Troubles (1970, the “Lost Booker”)
Who wrote it?
James Gordon Farrell (1935-79, active from 1963), born Liverpool, England, but of Irish descent. Troubles is the first of his loose “Empire” trilogy, of which more in a few posts’ time. He drowned in an accident while angling at just 44, shortly after moving out of London to settle in Ireland.
What's it about
It's 1919 and Major Brendan Archer, soon after returning from the Trenches, heads over to Ireland to meet a woman he seems to be engaged to, despite not being entirely sure whether he is or not.
He arrives at the Majestic, a once grand hotel owned by the Anglo-Irish family of his fiancée, now crumbling, reverting to nature and largely empty - aside from a diminishing population of old ladies and a rapidly multiplying army of cats. Despite his engagement coming to an abrupt end, the Major is seemingly unable to leave the Majestic, and becomes attached to its inhabitants, as well as notably to a local opinionated Catholic, Sarah.
While the novel dwells ostensibly on the goings-on at the Majestic, the events of the Irish War of Independence take place for the most part in the background, with the violence and breakdown of order across Ireland mirroring the Majestic's decline. Metaphors abound, but don't get in the way of an engaging, hilarious and at times emotional book, stuffed with larger than life characters.
What I liked
Wonderful characters wherever you look, most of whom could easily have fallen out of early Waugh or even Wodehouse.
I'm already wondering (Farrell's next winner aside?) how many Booker winners are going to be able to surpass the balance of humour and lightness of touch with seriousness of subject matter on display here?
The Majestic as character and metaphor is inspired
Really interesting devices - notably the press clippings that juxtapose the Irish struggle with other violent insurgencies around the world (/Empire)
Simply told, but full of complex questions. Not just the obvious ones on Ireland and Empire either, but more general human questions ("People are insubstantial. They never last")
A related air of mystery that hangs over everything and keeps you reading. Suffice to say you're left to draw your own conclusions on many of them - a plus for me, if not for everyone.
Cinematic imagery, with plenty of moments that really come to life and stick in your mind.
My realisation that I was reading a book written in 1970, about the years around 1920, in the year 2020. A pleasing symmetry, but also very interesting to think about what changed and what didn't in each of those 50 year intervals.
Cats! Cats everywhere!
What I didn't like
There are a couple of extremely uncomfortable moments where the "antics" of deeply pervy old men (and in one case, attempted rape by a much younger man) seem to be being played for comic value ("what a cad", etc) that definitely place the writing of the novel in its own period. Even if Farrell may have believed he was mocking outdated attitudes, it's hard to read it that way another 50 years down the line.
Since this book didn't actually win in 1970 (see below), it's hard to feel the same connection to the tastes of the time as with other winners.
Food & drink pairings
Lots of tea, once again
Champagne (kept chilled by the bed in case of emergency)
Boiled sheep's head, kept in bedside cabinet (for the dogs, hopefully)
No bacon, ever again
Fun facts
The main thing to note is this “Lost Booker” business. What’s going on here? In simple terms, the first two winners were awarded based on novels published in the previous calendar year. In 1971, for whatever reason, they decided to change it to the present calendar year. Wrote a novel in 1970? Tough luck, no Booker for you.
Not that people really cared at the time, as it wasn’t yet headline news (give it a couple of years, maybe…)
In 2010, a decision was made to address this oversight and award a retrospective prize for the best book written in 1970. Justice was served, and that was that.
It was - also unusually - decided by public vote. As I’ve said above, Troubles is a massively worthy winner, but I also wonder if perhaps its status as part of a (loose) “trilogy” in tandem with another Booker winner (see 1973, when I get around to it) might have helped?
One of the other nominees, Patrick White, had asked for his name to be removed from the 1979 shortlist and a friend commented that he would be “spinning in his grave” at the news of his posthumous shortlisting. His literary executor, unsurprisingly, was less dismissive of the accolade.
There’s a TV adaptation of Troubles starring Ian Richardson which I’d like to get around to checking out at some point. Have you seen it?
Vanquished Foes
Nina Bawden (The Birds on the Trees)
Shirley Hazzard (The Bay of Noon)
Mary Renault (Five From Heaven)
Muriel Spark (The Driver's Seat)
Patrick White (The Vivisector)
Once more, I've read NONE of these. Have you? Should I? Should anything else have been nominated that was written in 1970?
Context
In 1970:
Arms Crisis in Ireland
Ian Paisley wins election in Northern Ireland, and later a seat in the UK Parliament
Guyana and Rhodesia become Republics, ceding from British control
18-20 year olds vote for the first time in the UK
US invasion of Cambodia
Red Army Faction created in Germany
Nuclear non-proliferation treaty comes into effect
Apollo 13
First “Earth Day”
Paul McCartney quits the Beatles, preceding their eventual split
Isle of Wight festival draws 600k attendees - the largest festival of all time
Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin both die at 27
Miss World 1970 disrupted in London by protestors
World Trade Center topped out, becoming tallest building in the world
Life Lessons
People are insubstantial, they never last
Pay attention to what's going on in the world, otherwise it'll probably come and smack you in the face eventually
Try not to accidentally get engaged to someone you don't really know, maybe?
Score
8.5
Ranking to date:
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
Easily my favourite so far. So much to like in this one.
Next up
In a Free State, by V.S.Naipaul. In which a non-novel wins the 1971 Booker and I accidentally buy a later published version that is a novel and try to decide whether it still "counts".
Spoiler: it's going to have to.
