- Paperback: 246 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press; St. Martin edition (Jun 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312155441
- ISBN-13: 978-0312155445
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,326,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A novel about one mans life and career. The main theme is the contradiction between the need for authority and the distaste for power. It is also the choice between fighting cruelty and falsehood by passive resistance or by direct action.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
One of Britain's most distinguished novelists Sir Angus Wilson was born in 1913. Educated at Westminster and Merton College, Oxford he joined the British Museum as a cataloguer before being called for service in 1941. His literary career began with a collection of short-stories published in 1949. These were followed by other short-story collections, novels and plays. Co-founder with Malcolm Bradbury of the MA programme in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Wilson was appointed professor in 1967. Chair of many literary panels, including the Booker prize, and campaigner for homosexual equality he was knighted in 1980. He died in 1991.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Classic novel from 1952: Lead character Bernard Sands is a successful novelist, about to launch a grandiose scheme to assist young writers. Bernard has sincere humanitarian inclinations, though his personal life is
shambolic. He is homosexual, his wife is suffering from severe depression,
their relationship with their adult children is cold and superficial.
Angus Wilson's style is a delight to read, wondrous eye for detail with some superb descriptive passages, and also exposes the hollowness of contempary mores and values. The dialogue is very witty. The insight into the lives of homosexual men during this era is fascinating.( The homosexual characters get beyond the standard caricatures employed in many novels and possess great depth. )
Yet the great theme of the novel is temptation. Bernard Sands is made to realise his own sadistic drives, various other characters fall prey to their own weaknesses and risk getting exploited by a gang of local blackmailers whose leader preaches a sickly message of sweetness and light.
There is so much in this novel; I had to skim read it first time round and then read it all over again at a slow pace in order to fully appreciate its worth. But it is excellent.
shambolic. He is homosexual, his wife is suffering from severe depression,
their relationship with their adult children is cold and superficial.
Angus Wilson's style is a delight to read, wondrous eye for detail with some superb descriptive passages, and also exposes the hollowness of contempary mores and values. The dialogue is very witty. The insight into the lives of homosexual men during this era is fascinating.( The homosexual characters get beyond the standard caricatures employed in many novels and possess great depth. )
Yet the great theme of the novel is temptation. Bernard Sands is made to realise his own sadistic drives, various other characters fall prey to their own weaknesses and risk getting exploited by a gang of local blackmailers whose leader preaches a sickly message of sweetness and light.
There is so much in this novel; I had to skim read it first time round and then read it all over again at a slow pace in order to fully appreciate its worth. But it is excellent.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
thoughtful
16 Aug 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I thing this novel poses the interesting question: Is it better to do the right thing for the wrong reason, or is it better to do nothing at all? I very much enjoyed the book and have kept it in my library for rereading.
0 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Pompous & Boring
29 Mar 2007
Format:Paperback
I did not like this book at all. Granted that the author comes from a social class I do not like, but his writing fails to appeal to me when other books on upper classes do appeal to me.
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