The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel, written by Magnus Mills. In it, an anonymous narrator "the foreman" works for a Scottish fencing company, run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for "efficiency". The narrator is promoted to foreman and put in charge of Tam and Richie who prefer a laissez-faire approach to work and so are at odds with both their management and their new foreman.
Mills' deadpan narrative voice is at times either revealing or naive, and both these interpretations of the narrator are supported throughout the text – it is up to the reader to decide where the narrator is ironic or genuinely emoting.
The novel starts with a phone call, "Mr McCrindle's fence has gone slack", and sees the three main characters duly dispatched to the scene of Tam and Richie's previous job, which they have left in a hurry. The ensuing Kafkaesque incidents set the tone for the rest of the novel, where Tam, Richie, and the narrator find themselves "sent off" to England in work-related "exile".
Major themesedit
The Restraint of Beasts exhibits many issues and themes, most prominently that of work. Donald's drive for efficiency can be seen as thinly veiled fascism, whilst the "instability of three" deals with the balance of power between the narrator, Tam, and Richie. Since the narrator is a newly appointed foreman and cannot impose his will on either Tam or Richie he tries to reason with them: "We'd better have a go at getting this lot sorted out then." This results in a management style that conflicts with Donald, as obeying Donald implicitly is impractical: "it was clear that I would have to ignore unilaterally Donald's driving ban if we were going to get anything done at all". The theme of work as a domineering force in the lives of workers is prevalent throughout the novel, and is seen when the characters go back to Scotland from Mr Perkins's farm in England – Richie is confronted by the realisation that his boss Donald has implied to his mother that Richie was 'not coming back' and so the electric guitar Richie had his parents paying instalments on while he was away has been repossessed.
In 2006, Pawel Pawlikowski directed a film adaptation starring Rhys Ifans, Ben Whishaw, Eddie Marsan, and Warren Clarke but it was suspended in mid-production when the director's wife fell seriously ill and died. In 2010, he said "We'd shot 60% of the film when I had to stop. The material looks great, like nothing I've ever done or even seen before. It could have been really great, definitely original".[2][3]
Referencesedit
^. www.societyofauthors.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
^Dawtrey, Adam (20 September 2007). "Pawel Pawlikowski takes on Stalin". Variety. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
^""The Restraint of Beasts" Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski".
May 18, 2024
restraint, beasts, tragicomic, debut, novel, written, magnus, mills, anonymous, narrator, foreman, works, scottish, fencing, company, donald, consumed, work, desire, efficiency, narrator, promoted, foreman, charge, richie, prefer, laissez, faire, approach, wor. The Restraint of Beasts is a tragicomic debut novel written by Magnus Mills In it an anonymous narrator the foreman works for a Scottish fencing company run by Donald who is consumed by work and the desire for efficiency The narrator is promoted to foreman and put in charge of Tam and Richie who prefer a laissez faire approach to work and so are at odds with both their management and their new foreman The Restraint of BeastsFirst edition coverAuthorMagnus MillsCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenretragi comedyPublisherFlamingoPublication date7 September 1998Media typePrint Hardback amp Paperback Pages208ISBN0 00 225720 3 Mills deadpan narrative voice is at times either revealing or naive and both these interpretations of the narrator are supported throughout the text it is up to the reader to decide where the narrator is ironic or genuinely emoting Contents 1 Plot introduction 2 Major themes 3 Awards and nominations 4 Adaptations 5 ReferencesPlot introduction editThe novel starts with a phone call Mr McCrindle s fence has gone slack and sees the three main characters duly dispatched to the scene of Tam and Richie s previous job which they have left in a hurry The ensuing Kafkaesque incidents set the tone for the rest of the novel where Tam Richie and the narrator find themselves sent off to England in work related exile Major themes editThe Restraint of Beasts exhibits many issues and themes most prominently that of work Donald s drive for efficiency can be seen as thinly veiled fascism whilst the instability of three deals with the balance of power between the narrator Tam and Richie Since the narrator is a newly appointed foreman and cannot impose his will on either Tam or Richie he tries to reason with them We d better have a go at getting this lot sorted out then This results in a management style that conflicts with Donald as obeying Donald implicitly is impractical it was clear that I would have to ignore unilaterally Donald s driving ban if we were going to get anything done at all The theme of work as a domineering force in the lives of workers is prevalent throughout the novel and is seen when the characters go back to Scotland from Mr Perkins s farm in England Richie is confronted by the realisation that his boss Donald has implied to his mother that Richie was not coming back and so the electric guitar Richie had his parents paying instalments on while he was away has been repossessed Awards and nominations editThe Restraint of Beasts won the McKitterick Prize for 1999 1 It was nominated for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread first novel award for 1999 and was also praised by the usually reclusive author Thomas Pynchon as A demented deadpan comic wonder Adaptations editIn 2006 Pawel Pawlikowski directed a film adaptation starring Rhys Ifans Ben Whishaw Eddie Marsan and Warren Clarke but it was suspended in mid production when the director s wife fell seriously ill and died In 2010 he said We d shot 60 of the film when I had to stop The material looks great like nothing I ve ever done or even seen before It could have been really great definitely original 2 3 References edit Society of Authors www societyofauthors net Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 Dawtrey Adam 20 September 2007 Pawel Pawlikowski takes on Stalin Variety Retrieved 21 March 2011 The Restraint of Beasts Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Restraint of Beasts amp oldid 1133257796, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
