Ooo Dyer Reckun Writ This Then? ( It wont me..)


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So.. who wrote this?  Where is the author describing?

Quote

 

October sunshine burnt copper-gilt

In the wind, under gold fringes of clouds, the town hunched as Charles Stead compared the time on his wristwatch with that on the dial of the square towered church.  At two thirty this Sunday afternoon the market place lay deserted, a curved, cobbled oval with stacked trestles at one end.  A knot of men,  in best suits, left the public house, but marched along together, not speaking, eyes staring, clattering out into the main street banging between shop windows.  To his right, Stead looked towards the river, unseen but marked by ruthlessly pollarded tress, sycamore, beech, lime, poplar, back to the Dutch gables over red brick banks, down to the pavement where eddies of wind grained fine dust.  Here in the hollow, all seemed sheltered so that the arrow heads of grime scouring the roads skipped as if scattered from beneath by the magnet in a child’s game.

Stead rubbed a finger on a plate glass window, eyed  himself, looked upwards where the sky seemed immensely distant, unconnected with the industrial accumulation about him.

A car swooped down the church hill, rounded the island and stopped by him.  The door clicked open before he bent and his wife smiled up, removing her gloves to slap the steering wheel.  Once he was inside, they kissed without show, but she did not start, sat smiling, swinging her right hand, tapping with her foot by the accelerator pedal.

“This?”  She said’

“This.”

 

 

Col

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Whoever it was I think he must have been an inmate in a mental home. Other than that I think it might have been one of Les Dawson's monologues with the humorous punchline missing.

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This sort of stuff used to be called purple prose and written by someone who's been on a creative writing course - and failed spectacularly.

 

If this is typical of the writer's work, they should be kept well away from all forms of written communication.

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I actually liked this piece of descriptive writing, especially the first part.  No idea who wrote it or where it is

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Hmmm.. Some very varied opinions!

 

I'll just say that the passage is the opening few paragraphs of a novel.  The description of the place is very accurate for anyone who knows it ( And many on here know it well... ) , or maybe knew it in 1971 when the novel was published.

 

Col

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Just because it may have been published doesn't necessarily mean it has any merit. I'm sure there are better descriptions of wherever this place may be that lack the florid attempts of this writer.

 

I don't have a clue who the author is but I hope his/her other works have a better writing style.

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Sounds feasible Phil. I've just read it again, and can't find another suitable area.

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5 hours ago, jonab said:

Just because it may have been published doesn't necessarily mean it has any merit. I'm sure there are better descriptions of wherever this place may be that lack the florid attempts of this writer.

 

I don't have a clue who the author is but I hope his/her other works have a better writing style.

 

I think in this case  it's a moot point.  He isn't just describing the place, he's establishing a mood too.

 

Mull

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S Middleton was born in Bulwell so it may well be the market. He was also a water colourist, organist and taught at the High School.

Someone must like the book - a hard back copy on Amazon is almost $400!

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5 hours ago, Brew said:

Brazen Prison by Stanley Middelton? (page 7)?

 

That is spot on Brew. ( Well... if I wanted to be 'picky'... it's Middleton.    :) and he didn't teach at The High School )  He was a pupil of and later teacher at High Pavement.  For a couple of years he taught me both English Language and Literature.  A fine teacher.

I posted this because the description was very clearly of Bulwell Market Place.  I was focusing more on that than the quality of the prose. Personally, I get a bit lost when his wife drives him from Boowul to their new house.  North West from the market place? I'd need to think about that and maybe get Cliff Ton's map expertise on the case too.  Wrote about 40 novels I think and shared a Booker Prize for his novel 'Holiday'.

 

His description of a school staff room in 'Harris's Requiem'  and the following narrative, is a clear description of the old school site on Gainsford Crs. Bestwood, although later in his books it's more difficult to identify places and I wonder if he just uses composites ?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Middleton

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/29/stanley-middleton-obituary

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4 hours ago, jonab said:

What did you think of it, DJ? You must have had some views about to have begun the thread.

 

In all honesty I was concerned more with seeing who would recognise the place.  I feel a sort of natural loyalty to Stan because he was my teacher, and an Old Pavior. He was born in Bulwell and would often nod to me in sort of vague recognition if we passed as he ambled around Bulwell long after I left school.  He typically wore an old gabardine mac and carried one of those patchwork vinyl shopping bags which I recall many miners used to carry their stuff to and from the pit. He was however usually and obviously deep in thought.

 

I've only read three or four of his novels but enjoyed them all.  I find his use of language quite refreshing.  He was a man of huge intellect and a pretty much 'classical' education.  This could easily have led to a more pompous and self conscious writing style, but he remained accessible and matter of fact, without descending excessively into dialect.

 

Col

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5 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Actually it makes Bulwell Market sound more romantic than it ever was. If it really is Bulwell Market.:biggrin:

 

'Romantic'?   Trestle tables.. skittering dust, paper and leaves, 'ruthlessly pollarded' trees down by the Bogs.  And apart from a few Sunday lunchtime boozers, an almost deserted market place on a Sunday.  That is pretty much how I recall it back then.  My memories of it are nostalgic, but hardly romantic. 

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