Friday 2 July 2010

Another Good Writer Gone

The death of Beryl Bainbridge is sad news - a nice appreciation here. The smoking finally caught up with her, I suppose - after she'd given up - as with all those lifelong drunks who suddenly keel over the minute they foreswear the sauce. Another good - really good - writer gone, and one who never took herself too seriously. That she never won the Booker is more a recommendation than anything (Penelope Fitzgerald inadvertently won it one year, but that doesn't make her a lesser writer). It was pleasing to see how much time the BBC News devoted to her death. A pity the clunking obit credited her with a novel called The Bottle Opening Factory. She'd have laughed though.

5 comments:

  1. Oh I love that 'bottle opening.' We'll all be there with her!
    I remember hearing a radio interview with her, not so long ago. She was clearly depressed - 'Does anyone really care whether I write another damned book, or not?' I wanted to shout. 'I do!' I'm sure I wasn't alone.
    I'm looking forward to re-reading her novels - some read far too early in life to really appreciate that wonderful dark humour.

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  2. I've never read her. Which one should I start with?

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  3. I'm worried about Christopher Hitchens too.

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  4. Me neither Brit. I'm going to start with According to Queenie, the Dr Johnson novel. Isn't that where you'd want to start, given your interest in the great man?

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  5. Sounds about right, Gaw.

    It has just occured to me that Nige reads more female novelists than any other man I know.

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