Harper Perennial Modern Classics - The Ragged Trousered P...
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Review
The first great English novel about the class war, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is spiked, witty, humorous, instructive and full of excitement, harmony and pathos. Alan Sillitoe
Some books seem to batter their way to immortality against all the odds, by sheer brute artistic strength, and high up in this curious and honourable company must be counted The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Robert Tressell s unfailing humour mixes with an unfailing rage and the two together make a truly Swiftian impact. Evening Standard
Robert Tressell has complete familiarity with the idiom of his characters. His language is bizarre, vital, highly inventive and precisely heard it is a complete and living archaeology of the speech of a particular human group. A brilliant and very funny book. Spectator
--Alan SillitoeProduct Description
With a Foreword by Tony Benn, and an Introduction and Notes by Lionel Kelly, University of Reading.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a classic representation of the impoverished and politically powerless underclass of British society in Edwardian England, ruthlessly exploited by the institutionalized corruption of their employers and the civic and religious authorities.
Epic in scale, the novel charts the ruinous effects of the laissez-faire mercantilist ethics on the men, women, and children of the working classes, and through its emblematic characters, argues for a socialist politics as the only hope for a civilized and humane life for all. It is a timeless work whose political message is as relevant today as it was in Tressell’s time. For this it has long been honouredby the Trade Union movement and thinkers across the political spectrum.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
185 of 193 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read the "Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" around 1947. It aroused such an interest in me that the story has remained fresh in my memory all of my life. I am now nearly 73 years old. It has been described as the first novel written by a working class person. The description of working class life in such a rich country is a permanent blot on the history of Great Britain. However Tressell writes with such humour that one minute you want to cry and the next explode with laughter. As a result of reading Tressell's book I became a Socialist. Nothing in my life has caused me to change my mind. The characters that Tressell described at the beginning of the twentieth century live on today. Read this book and I guarantee that your thinking will be radically affected. It was the only book that he ever wrote. Tragically, he never lived to see it published. Some people say that it won the election for the Labour Party immediately after the war.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To many this is the bible of socialism. True it will reinvigorate the converted and possibly even convert the open minded. But there's much more to it than that.
It is a semi-autobiographical account of the author Robert Tressel. Little is known about Tressel, who died of TB within hours of completing his work, which was published many years later, but he had clearly once enjoyed better times.
The book gives an analysis of the injustices of the capitalist system as perceptive today as it was then. But it also gives a really great historical insight into the sociology of the working class and the class system in that age.
It is a semi-autobiographical account of the author Robert Tressel. Little is known about Tressel, who died of TB within hours of completing his work, which was published many years later, but he had clearly once enjoyed better times.
The book gives an analysis of the injustices of the capitalist system as perceptive today as it was then. But it also gives a really great historical insight into the sociology of the working class and the class system in that age.
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This makes powerful reading. My sense from the start was that the story wasn't fiction outside the names of those peopling it, but in fact the author's own experience of life endured by the working class in England at the turn of 1900. That in itself made it fascinating.
At times I felt the author's rants about the evils of capitalism and the working class being their own worst enemy tiresome (if true), but then I realised his frustration with the mindset of those he spent his working life with would have made him feel the need to rave. What could be worse than spending your every working day in the company of miserable forelock-tuggers, men who at once idolised and hated their masters, and hated themselves even more. We see much of this frustration in the character Owen and his contempt for his fellow workers for regarding their state of starvation and wretched poverty as a privilege and are fiercely committed to preserving the system that keeps them downtrodden. Kudos to the reader who wrote: 'Not only is capitalism unsustainable but immoral.' One need only look at how far downhill the world had gone (as capitalism has gained a surer foothold) in the hundred years since this book was written to know that. More than ever people find no shame in stepping on (or even stomping on) each other to gain an economic advantage.
When a used-to-be Socialist tells Barrington 'enlightenment will never be brought about by arguing with people,' I couldn't have agreed more. While Barrington took this on board as dishearteningly true, delightfully, it didn't take the fight out of him. If one is passionate about changing injustice, even against the odds, one can't help but go on fighting the fight to inform and educate others. This book will stay with me for a long time, especially its heroes Owen and Barrington. It's tragic that its author died (apparently in poverty) before its publication and never got to know that people enjoyed reading what he evidently put so much passion into writing. If Tressell were alive today he might weep to see how far down the road of insatiable greed Capitalism has taken more of the world than ever. Who can say if Socialism is the answer to a better world, but it seems to me an alternative to how we now live needs pondering.
At times I felt the author's rants about the evils of capitalism and the working class being their own worst enemy tiresome (if true), but then I realised his frustration with the mindset of those he spent his working life with would have made him feel the need to rave. What could be worse than spending your every working day in the company of miserable forelock-tuggers, men who at once idolised and hated their masters, and hated themselves even more. We see much of this frustration in the character Owen and his contempt for his fellow workers for regarding their state of starvation and wretched poverty as a privilege and are fiercely committed to preserving the system that keeps them downtrodden. Kudos to the reader who wrote: 'Not only is capitalism unsustainable but immoral.' One need only look at how far downhill the world had gone (as capitalism has gained a surer foothold) in the hundred years since this book was written to know that. More than ever people find no shame in stepping on (or even stomping on) each other to gain an economic advantage.
When a used-to-be Socialist tells Barrington 'enlightenment will never be brought about by arguing with people,' I couldn't have agreed more. While Barrington took this on board as dishearteningly true, delightfully, it didn't take the fight out of him. If one is passionate about changing injustice, even against the odds, one can't help but go on fighting the fight to inform and educate others. This book will stay with me for a long time, especially its heroes Owen and Barrington. It's tragic that its author died (apparently in poverty) before its publication and never got to know that people enjoyed reading what he evidently put so much passion into writing. If Tressell were alive today he might weep to see how far down the road of insatiable greed Capitalism has taken more of the world than ever. Who can say if Socialism is the answer to a better world, but it seems to me an alternative to how we now live needs pondering.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A curate's egg of a book
There are some good jokes and some clever lines of argument, but overall there isn't enough to keep you reading on - even when you skip the long socialist rants from Barrington... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Ignorant Bystander
A vivid account of poverty in the Edwardian era
This is a most thought-provoking book which really made me contamplate the inequality which existed in Edwardian times and the awful conditions in which poor people lived. Read more
Published 7 days ago by nonglak
A great book, and only £1.99
I really enjoyed this book when I read it some years ago, so seeing this new Wordsworth Classics edition of the book for just £1.99 was too good to miss. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Derek Wright
RTP
I am ashamed to say that I have only recently read the unabridged version of Robert Tressell's Ragged Trousered Philantropist [RTP]. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bob
a basis of belief
I first read this book 40 years ago, it explained to me a lot of things about social attitudes and society as it was in the 1970's. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bookcave
Must Read
This should be compulsory reading for everyone. A brilliant insight into the lives of the working classes in the early 19th century. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. Robin Braddow
it is still going on
excellent read; so true and a window to how we are still being shafted today; i would strongly recommend this as compulsory school reading for 14 +_year olds
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Published 2 months ago by commieagitator
Historically interesting but ultimately a poor novel
It's extremely hard to disentangle the novel in the Ragged Trousered Philantropists from the political manifesto - which, indeed, seems to be as the author intended! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dan
the old curiosity sop (sic)
I confess: I had never heard of this book until it was chosen by my book club. And I am glad I've now read it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by K. Henry
Good read
My husband had been after this book for a long time, tried all of the other outlets...no joy, straight onto Amazon and found it, fast delivery, great read, highly recommend this... Read more
Published 4 months ago by DCM
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