I read this as part of the David Bowie Reading Challenge.
The Angry Young Men movement, featuring such stars as Kingsley Amis, is perfectly illustrated through the iconic figure of Joe Lampton.
The ruthlessly ambitious Joe Lampton rises swiftly from the petty bureaucracy of local government into the unfamiliar world of inherited wealth, fast cars and glamorous women.
But the price of success is high, and betrayal and tragedy strike as Joe pursues his goals.
I’m very torn about this book. On the one hand, Joe’s frustration at the hand he has been dealt in life simply by the consequences of his birth is very easy to empathise with. He comes from a poor background, a dead-end town with no prospects and he wants to get on, to have the things that the middle and upper classes have.
On the other hand, I don’t feel this book has aged well – particularly in terms of the way the women are portrayed.
Joe is ambitious, and he moves to the middle-class town of Warley to take up a new job and to experience life and what it has to offer away from Dufton.
He meets and begins an affair with Alice, a married woman who seems to be fighting against the constraints placed on her sex, just as Joe is fighting the constraints placed on his class. He also begins a romance with the virginal Susan, daughter of a local businessman.
Joe seems to genuinely love Alice, but his feelings for Susan are mixed up with his desire to get to the top. He is using her and this is where the book loses its appeal for me.
I do understand that it is of its time, but still the portrayal of the female characters didn’t work for me. Alice is supposedly independent, intelligent and unconventional, yet she still allows Joe to treat her badly, is still needy. And Susan felt like a caricature of a young girl – whiny and spoilt and childish. She may well have these characteristics, but she would have worked better had she had some redeeming features.
It is an undoubtedly well-crafted and important book, and one that is significant in the Angry Young Men Movement. I’m glad I read it, but I can’t say that I enjoyed it.
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
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I’m sure the same type of characters are around today, we just like to think society has improved.
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Ah – I adore this book, it’s one of my most read favourites. I first read it when I was in my 20s, before I had my critique hat on, which makes me wonder if that was the best way!!!
Yes, it’s very much of its time…. and as for Alice, it was just that grand passion thing that knows no logic or sense, alas. That was how I saw it, anyway; the most sensible person in the world can fall prey to it, and it makes people act crazily…. I loved the bit where they had those 4 days together. Susan does grow up in the sequel, btw.
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I don’t believe it – a book we don’t agree about! 🙂 Will have to read the sequel now.
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I know, I was surprised too!!! The Alice and Joe thing really got to me; I thought it was SO convincing and heartrending.
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It was on my school reading list a LONG time ago. I remember feeling uncomfortable reading it.I’ll have to re-read it in the light of what both you and Terry say about it. I didn’t know there was a sequel.
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I’ll be interested to know what you think, Mary. I didn’t know about a sequel either. Shall have to look into it.
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Life At The Top, Mary – it’s ten years later.
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I only know this from the film… I’m wondering if I ought to give it a go. I can imagine the women might be a little one-dimensional.
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While I didn’t like it, it’s definitely worth a read. I’ve never seen the film. Must watch it.
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I think it may be 45 years ago that I saw it…
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Interesting discussion, I remember the film vaguely, but the book definitely sounds intriguing. One to ponder and definitely worth reading if I was writing in that era. X
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Agree, it would definitely help with research of that era. I am really going to have to watch the film.
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Excellent review!! I’ll be looking forward to reading this one.
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