The Patrick Hamilton Appreciation Society discussion

Here's a place where you can post anything that doesn't fit elsewhere.

I don't mean to wince words here but…. The world's worst sentence?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospe...

Thanks Greg. Very enjoyable. I fully subscribe to George Orwell's guidelines....

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out

4. Never use the passive when you can use the active

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; and finally

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say something outright barbarous

Nigeyb wrote: "Thanks Greg. Very enjoyable. I fully subscribe to George Orwell's guidelines....

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print

2. Never use a l..."

Nigeyb,
2. Never use a word a long word….. tell that to Mary Poppins!
supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus.

Lately, I've been taking a bit of a break from Film Noir in order to educate myself about The British New Wave -- or Kitchen Sink -- films of the late 1950s and 60s. Unfortunately, it's a rather costly mission, as precious few are available stateside, so I've been ordering them on dvd from the UK. I'll list the ones I've managed to watch thus far... if anyone has it in their heart to recommend further titles, I'd be grateful. Plenty.

'A Taste of Honey'
'Cathy Come Home'
'A Kind of Loving'
'Up the junction'
'Poor Cow'
'The L-Shaped Room'
'Saturday Night & Sunday Morning'
'The Leather Boys'

Wow Mark. You are a constant source of surprise.

The one title that leaps out as missing from that pretty comprehensive list is "Room At The Top" (1959) featuring the excellent Lawrence Harvey and the delightful Simone Signoret. Essential angry young man fare.

It looks as though the whole thing might be on YouTube if you can bear to watch it like that, and if it's not blocked in the US.

Here's part one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P6W5x...

Two other recommendations: "A Place in the Sun" (1951), & "Look Back in Anger" (1958)

Noted, and all three added to my Amazon UK list of upcoming purchases. Many thanks for those recommendations!

Mark wrote: "Noted, and all three added to my Amazon UK list of upcoming purchases. Many thanks for those recommendations!"

Mark,
I just chanced on this site, lots to explore for film buffs..

http://www.headbutler.com/review-cate...

Sort of an off-shoot...def different generation of filmmaker...but Stephen Frears's 'Prick Up Your Ears' does fit into the timeframe.


Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton

You could include "Kes" in your DVD list, based on A Kestrel for a Knave, and the film version of How Green Was My Valley. Both deal with working class life, but I think there are probably hundreds of films and books in the genre, you could even watch some of the Ealing comedies for light relief.

Val wrote: "You could include "Kes" in your DVD list, based on A Kestrel for a Knave, and the film version of How Green Was My Valley. Both deal with working class life, but I think there are probably hundreds..."

Val, the Ealing comedies were great, I'd like to see some of them again, haven't seen them in years. Alistair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, Robert Morley. Classics.

Mark, I recommend 1958 The Horses Mouth with Alec Guinness. 1966 Blow Up by Antonioni. And the Lindsay Anderson films O Lucky Man and IF.

Some great additional suggestions here. I'm going to set up a separate thread for Kitchen Sink/Angry Young Man films and books. I think a lineage can be drawn from Hamilton to that later work.

EDIT: I've now set up the dedicated thread. Click here to read it and get involved.

Book related humour, which doesn't fit anywhere...

http://failblog.cheezburger.com/share...

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 2 by Philip K. Dick.

Thank Val. Great stuff.


I love Philip K. Dick, he's a wonderful writer, as is Kurt Vonnegut, who I always associate with Philip K. Dick.

I know I shouldn't subsidise the dark Murdoch empire, but I do enjoy The Times.

Today's includes the nominees for The Times Sky Arts (bugger, there it goes again) South Bank Breakthrough Awards. The Literature nomination is Evie Wyld whose second publication, All The Birds, Singing, about a sheep farmer's struggle to stay afloat is quoted, "Another sheep, mangled and bled out, her innards not yet crusting and the vapours rising from her like a steamed pudding".

It sounds intriguing. She grew up in London and on an Australian farm. Robbie Millen observes of her writing, "We all need more desolation and despair in our lives, so long as it's beautifully and darkly written".

Sounds familiar.

Yes indeed David. I'll keep an eye for Evie Wyld's work.

This wonderful review won Hatchet Job of the Year:

http://www.theomnivore.com/a-a-gill-o...

It is very funny. Has anyone read the book in question?

^ I'd not heard of "The Omnivore" before Susan. It looks very good. I've book marked it for occasional perusal.

As for Mr Gill (AA indeed), isn't his stock-in-trade the hatchet job? He always appears a bit "look at me - aren't I clever?" in most of the reviews I've read by him. I instinctively take against him but concede that I am ill informed and he might be a wise and lovely person.

Whilst waiting for my son to decide how to spend a WH Smith's book voucher I read about 20 pages of Autobiography and was instantly engrossed. I was a fan of The Smiths and still retain a bit of affection for the old curmudgeon that is Morrissey - so am probably therefore more inclined to find it intrinsically interesting. I will definitely read it sometime soon - probably once demand in my local library calms down.

I can't really remember any Smiths songs, but I found him a bit odd when he came on TOTP waving flowers about - was that him? I might be misremembering. Bizarrely, he is going on tour with Cliff Richard of all people - unless I read that wrong. It does sound like an hallucination :)

^ That's the fella - partial to a bunch of gladioli



Cliff Richard? Strange but true ...Tom Jones and Cliff Richard to guest at Morrissey gigs...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainme...

And one of my favourite moments from The Smiths...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0TZZZ...

...that would still get me whirling like an unhinged Vaslav Nijinsky down at the indie disco.

To be fair I know next to nothing about Morissey - I just get the Omnivore and they always list the Hatchet review of the year. They have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but they are amusing :)

There is a new Spanish film that looks very good. Looking forward to seeing it.

Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed

http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com/fi...

^ One for Susan - amongst others



Looks great Greg - thanks, I will keep an eye out for Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed

Nigeyb wrote: "^ One for Susan - amongst others



Looks great Greg - thanks, I will keep an eye out for Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed"

I thought of messaging Susan about this film, but I thought Susan would see it here. I'd be interested to hear what Fab-fans think of the film. I can't wait to see it.

My eldest son said it was one of the best films he's ever seen.

Greetings, gruntings and groanings, everyone...

I'm in a bit of a bind [no pun intended] and was hoping that one of you might have it in your heart to offer some advice.

I'm packing everything at the moment and moving house next week. It looks like I'm going to have 200-300 books to part with, which I'm quite happy to donate. I've rang the NYC & Brooklyn Public Libraries, charity shops, you name it... all are happy to receive the books, but none will pick them up, and there's just no way I'm going to lug that many books across town.

But, at the same time, I can't just bin them.

So, any suggestions for donating books and having them picked up in Brooklyn? Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

^ You've probably seen these...


http://brooklyn.about.com/od/Vintag-F...

^ A few ideas but nothing leaps out as being a pick up type deal

Or maybe...



http://www.strandbooks.com/about-stra...

or...

Drop off only but could be one near you
http://www.housingworks.org/donate/dr...

Where are you moving to Mark?

Thanks for those... there is a Housing Works fairly nearby, but they don't offer a pickup service. At this point, I may hire a car and lug the boxes to Housing Works.

We're only moving three and a half blocks from the apartment we've lived in for the past ten years in Brooklyn. We lucked into a beautiful old brownstone built in 1901, with our own private back garden. Let me know when you're ready to visit!

^ Sounds lovely - hope to make it over sometime soon

Have any of you read this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CHEAPJACK-Van...

It seems like the sort of book that would be hard to go wrong with, and I'm planning to order a copy... unless one of you can warn me off?

Mark wrote: "Have any of you read this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CHEAPJACK-Van..."



I have a copy of Cheapjack by Philip Allingham which I bought in May 2014. I have yet to read it but think it sounds like a winner. I think someone on here recommended it to me. if you want I can prioritise it and then post a review before you take the plunge Mark.

This review on Amazon UK sounds very positive...

Philip Allingham was born into respectability. His father was a writer, his mother was a writer, his older sister Margery went on to become one of Britain's most popular crime novelists. Young Philip, sadly, distinguished himself at very little - unless you count flunking his Oxford entrance exam in heroic fashion as an achievement. What Philip did possess, though, was an uncanny ability to "read" people, and one day in 1927, tired of failing in a succession of boring, dead-end jobs his family connections had found for him, he decided to put that talent to use.

"Cheapjack" recounts Allingham's efforts to earn a living as a palmist and fortune-teller, initially in the pubs of London and then as an itinerant showman at fairs and markets the length of the land. It's a tale of rogues and charlatans, gypsies and fairground folk, tick-off merchants, pitchers and waver-workers. Allingham recalls his adventures among a cast of memorable characters - Three Fingered Billy, a hard-drinking Geordie, the Little Major, a walking encyclopaedia of every fairground trick in the book, and the appalling Alfie Holmsworth, theatrical "agent" to the gullible and deluded.

More than that, "Cheapjack" is a fascinating slice of social history. Studded with rich fairground slang, it evokes a pre-war era when every community had its thriving market, entire towns shut down and went on holiday during their "Wakes Weeks", and working people took their enjoyment collectively at the fairs and festivals that marked the passage of the seasons. It's a world that's all but disappeared now, but one that lives on in Philip Allingham's poignant memoir, which is often touching, occasionally hilarious, and never less than thoroughly absorbing.

I've just managed to turn up an incredibly cheap reading copy stateside, so will absolutely make the purchase later today. So, yeah, absolutely no need for you to prioritise it, but I appreciate the offer. Whenever you get round to reading it, I'll be curious to read your critique!

^ I'll keep you posted Mark


Great to see you round these parts again - I hope you're spending sufficient time on the sunny side of the street.

The workload has been brutal enough to have kept me from doing many of the things that I'd rather be doing, such as loitering round these here parts. The situation should be starting to ease up, so you can expect more of me in the coming weeks.

Hurrah. Great news Mark.

Something for a Sunday...

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...

...with a shout out for Mr. Hamilton (and snark in the comments)

^ Yes indeed, meant to post that myself. Thanks Miss M.

Maybe this is weird to post...but...very sad to hear about Nick Cave's son.
RIP, Arthur.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-su...

Unspeakably sad and horrific news today. I can't even begin to imagine that depth of grief.

Yes, I've been thinking about it a lot. I know the place where it happened and have a child of a similar age. Very sad news.

Saw this on a GR's friend's feed - upcoming BBC program on Francis Bacon:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066v39q

"Adrian Scarborough reads Michael Peppiatt's intimate and indiscreet account of his thirty-year friendship with the defining artist of our time.

Michael Peppiatt met Francis Bacon in June 1963 in Soho's French House to request an interview for a student magazine. Bacon invited him to lunch, and over oysters and Chablis they began a friendship and a no-holds-barred conversation that would continue until Bacon's death in 1992.

The Soho photographer, John Deakin, who introduced the young student to the famous artist, called Peppiatt 'Bacon's Boswell'. And for decades, Peppiatt accompanied Bacon on his nightly round of prodigious drinking from grand hotel to louche club to casino, witnessing all aspects of Bacon's 'gilded gutter life', as well as meeting the likes of Lucian Freud, East End thugs, Andy Warhol and the Duke of Devonshire. He also frequently discussed painting with Bacon in his studio, where only the artist's closest friends were ever admitted.

Despite the chaos Bacon created around him Peppiatt managed to record scores of their conversations ranging over every aspect of life and art, love and death. And here he shows Bacon close-up, grand and petty, tender and treacherous by turn, and often quite unlike the myth that has grown up around him."

Sounds great- thanks Miss M

I'll give that a listen

I'm not going to make it through the BBC reading (not good with audiobooks), but I definitely have my eye on picking up the book when it comes out next week.

First things first, here's wishing all a happy and healthy 2016.

Wondering whether or not any of you have read an autobiography titled 'Tiger Woman,' by Betty May. It was first published in 1929, and is back in print. It sure seems like that sort of book that's well worth reading, and I'm suitably curious.

From the publisher:

Dancer, singer, gang member, cocaine addict and sometime confectionist, Betty May's autobiography Tiger Woman thrilled and appalled the public when her story first appeared at the end of the roaring twenties. 'I have often lived only for pleasure and excitement but you will see that I came to it by unexpected ways.'

Born into abject squalor in London's Limehouse area, May used her steely-eyed, striking looks and street nous to become an unlikely bohemian celebrity sensation, a fixture at the Cafe Royal, London, marrying four times along the way alongside numerous affairs. 'I wondered why men would not leave me alone. They were alright at first when they offered to show one life, and then at once they became a nuisance.'

She elbowed her way to the top of London's social scene in a series of outrageous and dramatic fights, flights, marriages and misadventures that also took her to France, Italy, Canada and the USA. 'I learnt one thing on my honeymoon - to take drugs.'

Her most fateful adversary was occultist and self-proclaimed 'Great Beast' Aleister Crowley, who intended her to be a sacrificial victim of his Thelemite cult in Sicily, but it was her husband - Oxford undergraduate Raoul Loveday - who died, after conducting a blood sacrifice ritual.

Betty May's vitality and ferocious charisma enchanted numerous artistic figures including Jacob Epstein and Jacob Kramer. A heroine like no other, this is her incredible story in her own words, as fresh and extraordinary as the day it was first told.

Happy and healthy 2016 to you too Mark



Tiger Woman by Betty Maysounds brilliant - and I will be reading it - Thanks (yet again)


By the by, part of my Xmas haul included....

Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics: A Sideways Look at Twentieth-Century LondonRob Baker

....and....

London E1 by Robert Poole

I'll be reading them at some point during 2016

That really sounds fascinating, Mark, thanks. Adding it to my stack for my next international buy. Sounds like there may be a musical coming out, but I couldn't find any current references beyond the book blurb...could be interesting too.

And a happy New Year to all and may you have lots of quality reading time!

Did Patrick Hamilton's play Gas Light provide inspiration for the latest storyline in The Archers?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/book...

For anyone with relatively easy access to London, I can highly recommend this exhibit...

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2...

I caught a gallery exhibit of this work a few years back, here in NYC, and found it quite stunning and memorable.

Thanks Mark. Annoyingly I'll be in London, near that gallery, a couple weeks after it closes. I agree that it looks great.

The book, if you've never seen it, is well worth a look in.