Sinister Street is a 1913–1914 novel by Compton Mackenzie. It is a kind of Bildungsroman[1], or novel about growing up, and concerns two children, Michael Fane and his sister Stella. Each of them is born out of wedlock, something that was frowned on at the time, but to rich parents.
In the UK, the novel was published in two volumes. However, in the United States, the volumes appeared as two separate books: Youth's Encounter (1913) and Sinister Street (1914).
George Orwell enjoyed the book illicitly as a prep school boy at St Cyprian's School in Eastbourne, where the headmistress, Mrs "Flip" Wilkes, gave a prize for the best list of books read. Cyril Connolly reported in Enemies of Promise that "although I won the prize through heading my list with Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution: A History—and Orwell won it next—we were both caught at last with two volumes of Sinister Street and our favour sank to zero."[2] Orwell responded to Connolly with the comment, "There was a fearful row about bringing that kind of book into the school."[3] Orwell's biographer Gordon Bowker suggests:[4]
It was not surprising that Sinister Street should so rivet young Eric. Its hero, Michael Fane, is studying Classics at a prep school, and moves with his mother from the countryside to Kensington (close to where Orwell's Aunt Nellie lived). He spends holidays in Cornwall (as Orwell's family did), visits Bournemouth (where Orwell's Uncle Charlie lived), and meets a girl from an Anglo-Indian family whose father is away in Burma. He visits Eastbourne and thinks what a lovely place. (Hollow laughter from Blair and Connolly, no doubt). Fane envies a wild looking, unkempt boy he sees wandering down Kensington High Street and longs to be "a raggle-taggle wanderer".
Connolly also wrote critically of the book in the first section of Enemies of Promise, stating:[5]
Nineteen fourteen was also the year of an important bad book Sinister Street. It is a work of inflation, important because it is the first of a long line of bad books, the novels of adolescence, autobiographical, romantic, which squandered the vocabulary of love and literary appreciation and played into the hands of the Levellers and Literary Puritans.
There is no book on Oxford like it. It gives you the actual Oxford experience. What Mackenzie has miraculously done is to make you feel what each term was like.
It is the picture of the development of a very precocious boy into a sophisticated young man of the nineteen-tens, and the picture is painted with a detail and wealth of reference unattempted by other authors of Mackenzie's experience. It illustrates most of its author's gifts, and all his faults. It is lavish, it contains rodomontade, it is literary, sentimental and florid. But it has no timidities; it is large and confident; it is a picture of something more than a single life. It is a record of a departed generation.
John Betjeman said of it, "This has always seemed to me one of the best novels of the best period in English novel writing." Henry James thought it to be the most remarkable book written by a young author in his lifetime.
Referencesedit
Linklater, Andro Compton Mackenzie: A Life The Hogarth Press (1992, London)
^George Woodcock Dawn and the Darkest Hour: A Study of Aldous Huxley p. 48
^Cyril Connolly Enemies of Promise (White Samite) Routledge & Kegan Paul 1938
^Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume I Letter to Connolly December 14, 1938 Secker & Warburg 1968
sinister, street, this, article, about, novel, film, film, series, series, 1913, 1914, novel, compton, mackenzie, kind, bildungsroman, novel, about, growing, concerns, children, michael, fane, sister, stella, each, them, born, wedlock, something, that, frowned. This article is about a novel For the film see Sinister Street film For the TV series see Sinister Street TV series Sinister Street is a 1913 1914 novel by Compton Mackenzie It is a kind of Bildungsroman 1 or novel about growing up and concerns two children Michael Fane and his sister Stella Each of them is born out of wedlock something that was frowned on at the time but to rich parents First edition UK publ Martin Secker In the UK the novel was published in two volumes However in the United States the volumes appeared as two separate books Youth s Encounter 1913 and Sinister Street 1914 Contents 1 Sequels 2 Adaptations 3 Reception 4 References 5 External linksSequels editThe novel had several sequels which continue until Michael Fane s marriage 1917 Guy and Pauline published in the United States as Plashers Mead 1918 The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett made into the 1935 film Sylvia Scarlett starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant 1919 Sylvia and MichaelAdaptations editThe book was turned into the 1922 silent film Sinister Street directed by George Beranger In 1969 it was adapted by the BBC for the TV series Sinister Street Reception editGeorge Orwell enjoyed the book illicitly as a prep school boy at St Cyprian s School in Eastbourne where the headmistress Mrs Flip Wilkes gave a prize for the best list of books read Cyril Connolly reported in Enemies of Promise that although I won the prize through heading my list with Thomas Carlyle s The French Revolution A History and Orwell won it next we were both caught at last with two volumes of Sinister Street and our favour sank to zero 2 Orwell responded to Connolly with the comment There was a fearful row about bringing that kind of book into the school 3 Orwell s biographer Gordon Bowker suggests 4 It was not surprising that Sinister Street should so rivet young Eric Its hero Michael Fane is studying Classics at a prep school and moves with his mother from the countryside to Kensington close to where Orwell s Aunt Nellie lived He spends holidays in Cornwall as Orwell s family did visits Bournemouth where Orwell s Uncle Charlie lived and meets a girl from an Anglo Indian family whose father is away in Burma He visits Eastbourne and thinks what a lovely place Hollow laughter from Blair and Connolly no doubt Fane envies a wild looking unkempt boy he sees wandering down Kensington High Street and longs to be a raggle taggle wanderer Connolly also wrote critically of the book in the first section of Enemies of Promise stating 5 Nineteen fourteen was also the year of an important bad book Sinister Street It is a work of inflation important because it is the first of a long line of bad books the novels of adolescence autobiographical romantic which squandered the vocabulary of love and literary appreciation and played into the hands of the Levellers and Literary Puritans Max Beerbohm said of it 6 There is no book on Oxford like it It gives you the actual Oxford experience What Mackenzie has miraculously done is to make you feel what each term was like Frank Swinnerton a literary critic described it thus It is the picture of the development of a very precocious boy into a sophisticated young man of the nineteen tens and the picture is painted with a detail and wealth of reference unattempted by other authors of Mackenzie s experience It illustrates most of its author s gifts and all his faults It is lavish it contains rodomontade it is literary sentimental and florid But it has no timidities it is large and confident it is a picture of something more than a single life It is a record of a departed generation John Betjeman said of it This has always seemed to me one of the best novels of the best period in English novel writing Henry James thought it to be the most remarkable book written by a young author in his lifetime References editLinklater Andro Compton Mackenzie A Life The Hogarth Press 1992 London George Woodcock Dawn and the Darkest Hour A Study of Aldous Huxley p 48 Cyril Connolly Enemies of Promise White Samite Routledge amp Kegan Paul 1938 Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus The Collected Essays Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume I Letter to Connolly December 14 1938 Secker amp Warburg 1968 Gordon Bowker George Orwell p 45 46 ISBN 978 0 349 11551 1 Cyril Connolly Enemies of Promise The Modern Movement Routledge amp Kegan Paul 1938 On Compton Mackenzie Allan Massie Archived 2012 03 15 at the Wayback MachineExternal links editSinister Street at Standard Ebooks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sinister Street amp oldid 1215138414, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
