Purkis, Charlotte (2016) 'The Mediation of Constructions of Pacifism in Journey's End and The Searcher, two Contrasting Dramatic Memorials from the Late 1920s' https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1135753 A delight. . . . I found myself charmed by this immersion into another life, full of astute observations indicating that maybe things haven’t changed all that much in 90 years. . . . Sherriff’s uncanny way of finding universality in an unremarkable moment is deeply touching." — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times Sherriff read history at New College, Oxford, from 1931 to 1934. [10] [11] He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Society of Antiquaries of London. [12] Career [ edit ] Playwright [ edit ] The Fortnight in September was a very brave book to write because it was not obviously ‘about’ anything except the ‘drama of the undramatic’. And yet the greatness of the novel is that it is about each one of us: all of human life is here in the seemingly simple description of the family’s annual holiday. Thus, for reasons we do not have to explain to regular Persephone readers, this is a book which fits fairly and squarely on the Persephone list. This reminds us that, despite the freedom of their holidays, the Stevens family normally live in a world of strict hierarchies and manners. They come from the rather prim suburban world of the 1930s, in which people are anxious to abide by the rules of a middle-class they might only recently have joined. I was fascinated to read that the Stevens’ neighbours, the Bullevants, ‘ were looked down upon by some of the people in Corunna Road because Mr Bullevant always breakfasted without a collar ‘. And these delicate echoes of class arise throughout the book. Mr Stevens, whose father was a plumber, has raised himself to the middle class by his own merit, and cherishes those little moments which show that he has become a man of standing – the moment when a porter calls him ‘sir’ in front of the family, or his role on the Football Club committee. Sherriff is brilliant at these tiny touches, so very English in their subtle evocation of class and character, lighting on details which enrich our understanding of the whole.

Wales, Roland (2016). From Journey's End to the Dam Busters: The life of R.C. Sherriff, Playwright of the Trenches. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1473860698. Comunque sia andata, accade talvolta che in questi casi si venga sorpresi da un’imprevista rivelazione…e invece no; alla fine “Due settimane in settembre” rimane all’altezza delle mie modeste aspettative, tanto che da tempo non incappavo in un romanzo così esangue e scritto con uno stile altrettanto incolore. I particularly enjoyed Mrs Stevens’ thoughts about Clapham Junction, where they have to change trains, because I used to visit that station daily on my commute (for about two years) from Kensington Olympia and it is absolutely the worst train station in the world with its 17 platforms, crowds of people and confusing walkways (above ground and underground): The Night My Number Came Up – which was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay (NB: both films were nominated for the 1955 BAFTA awards.)

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He had had the idea for his novel at Bognor Regis (as in Journey’s End, and The Hopkins Manuscript, Persephone book no. 57, the physical setting is wonderfully evoked): watching the crowds go by, and wondering what their lives were like at home, he ‘began to feel the itch to take one of those families at random and build up an imaginary story of their annual holiday by the sea...I wanted to write about simple, uncomplicated people doing normal things.’ Goodbye, Mr. Chips – which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay along with his co-writers Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz I began to feel the itch to take one of those families at random and build up an imaginary story of their annual holiday by the sea.

For the first 22 years of my marriage—we never missed a year of going to the same destination—Calistoga.. If you haven’t read Stonerby John Williamsthis might be a good opportunity. The main character leads an unremarkable life, which can be described as an accumulation of failure and disappointment. But it is a life worth reading about. You can read my review here. I can't imagine reading this book any other way! I read about the characters excitement for the holiday ahead, as I was excited for my own. I finished it as the characters were saying goodbye to their seaside town, as I'm saying goodbye to my own!

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It couldn’t be a play. It wasn’t the sort of story for the theatre, and in any case plays were done with. Proprio non ricordo come questo libro sia finito nella mia wishlist e da lì prima o poi inevitabilmente approdato alla lettura: sconosciuto il titolo, altrettanto ignoto l’autore che mai avevo sentito nominare, poco allettante la sinossi, nessun consiglio di amici, probabilmente si è trattato di una recensione galeotta che prometteva troppo. The sea had frightened Mrs. Stevens, and she had never conquered her fear. It frightened her most when it was dead calm. Something within her shuddered at the great smooth, slimy surface, stretching into a nothingness that made her giddy. For their honeymoon they had taken apartments with Mr. and Mrs. Huggett in St. Matthews Road— called “Seaview,” because from the lavatory window you could see the top of a lamppost on the beachfront. This novel is elegant. The sentences are beautiful in their precision, and often filled with wisdom. The atmosphere goes from a fresh filling of lungs, to a dusty, peeling interior in which a middle-class family has lived good days. The action is to forge onward and create these good days again, despite erosion, or a drifting away. It is a celebration of life, this novel, in all of its ordinariness. over all lay a spirit of joyful, unrestrained freedom. They were no servants – no masters: no clerks – no managers – just men and women whose common profession was Holidaymaker.”