Category: 1961 club

One Hand clapping by Anthony Burgess

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One Hand Clapping by Anthony Burgess

English fiction

Source – Personal copy

I’m back after my short break, and one of the books I had read for the 1961 club. I had only decided late on reading this, since I had planned to review it here at some point. I love Burgess’s work and think he should be better known not just for Clockwork Orange .  bookAs is writing has such a wide range.  This is a book he published as Joseph Kell between 1959 and 1960. Burgess wrote five and a half books after being warned he might die, to leave both a legacy and security for his family.  Hence, he used another name when the book came out, as he had brought out so many in a short time. Another thing about the book is that it uses fewer than 1000 words. It was his view on the decline of intelligence in the UK and on how American views and TV style were taking over.  It is an American style with people like Hughie Green presenting quiz shows.

HoWARD celebrated Myrtle coming to stay with us for a bit by putting on a really big sort of midnight matinee which scared the daylights out of Myrtle and made her take sleeping tablets. At about five past twelve by the luminous alarm-clock Howard woke me up by laughing very loud and nudging me hard as though we were watching something which he thought very funny at the pictures.

Then he started burbling a lot of nonsense words, then he seemed to settle down again to sleep and I said Thank God’ to myself. But I said it a lot too soon, because almost right away Howard was at it again, but this time not laughing, just the opposite, howling out loud, though it wasn’t real crying. From her room next door Myrtle called in a frightened voice:

One of the other things in the books is Mrytle and herr relationship to Howard

The book follows a few weeks in the life of Howard and Shirlety, a young couple at the start, as they go about their normal lives. When Howard, who had been a used car salesman at the start of the book, always had this photographic memory. So when he decides to appear on a TV show with a prize of 1000, which was a lot of money in 1960, the Bank of England inflation calculator says it is about 20000 these days, so a lot of money. He joins in and goes to London after the first show, which he does very well alongside another contestant. HE RETURNS TO manchester now famous, it is around this time we also find out he is clairvoyant and bets and sees the future. But as the book goes on, he sees a darker event for him and Shirley. As he gets further into the quiz, he loses his job, and people begin to gather around them. He wins after a near miss, which saw him give an answer that seemed wrong, but wasn’t . Will Shirley escape his dark ideas? What will happen to the money? What will it do to their lives?

“Elizabethan drama. Who wrote The Shoemaker’s Holi-day, Bartholomew Fair and A New Way to Pay Old Debts? ” And Howard said:”Henry James; Edward Morgan Forster; Ford Madox Hueffer.” Then there was deathly silence, because Laddie didn’t say, as he’d always said so far, “And you’re right.” Instead he sort of puzzled over his bit of paper and seemed to tremble a bit. He said, “I’m terribly sorry, Howard, I’m really dreadfully sorry, because it’s such a tiny mistake you’ve made ” The audience went ” Awwwww,” very loud. “Such a tiny mistake,” said Laddie, louder. ” What I’ve got written down here is not Ford Madox Hueffer but Ford Madox Ford.” “Henry James; Edward Morgan Forster; Ford Madox Hueffer.” Then there was deathly silence, because Laddie didn’t say, as he’d always said so far, “And you’re right.” Instead he sort of puzzled over his bit of paper and seemed to tremble a bit. He said, “I’m terribly sorry, Howard, I’m really dreadfully sorry, because it’s such a tiny mistake you’ve made ” The audience went ” Awwwww,” very loud. “Such a tiny mistake,” said Laddie, louder. ” What I’ve got written down here is not Ford Madox Hueffer but Ford Madox Ford.”

The questions and here the answer Howard gave was right but one I wouldn’t known Ford Madox Ford wasn’t the writers given name as I say could you answer these question

The book is told from Shirley’s point of view as she sees Howard use his skills to win the quiz show. What tickled me about the contestations on the quiz show, with a host who was a nod and a tongue-in-cheek reference to Hugie Green, the most famous quiz show host at the time, as we see Howard and the ladies head closer to the jackpot.  But what tickled me was the questions he used in the quiz all about literature, and I think they struggle to answer even University challenges these days. It showed that, as they got the money, there was an early start to consumerism, as the couple faced the money and what to do with it. As the book shows, Howard’s witnessing the world’s end changes his relationship with Shirley. She is the narrator of the book, and Burgess’s use of fewer than a thousand words shows her as just a simple girl, in a way, while Howard is an average man with an amazing memory. The book is maybe one of Burgess’s least known books, but it is a glimpse of a time just as TV was starting, and maybe if the answers to the questions here were known, more people would know.  Have you read any of Burgess ‘ lesser-known books? This has just been brought back into print, so it is now easier to get hold of. The title is a nod to the Zen question: What is the sound of one hand clapping? and also it seems a Malay proverb as well this came just after Burgess had been in Malay.

Betty by Georges Simenon

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Betty by Georges Simenon

Belgian fiction

Original title -Betty

Translator – Ros Schwarz

Source – Library book

I mentioned the other day, in a post from Karen, that there is a group of writers you can nearly always rely on for the club year: Agatha Christie, P. G. Wodehouse, and Georges Simenon. In Simenon’s case, there are often two or three books every year.  That was the case for 1961, and I had a quick look at the library system and saw they had Betty. I am more a fan of his Roman Durs, his hard novels, as they are called. I love Maigret, but the psychological depth of these harder novels and their characters often jump off the page. So picked this as my 1961 choice for Simenon.  Betty is an unusual tale; it is about how life sometimes takes odd twists and turns.

It wasn’t her drinking that was causing offence. The proof was that the owner himself had called Joseph the first time, and others were drinking as much if not more than her. A young woman with mousey hair on the corner of a banquette was deathly pale, her head lolling back, and her companion, who was holding her hand romantically, did not appear to be paying any attention to her.

What would happen if Betty began to shout? She was tempted to do so, to find out, to stir things up, so that someone would take notice of her, not just stare at her.

Betty is fallen into a bottle early on in the film

Betty is a woman on a bender. She has divorced her husband, who was a na from. another class when they married, and her daughters as well. She is on the verge of oblivion, falling into the bottle and not finding her way back out. But then she is saved by a mysterious woman named Laure and taken to a small hotel in the countryside. She manages to recover, and as we start to discover more about Betty’s life.  She was a working-class girl who met a man from an upper-class French family, and they married. But as we find out more, Betty is a drinker and takes lovers, so her husband and his family make her sign a divorce and lose rights to her daughters. Laure, a drinker as well, had escaped a marriage to her surgeon-husband and has a lover, Mario, who owns a restaurant. But what happens when she discovers that Betty isn’t the woman she first thought she was? This explains the million francs she had in her purse and why she is now looking at Mario.  This is about class, drinking, and females being more promiscuous.  This was the start of the seventies. It is also about how things can seem very different; Betty and Laure’s views have changed over the course of the book.

The room she was in hadn’t been aired for several days and it smelled fusty. Not the bland fustiness of a town, but the damp-hay smell of the countryside. When, a little earlier, the concierge and the porter had wanted to turn the lights on, the dark-haired woman had said:

‘No! She mustn’t have too much light. Leave me alone with her. Just open the communicating door into my room.” The men’s footsteps had faded away. Betty was lying on a bed, on top of the covers. The woman had gone off into the adjoining room where, from the noises she made, it sounded as if she was making herself comfortable. Was she afraid that Betty might throw up over her dress or tear it, clutching on to her?

Betty as she is taken to the Hotel by Laure

I was thinking as I read this book it would make a great film as it feels like a film script, almost it has a pacing that would suit a film as things slowly become clearer over the course of book as the views of the two female characrters shifgt as we discover more about Betty a woman that seems feted she say but is she or more a victiim of her own problems that at first seem in the book. It was made into a film in 1992 by Claude Chabrol, a director whose films I have seen over the years I had a quick look, and it doesn’t seem to be on a streaming service but has been on a dvd box set at one time so maybe if there is a new box set or I see the old one I may watch the film. It is a book about the little things that happen over time. It is a slow-burning account of Betty’s life told in pieces, and as we learn more, the situation between the two women changes. I’m pleased I picked this as I may not have got to it quickly, as I tend to pick Simenon books as I see them at the moment, second hand or when there are a few for a year like this. Do you have a favourite Roman Durs by Him?

 

 

The Thief and The dog by Naguib Mahfouz

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The Thief and the Dog by Maguib Mahfouz

Egyptian fiction

Original title – اللص والكلاب; al-liṣ wal-kilāb

Translators – Trevor Le Gassick and M. M. Badawi (Revised by John Rodenbeck)

Source – Personal copy

I went from a nearly Nobel winner to the only Egyptian writer to win the Nobel prize, Naguib Mahfouz. I have reviewed three books from him over thwe year s and I am on the quest to read all his books over time I do have gthe Cairo trilogy in a nice hardback edition to read but have that as the last book I will read from him so every time he crops up on the club year I read him this one was the book he brought out in 1961. AS ever, it captures an Egypt and Cairo that is changing just after. A revolution has happened, and we are seeing this new world through the eyes of Said, a thief who has just come out of prison to see the world he knew has changed. He now wants to win his wife back and get the people who put him in Jail

Ilish went to fetch the girl. At the sound of returning footsteps Said’s heart began to beat almost pain-fully, and as he stared at the door, he bit the inside of his lips, anticipation and tenderness stifling all his rage.

After what seemed a thousand years, the girl ap-peared. She looked surprised. She was wearing a smart white frock and white open slippers that showed henna-dyed toes. She gazed at him, her face dark, her black hair flowing over her forehead, while his soul devoured her. Bewildered, she looked around at all the other faces, then particularly at his, which was staring so intently. He was unable to take his eyes off her. As she felt herself being pushed toward him, she planted her feet on the carpet and leaned backward away from him. And suddenly he felt crushed by a sense of total loss.

The man that sold him out and is now with his wife!

The book follows what happens after Said is released from prison. The book is in a stream-of-consciousness style as we follow what happens to him when his estranged wife, Nabawiyya, ends up with the man who put him in jail, his former friend Llish. Add to this that his friend and former mentor, Rauf, is now a journalist and has moved on with his life as well. It sees what happens when a man like Said, a thief, but he also wanted to be part of the revolution, has missed all this, even his own daughter, Sana, is scared of him now. The only people who will help him are a prostitute and a shady cafe owner. This is a man who, in his head, was like a Robin Hood-like figure of the revolution, but now nothing is going his way.  Will he have his revenge? As ever, the book has Cairo as a backdrop. The cafe owner reminds me of the book Coffeehouse, but, like the character in that book, it shows how a city and a world that is constantly changing, like Egypt, had been through during the 20th century, can catch some people out and make others successful, no matter how shady their past was.

He walked on until he reached the Zahra offices in Maarif Square, an enormous building, where his first thought was that it would be very dithcult to break into. The rows of cars surrounding it were like guards around a prison; the rumble of printing presses behind the grilles of the basement windows was like the low hum of men sleeping in a dormitory. He joined the stream of people entering the building, presented himself at the information desk, and asked in his deep

“public” voice for Mr. Rauf Ilwan. Staring back with some displeasure at the bold, almost impudent look in his eyes, the reception clerk snapped, “Fourth floor.” Said made for the elevator at once, joining people among whom he looked rather out of place in his blue suit and gym shoes, the oddness emphasized by the glaring eyes on either side of his long aquiline nose.

A girl caught his eye, which made him curse his ex-wife and her lover under his breath, promising them destruction.

Even his mentor and friend that pushed him to do what he did has moved on

I love Mahfouz’s writing; he is Cairo, he is the man he writes about. He knew people like Said, Rauf, Llish, and the cafe owner (of course, Mahfouz loved cafes and watching people ). This is told in a stream-of-consciousness style to make you feel like Said, as he is caught up in a world that has moved on without him. Revenge is the heart of the book but also for me a sorrow of a man lost to time there must have been many men like Said dropped in it and then left by the people around him when he needed them most. I feel there must be a character like Said, whom he met one day in a cafe, heard his tale, and whose story this book is the result of.  Mahfouz loved sitting in Cafes watching and talking. I said before that Cario is always in his books, like Dublin is in Joyce, Dickens’ London, or Proust’s France.

 

 

Diary of a mad old man by Junichirō Tanizaki

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Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichirō Tanizaki

Japanese fiction

Original title – 瘋癲老人日記 Fūten rōjin nikki

Translator – Howard Hibbert

Source – Personal Copy

Anyone who has been around the blog over the last few years knows the other event in the blogosphere, apart from the Year’s Shadow Jury, is the biannual Year Clubs that Simon and Karn have run for the last decade or so. In fact, I love these so much. It is mainly finding the books for the blog for each year they have chosen. I go with the year the book came out in its original Language. So it means I cover the rest of the world for the years they pick. First, this week we have a man who just missed out on the Nobel Prize. He was on the shortlist of people in the year he died. It will be the fifth book over the years I have covered by Tanizaki a writer I have grown to like over the years and this wry book of old age is a fun book written by a writer in his later life himself.

This afternoon I asked Satsuko to take me out for a drive around the Meiji Shrine. I thought I had escaped, but my nurse saw us leaving and said she’d come along. The whole thing was spoiled. We were home in less than an hour.

July 2

For the last few days I’ve felt that my blood pressure is rising again. This morning it was up to 18.

Pulse 100. At the nurse’s urging, I took two tablets of Serpasil and three of Adalin. The pain and chilling in my hand is acute too. Although it seldom keeps me awake, last night it woke me up and I had Miss Sasaki give me an injection of Nobulon. I find that Nobulon works for me, as far as that goes, but it has unpleasant aftereffects.

“The collar and sliding bed are here. Would you like to try them?”

I’m not very eager, yet the way I feel makes me willing to give them a trial.

A mix of the visit by the daughter in law and his medical state

The book is the diary of a man recovering from a stroke. Utsugoi is in hios late seventies and has lost the use of one hand due to the stroke and this diary follows the few months that follow the stroke it is made up of the actual recovery, but also the visit he has from his daughter-in-law, Satsuko a former dancier with her own daerk past secrets thios forms the other dynamin=c in hte book as she lets the old man kiss her legs and feet as this is all his libido will let himk do this is about power nad desire and what happens when the mind is still active but eh body has given up the ghpost. a look at the dynamics between the father and daughter-in-law, the sort of twisted power trip she lets him lick her body as he buys her gifts and says he wants her feet as part of his gravestone. This is all a mix of sexual tension and black humour of a man on his way out, but still, after fulfilling his fetishes.

August 8

From 1 to z p.m. I had my nap, and then stayed in bed waiting for Dr. Suzuki. Meanwhile I heard a knock on the bathroom door, and Satsuko calling.

“Father, I’m going to lock this!”

“He’s coming, is he?”

“Yes.” She stuck her head out for a moment, but promptly banged the door shut and locked it.

Though I had only a glimpse of her I noticed a cold, sulky look on her face. Evidently she had already taken a shower; water was dripping from her vinyl cap.

More of him in the hospital and Satsuko being around

This is one of those books that makes you think about growing old, but also about desire and what happens when you have it but no way to show it! This is what could happen. It is about a woman willing to make money from a man she is a daughter-in-law to, a man driven by his desires and what they entail. It’s like a weird Japanese take on a Carry On film, a sort of Carry On Old Man in the hospital.  The main character is like a posher version of Sid James with Money, and Satsuko could be any of the female characters from the films, in a way. It is a book around desire and the male libido, with a comic look at growing old and still feeling Horny and what happens when your dancer daughter-in-law takes advantage of that. The book has been made into a couple of films. I can see it makes a good film, just it mixes a black humour and a man not quite ready to die yet. It also has a medical side throughout the book and ends with the reports of the nurse and doctor who treated him. Have you read this book ?