In Youth is Pleasure is a beautiful and unassuming coming of age novel. Welch, who began to write after an accident left him partially paralyzed, is a Proustian writer of uncanny powers of observation. "Denton Welch makes the reader aware of the magic that is right under his eyes.... It is time Denton received the attention he deserves". -- William Burroughs.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Benjamin
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Denton Welch writes about a fifteen year old boy's summer holiday around 1930 spent with his father and two older brothers, the boy's name in the book is Orvil, although this is in fact basically autobiographical.
The main part of Orvil's holiday is spent in a Surrey at a hotel near the River Thames, and while his two older brothers and at times some of their friends are there Orvil spends much of his time in his own company - apart from a few days spent with a school friend and his family in Hastings. Orvil is a inquisitive and adventurous boy with a vivid imagination, and people and places he sees conjure in his mind fascinating scenarios. He is especially taken by the sight of a man with two younger boys he sees rowing on the river, and sets out to spy on them, later he will encounter the man alone and spend some time with him, a curios meeting. This along with a number of other events clearly hint at Orvil's (Denton's) unmentioned sexual proclivities.
What makes this a fascinating account is the unusual charm and honesty of the young boy. A boy with a fascination for small antique objects, no matter if they are damaged, in fact he is happy to find such for it means he is more likely to be able to afford them, and even in such matters as this his honesty is apparent, for it is clearly the object for its own sake that appeals rather than the object as thing of monetary value or for show. He is honest too in his analysis of the boy's thinking, often angry on the inside with others, or selfish in his reasoning, but rarely openly displaying such - although there are times when this aspect gets the better of him and he lashes out.
For a fifteen year old boy he is remarkably sensitive and visually aware or observant.... Read more ›
The main part of Orvil's holiday is spent in a Surrey at a hotel near the River Thames, and while his two older brothers and at times some of their friends are there Orvil spends much of his time in his own company - apart from a few days spent with a school friend and his family in Hastings. Orvil is a inquisitive and adventurous boy with a vivid imagination, and people and places he sees conjure in his mind fascinating scenarios. He is especially taken by the sight of a man with two younger boys he sees rowing on the river, and sets out to spy on them, later he will encounter the man alone and spend some time with him, a curios meeting. This along with a number of other events clearly hint at Orvil's (Denton's) unmentioned sexual proclivities.
What makes this a fascinating account is the unusual charm and honesty of the young boy. A boy with a fascination for small antique objects, no matter if they are damaged, in fact he is happy to find such for it means he is more likely to be able to afford them, and even in such matters as this his honesty is apparent, for it is clearly the object for its own sake that appeals rather than the object as thing of monetary value or for show. He is honest too in his analysis of the boy's thinking, often angry on the inside with others, or selfish in his reasoning, but rarely openly displaying such - although there are times when this aspect gets the better of him and he lashes out.
For a fifteen year old boy he is remarkably sensitive and visually aware or observant.... Read more ›
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holden Caulfield's better mannered, fey, hyper-perceptive English cousin.
10 May 2011
By Doug
- Published on Amazon.com
In this criminally underappreciated book a mundane summer break from school is transformed with extraordinary mastery into an engrossing, captivating story about a time in life that passes by with unfortunate quickness. This isn't a coming of age story, but rather a portrayal of what it's like to be at that transitional phase - when we still experience the world with the innocence and wonderment of a child, with adult awareness but before it exercises dominance. Somehow Denton managed to preserve this perspective well enough into adulthood to be able to accurately and authoritatively express the actual experience of youth: the thoughts, and imaginings, daydreams, insecurity and most impressively, the feeling, of being 15. And he does in it a manner that separates good writers from great ones. With restraint.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
His Own Genre
20 April 2009
By Sye Sye
- Published on Amazon.com
To read all of Welch's writing is to know almost everything about him. Everything he wrote was drawn out by deep introspection after a road accident that left him maimed at 20 and suffering till his death at 33 years of age. I recommend reading Maiden Voyage first, then In Youth is Pleasure. This will give you context. His writing style is so simple and amazing. His other novels are all first person and I believe he writes better in that vein. But as a third person novel, this work is better than novels by many other writers who wrote with the intention of being a writer.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Edmund White Recommends Welch
24 April 1997
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
This book is an account of a walking tour of England by a young man. Mostly, it's full of wry and critical descriptions of the people he encounters. There are odd aunts, strange villagers, haunting fellow hostel guests.
Welch himself was a visual artist by training. He was a promising, public school educated young man when he had a crippling bicycle accident.
His writing consistently describes athletic situations: swimming, skiing, bicycling. Because he wrote so little, though, I'm not certain how important this was to him.
As I read, I felt I was in the company of Paul Theroux. Then I'd feel it was Graham Greene or DH Lawrence. He's such a craftsman of the written word. His skills equal those of the other writers I'm mentioning here. However, it's a shame to compare him to these writers. He simply didn't leave enough writing behind him. Welch feels very accessible. Though his writing has become obscure to us, there is no feeling that he is writing in an obscure way.
You have an oppurtunity to be the first one on your block to get to know Welch. The fun part is that nobody has to know just how easy Welch is to read.
Welch himself was a visual artist by training. He was a promising, public school educated young man when he had a crippling bicycle accident.
His writing consistently describes athletic situations: swimming, skiing, bicycling. Because he wrote so little, though, I'm not certain how important this was to him.
As I read, I felt I was in the company of Paul Theroux. Then I'd feel it was Graham Greene or DH Lawrence. He's such a craftsman of the written word. His skills equal those of the other writers I'm mentioning here. However, it's a shame to compare him to these writers. He simply didn't leave enough writing behind him. Welch feels very accessible. Though his writing has become obscure to us, there is no feeling that he is writing in an obscure way.
You have an oppurtunity to be the first one on your block to get to know Welch. The fun part is that nobody has to know just how easy Welch is to read.
›
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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