Rites Of Passage (1980)
Who wrote it?
Sir William Gerald Golding, CBE (1911-93; active from 1934-, main body of work from 1954-), born Newquay, England. He began life as a schoolmaster, publishing a collection of poetry in 1934 but otherwise unrecognized until the success of his first novel in 1954. Known to most as the author of that debut, the immortal school set text Lord of the Flies, he went on to author a series of acclaimed novels and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1983.
Continuing the Prize’s increasing tendency towards rewarding the big-hitters, Golding was already a literary titan by the time of his win, albeit one who felt underappreciated and had as a result been relatively quiet through the 1970s, having published only one other novel since 1971.
What's it about,
Rites of Passage kicks off the 1980s by taking us back in time to the start of the nineteenth century. The aristocratic Edmund Talbot embarks upon a long voyage to Australia, and keeps a j0urnal to amuse his godfather back home in England. In cramped quarters on a dilapidated warship, he recounts tales of the ship’s varied inhabitants from all classes of society, in a witty and extremely lively narrative that prods and interrogates the structures and conflicts of the English class system in microcosm.
While the novel begins as a loose recollection of a journey, its second half takes on a different character as the focus shifts to Talbot’s observations of a parson on the voyage, a Reverend Colley. Initial presented as something of a comic punching bag, who Talbot and the other characters delight in mocking, his story becomes a tragedy as a somewhat ambiguous incident leads to his decline and eventual death. What initially seems to be a case of embarrassment caused by public drunkenness is slowly revealed to have a more sinister component, in which Talbot hints at having played a role and various of the ship’s officers certainly seem to have. His death is written off as a “low fever” by the crew, keen to brush controversy under the table, while Talbot is keen to impress that the parson died “of shame”.
The novel is the first part of a trilogy, with 1987’s Close Quarters and 1989’s Fire Down Below picking up the remainder of Talbot’s journey. The three books are collected as To The Ends of the Earth.
What I liked
The writing is clearly the work of a master, with the voice of Talbot very much unique in the pantheon of Booker winners to date. There’s a sheer delight in reading Talbot’s prose, however unpleasant some his opinions may be. He’s presented as highly literate, dropping in references to Richardson and Sterne, the latter of whose style feels like a clear inspiration for Golding here (and how many other books in 1980 were looking to Tristram Shandy for stylistic cues - I have no idea but suspect not too many) .
Despite a marked shift to seriousness towards the novel’s end, there’s a sense of playfulness given by the narrative style which keeps it highly readable. The section that shifts into Colley’s more conventional (and serious) plain prose throws even more light on the exuberance of the bulk of the novel made up by Talbot’s journal.
Talbot is an interesting character, obviously bound by the conventions of his class and fairly objectionable to modern tastes at least as a result, he’s nonetheless a joy to spend time with and his cynicism can on occasion even be relatable.
There’s an enjoyable sense of ambiguity about the main events of the novel, which Golding nods to via Talbot’s highly Sternian observation towards the end of the novel:
“Life is a formless business, Summers. Literature is much amiss in forcing a form on it!”
I’m no great reader of historical fiction but this really does do a fantastic job of evoking the sights, sounds and smells of a lost age.
What I didn't like
It’s a fun read, and Golding himself seems to having a lot of fun with it, but despite this it has an inevitable sense of feeling out of time. Where, for example The Siege of Krishnapur did a great job of taking us back in time while still feeling somehow sharp and modern, Rites of Passage feels like more of a period piece - an exercise in emulating the style of the early novelists, albeit a very successful one.
By and large very readable, there are a few occasions where Golding gets so carried away in Talbot’s anachronisms (and delight in the Tarpaulin jargon of the seamen) that it becomes a bit of a challenge to grasp what’s actually happening. This may be deliberate, but did leave me jumping back a few pages every now and again, which is never ideal.
Food & drink pairings
Overproof Rum, obviously. But perhaps not if you’re a parson who has never had a drop of booze.
Paregoric. Technically medicine rather than food or drink, but if you’re stuck on a decaying ship for months, you probably wouldn’t say no to an opiate for breakfast.
Fun facts
At 69 Golding was the oldest winner of the Booker to date, an accolade which he held until Margaret Atwood’s shared win (aged 79) in 2019.
There’s a TV adaptation of the whole To The Ends of the Earth trilogy, from 2005 and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which I’m really quite interested in checking out (probably as a shortcut to bothering reading the other two books, which if I’m honest sound less exciting)
Anthony Burgess refused to come to the ceremony unless he won, which obviously he didn’t. Fair play mate, but maybe no need to make a song and dance about it? His Earthly Powers was the favourite of at least one judge, but rejected outright by another. Golding’s win is thus another compromise choice - at least to some degree. But maybe that’s just inevitable, given the process.
Alice Munro’s inclusion is interesting as it’s a collection of short stories. By no means unprecedented but interesting to see that books other than novels are still getting the occasional look-in at this stage.
Vanquished Foes
Anthony Burgess (Earthly Powers)
Anita Desai (Clear Light of Day)
Alice Munro (The Beggar Maid)
Julia O’Faolain (No Country for Young Men)
Barry Unsworth (Pascali’s Island)
J.L. Carr (A Month in the Country)
Some big Booker names on this one. Inevitably I’ve still not read any of them though. Any recommendations?
Context
In 1980 :
Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Jimmy Carter to win US Presidency
Robert Mugabe elected prime minister of Zimbabwe
Indira Ghandi returns to power in India
US boycott of Moscow Olympics (due to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan)
Start of Iran-Iraq War, which would last over 8 years
Iranian Embassy Siege in London
Yugoslav president Tito (leader since 1953) dies
Heat wave in the US claims 1700 lives
Murder of John Lennon in New York
Launch of CNN, the first 24-hour news network
Rubik's Cube launched
Pac-Man arcade game released
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Shining
Suicide of Ian Curtis, Joy Division frontman, aged 23
AC/DC's Back in Black released following death of original frontman Bon Scott earlier in the year
"Who Shot JR?" on US TV show Dallas
Life Lessons
Travelling to Australia in the nineteenth century doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun (and I thought 24 hours in economy class was bad enough…)
Religion may not be your cuppa, but try not to bully a harmless clergyman to death maybe?
Conversely, if you do swear by the book and want to be a worthy saint, it might still be worth trying to build up a tolerance to booze at some point just in case some bastard forces it on you and ruins your life as a result.
Score
7.5
Quite the curiosity, this. A little too slight overall to score any higher but certainly worth your time for the vibrancy of the prose if nothing else.
Ranking to date:
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (1978) - 9
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
Saville - David Storey (1976) - 8
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell (1973) - 8
Rites of Passage - William Golding (1980) - 7.5
Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald (1979) - 7.5
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer (1974) - 7
Holiday - Stanley Middleton (1974) - 7 .
Heat & Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975) - 6.5
In a Free State* - V.S. Naipaul (1971) - 6.5
G. - John Berger (1972) - 6
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
Staying On - Paul Scott (1977) - 5
*Read in later condensed edition.
Next up
It’s the Booker of Bookers! Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. I have a dim sense of having read some or all of this, without giving it the attention it deserved, about 20 years ago. But I’m looking forward to giving it a proper go this time…
