- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Alfred a Knopf (Jun 1960)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0394433890
- ISBN-13: 978-0394433899
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.5 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,085,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
‘Cunning is what counts in life,’ says the seventeen-year-old narrator of the title piece of this exuberant collection of darkly comic tales that established Alan Sillitoe as one of England’s best writers and gave a voice to an entire generation of angry young men. Full of hard-won wisdom and gritty authenticity, these stories of working-class blokes slugging it out with the system in 1950s Nottingham resonate with the lusty defiance of those whose will cannot be broken by oppressive poverty. Poignant, often uproarious, and full of life, the stories provide fascinating social commentary and stand together in this collection as a modern British classic.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
Smith is an incorrigible and defiant young rebel, inhabiting a no-man's land of institutionalised Borstal. Watched over by a phlegmy sunlight, as his steady jog-trot rhythm transports him over an unrelenting, frost-bitten earth, he wonders why, for whom and what he is running.
The film of the story, starring Tom Courtenay and Michael Redgrave, has cult status.
Evocative, realistic and superbly written, the other stories in this collection introduce us to, among others: the war-veteran Uncle Earnest who resorts to the oblivion of the beer pump to fill the passage of empty, loveless days; the school teacher Mr Raynor who relies on voyeurism to reward his exasperated, solitary existence.
"Sillitoe writes with tremendous energy, and his stories simply tear along."
DAILY TELEGRAPH
"All the imaginative sympathy in the world can't fake this kind of thing. It must have been lived in, seen, touched, smelled: and we are lucky to have a writer who has come out of it knowing the truth, and having the skill to turn that truth into art."
NEW STATESMAN
"Graphic, tough, outspoken, informal."
THE TIMES
"A beautiful piece of work, confirming Sillitoe as a writer of unusual spirit and great promise."
GUARDIAN
"A major writer who ought to be read."
MALCOLM BRADBURY
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Contrary to a previous review, I actually preferred the other short stories within this text. Nevertheless, the title story effectively narrates, and captures the essence of, that particular brand of British post war class insurgency - delinquency. The forms class retaliation can take, including the psycho-social manifestations, are documented in a range of other short stories. The sheer boredom of poverty - physical, cultural and emotional - and a lack of sensory experience beyond the struggle for survival is similarly critiqued. It is a world devoid of sensuality, where happiness is precariously measured in terms of a lack of cold and hate. Sillitoe's prose allows the reader a voyeuristic and immensely satisfying journey into the inner world of the urban poor, a world of continual rejection, thwarted hope and ultimate numbness. In fact, Sillitoe is the literary expression of the band Pulp's sentiments in the track 'Common People' - "...we dance and drink and screw because there's nothing else to do". Sillitoe's final story, The Decline and Fall of Frankie Buller, is I believe one of the most intriguing short stories I have read (very similar to Robert Roberts' novel A Ragged Schooling).
Format:Paperback
The book was just as explained by seller, was delivered on time. First class service.
This was the first adult book I read in the sixties and I wanted to own an original copy again. The book is now shrink wrapped and will be protected for ever.
This was the first adult book I read in the sixties and I wanted to own an original copy again. The book is now shrink wrapped and will be protected for ever.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book as a whole is let down by the stories which surround The Loneliness...
They tend to be a little turgid and perhaps could at times be accused of being repetitive. However, the book is worth the price simply for that single story. Sillitoe actually allows us to understand not only the act of futile rebellion but also the virtually inexpressible motivation behind it. It is truely the greatest short story I have ever read - in fact I am now considering changing my vote to 5 stars despite the disapointing nature of the various other tales.
Perhaps it is only in comparison to such a masterpiece that they appear poor.
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