tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post8092793195185569702..comments2023-11-01T02:35:48.057+00:00Comments on Geranium Cat's Bookshelf: Towards the End of the Morning by Michael FraynGeraniumCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03010199887691558717noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-78874022049722473012009-07-22T16:42:57.615+01:002009-07-22T16:42:57.615+01:00Hi Paul! and thanks for your interesting comment. ...Hi Paul! and thanks for your interesting comment. I don't think ti was lack of appreciation of the zeitgeist that was the problem, I'm not that much younger than you, and I was predisposed to like the book because when I was young I liked Frayn's writing very much indeed - in fact, I was slightly surprised I hadn't read it before.<br /><br />Looking back over what I said, I clearly found it well-constructed, and I know I liked the early chapters more than the later ones. Some of the newspaper office detail was really quite fun: I did enjoy the upstart new journalist who, shock horror, brought his own portable typewriter, evidence of overweening ambition. Perhaps it was simply that Frayn depicted the dreariness of it all rather too effectively, and my complaint should be with the 1960s, but I found the Ljubliana section unfunny - though again, perhaps not implausible. My recall of it is quite good, which does suggest that it's a good book, but I think I'll go on to something fresh rather than trying it again.Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-5042860467992157472009-07-22T03:24:48.744+01:002009-07-22T03:24:48.744+01:00I have read Towards.. a number of times - and enjo...I have read Towards.. a number of times - and enjoyed it immensely each time. But that might be because I am in my 60s & therefore can perhaps better appreciate the era in which it was written. As a period piece from half a century ago, it unerringly captures the ethos.<br />In fact, I enjoyed all of Frayn's work, up to Headlong - he seems to have gone a bit too post modern since then. For Frayn fans, ther eare some neglected gems, my favourites are the play Balmoral (set in a Communist UK in the nineteen-thirties - the Balmoral writers' home includes Enid Blyton!) and Sweet Dreams (which latter shows he writes not just like an angel, but like a God, you will understand this when you read it.)Paul Perrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-14740484928958312982009-06-10T14:01:46.707+01:002009-06-10T14:01:46.707+01:00I'm glad it was useful! What did your book clu...I'm glad it was useful! What did your book club think?Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-3810770628967661582009-06-09T13:22:55.421+01:002009-06-09T13:22:55.421+01:00My book club has read it and the meeting is tonigh...My book club has read it and the meeting is tonight. I thought I would see what the critics said about it since I had the same feelings as Ms Cat has - indifference, a slightly bad taste in my mouth.<br />Thanks for confirming that it was not just me.EmilyMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15229009831800581418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-47053713710018875182009-04-11T10:33:00.000+01:002009-04-11T10:33:00.000+01:00I found it really, really funny when I read it fir...I found it really, really funny when I read it first time round. But that was at the tail end of the old "Fleet Street" in the early 90s and the book presented a startlingly accurate picture of newspaper life as it was then. <BR/><BR/>There is nothing so unfunny as out of date satire, so I may not find it so funny now. <BR/><BR/>Frayn doesn't make any intellectual concessions in his serious books. They deal with difficult ideas and can be demanding. <BR/><BR/>Some people may think of this as "boring" but it really is horses for courses.Jenny Woolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16881781466502273314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-81304862779825840012009-03-15T18:10:00.000+00:002009-03-15T18:10:00.000+00:00Becca, what a responsibility to have out you off, ...Becca, what a responsibility to have out you off, oh dear!<BR/><BR/>Susan, The Green Man is worth a read - hate the main character, but it's genuinely scary!Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-79426428232754133732009-03-13T03:41:00.000+00:002009-03-13T03:41:00.000+00:00I think Nick Hornby gives the author mixed reviews...I think Nick Hornby gives the author mixed reviews in Polysyllabic Spree, which I just finished reading. Certainly I am not interested in this book - wouldn't pick it up - but your commentators have reminded me about Green Man, which I have heard about and would like to read one day!!!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09095246748581382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-84427939662213617642009-03-03T03:02:00.000+00:002009-03-03T03:02:00.000+00:00This is exactly the kind of book I am very likely ...This is exactly the kind of book I am very likely to have picked up and taken home to read, so I am very glad to have read your review. I will certainly think twice about it. Life is too short to read almost good books!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-83919654680796522912009-03-02T18:21:00.000+00:002009-03-02T18:21:00.000+00:00Callmemadam, you make me hope that I shall enjoy S...Callmemadam, you make me hope that I shall enjoy Spies more. My reading of Amis is patchy, and I can't say I enjoyed Jake's Thing much, but I did like The Green Man.Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-66070306286677084132009-02-18T11:46:00.000+00:002009-02-18T11:46:00.000+00:00For once, we really differ in tastes. It's a long ...For once, we really differ in tastes. It's a long time since I read Towards the End of the Morning but it certainly made me laugh first time around. The Tin Men, which I mentioned on LJ recently, I still find very funny indeed. I don't like all his novels, though; Headlong is good but I wouldn't want to read it again. OTOH I thought Spies was brilliant and am hanging on to my copy.<BR/><BR/>I am a great admirer of Kingsley Amis and have read Lucky Jim a trillion times. Too many people (not you, I'm sure), confuse the man (at least, the later man), with the work and so are put off him for quite the wrong reasons. Yes, many of his characters are unpleasant (he knew this). Yes, after about Jake's Thing misogyny creeps in. His last novel, The Biographer's Moustache, was dreadful. All that drinking gets boring. But, but, but...he was an absolute master of English prose style. He tackled many different genres: Colonel Sun, a Bond novel; The Green Man, a horror novel ( I find it terrifying); The Riverside Villas Murder, a classic detective story. He worked extremely hard, was a very astute critic and I can't help liking him. My favourite of his novels, apart from Lucky Jim, is I Like It Here. The hero is likable, the tone generally happy, lots of very funny writing.callmemadamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12711070764040041338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-90246331670087266352009-02-18T10:08:00.000+00:002009-02-18T10:08:00.000+00:00You're right, Nan. I've got another of his books, ...You're right, Nan. I've got another of his books, Spies, on my TBR pile, but I think I'l give it a while before tackling it.Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182642520216901583.post-16090876702749667802009-02-17T18:59:00.000+00:002009-02-17T18:59:00.000+00:00Am I right in remembering he is the author of Head...Am I right in remembering he is the author of Headlong? A book sort of about art as I recall. I couldn't finish it. I was bored to pieces.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.com