What do you think?
Rate this book
The Five Towns #6
Clayhanger
A novel about a boy growing to manhood in the last quarter of the 19th century. The first in a trilogy, it includes a portrait of an autocratic father.
528 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1910
59 people are currently reading
751 people want to read
About the author
Arnold Bennett
1,017 books316 followersEnoch Arnold Bennett was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboration with other writers), and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in and briefly ran the Ministry of Information during the First World War, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s. Sales of his books were substantial, and he was the most financially successful British author of his day.
Born into a modest but upwardly mobile family in Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries, Bennett was intended by his father, a solicitor, to follow him into the legal profession. Bennett worked for his father before moving to another law firm in London as a clerk at the age of 21. He became assistant editor and then editor of a women's magazine before becoming a full-time author in 1900. Always a devotee of French culture in general and French literature in particular, he moved to Paris in 1903; there the relaxed milieu helped him overcome his intense shyness, particularly with women. He spent ten years in France, marrying a Frenchwoman in 1907. In 1912 he moved back to England. He and his wife separated in 1921, and he spent the last years of his life with a new partner, an English actress. He died in 1931 of typhoid fever, having unwisely drunk tap-water in France.
Many of Bennett's novels and short stories are set in a fictionalised version of the Staffordshire Potteries, which he called The Five Towns. He strongly believed that literature should be accessible to ordinary people and he deplored literary cliques and élites. His books appealed to a wide public and sold in large numbers. For this reason, and for his adherence to realism, writers and supporters of the modernist school, notably Virginia Woolf, belittled him, and his fiction became neglected after his death. During his lifetime his journalistic "self-help" books sold in substantial numbers, and he was also a playwright; he did less well in the theatre than with novels but achieved two considerable successes with Milestones (1912) and The Great Adventure (1913).
Studies by Margaret Drabble (1974), John Carey (1992), and others have led to a re-evaluation of Bennett's work. The finest of his novels, including Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), are now widely recognised as major works.
Born into a modest but upwardly mobile family in Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries, Bennett was intended by his father, a solicitor, to follow him into the legal profession. Bennett worked for his father before moving to another law firm in London as a clerk at the age of 21. He became assistant editor and then editor of a women's magazine before becoming a full-time author in 1900. Always a devotee of French culture in general and French literature in particular, he moved to Paris in 1903; there the relaxed milieu helped him overcome his intense shyness, particularly with women. He spent ten years in France, marrying a Frenchwoman in 1907. In 1912 he moved back to England. He and his wife separated in 1921, and he spent the last years of his life with a new partner, an English actress. He died in 1931 of typhoid fever, having unwisely drunk tap-water in France.
Many of Bennett's novels and short stories are set in a fictionalised version of the Staffordshire Potteries, which he called The Five Towns. He strongly believed that literature should be accessible to ordinary people and he deplored literary cliques and élites. His books appealed to a wide public and sold in large numbers. For this reason, and for his adherence to realism, writers and supporters of the modernist school, notably Virginia Woolf, belittled him, and his fiction became neglected after his death. During his lifetime his journalistic "self-help" books sold in substantial numbers, and he was also a playwright; he did less well in the theatre than with novels but achieved two considerable successes with Milestones (1912) and The Great Adventure (1913).
Studies by Margaret Drabble (1974), John Carey (1992), and others have led to a re-evaluation of Bennett's work. The finest of his novels, including Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), are now widely recognised as major works.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
May 2, 2020
This is a coming-of-age story although it takes our young man, Edwin, up to about age 30, after his father’s death, to break out of his childhood,. We’re told he’s finished with school at age 16 in 1872 so that gives you a timeframe for the story --Victorian England. It’s a long novel with a lot of plot so I’ll just briefly mention the story line and focus on samples of his writing, so you know what you are signing up for if you decide to read it.
The novel is the first of a four-part series. The others are Hilda Lessways (the woman that the main character falls in love with in volume one); These Twain (about their married life) and Roll-Call.
This reminds me a lot of a Dickens novel. I decided to read something by Arnold Bennett because I had read somewhere that he was one of Iris Murdoch’s favorite authors and I had never heard of him!
Like Dickens he published much of his early work serially in newspapers, so the plot has some soap-opera twists, especially in regard to his young love, Hilda, subject of the second volume in the series. Part of her attraction seems to be her ability to shock him and shock him she does in several surprising plot twists. For quite a while he doesn’t like her and doesn’t find her attractive, but she grows on him.
And like Dickens, when we close the book we remember vividly drawn quirky characters.
The author’s main topic, as we are told in the introduction using Bennett’s own words, is “the interestingness of existence.” He likes details and strings of adjectives.
We watch Edwin remain under the domination of his strict father cultivating him to go into the family printing business. Edwin has great artistic talent and wants to be an architect but it is not to be. A lot of the story is about class. Even though his father grew up in Oliver Twist-type poverty, forced to work full-time at age 7 to help get his family out of the poorhouse, he managed to leave that behind. He turns against the working class as he acquired wealth. Edwin has liberal leanings, but he can’t show them until after his father’s death. (The author refers to the opposing political parties in shorthand - blue and red!)
The incredibly descriptive writing:
“On their right was the astonishing farm, with barns and ricks and cornfields complete, seemingly quite unaware of its forlorn oddness in that foul arena of manufacture. In front, on a little hill in the vast valley, was spread out the Indian-red architecture of Bursley - tall chimneys and rounded ovens, schools, the new scarlet market, the gray tower of the old church, the high spire of the evangelical church, the low spire of the church of genuflections, and the crimson chapels, and rows of little red houses with amber chimney-pots, and the gold angel of the blackened Town Hall topping the whole. The sedate reddish browns and reds of the composition, all netted in flowing scarves of smoke, harmonized exquisitely with the chill blues of the checkered sky. Beauty was achieved, and none saw it.”
“Edwin, like Big James [a worker in his father’s printing plant] in progress from everlasting to everlasting, was all inchoate, uninformed, undisciplined, and burning with capricious fires; all expectant, eager, reluctant, tingling, timid, innocently and wistfully audacious. By taking the boy’s hand, Big James might have poetically symbolized their relation.”
[Edwin’s father] “Some of his scanty hair was white; the rest was gray. White hair sprouted about his ears; gold gleaned in his mouth; and a pair of spectacles hung insecurely balanced half-way down his nose; his waistcoat seemed to be stretched tightly over a perfectly smooth hemisphere. He had an air of somewhat gross and prosperous untidiness. Except for the teeth, his bodily frame appeared to have fallen into disrepair, as though he had ceased to be interested in it, as though he had been using it for a long time as a mere makeshift lodging.”
[His father’s death bed] “The bed was in an architecturally contrived recess, sheltered from both the large window and the door. Over its head was the gas-bracket and the bell-knob. At one side was a night-table, and at the other a chair. In front of the night-table were Darius’s slippers. On the chair were certain clothes. From a hook near the night-table, and almost over the slippers, hung his dressing-gown. Seen from the bed, the dressing-table, at the window, appeared to be a long way off, and the wardrobe was a long way off in another direction. The gas was turned low. It threw a pale illumination on the bed, and gleamed on a curve of mahogany here in there in the distances.”
How’s this for a spot-on description of town politics? It describes the local gentlemen’s club which could be a modern-day Kiwanis Club: “And down the long littered tables stretched the authority and the wealth of the town – alderman, counselors, members of the school board, guardians of the poor, magistrates, solid tradesmen, and solid manufacturers, together with higher officials of the borough and some members of the learned professions. Here was the oligarchy which, behind the appearances of democratic government, effectively managed, directed, and controlled the town. Here was the handful of people who settled between them whether rates should go up or down, and to whom it did not seriously matter whether rates went up or down, provided that the interest of the common people were not too sharply set in antagonism to their own interests. Here were the privileged, who did what they liked on the condition of not offending each other.”
Some other snippets I liked:
“But the fellow was only a decent, dull, pushing, successful ass, and quite unable to assimilate Mr. Orgreave…”
“Time passed, like a ship across a distant horizon, which moves but which does not seem to move.”
“He could never be intimate with Tom, because Tom somehow never came out from behind his spectacles.”
“I must hold an inquisition upon my whole way of existence. I must see where I stand. If ever I am to be alive, I ought to be alive now. And I’m not at all sure whether I am.”
We learn a lot about the geography of the area which the author called the Five Towns (it was actually called Six Towns then). It was still a major pottery manufacturing center when Bennett was alive. The towns later consolidated into today’s Stoke-on-Trent, located in the English Midlands about midway between Liverpool and Manchester.
One good thing about Bennett (1867-1931) is, if you want to binge on an author, it will probably take you a year to get though all his stuff. He was a prolific writer producing 42 novels, about 20 non-fiction works; and a dozen plays. Six of his novels were made into films in Britain (in black and white days) but more recently (up till 1988 anyway) six of his novels have been made into BBC TV serials. One serial, the Clayhanger Family, has 26 shows. So, that’s evidence that he tells a good story. (And this book is fairly highly rated on GR, more than 4.0)
There's even an omelette featuring smoked haddock named after him. You can find the recipe on the web.
Top photo of Bournville (near Manchester), 1926 from cam.ac.uk
Painting from an exhibition celebrating the author at the Potteries Museum in 2017 from
staffslive.co.uk
The author's childhood home near Hanley from pinterest.com
Statue of the author from live.staticflickr.com
Photo of the author from bbc.co.uk
The novel is the first of a four-part series. The others are Hilda Lessways (the woman that the main character falls in love with in volume one); These Twain (about their married life) and Roll-Call.
This reminds me a lot of a Dickens novel. I decided to read something by Arnold Bennett because I had read somewhere that he was one of Iris Murdoch’s favorite authors and I had never heard of him!
Like Dickens he published much of his early work serially in newspapers, so the plot has some soap-opera twists, especially in regard to his young love, Hilda, subject of the second volume in the series. Part of her attraction seems to be her ability to shock him and shock him she does in several surprising plot twists. For quite a while he doesn’t like her and doesn’t find her attractive, but she grows on him.
And like Dickens, when we close the book we remember vividly drawn quirky characters.
The author’s main topic, as we are told in the introduction using Bennett’s own words, is “the interestingness of existence.” He likes details and strings of adjectives.
We watch Edwin remain under the domination of his strict father cultivating him to go into the family printing business. Edwin has great artistic talent and wants to be an architect but it is not to be. A lot of the story is about class. Even though his father grew up in Oliver Twist-type poverty, forced to work full-time at age 7 to help get his family out of the poorhouse, he managed to leave that behind. He turns against the working class as he acquired wealth. Edwin has liberal leanings, but he can’t show them until after his father’s death. (The author refers to the opposing political parties in shorthand - blue and red!)
The incredibly descriptive writing:
“On their right was the astonishing farm, with barns and ricks and cornfields complete, seemingly quite unaware of its forlorn oddness in that foul arena of manufacture. In front, on a little hill in the vast valley, was spread out the Indian-red architecture of Bursley - tall chimneys and rounded ovens, schools, the new scarlet market, the gray tower of the old church, the high spire of the evangelical church, the low spire of the church of genuflections, and the crimson chapels, and rows of little red houses with amber chimney-pots, and the gold angel of the blackened Town Hall topping the whole. The sedate reddish browns and reds of the composition, all netted in flowing scarves of smoke, harmonized exquisitely with the chill blues of the checkered sky. Beauty was achieved, and none saw it.”
“Edwin, like Big James [a worker in his father’s printing plant] in progress from everlasting to everlasting, was all inchoate, uninformed, undisciplined, and burning with capricious fires; all expectant, eager, reluctant, tingling, timid, innocently and wistfully audacious. By taking the boy’s hand, Big James might have poetically symbolized their relation.”
[Edwin’s father] “Some of his scanty hair was white; the rest was gray. White hair sprouted about his ears; gold gleaned in his mouth; and a pair of spectacles hung insecurely balanced half-way down his nose; his waistcoat seemed to be stretched tightly over a perfectly smooth hemisphere. He had an air of somewhat gross and prosperous untidiness. Except for the teeth, his bodily frame appeared to have fallen into disrepair, as though he had ceased to be interested in it, as though he had been using it for a long time as a mere makeshift lodging.”
[His father’s death bed] “The bed was in an architecturally contrived recess, sheltered from both the large window and the door. Over its head was the gas-bracket and the bell-knob. At one side was a night-table, and at the other a chair. In front of the night-table were Darius’s slippers. On the chair were certain clothes. From a hook near the night-table, and almost over the slippers, hung his dressing-gown. Seen from the bed, the dressing-table, at the window, appeared to be a long way off, and the wardrobe was a long way off in another direction. The gas was turned low. It threw a pale illumination on the bed, and gleamed on a curve of mahogany here in there in the distances.”
How’s this for a spot-on description of town politics? It describes the local gentlemen’s club which could be a modern-day Kiwanis Club: “And down the long littered tables stretched the authority and the wealth of the town – alderman, counselors, members of the school board, guardians of the poor, magistrates, solid tradesmen, and solid manufacturers, together with higher officials of the borough and some members of the learned professions. Here was the oligarchy which, behind the appearances of democratic government, effectively managed, directed, and controlled the town. Here was the handful of people who settled between them whether rates should go up or down, and to whom it did not seriously matter whether rates went up or down, provided that the interest of the common people were not too sharply set in antagonism to their own interests. Here were the privileged, who did what they liked on the condition of not offending each other.”
Some other snippets I liked:
“But the fellow was only a decent, dull, pushing, successful ass, and quite unable to assimilate Mr. Orgreave…”
“Time passed, like a ship across a distant horizon, which moves but which does not seem to move.”
“He could never be intimate with Tom, because Tom somehow never came out from behind his spectacles.”
“I must hold an inquisition upon my whole way of existence. I must see where I stand. If ever I am to be alive, I ought to be alive now. And I’m not at all sure whether I am.”
We learn a lot about the geography of the area which the author called the Five Towns (it was actually called Six Towns then). It was still a major pottery manufacturing center when Bennett was alive. The towns later consolidated into today’s Stoke-on-Trent, located in the English Midlands about midway between Liverpool and Manchester.
One good thing about Bennett (1867-1931) is, if you want to binge on an author, it will probably take you a year to get though all his stuff. He was a prolific writer producing 42 novels, about 20 non-fiction works; and a dozen plays. Six of his novels were made into films in Britain (in black and white days) but more recently (up till 1988 anyway) six of his novels have been made into BBC TV serials. One serial, the Clayhanger Family, has 26 shows. So, that’s evidence that he tells a good story. (And this book is fairly highly rated on GR, more than 4.0)
There's even an omelette featuring smoked haddock named after him. You can find the recipe on the web.
Top photo of Bournville (near Manchester), 1926 from cam.ac.uk
Painting from an exhibition celebrating the author at the Potteries Museum in 2017 from
staffslive.co.uk
The author's childhood home near Hanley from pinterest.com
Statue of the author from live.staticflickr.com
Photo of the author from bbc.co.uk
Read
November 4, 2016I remember this as a decent read, although since it is the first part of a trilogy and I haven't so far gone on to read the rest I suppose my actions belie my words.
Clayhanger is set in Bennett's five towns -ie Stoke-on-Trent. Clayhanger, our eponymous hero, leaves school and starts working in his father's moderately successful printing business, which in time he comes to run. This is the background to the business of the novel which focuses on his interior life. There is a strong sense of his alienation from the life that surrounds him, despite having two sisters his relationships are not close, with the exception of his relationship with the woman he is in love with and separated from. The novel has these odd flashes - like the effect upon Clayhanger of seeing a clog dancer as a young man, not perhaps one's first choice as a manifestation of the erotic, but then I'm a Southerner while Bennett argued that the North begins at Stoke-on-Trent, it is entirely true to the spirit of this book that the young Clayhanger does not run off in pursuit of the clog dancer, this is the novel about people who don't so that kind of thing but instead stay at home and regret it and are repressed to such an extent that the idea of running off after clog dancers doesn't even occur to them - that work very effectively at casting the rest of his lived experience in an even drearier light with the distinctive taste of clay dust from the potteries upon the tongue.
I don't feel that this book gives as sharp a sense of life in turn of the century Stoke as Anna of the Five Towns - besides which that novel has one of the sharpest, off hand descriptions of a death I can recall - though Clayhanger's perception of a Methodist revival meeting as being like a Hindu festival (the latter not intended by the character as a compliment ) and the description of the election day are memorable.
Clayhanger is set in Bennett's five towns -ie Stoke-on-Trent. Clayhanger, our eponymous hero, leaves school and starts working in his father's moderately successful printing business, which in time he comes to run. This is the background to the business of the novel which focuses on his interior life. There is a strong sense of his alienation from the life that surrounds him, despite having two sisters his relationships are not close, with the exception of his relationship with the woman he is in love with and separated from. The novel has these odd flashes - like the effect upon Clayhanger of seeing a clog dancer as a young man, not perhaps one's first choice as a manifestation of the erotic, but then I'm a Southerner while Bennett argued that the North begins at Stoke-on-Trent, it is entirely true to the spirit of this book that the young Clayhanger does not run off in pursuit of the clog dancer, this is the novel about people who don't so that kind of thing but instead stay at home and regret it and are repressed to such an extent that the idea of running off after clog dancers doesn't even occur to them - that work very effectively at casting the rest of his lived experience in an even drearier light with the distinctive taste of clay dust from the potteries upon the tongue.
I don't feel that this book gives as sharp a sense of life in turn of the century Stoke as Anna of the Five Towns - besides which that novel has one of the sharpest, off hand descriptions of a death I can recall - though Clayhanger's perception of a Methodist revival meeting as being like a Hindu festival (the latter not intended by the character as a compliment ) and the description of the election day are memorable.
December 1, 2020
Free download at Librivox here: https://librivox.org/clayhanger-by-ar...
The first of a series of four set in Arnold Bennett's "Five Towns" which are the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries - Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tungstall, that now make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England:
1.Clayhanger
2.Hilda Lessways
3.These Twain
4.The Roll-Call
The story follows a father and son living in Victorian England. The father, originally from a poor family, has made himself into a prominent and respected member of the community. He has established and successfully run a printing enterprise in Bursley (Burslem). The father is named Darius, the son is Edwin. Other members of the family and neighbors in the community are drawn into the story too. The primary focus remains a family business where it is presumed the enterprise will pass from father to son. Edwin has other dreams for his future. Darius has failed to speak of his past, the poverty he experienced and the threat of the workhouse. There is a lack of communication--that exists so often between different generations. In regard to Edwin, we have a coming-of-age story and a love thread. Edwin’s life is followed from the age of sixteen through his mid-thirties.
As a book of historical fiction, in its depiction of town life in the English Midlands in the latter half of the 1800s, it is exemplary. It is an informative book about a time that has passed. The running of a printing establishment, the making of porcelain, the coming of new-fangled inventions, for example those using steam, improved communications via railways and canals--all is described with meticulous, accurate detail. The expanding industrialization in England led to changes in the infrastructure and ways of life for ordinary people. Houses came to be built differently. Clothing, cooking, household appliances and routines—so very much was altered. On the political front, the increasing importance of labor unions, the celebrations in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the passage of Irish Home Rule legislation and the deeds and death of Charles Stewart Parnell are examples of topics briefly covered. The influenza wreaks havoc on a national and familial level.
This is NOT a story about a dysfunctional family. The characters are upright and decent. I found this to be a relief.
Problems occur, but the telling of events is not drawn with an excess of drama. This too is enjoyable. Must books always be slathered in dramatics?!
I found the language somewhat dated, nor particularly elegant. There isn’t much humor. The story at times feels long.
The difficulties that arise in the shift of control from father to son in a family firm are drawn with insight. It is here that I think the story is at its best. How this feels for the father, as well as the son, are poignantly told. This aspect of the tale is relevant still today. How do I know? I worked in my father’s company when I was young.
I like very much how the author leads readers into the next book. You are given enough information so you can accept what has occurred. At the same time, you are left curious for a fuller understanding. I cannot say more; more would be a spoiler. On putting this book down I was very tempted to change all my reading plans and immediately pick up Hilda Lessways. Keep in mind, I am not a fan of book series! I want to know Hilda Lessways’ backstory. She is a figure that appeals to me. She has an inner strength and her actions and demeanor set her apart. Who she is I will not tell you. I will very soon pick up the next book. View this as a vote of recommendation for Clayhanger!
Meyerli’s narration at Librivox is fine. I am always more lenient in my ratings of Librivox narrators--they do this without pay! The production is not terribly professional; the volume goes up and down, but this isn’t the end of the world. The words are spoken clearly, so I am satisfied. The narration I have given three stars. It is good; I would not hesitate to choose another read by this woman. I should add that the beginning chapters aren’t the best; the narration improves as she gets into her stride. One chapter, the second one, is read by a different narrator—Fareeda Amir.
************************
*Anna of the Five Towns 4 stars
*Riceyman Steps 4 stars
*Helen with the High Hand - An Idyllic Diversion 4 stars
*The Old Wives' Tale 4 stars
*The Card: A Story of Adventure in the Five Towns 4 stars
*Buried Alive 4 stars
*The Grand Babylon Hotel 3 stars
*Clayhanger 3 stars
*Hilda Lessways 3 stars
The first of a series of four set in Arnold Bennett's "Five Towns" which are the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries - Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tungstall, that now make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England:
1.Clayhanger
2.Hilda Lessways
3.These Twain
4.The Roll-Call
The story follows a father and son living in Victorian England. The father, originally from a poor family, has made himself into a prominent and respected member of the community. He has established and successfully run a printing enterprise in Bursley (Burslem). The father is named Darius, the son is Edwin. Other members of the family and neighbors in the community are drawn into the story too. The primary focus remains a family business where it is presumed the enterprise will pass from father to son. Edwin has other dreams for his future. Darius has failed to speak of his past, the poverty he experienced and the threat of the workhouse. There is a lack of communication--that exists so often between different generations. In regard to Edwin, we have a coming-of-age story and a love thread. Edwin’s life is followed from the age of sixteen through his mid-thirties.
As a book of historical fiction, in its depiction of town life in the English Midlands in the latter half of the 1800s, it is exemplary. It is an informative book about a time that has passed. The running of a printing establishment, the making of porcelain, the coming of new-fangled inventions, for example those using steam, improved communications via railways and canals--all is described with meticulous, accurate detail. The expanding industrialization in England led to changes in the infrastructure and ways of life for ordinary people. Houses came to be built differently. Clothing, cooking, household appliances and routines—so very much was altered. On the political front, the increasing importance of labor unions, the celebrations in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the passage of Irish Home Rule legislation and the deeds and death of Charles Stewart Parnell are examples of topics briefly covered. The influenza wreaks havoc on a national and familial level.
This is NOT a story about a dysfunctional family. The characters are upright and decent. I found this to be a relief.
Problems occur, but the telling of events is not drawn with an excess of drama. This too is enjoyable. Must books always be slathered in dramatics?!
I found the language somewhat dated, nor particularly elegant. There isn’t much humor. The story at times feels long.
The difficulties that arise in the shift of control from father to son in a family firm are drawn with insight. It is here that I think the story is at its best. How this feels for the father, as well as the son, are poignantly told. This aspect of the tale is relevant still today. How do I know? I worked in my father’s company when I was young.
I like very much how the author leads readers into the next book. You are given enough information so you can accept what has occurred. At the same time, you are left curious for a fuller understanding. I cannot say more; more would be a spoiler. On putting this book down I was very tempted to change all my reading plans and immediately pick up Hilda Lessways. Keep in mind, I am not a fan of book series! I want to know Hilda Lessways’ backstory. She is a figure that appeals to me. She has an inner strength and her actions and demeanor set her apart. Who she is I will not tell you. I will very soon pick up the next book. View this as a vote of recommendation for Clayhanger!
Meyerli’s narration at Librivox is fine. I am always more lenient in my ratings of Librivox narrators--they do this without pay! The production is not terribly professional; the volume goes up and down, but this isn’t the end of the world. The words are spoken clearly, so I am satisfied. The narration I have given three stars. It is good; I would not hesitate to choose another read by this woman. I should add that the beginning chapters aren’t the best; the narration improves as she gets into her stride. One chapter, the second one, is read by a different narrator—Fareeda Amir.
************************
*Anna of the Five Towns 4 stars
*Riceyman Steps 4 stars
*Helen with the High Hand - An Idyllic Diversion 4 stars
*The Old Wives' Tale 4 stars
*The Card: A Story of Adventure in the Five Towns 4 stars
*Buried Alive 4 stars
*The Grand Babylon Hotel 3 stars
*Clayhanger 3 stars
*Hilda Lessways 3 stars
August 27, 2022
Bennett’s other epic pales in comparison with The Old Wives’ Tale, following the frequently uneventful life and times of a printer’s apprentice, beleaguered by a tyrannical father, a nonexistent sex life, and a thwarted career in architecture. Typical unflinching realism from an underread master chronicler of the Midlands.
August 17, 2022
An engaging historical fiction novel about Edwin Clayhanger, a hard working, responsible, serious, lonely young man who works in his father’s printing business at Bursley, Staffordshire, in the late 1800s. Edwin is a shy man who falls in love with one woman. He has no other girlfriends. His father, Darius, is a quiet, shrewd, very good businessman who improved his printing business over time and made very good investments. The story begins when Edwin is in his teen years. His mother has died and his elder sister, Maggie, runs the household.
An enjoyable, satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1910.
An enjoyable, satisfying reading experience.
This book was first published in 1910.
June 29, 2013
Occasionally comes along a book in which the protagonist does nothing I want him to - ever. In which questions are posed and never answered. It turns out that I like this ( at least in this particular case). Edwin is trapped in a way that makes the reader want to scream for him - trapped by his father, but worst of all, trapped within himself - he almost always does the opposite of what he wants to do. It's a fascinating read - long, maddening, but ringing true. It begs the question - do you read a book for entertainment only, or to see life from another point of view? This one took a little work to get through, but was well worth the effort.
(Thanks to Bettie whose profile I spotted it on.)
(Thanks to Bettie whose profile I spotted it on.)
July 22, 2008
If you are adverse to books that "move slowly," then by all means pass on this one. What Bennett is so very good at is creating characters by examining the minutia of their lives, desires, and personalities. I found "Clayhanger" to be so absolutely human in a way that's eminently recognizable even nearly a century since its initial publication. I look forward with pleasure to the next two books in the trilogy, "Hilda Lessways" and "These Twain". Bennett's "The Old Wives' Tale" is probably the best remembered of his novels, and it is a fine, fine read too.
March 7, 2019
A great read and first in the trilogy. Edwin is a frustrating character in many ways. He does not follow his dream of being an architect and instead follows his father Darius into the family printing business. The book follows his pathway from adolescence to adulthood and the promises we all make to ourselves but never really fulfill them satisfactorily. He meets the mysterious Hilda a friend of Janet’s. We then follow his path albeit slowly to his destiny which we finally get to on the final page!
I am looking forward to reading the remaining two books of the trilogy. The story is frustrating in Edwins lack of initiative but the 1880s were a different era.
I am looking forward to reading the remaining two books of the trilogy. The story is frustrating in Edwins lack of initiative but the 1880s were a different era.
May 2, 2012
There are so many books to read that rarely can I justify reading a book more than once.
I have read Clayhanger three times due to Bennett creation of one of literary's most sympathetic and empathetic characters in Edwin Clayhanger. The rest of the series don't quite measure up but I so wanted Edwin to succeed in his goals throughout the entire book.
Bennett's best novel.
I have read Clayhanger three times due to Bennett creation of one of literary's most sympathetic and empathetic characters in Edwin Clayhanger. The rest of the series don't quite measure up but I so wanted Edwin to succeed in his goals throughout the entire book.
Bennett's best novel.
May 10, 2018
Years ago I read Margaret Drabble's masterful biography of Arnold Bennett and proceeded to read most of his novels with pleasure. This one, *Clayhanger,* was written in 1910 and was the first of a series of books about a family living in the pottery-making district of England in the 19th C. It concerns a young man's relationship with his irascible printer father and with a mysterious young woman. Unusual for me, I did not remember a thing about the story other than the name of one of the female characters, but I'm sure I read it.
The book is evocative of a way of life and of an individual psychology, a boy growing up and trying to understand both himself and the people around him, a boy and young man who wants to keep growing and perfecting his knowledge.
The actions of the mysterious woman are never fully explained, which I found frustrating. What was most interesting to me was Bennett's scathing description of idle wealth and his sympathy for the poor. The passage about the seaside resort of Brighton nearly incinerated the pages. I also thought the history of Edwin Clayhanger's father as an impoverished child in the workhouse (a secret he kept from his family) was fascinating.
But as much as I have admired the artistry and psychological insight of Arnold Bennett over the years, I was disappointed in what felt like loose threads in *Clayhanger* this time around.
The book is evocative of a way of life and of an individual psychology, a boy growing up and trying to understand both himself and the people around him, a boy and young man who wants to keep growing and perfecting his knowledge.
The actions of the mysterious woman are never fully explained, which I found frustrating. What was most interesting to me was Bennett's scathing description of idle wealth and his sympathy for the poor. The passage about the seaside resort of Brighton nearly incinerated the pages. I also thought the history of Edwin Clayhanger's father as an impoverished child in the workhouse (a secret he kept from his family) was fascinating.
But as much as I have admired the artistry and psychological insight of Arnold Bennett over the years, I was disappointed in what felt like loose threads in *Clayhanger* this time around.
November 5, 2023
This book was a pleasant surprise, especially the third part where they deal with dementia or "softening of the brain".
The book is easy to read, some pages can be skipped entirely. however I liked the directness of the writing and its honesty. One can see that Bennett was a revolutionary spirit of his time.
The book is easy to read, some pages can be skipped entirely. however I liked the directness of the writing and its honesty. One can see that Bennett was a revolutionary spirit of his time.
May 28, 2022
This is it. This is the Mighty Monolith of The English Naturalistic Novel. There's nothing experimental about it: I've never seen a novelist simultaneously so serious and so absolutely in control of his material. It wouldn't be very important that the enormous cultural differences between the early and late nineteenth century are brought into crystal clear focus through the relationship between Darius Clayhanger and Edwin, his son. It wouldn't be very important that the progress of dementia in Darius is described in a way that anyone who's been up close and personal with that disease will assure you is accurate. It wouldn't matter - if Bennett hadn't so sympathetic and humane a narrative voice. Yes, I know Bennett's prose is distinctly pre-HG Wells - reasding it is sometimes a bit like getting through a very chewy block of toffee. But it's the sympathy and the humanity that count. No history of the English novel can be taken seriously if it doesn't recognise the key importance of Clayhanger.
September 26, 2013
The whole Clayhanger series is worth reading
July 22, 2021
I loved it! How well Arnold Bennett writes. What great characters he draws! Hard working Darius, working his way up from the workhouse to provide for his family. Edwin, who swings from being a bit pompous one minute to having no confidence the next. Dutiful Maggie who serves others with little thought for herself. Janet who has so much to offer, but is unfulfilled. Enigmatic Hilda and the unusual child, George. So many wonderfully drawn characters. I love Bennett's turn of phrase as well. Gentle humour pervades much of the novel. The sick bed scenes are vividly captured. This is the first Bennett novel I have read, but it won't be the last. I am really glad to have discovered him. It's even more special because I live very close to the area he sets his novels in and this allows me an insight into what it was like here at the turn of the century.
November 2, 2021
What a magnificent series!!
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
4* Anna of the Five Towns
3* The Grand Babylon Hotel
3* The Strange Vanguard
5* The Old Wives' Tale
4* Clayhanger
TR The Card
TR A Great Man
TR The Lion's Share
TR Hilda Lessways
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
4* Anna of the Five Towns
3* The Grand Babylon Hotel
3* The Strange Vanguard
5* The Old Wives' Tale
4* Clayhanger
TR The Card
TR A Great Man
TR The Lion's Share
TR Hilda Lessways
September 8, 2012
First rate novel of a young man growing up. Edwin Clayhanger has aspirations of moving beyond his father's small printshop and the provincial town in which he lives. He makes friends, some excellent decisions (and a few poor ones) improves his social standing, and meets a girl who puzzles and annoys him- and yet fascinates him. This is where things get complicated.
This is a splendidly written book full of life and atmosphere. Edwin Clayhanger is very much a man of the 19th C. but his efforts and desires are timeless. The characters are well drawn and there is a great deal of humor to be found.
The following novels (Hilda Lessways, and These Twain) continue the story- the first backtracks a bit and picks up the story of the woman Edwin will marry, and the second details their life together. These books are not quite on the same level, but if you like the first book you will want to read them.
This is a splendidly written book full of life and atmosphere. Edwin Clayhanger is very much a man of the 19th C. but his efforts and desires are timeless. The characters are well drawn and there is a great deal of humor to be found.
The following novels (Hilda Lessways, and These Twain) continue the story- the first backtracks a bit and picks up the story of the woman Edwin will marry, and the second details their life together. These books are not quite on the same level, but if you like the first book you will want to read them.
July 21, 2017
This is admirable if you have the patience to deal with Arnold Bennett's detail but if you are looking for an exciting read with plenty of action, this is not the book for you. It is one or two gears above Proust (in my view).
July 19, 2020
truly (and rather to my surprise) a page turner. This the first book in a trilogy. The second is Hilda Lessways; the third These Twain. All are good but Clayhanger is the best.
January 6, 2024
I love a good yarn and this one delivers. "Clayhanger" is a bildungsroman set in industrial England in the late 1800s. Edwin Clayhanger grows up motherless with his two sisters and their father, Darius, a rough and dominating printer. Edwin has many flaws, especially his impotence in front of his father, and he follows him into the printing business rather than pursuing his ambition of becoming an architect. The reader learns Darius's life story, too, and it is a shame that Edwin does not.
Aside from Edwin and his family, the story focuses on Edwin's friendship with a neighboring family, the Orgreaves. He becomes acquainted with them through a schoolmate while young, and his idea of becoming an architect begins after meeting the vivacious and successful patriarch of the family.
There is a good deal about the era involving politics and class, religion and society. The strict division of gender roles is upfront and center throughout the story, not because the author meant to make it a topic, it is just a clearly defined part of life at the time. Edwin can be a wimp, but also has flashes of cringey machoism.
Although Edwin is not an entirely sympathetic character, my favorite part of the story is when he is able to eke a little pleasure out of existence, whether through books or looking at buildings or watching a woman dance. After one great disappointment, he picks up a book on Notre Dame and finds "the sources of happiness were not exhausted."
The main plot point is Edwin's relationship with Hilda Lessways, the somewhat enigmatic family friend of the Orgreaves. She is the center of the sequel to this book, also called "Hilda Lessways."
I read Arnold Bennett first last year when I found "The Old Wives' Tale" in a used book store in Spain. I didn't have high expectations for it and was happily surprised by the writing and story. After that I read "Buried Alive," which was engaging but not as good, and I ordered "Hilda Lessways" last week, if it's any testament to Arnold Bennett. I do wish it had arrived already when I got to the last page of "Clayhanger."
Aside from Edwin and his family, the story focuses on Edwin's friendship with a neighboring family, the Orgreaves. He becomes acquainted with them through a schoolmate while young, and his idea of becoming an architect begins after meeting the vivacious and successful patriarch of the family.
There is a good deal about the era involving politics and class, religion and society. The strict division of gender roles is upfront and center throughout the story, not because the author meant to make it a topic, it is just a clearly defined part of life at the time. Edwin can be a wimp, but also has flashes of cringey machoism.
Although Edwin is not an entirely sympathetic character, my favorite part of the story is when he is able to eke a little pleasure out of existence, whether through books or looking at buildings or watching a woman dance. After one great disappointment, he picks up a book on Notre Dame and finds "the sources of happiness were not exhausted."
The main plot point is Edwin's relationship with Hilda Lessways, the somewhat enigmatic family friend of the Orgreaves. She is the center of the sequel to this book, also called "Hilda Lessways."
I read Arnold Bennett first last year when I found "The Old Wives' Tale" in a used book store in Spain. I didn't have high expectations for it and was happily surprised by the writing and story. After that I read "Buried Alive," which was engaging but not as good, and I ordered "Hilda Lessways" last week, if it's any testament to Arnold Bennett. I do wish it had arrived already when I got to the last page of "Clayhanger."
April 10, 2023
I tried to read Anna of the Five Towns, but couldn’t really get on with it. But I remembered that I had loved The Card, so when I chanced upon this, I decided to give it a go. Bennet seems to find an exquisite middle ground between the farce of the Card and more serious writing. This book, the first of a trilogy, captivated me right from the first paragraph. His use of language and the descriptive passages, the lighter moments, the wry observations, I found added to the atmosphere and veracity of the novel. When he is enjoying himself, as he so obviously was in this novel, the writing is a delight. It inspired me and entertained me, reading how the main character, Edwin Clayhanger, slowly comes of age. I’ll be looking for more now!
February 9, 2022
A family saga focusing on Edwin Clayhanger, who feels constrained by his controlling father and the middle class provincial Victorian life he is limited to. A wonderfully drawn portrait of a place and ways of life in the last decades of the 19th century.
April 11, 2019
Young Edwin Clayhanger wants to become an architect. Unfortunately, his father will not hear such nonsense. Son should become a respectable printer. And so he does. The only pleasure in life is reading and collecting books.
There is the beautiful sister of his childhood’s best friend who, at least that what his aunt tells him, is in love with him. But instead, Edwin falls for a friend of hers - Hilda Lessways. He does not really like her. And it seems, she does not deserve his affection. She leaves and marries some other guy.
Years pass. Edwin learns that Hilda is now widowed and poor so he goes to see her. Husband is really in prison. How will it continue?
Beautifully told. There are some sisters the tyrant father who will in later years suffer from Alzheimer or something.
The interesting thing is that the story of Hilda will be told in a second book. And in a third one, we will learn about the married life of the two. Intriguing concept. One of the great books of the 20th century. (9/10)
There is the beautiful sister of his childhood’s best friend who, at least that what his aunt tells him, is in love with him. But instead, Edwin falls for a friend of hers - Hilda Lessways. He does not really like her. And it seems, she does not deserve his affection. She leaves and marries some other guy.
Years pass. Edwin learns that Hilda is now widowed and poor so he goes to see her. Husband is really in prison. How will it continue?
Beautifully told. There are some sisters the tyrant father who will in later years suffer from Alzheimer or something.
The interesting thing is that the story of Hilda will be told in a second book. And in a third one, we will learn about the married life of the two. Intriguing concept. One of the great books of the 20th century. (9/10)
March 27, 2019
It’s so much more than a biography of one man. Poised on what he thinks is a new start in life. Trying to understand why we do what we do.
August 17, 2014
After running through some Marcia Willette, I was ready to go back to some serious reading...Bennett's Clayhanger jumped into my hand from my shelves of books waiting to be read...
I had visited the Five Towns in the past and was eager to return...I was not disappointed...why do I ever leave off reading literary authors?
Clayhanger is a wonderful book with plot, character development, setting packed into a perfect whole....
I can't wait to get to book two of the Trilogy "Hilda Lessways" and book three "These Twain"...
I had visited the Five Towns in the past and was eager to return...I was not disappointed...why do I ever leave off reading literary authors?
Clayhanger is a wonderful book with plot, character development, setting packed into a perfect whole....
I can't wait to get to book two of the Trilogy "Hilda Lessways" and book three "These Twain"...
August 11, 2012
This is a good old-fashioned read, based in the Staffordshire potteries towards the end of the Victorian reign. It was written contemporarily, so doesn't have that whimsical quality you often find with books written retrospectively of that period. It's based around the growing up of a young man with a controlling father, and the resulting lack of confidence in the son. The details of the book give a wonderful insight into a time when industry was changing the face of Britain.
May 23, 2015
OK. While Bennett does a really good job of describing a man's thoughts (or at least a particular kind of man), there are few thoughts that are commendable. The detail caused me to suspect the novel was partly autobiographical, which suspicion was confirmed by parallels between the book and Bennett's life. Overall, Bennett comes across as a little self-obsessed. I don't think I'll read any more of Bennett's fiction - one is enough, as the spy said after taking the suicide pill.
July 1, 2016
Written in 1910, this is the (very detailed) story of the early life of Edwin Clayhanger. He wishes to be an architect, but is made to stay in the family printing business by his bully of a father. We watch him from the time he leaves high school, to middle age. Bennett has written a character that I could not wait to get back to as I was reading, but his slow, detailed style certainly is not for everyone.
September 12, 2018
Unrequited Love on Several Fronts
Edwin Clayhanger, is admired and admires while loving and being loved. And yet, there is no resolution but a continuation of the uncertainty of life. I guess I'll have to read all four books of this trilogy...yes, I said four books of the trilogy.
Cliffhanger is 499 pages of possibly the best English writing since Austin or Dickens and at the same time more readable.
Edwin Clayhanger, is admired and admires while loving and being loved. And yet, there is no resolution but a continuation of the uncertainty of life. I guess I'll have to read all four books of this trilogy...yes, I said four books of the trilogy.
Cliffhanger is 499 pages of possibly the best English writing since Austin or Dickens and at the same time more readable.
September 13, 2016
Highly readable, incredibly long but never boring, this book truly captures a time and place - the Five Towns - with tremendous feeling. Powys describes the book in the most positive light possible, but this book falls short compared to most of the others.
October 14, 2020
This story of a father and son and their relationship over decades is a deeply engrossing novel that, in an old-fashioned but powerful way, follows its characters over many years, bringing them to rich life so that the reader cares about them, sometimes painfully, sometimes joyfully.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews