Iain Sinclair (via Douglas Lyne and Claire Camberton) eventually reconstructed the life of the reclusive Henry Cohen (Roland Camberton’s real name) and subsequently saw new paperbacks appear of both Scamp and Rain On The Pavements (by New London Editions), after a gap of sixty years.
Here's a rather splendid review of "Rain On The Pavements" written by goodreads member Jakey Gee. It includes this splendid final paragraph...
I first became aware of Roland Camberton via Prince of Witterers Iain Sinclair's 'Hackney that Rose Red Empire'. Probably something about Camberton having been the cousin of the brother-in-law of a man who once made an omelette for Sinclair after an anarchist chess tournament in a basement on Ridley Road in 1968 after a blues concert attended by the sister of Ulrike Meinhof (she wore a green cardigan and believed a leyline connected Homerton and Chernobyl). Anyway, this is the first genuinely sensible tip I've ever got from him.
Mark has recommended both Scamp and Rain On The Pavements and I have yet to read either. I must put that right very soon. I've just ordered Scamp from my library.
Here's a strong recommendation from this side of the sea... quite possibly the strongest I can offer, and hopefully one which will be new to you. 'Up In the old Hotel' by Joseph Mitchell. Originally a series of articles written for The New Yorker magazine during the late 1930s through the 1950s, he carefully documented the lives and doings of various eccentric people living on the fringes of NYC society. Despite this, his writings read like the best fiction, and this collection should wholly appeal to any fan of Patrick Hamilton. Don't be daunted by the high page count... it can be read in fits and starts, without sacrificing any enjoyment at all.
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Joseph Mitchell 'Up In The Old Hotel' is on the to read list and I'll get to it. Fortuitously I have already discovered that my library has a copy sitting on the shelves waiting for me to scoop it up.
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I bought a copy of Up in the Old Hotel a few weeks ago - so am delighted, Mark, at having a further recommendation. Maybe it will make it to the top of my tottering piles of books to read... I forget quite what made me buy it in the first place. Possibly I came across it after reading Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road - a finely written slice of suburban life from the 1950s.
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Anyway, we now have our own thread for Joseph Mitchell. Click here to read it and add any of your own thoughts.
Is anyone here able to recommend -- or warn me off -- the writings of a gentleman by the name of Henry Green? I've just stumbled upon him and am curious how to proceed... or not proceed, if that's the case. Here are the two books that've got my curiosity itching...Any and all advice quite welcome... many thanks in advance.
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Nigeyb wrote: "When I'm back at my computer in about 24 hours I will share my limited Henry Green knowledge. Watch this space."Consider it watched like a hawk. Give my regards to Pitt Rivers, and I'll give yours to Broadway.
The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society
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This is a place where you can recommend other books and authors who you feel share some of Patrick Hamilton's qualities, or that you just find interesting and can see parallels. It might just be a book from the same era; or books that celebrate London; Brighton & Hove; England; the 1930s or 1940s; pub culture; and so on. I'm sure you get the idea.