London Belongs to Me (Penguin Modern Classics)

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But the real strength of the writing is in character, where individual trait and quirk are layered through the uncertainty and mood of the times : Satin and tat, threadbare and frayed at the edges. The scale is small, the voicing changes as the episode shifts to the next angle, an adroit mix of interwoven stories that keep the reader enchanted. Collins has advanced considerably in vision & craft since "Penang Appointment", but lost none of the enthusiasm or fizz.

Bridget Jones is mentioned in this book, so let’s use her as a reference point. The reason for the Bridget zeitgeist in the 90s – and the reason that book continues to be adored by so many women – is because Bridget is a lovable-but-seriously-flawed heroine. She has some definite talents and likeable qualities, but in the end, she’s her own worst enemy. She makes serious errors of judgment. She has some sizable gaps in her base of common sense. She gets in her own way. And her author is totally aware of all of this – Helen Fielding lets Bridget be a real woman and we love her for it, particularly because as Bridget stumbles through life, she also stumbles upon some hard-won happiness.

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Elementary education. What does the taxpayer get for it? What does anyone get for it? What do teachers do?' he) ... liked his chop or steak, his boiled suet roll or treacle pudding ... a whole cold pie followed by bread and jam, bread and syrup, or bread and fish paste ... the recurrent sadness of his single life was that boiled puddings no longer appeared on the table’. If that line didn't hook me, nothing could have. I felt such a connection to the main character, Alex, because our personalities seem eerily similar. Is Jacquelyn Middleton the pen name of one of my friends? ;) It's like she knows me.

Interestingly (at least to me), I live and have lived in the neighbourhoods depicted in both books; Hamilton's Fitzrovia and Collins' Kennington. The suburbs south of the river might be less salubrious than Soho, but they are brought to life with the same colour and, despite the fact that the book depicts life in the 30s, there's still much for a local to recognise in the descriptions - right down to the bus routes, which made me smile. In the crumbling but imposing building with a wooden notice board outside announcing The South London Spiritualist Movement, she conversed with Aztec princesses and Egyptian priests and Red Indian chiefs. Conversed while the medium groaned and panted, and the table bounced about and shifted itself and luminous tambourines and trumpets drifted over her head, and the odor of violets filled the air and cold winds blew. It was all momentous and terrifying, and somewhere amid the hubbub and the confusion Mrs. Vizzard waited patiently for Mr. Vizzard's voice to come through. After fourteen years she was still waiting." PATRICIA ROC QUITS PICTURE". The News. Vol.49, no.7, 595. Adelaide. 6 December 1947. p.1 . Retrieved 30 August 2017– via National Library of Australia. Norman Collins (an author I’ve never encountered before),weaves together these narratives magnificently well, creating believable characters – with both flaws and virtues – and having them deal with life in a way which seems so real, you can barely detect the author’s hand. Not all the plots work (Dr Otto Hapfel, for example, really goes nowhere), but reading this feels like an excellent, empathetic slice of living history. Fowler, Roy; Haines, Taffy (15 May 1990). "Interview with Sidney Gilliat" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project. p.96.

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I loved how this book does not focus much on the romance, as it was my first new adult book, my main concern was getting a cheesy lovestory and nothing else, but this was not the case. It had so many important topics which came before the love story - for example friendship. Alex is a person who has been disappointed a lot by other people, which leads to her thinking that she has to sort out all od her shit on her own. How she finds her best friends and realizes that she is not alone and can actually rely on ther people was really touching. As Glinert observes, it would scarcely last him a week and, regrettably, the wall-mounted vessel encompassing this gallery of delights slips her moorings, thus precipitating one of the novels’ finest comic moments. When the medium Mr Squales trips over a stray tin of salmon on the stairs, the adenoidally challenged Puddy explains apologetically: The book has a cinematic feel as the the author talks directly to the reader, inviting him to observe these actions / scenarios. For the Mrs Josser there is also her brother to worry about – Uncle Henry – a bicycling Socialist greengrocer who is apt to appear on the doorstep at any moment with a fiery sermon on the threats that loom from the deteriorating situation in Europe. Uncle Henry and Mr J are luminaries in something called the South London Parliament which meets weekly to mirror the debates and activities of the government on the other side of the Thames.

Jacquelyn writes love stories for hopeful romantics—'hopeful' because her novels are always optimistic and she believes 'happily ever afters' are more important now than ever before. But life is messy, relationships are messy, and her books aren't afraid to go there, too. If you enjoy character and relationship-driven stories about people dealing with the triumphs and disasters we all face, Jacquelyn’s books are for you. According to the interesting preface in this edition, Norman Collins was the author of sixteen novels and two plays, none of which, save London Belongs to Me, is worth remembering. Which makes the book even more noteworthy because it is a complete gem of a novel in almost every detail. Your flight is now boarding! Join Alex Sinclair for a life-changing, trans-Atlantic journey. London Belongs to Me is a coming-of-age story about friendship, following your dreams, and learning when to let go … and when to hang on. Norman Collins (1907-1982) was a British writer, and later a radio and television executive, who was responsible for creating Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4, and became one of the major figures behind the establishment of the Independent Television (ITV) network in the UK. In all Norman Collins wrote 16 novels and two plays, including London Belongs to Me (1945), The Governor's Lady (1968) and The Husband's Story (1978).But Alex is not the only great character in the novel. I'm still in awe how the author managed to create the side characters just perfectly. Their depth is truly fantastic and makes it possible to understand each of their motives, even of Olivia, our main antagonist. La trama de la historia es sencilla, pero muy interesante; los personajes están bien elaborados y el final está bien logrado. Necesito más finales como ese, con un toque de esperanza. The jossers are the solid centre of the book Usually referred to as Mr and Mrs - we meet them as Mr Josser retires from his city clerk job and half dreams of retiring in the country. But can they part from London. These are the moral core of the book and the sense of neighbourlyness and community emminates from this family. One of the great city novels: a sprawling celebration of the comedy, the savagery, the eccentricity and the quiet heroism at the heart of ordinary London life'

The plain fact is that there's been too much happening for Percy to be remembered. And, if you must know, Percy was never as important as he thought himself. Percy is found guilty, but his neighbours rally to his defence. With the assistance of Mr Josser's staunchly socialist Uncle Henry ( Stephen Murray), they gather thousands of signatures on a petition to win him a reprieve. At the end of the film, Percy's supporters march through the rain to the Houses of Parliament, only to discover just before their arrival that clemency has already been granted. Secondary characters are always hard to do; you either get too little or too much of them, but I think Middleton has nailed it here. Freddie, Lucy, Mark, Tom and even Olivia were fully rounded characters that could easily have novels of their own (which I'm still hoping for!) While I'm not generally a fan of random chapters in other characters' POVs, the one chapter from Olivia was actually really helpful in understanding her motivations, which I think was necessary for her character. La verdad es que el libro me encantó, fue fresco, distinto y fácil de leer. Me enamoré de los personajes y de toda la historia. Alex Sinclair is not a real woman, and her happiness comes after such non-events as "lived in a small room," "saw a hot girl near her love interest," and "was the victim of literally the world's laziest plagiarism." Every single one of her problems are external. Left to her own devices, she easily earns the adoration of everyone who meets her, becomes unbelievably proficient at two separate, but disparate jobs within weeks, and manages in less than a year to become teacher’s pet to her fabulously famous playwriting idol.Of all the world’s great cities, London seems to lend itself best to being portrayed as poky and provincial. Not for Paris, sad tales of women struggling to get together enough money to feed the electric meter; not for New York, stories of lonely night-watchmen who are just delighted to have one ring of a stove and some canned food. London is a sprawling city which can easily be made dingy and small (particularly the London of the pre-war years), and this is what Norman Collins’ evocative novel does. ‘London Belongs to Me’ is in many ways an epic tale following many characters over a number of years, but with such a concentration on the little details in life, it still manages to feel triumphantly undemonstrative and British. Alex's anxiety and the situations she ended up in actually made me feel anxious. Not Illuminae level anxious but still pretty bad.