Sunday Salon: Stanley Middleton

As a result of an email exchange during the week with the omnipresent Dave Lull, I thought I'd mention an author I have not yet read, but have been intending to (via purchase last year of three of his out-of-print books from "Amazon marketplace sellers" aka second-hand bookshops). The author's name is Stanley Middleton, who was brought from my "as yet unread" shelves into focus to me this week by an article on the Guardian book blog by Sam Jordison (author of books with titles like "Crap Towns"), part of a series called "looking back at the Booker". I sent a link to the article to Dave, as I know that Stanley Middleton is a favourite of his.

Sam Jordison discusses one title of Middleton's in particular, "Holiday", as this is the book that won the Booker in 1974. The subtitle of the Guardian article reads unpromisingly: "Stanley Middleton's Holiday makes its few readers wince - and for all the right reasons." Sam Jordison starts out: "That a book like Holiday wouldn't even see the light of day in the current publishing climate was notoriously demonstrated in the Times when they sent its first chapter to a number of publishers and literary agents together with an extract from VS Naipaul's In a Free State. True, Middleton fared slightly better than the Nobel prizewinner, but the fact that only one agent expressed an interest in seeing further chapters - and none called the newspaper's bluff - does speak (empty) volumes."

Transcending this "unoriginal stunt", Jordison goes on to write: "I would never have read Holiday if it weren't for this trawl through past Booker winners, nor heard of its author (even though he's written more than 40 well-regarded books). I'd also be prepared to wager that few readers of this article have encountered Holiday or Middleton, outside the context of the Booker. (It might even be instructive to run a straw-poll in the comments below - be honest!) More to the point, if it weren't for the Booker, I'd have missed a treat."

I recommend reading the rest of Sam Jordison's article for the very good review of this book he goes on to relate, a book which sounds as if it covers remarkably similar ground, but with a different perspective no doubt, to Ian McEwan's recent On Chesil Beach. You might also be interested in the Guardian comment thread, containing contributions from Dave Lull himself, to which Sam Jordison has responded with appropriate grace.

Stanley Middleton's Wikipedia entry is here.

Comments

[Michael Walters]

I was really interested to read this piece, Maxine, as I'm a huge Stanley Middleton fan - and had begun to suspect that I was the only one left! It's difficult to describe the qualities of his books to anyone who hasn't read them, and I imagine he's a writer who would polarise opinion. His subject-matter - the problems of comfortably-off middle-class professionals in a provincial town - wouldn't immediately entice many, including me. And he largely eschews conventional plotting. His books are the antithesis of, say, crime fiction - some things happen, characters and events develop, some things are resolved, others aren't. And yet somehow Middleton manages to make this gripping, because we recognise and care about the characters, and because he writes beautifully. My own favourite among his books - I've got virtually all of them - is probably 'Valley of Decision' which manages to turn middle-class marital problems and creativity into a narrative as tense as any thriller.

Finally, an odd aside. Before his retirement, Middleton was Head of English at a school in Nottingham. My own English teacher, at another Nottingham school, arranged some additional lessons with Middleton for me and two other sixth-formers. I'm pretty sure that one of the other two was Julie Myerson (as she now is - I haven't met her since). So two of the three of us went on to become writers, which might say something for Middleton's teaching. Mind you, as far as I know, the third went on to manage a hedge-fund, so perhaps I shouldn't push this too far.

[Maxine]

Thank you for the lovely comment, Michael. Valley of Decision is one of the three Stanley Middleton books on my shelf, so I will start with that one. (The others are Entry into Jerusalem and Live and Learn -- I probably chose these on Dave Lull's recommendation but possibly availability via Amazon came into it too.)
How interesting to read about those lessons from Middleton -- and how wonderful for you. Even if the third did go on to manage a hedge-fund, in the words of the song, "two out of three ain't bad":-)
BTW it was also fun to be able to send Dave a link so closely related to one of his topics of interest, that he had not already spotted for himself. Mind you, he trumped my ace by picking me up on my initial misreading of Jordison's article. Dave, in case you don't know him, is the person single-handedly responsible for keeping the internet going, he is its kind of engine room.

[Clare D]

40 books! And yet I've not heard of him. Disgraceful, really, isn't it? I had heard of that Times exercise before, but to read about it again makes me realise how much is down to luck and whimsy.

[Ann Darnton]

So, being honest as requested, no I haven't heard of him. But, I have now and I'll be checking out the book shelves.

[Dave Lull]

I'm glad you posted this Maxine. I've thought for years that Stanley Middleton has been neglected and should be more widely known. Your calling your blog's readers' attention to his novels is a welcome step toward making that so.

Mr Walters has so nicely and concisely described the nature of Mr Middleton's novels. It's exactly what I would've written had someone asked me to describe them-- if I could write as well as Mr Walters. It's so gratifying to "meet" another fan.

I'm trying to get hold of a copy of Valley of Decision, which I haven't read. How could I not after finding out not only that Mr Middleton holds it among his favorites, but also that my fellow fan, and fine writer, Michael Walters does as well?