What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ballad of Peckham Rye
A man of vision. A man who would breathe life into the Peckham firm of Meadows, Meade and Grindley - devilishly funny, with an unerring talent for the absurd - Dougal Douglas was that man.
But before long, the unsuspecting workforce began to manifest the dubious benefits of Dougal's 'human research' - mayhem, mutiny and murder ...
Cover drawing by Terence Greer
But before long, the unsuspecting workforce began to manifest the dubious benefits of Dougal's 'human research' - mayhem, mutiny and murder ...
Cover drawing by Terence Greer
143 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
69 people are currently reading
2521 people want to read
About the author
Muriel Spark
227 books1,304 followersDame Muriel Spark, DBE was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 348 reviews
Read
March 12, 2023'There was I,' sang out an old man in the public bar, 'waiting at the church, waiting at the church.'
His wife said nothing nor smiled.
'Now then, Dad,' the barmaid said...
There must be many ballads about brides abandoned at the altar but none of them can be quite as strange as The Ballad of Peckham Rye.
And that's pretty much all I have to say about the plot part of this book. If you're interested in what Muriel Spark can do with such an age-old theme, you can read this short book for yourself.
I do have a few thoughts about another aspect of this book however. While reading some of Spark's other novels, I realised what a fine observer of people's behavior she was, and I began to look forward to her descriptions of characters almost as much as to the stories they found themselves in. While reading this 1960 story, spotting such descriptions became my main focus. The old man in the quote above is a good example. After he'd sung the line about waiting at the church, and after he'd been reproved by his wife and the barmaid, each in her own fashion, he took a draught of his bitter with a tremble of the elbow and a turn of the wrist.
It's such quick sketches I love to come across. They make the words on the page rise up and form themselves into a picture.
Spark's descriptions are often remarkable for their efficiency too. Her characters may babble and blather, and her Peckham people more than most, but Spark can describe their body language with the fewest of words. In a scene where a woman in a Peckham grocer's shop offers a torrent of advice to a new-comer called Dougal, the grocer looked away from the woman with closed eyes and opened them again to address Dougal. Those closed eyes are just so eloquent.
Dougal himself is a character capable of an entire dictionary of body language. Soon after arriving in Peckham, he goes for an informal job interview, and while the interviewer paces the floor, droning on about his company, Dougal sat like a monkey-puzzle tree, only moving his eyes to follow Mr Druce...Dougal changed his shape and became a professor. He leaned one elbow over the back of his chair and reflected kindly on Mr Druce...Dougal leaned forward and became a television interviewer. Mr Druce stopped walking and looked at him in wonder. 'Tell me,' coaxed Dougal, 'can you give me some rough idea of my duties.'
Later there's a description of Dougal standing in a hallway listening to someone talking on the telephone: He breathed moistly on the oak panel of the hall, and with his free hand drew a face on the misty surface. We see how bored he is. Nothing needs to be added.
Then there's an episode in a Peckham dance hall which could be straight out of a David Attenborough nature documentary.
The girls had prepared themselves with diligence, and as they spoke together, they did not smile nor attend to each other's words...Most of the men looked as if they had not properly woken from a deep sleep, but glided as if dragged, and with half-closed lids, towards their chosen partner. This approach found favour with the girls. The actual invitation to dance was mostly delivered by gesture; a scarcely noticeable flick of the man's head towards the dance floor. Whereupon the girl, with an outstretched movement of surrender, would swim into the hands of the summoning partner.
After reading this book, I came across the following paragraph in Muriel Spark's autobiography, Curriculum Vitae: I was fascinated from the earliest age I can remember by how people arranged themselves. I can’t remember a time when I was not a person-watcher, a behaviourist.
Her characters and how they 'arrange themselves' is one of the chief things I will carry away from my long rambling ballade with Muriel Spark.
His wife said nothing nor smiled.
'Now then, Dad,' the barmaid said...
There must be many ballads about brides abandoned at the altar but none of them can be quite as strange as The Ballad of Peckham Rye.
And that's pretty much all I have to say about the plot part of this book. If you're interested in what Muriel Spark can do with such an age-old theme, you can read this short book for yourself.
I do have a few thoughts about another aspect of this book however. While reading some of Spark's other novels, I realised what a fine observer of people's behavior she was, and I began to look forward to her descriptions of characters almost as much as to the stories they found themselves in. While reading this 1960 story, spotting such descriptions became my main focus. The old man in the quote above is a good example. After he'd sung the line about waiting at the church, and after he'd been reproved by his wife and the barmaid, each in her own fashion, he took a draught of his bitter with a tremble of the elbow and a turn of the wrist.
It's such quick sketches I love to come across. They make the words on the page rise up and form themselves into a picture.
Spark's descriptions are often remarkable for their efficiency too. Her characters may babble and blather, and her Peckham people more than most, but Spark can describe their body language with the fewest of words. In a scene where a woman in a Peckham grocer's shop offers a torrent of advice to a new-comer called Dougal, the grocer looked away from the woman with closed eyes and opened them again to address Dougal. Those closed eyes are just so eloquent.
Dougal himself is a character capable of an entire dictionary of body language. Soon after arriving in Peckham, he goes for an informal job interview, and while the interviewer paces the floor, droning on about his company, Dougal sat like a monkey-puzzle tree, only moving his eyes to follow Mr Druce...Dougal changed his shape and became a professor. He leaned one elbow over the back of his chair and reflected kindly on Mr Druce...Dougal leaned forward and became a television interviewer. Mr Druce stopped walking and looked at him in wonder. 'Tell me,' coaxed Dougal, 'can you give me some rough idea of my duties.'
Later there's a description of Dougal standing in a hallway listening to someone talking on the telephone: He breathed moistly on the oak panel of the hall, and with his free hand drew a face on the misty surface. We see how bored he is. Nothing needs to be added.
Then there's an episode in a Peckham dance hall which could be straight out of a David Attenborough nature documentary.
The girls had prepared themselves with diligence, and as they spoke together, they did not smile nor attend to each other's words...Most of the men looked as if they had not properly woken from a deep sleep, but glided as if dragged, and with half-closed lids, towards their chosen partner. This approach found favour with the girls. The actual invitation to dance was mostly delivered by gesture; a scarcely noticeable flick of the man's head towards the dance floor. Whereupon the girl, with an outstretched movement of surrender, would swim into the hands of the summoning partner.
After reading this book, I came across the following paragraph in Muriel Spark's autobiography, Curriculum Vitae: I was fascinated from the earliest age I can remember by how people arranged themselves. I can’t remember a time when I was not a person-watcher, a behaviourist.
Her characters and how they 'arrange themselves' is one of the chief things I will carry away from my long rambling ballade with Muriel Spark.
December 19, 2019
Muriel Sparks playfully takes on the Mephistopheles' theme. A devilish, sexually attractive young man who enjoys getting people to feel the bumps on his forehead where his horns were surgically removed creates mayhem in a small working-class community in Peckham, south London.
It begins with a groom at the altar telling the priest no, he will not accept the bride as his lawful wedded wife. The narrative then jumps backwards to provide explanations how he arrived at this maverick decision.
This is probably her most bonkers novel. I suspect she had a lot of fun writing it, sped through it but didn't perhaps spend much effort thinking it through. Superficially, it's quite enjoyable but it lacked depth for me. It doesn't ultimately add up to much. That said, there are plenty of fabulous observations and as usual I was impressed by how effortlessly and trenchantly Sparks takes command of her subjects. As writing it's often terrific; as a novel though a bit lame. 3.5 stars.
It begins with a groom at the altar telling the priest no, he will not accept the bride as his lawful wedded wife. The narrative then jumps backwards to provide explanations how he arrived at this maverick decision.
This is probably her most bonkers novel. I suspect she had a lot of fun writing it, sped through it but didn't perhaps spend much effort thinking it through. Superficially, it's quite enjoyable but it lacked depth for me. It doesn't ultimately add up to much. That said, there are plenty of fabulous observations and as usual I was impressed by how effortlessly and trenchantly Sparks takes command of her subjects. As writing it's often terrific; as a novel though a bit lame. 3.5 stars.
November 16, 2023
It was roughly a year ago around now that I went on a bit of a Muriel Spark binge, and after the first three - two being The Girls of Slender Means & Loitering with Intent - I felt like she could instantly climb from nowhere - like a game of snakes and ladders, where every turn you hit a ladder - to became my favourite female writer of all time once the binge reached its climax. After a few of her lesser known novels I've read between then and now, I find myself back in her literary arms once again. Not quite as tight a grip here as previous reads, but all the nuts and bolts that became Spark's forte are ever present in The Ballad of Peckham Rye; through the plot itself, it's characters, and a few shocking scenes towards the end that seemed to jump out of thin air - in this case murderous hysteria. Lots of blubbering here too. Enough to overwater the house plants even - Dougal's words not mine.
And speaking of Dougal Douglas, the satanic central figure and man of mystery who rolls up into this small London suburb with an agenda that's not the easiest to spot - the devil trying to wreak havoc?, a crafty and manipulative business spy?, a possible police informant? - who seems to have an impact, good or bad, on just about everybody, kept me on my toes throughout. And in the end, it all boiled down to a little blackmailing by a 13-year-old to really give the novel a devilish kick up the backside. Again, one of reasons that I love Spark so much, is that it's not just any central character that is the memorable one. There are a few here that stood out just as much, if not more. Including the prim Dixie and her idiotic fiancé Humphrey Place, and head of the typing pool at the textile works Meadows, Meade & Grindley, Miss Coverdale, who is carrying on an affair with the boss. There is also a character called Beauty, who is...er...described as anything but! A mouthy little thing was she. Some of the confrontational scenes, say, in the pub for example, were just so funny.
Quirky, farcical, and darkly comic, it sure was entertaining. But, for me, seeing as the bar was raised higher in other novels, It isn't one of her absolute greats.
A big thanks to Violet & Fionnuala, who, after their own Spark marathons, got myself up and running to have a go too. When I crossed that finish line last year, I knew I'd found my literary Goddess.
April 19, 2025
Someone enticed me to read this by comparing it to William Trevor's The Children of Dynmouth. Ah, that siren's call... "this book is just like one you love..."
I feel like I need to have words with that someone. Strong words.
I suppose I see the on-the-surface similarity. A stranger shows up in a small community and wreaks havoc. However, Trevor's is sinister, complex, riveting. Spark's is over-the-top absurd, bonkers, clownish. I'm so disappointed. Not only because of its failure to meet Dynmouth in any meaningful way, but because I am a big admirer of Spark and this novel doesn't meet up with my experiences with her thus far. The Driver's Seat sits with Trevor's book on my favourites shelf. The Girls of Slender Means and Memento Mori are also well worth reading. This one? I'm sad to say it hasn't aged well. I didn't find Dougal Douglas (or Douglas Dougal) funny at all. At only 140 farcical pages, it was a slog. I could barely motivate myself to read it to the end.
Now, this is only my reading and I really don't want to put off anyone from picking it up themselves. But my advice? Don't do it expecting The Children of Dynmouth.
I feel like I need to have words with that someone. Strong words.
I suppose I see the on-the-surface similarity. A stranger shows up in a small community and wreaks havoc. However, Trevor's is sinister, complex, riveting. Spark's is over-the-top absurd, bonkers, clownish. I'm so disappointed. Not only because of its failure to meet Dynmouth in any meaningful way, but because I am a big admirer of Spark and this novel doesn't meet up with my experiences with her thus far. The Driver's Seat sits with Trevor's book on my favourites shelf. The Girls of Slender Means and Memento Mori are also well worth reading. This one? I'm sad to say it hasn't aged well. I didn't find Dougal Douglas (or Douglas Dougal) funny at all. At only 140 farcical pages, it was a slog. I could barely motivate myself to read it to the end.
Now, this is only my reading and I really don't want to put off anyone from picking it up themselves. But my advice? Don't do it expecting The Children of Dynmouth.
Read
December 1, 2019The Ballard of Peckham Rye?, isn't that a far cry from Kensington? Not so far really, even if it is north of the river and the main character has contacts in Kensington and Chelsea - the territory of those girls of slender means. Eventually Dougal Douglas, or Douglas Dougal, ends up in a Franciscan monastery, but he doesn't make as much of a success of it as Sandy in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, or maybe he does.
The main character; Douglas Dougal, or Dougal Douglas, is a devilish graduate of Edinburgh- with the lumps on his head where the horns were removed - and like the author herself, he has come south to London, the greatest city in the whole of Middlesex, and settles in Peckham while his fiancée is north of the river invariably with something about to boil over on the stove when he phones her (which shows remarkably good timing).
Anyhow as I was digressing, having gone south like the author herself, to find fame and fortune, he agitates the good and not so good people of Peckham, his prurient questions lead eventually to his landlady telling him (others too reveal the details of their intimate lives to him which he recycles into the autobiography he is ghostwriting) what happened when she went on a date with a soldier from the Gordon Highlanders (the vexed question of what a Scotsman does or does not wear under his kilt is central to the anecdote) and this in turn strengthens the link that Spark is hammering out in the readers' mind between Scots and hypersexuality and soon enough all around Douglas Dougal, or Dougal Douglas, Captains of industry are having nervous breakdowns, while other people are questioning their long standing intimate (and it seems less intimate in practise than they would like) relationships.
There are shades of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Dougal Douglas may not be the devil (but want about Douglas Dougal) he certainly likes to give the impression that he might be somewhat acquainted with that gentleman, and he is in an infeasible number of different places or perhaps roles all at the same time, ghost writer, expert on industrial absenteeism, alleged police informer and archaeologist.
Does he stir up south London lives, or is it simply that the social strictures inhibiting the sexuality of the characters circa 1960 are a pressure cooker with a failing gasket - it was just a question of time maybe in any case before the lid hits the ceiling? Then again with his Richard III shoulders (which render him unfit for National Service) perhaps he was scheming all along?
A different review could be written looking at this book as an inversion of an industrial novel and poking fun at the two cultures idea, introducing "the Arts Man" makes him money, but his various concurrent employers pay a high cost for his good fortune. We see in passing a retreat from the open plan office - because the managers did not like everybody being able to see them to that space being divided by glass offices, seeing and observation and surveillance are constant in this novel and is in strict counterpoint to the sexual frustration of many of the characters (understandably).
The main character; Douglas Dougal, or Dougal Douglas, is a devilish graduate of Edinburgh- with the lumps on his head where the horns were removed - and like the author herself, he has come south to London, the greatest city in the whole of Middlesex, and settles in Peckham while his fiancée is north of the river invariably with something about to boil over on the stove when he phones her (which shows remarkably good timing).
Anyhow as I was digressing, having gone south like the author herself, to find fame and fortune, he agitates the good and not so good people of Peckham, his prurient questions lead eventually to his landlady telling him (others too reveal the details of their intimate lives to him which he recycles into the autobiography he is ghostwriting) what happened when she went on a date with a soldier from the Gordon Highlanders (the vexed question of what a Scotsman does or does not wear under his kilt is central to the anecdote) and this in turn strengthens the link that Spark is hammering out in the readers' mind between Scots and hypersexuality and soon enough all around Douglas Dougal, or Dougal Douglas, Captains of industry are having nervous breakdowns, while other people are questioning their long standing intimate (and it seems less intimate in practise than they would like) relationships.
There are shades of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Dougal Douglas may not be the devil (but want about Douglas Dougal) he certainly likes to give the impression that he might be somewhat acquainted with that gentleman, and he is in an infeasible number of different places or perhaps roles all at the same time, ghost writer, expert on industrial absenteeism, alleged police informer and archaeologist.
Does he stir up south London lives, or is it simply that the social strictures inhibiting the sexuality of the characters circa 1960 are a pressure cooker with a failing gasket - it was just a question of time maybe in any case before the lid hits the ceiling? Then again with his Richard III shoulders (which render him unfit for National Service) perhaps he was scheming all along?
A different review could be written looking at this book as an inversion of an industrial novel and poking fun at the two cultures idea, introducing "the Arts Man" makes him money, but his various concurrent employers pay a high cost for his good fortune. We see in passing a retreat from the open plan office - because the managers did not like everybody being able to see them to that space being divided by glass offices, seeing and observation and surveillance are constant in this novel and is in strict counterpoint to the sexual frustration of many of the characters (understandably).
November 22, 2025
Muriel Spark takes a walk on the wild side and a writes a book about—drum roll, please—the working class. (At which Beryl Bainbridge, cigarette in hand, scoffs and rolls her eyes.) Dougal Douglas is a charmer, an enchanter, and is engaged in what he calls human research at the firm of Meadow, Meade and Grindley. He is inventing the biography of actress Maria Cheeseman and has a fatal flaw, which is that he can't stand any sort of sickness. With a deformed shoulder and claims of horns on his head, he generally stirs the shit pot within the community of Peckham, which boasts a host of eccentric and hilarious characters. Much of the book reads like a vintage teen drama and James Dean wouldn't have been out of place crying "You're tearing me apart!" But then, nor would most of the characters from Brighton Rock. It took a reread for me to truly appeciate this one. Not much of a plot, but the characters are pure gold. A favorite.
September 21, 2016
Though this is sharp social satire, I don’t think it will stick with me long. A trickster/shapeshifter (perhaps)/con-man/devil? (knowing Spark, that’s very likely)/Pan-figure comes to town and chaos/changes ensue. Would these things have happened anyway? Maybe not; but maybe so, as Spark is clear in her belief that evil is always afoot, that (as we see through the character of the gray-haired, pontificating Nelly) we must be vigilant against lies and deceit. Are the forthright characters the ones who dislike the charlatan, who see through him? Not necessarily.
March 17, 2016
The art of the impeccably constructed comedy, lean and mean from scene to spleen, is Muriel’s MO. This one concerns a sharp-tongued Scot who invades Lyon’s Corner House-era Peckham and upsets the apple cart with his multiple machinations. Spark’s perfect ear and skill at crafting a knockabout romp is on a par with Mr. Queneau and this short novel induces in this reader a state of toe-tingling rapture.
February 5, 2013
Quirky and rather brief novel which I rather enjoyed. It is part fable with a spot of magic realism, a dash of humour, some nice twists and clever observations of life in the early 1960s.
Dougal Douglas (aka Douglas Dougal) is a Scot who has moved to Peckham. He gets a job in a local textile firm; Meadows, Meade and Grindley, as an "arts man", someone who will observe the workforce and learn how to motivate them. The early days of Human Resources. He has an odd and disturbing effect on those he meets, disturbing equilibriums. Dougal has one shoulder higher than the other and has a bump on either side of his head, under his hair; he tells people that they were horns that he has had removed. Dougal is a shadowy figure, pan like, causing mischief, playing on foibles.
The rest of the characters are well drawn with sharp social satire; from the young thugs, the disillusioned members of the typing pool, the failing to cope director to the ambitious young women.
An unusual social satire with some snappy dialogue and delicious come uppances; a sharp dissection of British life in the early sixties. A little slight but satisfying.
Dougal Douglas (aka Douglas Dougal) is a Scot who has moved to Peckham. He gets a job in a local textile firm; Meadows, Meade and Grindley, as an "arts man", someone who will observe the workforce and learn how to motivate them. The early days of Human Resources. He has an odd and disturbing effect on those he meets, disturbing equilibriums. Dougal has one shoulder higher than the other and has a bump on either side of his head, under his hair; he tells people that they were horns that he has had removed. Dougal is a shadowy figure, pan like, causing mischief, playing on foibles.
The rest of the characters are well drawn with sharp social satire; from the young thugs, the disillusioned members of the typing pool, the failing to cope director to the ambitious young women.
An unusual social satire with some snappy dialogue and delicious come uppances; a sharp dissection of British life in the early sixties. A little slight but satisfying.
March 12, 2023
I don’t write reviews.
Spark’s take on “a stranger comes to town.” Dougal Douglas is quite the stranger. At times, likable for his sheer quirkiness and throw-caution-to-the-wind attitude, but the more you learn about him, the more you realize he has more than one “fatal flaw.” The worst being that, if you are a bit weak and unprepared, meeting him can destroy your life utterly. Maybe Dougal is a demon after all…
Surely this story is no fantasy nor horror tale, yet it is one of morality and humanity. The evil of Dougal (and many other characters in Peckham) does not require a supernatural origin. Though not a comedy particularly, many a time I chuckled at Spark’s cutting wit. It can’t be a tragedy, for we never get close enough to the characters to truly share in their grief. As per usual for Spark, it falls into no single genre and cannot be classified in such a way. And I think that’s the best part of her style, that it is solely hers.
Spark’s take on “a stranger comes to town.” Dougal Douglas is quite the stranger. At times, likable for his sheer quirkiness and throw-caution-to-the-wind attitude, but the more you learn about him, the more you realize he has more than one “fatal flaw.” The worst being that, if you are a bit weak and unprepared, meeting him can destroy your life utterly. Maybe Dougal is a demon after all…
Surely this story is no fantasy nor horror tale, yet it is one of morality and humanity. The evil of Dougal (and many other characters in Peckham) does not require a supernatural origin. Though not a comedy particularly, many a time I chuckled at Spark’s cutting wit. It can’t be a tragedy, for we never get close enough to the characters to truly share in their grief. As per usual for Spark, it falls into no single genre and cannot be classified in such a way. And I think that’s the best part of her style, that it is solely hers.
December 20, 2017
All I can say is that this totally confused me. Sure, I understand what happened, but I have no idea what the book is saying. A man wreaks havoc in the lives of many.
Without humor, or if it was there it went over my head!
Spark's lines said nothing to me; I usually find them so clever.
This is the first book by Muriel Spark that has totally failed me.
The audiobook narration by Nadia May / Wanda McCaddon was fine, but did not improve the book for me.
Without humor, or if it was there it went over my head!
Spark's lines said nothing to me; I usually find them so clever.
This is the first book by Muriel Spark that has totally failed me.
The audiobook narration by Nadia May / Wanda McCaddon was fine, but did not improve the book for me.
February 2, 2020
Muriel Spark on good form as characters show weakness, judgement, envy and concern with class, love, work and loneliness all thrown in.
Post-war Peckham is alive with employment and opportunity - and gossip - at the factories and shops. The opportunity for some is limited through social standing, but for others commercial pressures and a background in research offer our central character Dougal Douglas chances and influence.
As Dougal gets to know Peckham, its companies and people the story unfolds. Can he help some; can he offer others new beginnings, and why do some people dislike him?
Muriel Sparks sharp eye prose brings a enjoyable yet waspish story together over 140 pages.
My edition is one of the lovely Spark Centenary edition published by Polygon in 2018 to mark her birth.
Post-war Peckham is alive with employment and opportunity - and gossip - at the factories and shops. The opportunity for some is limited through social standing, but for others commercial pressures and a background in research offer our central character Dougal Douglas chances and influence.
As Dougal gets to know Peckham, its companies and people the story unfolds. Can he help some; can he offer others new beginnings, and why do some people dislike him?
Muriel Sparks sharp eye prose brings a enjoyable yet waspish story together over 140 pages.
My edition is one of the lovely Spark Centenary edition published by Polygon in 2018 to mark her birth.
July 15, 2023
1950s South London shenanigans. A bit Iris Murdoch – and quite bonkers.
November 6, 2012
As usual, Muriel Spark was enough over my head that I finished this highly comic novel and was not quite sure what I had just read.
Peckham Rye is a small town outside London and the setting for all kinds of poking fun at members of the English lower middle class. These characters dwell amongst their stodgy British habits but carry on in quite a modern style for the times. Lots of illicit sex going on, gossip and rumor of course.
When Dougal Douglas comes to town and insinuates himself into two rival companies as a "human research" man, ostensibly to improve productivity and thereby profits, he upsets many fixed conditions. He is quite the con man, hardly ever shows up at work, has the business owners completely fooled and messes with various relationships in the town.
If I were to give the novel my own title, it might be "Sympathy for the Devil." It is clever, dastardly, and no one escapes this man's antics including the reader. Though each character is an archetype, or at least a type, they have at the same time a unique humanness.
Muriel Spark has taken the mannered, upper class English novel and turned it on its head. Dougal Douglas does his human research, looking for the fatal flaw in each subject. Thus does the author release the fatal flaw concept from its association with heros and grants the condition to everyman.
September 5, 2010
I had recently read some interesting biographical background on Muriel Spark, but had never actually read anything by her, although I did recall the considerable impact the film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” had on me when I saw it as a kid (which in part I attribute to strong acting by Maggie Smith and how exotic far off Scotland seemed to me, but also its focus on teaching, the power of cliques, the pressure to conform and/or obey). I found an old used copy of this earlier work by Spark from 1960, and the quaintness of the title combined with my desire to know something of the author’s style easily won me over.
It’s a fast read—it’s all over after 143 pages, and the crisp writing style moves it along rapidly. I appreciated how much Spark was able to convey about daily life, aspirations, class restrictions, postwar capitalism, and universal human frailty when so much of the book was basically brief dialogue exchanges. A distinctive character named Dougal Douglas (yes, he’s a Scot) turns up in this south London largely working class suburb and much of the book is simply how he interacts with the locals and what influence he has upon them. He is, in a word, fascinating, interchangeably entertaining and cruel. The way tone builds in this novel is one of its chief strengths. The author manipulated my emotion in a masterful way, starting lightly then building, and as I drew nearer the ending I increasingly admired both the style and the complexity of the message. In the end, ambiguities remain, and so they should. In this regard, art mirrors life.
It’s a fast read—it’s all over after 143 pages, and the crisp writing style moves it along rapidly. I appreciated how much Spark was able to convey about daily life, aspirations, class restrictions, postwar capitalism, and universal human frailty when so much of the book was basically brief dialogue exchanges. A distinctive character named Dougal Douglas (yes, he’s a Scot) turns up in this south London largely working class suburb and much of the book is simply how he interacts with the locals and what influence he has upon them. He is, in a word, fascinating, interchangeably entertaining and cruel. The way tone builds in this novel is one of its chief strengths. The author manipulated my emotion in a masterful way, starting lightly then building, and as I drew nearer the ending I increasingly admired both the style and the complexity of the message. In the end, ambiguities remain, and so they should. In this regard, art mirrors life.
January 25, 2024
As spritely as it is acidic, Muriel Spark's short novel is at times hilarious, only heightened further by a devious yet mannered sense of supernatural play. Alluding to the devil and.or witchcraft, Spark teases the narrative with just enough of the unknown to pepper this tale about the closed working-class neighborhood of Peckham outside London proper. Dougal Douglas, or Douglas Dougal (D for...) is a classic character, hunchbacked and manic, and at 137 pages, the novel surely could have spread the scope further with Douglas under the spotlight. Still, a fleet-footed read showing the insipid and bored day-to-day shenanigans, highlighted by many loose lips and one bloody corkscrew. How shallow beasts dress themselves in mid-class manners.
A lesson in dialogue.
A lesson in dialogue.
September 10, 2019
The introduction to this 2017 edition of ‘The Ballad of Peckham Rye’ is rambling and oblique, which I found both frustrating and understandable. It isn’t an easy novella to review. Not my favourite of Spark’s, but nonetheless very witty and dark in her characteristic style. It begins with the aftermath of a failed wedding, blamed on a certain Dougal Douglas. Spark then circles back to recount how Dougal Douglas came to interfere in these people’s peaceful Peckham lives. He is rather an agent of chaos, employed as a creative consultant of sorts to a textile firm. He is also ghost-writing an autobiography, then takes on a similar consultancy role at a rival firm. A mysterious character, his general aim seems to be making money while stirring up the repressed emotions of those around him. Motifs that recur include people crying with their heads in their arms after a short chat with him and frequent discussion of his sexuality and likeability.
Notable throughout ‘The Ballad of Peckham Rye’ are the astonishingly dysfunctional romantic relationships. Douglas’ boss quite literally does not speak to his wife and conducts an affair with a subordinate involving a very creepy role-play of domesticity. Seventeen year old Dixie is condemned by her boyfriend and family for trying to save money (not that she isn’t a bit tiresome about it). There is a sense of violence and conflict, as well as a total absence of affection, in all romances and marriages depicted. This is not particularly amusing, in fact it’s rather depressing. What makes the novella fun is Douglas’ puckish, absurd behaviour. His claims to have been born with horns, dancing with a bin lid, and conversations with Humphrey all season the tale.
Spark is excellent at showing the hysteria and despair lying just below the surface of workplace interactions. It would be over simplistic to describe Douglas as anti-capitalist, but I do enjoy his effectiveness at bringing a company down from the inside using nothing but dialogue. The convention that we go to work every morning and do our jobs is shown to be brittle and dependent upon an emotional equilibrium that can easily be disrupted. I did not make much of the denouement, which seems deliberately downplayed. Much like daily life, it is the offhand comments and snide little details that make the book enjoyable.
Notable throughout ‘The Ballad of Peckham Rye’ are the astonishingly dysfunctional romantic relationships. Douglas’ boss quite literally does not speak to his wife and conducts an affair with a subordinate involving a very creepy role-play of domesticity. Seventeen year old Dixie is condemned by her boyfriend and family for trying to save money (not that she isn’t a bit tiresome about it). There is a sense of violence and conflict, as well as a total absence of affection, in all romances and marriages depicted. This is not particularly amusing, in fact it’s rather depressing. What makes the novella fun is Douglas’ puckish, absurd behaviour. His claims to have been born with horns, dancing with a bin lid, and conversations with Humphrey all season the tale.
Spark is excellent at showing the hysteria and despair lying just below the surface of workplace interactions. It would be over simplistic to describe Douglas as anti-capitalist, but I do enjoy his effectiveness at bringing a company down from the inside using nothing but dialogue. The convention that we go to work every morning and do our jobs is shown to be brittle and dependent upon an emotional equilibrium that can easily be disrupted. I did not make much of the denouement, which seems deliberately downplayed. Much like daily life, it is the offhand comments and snide little details that make the book enjoyable.
July 17, 2016
«Vuoi tu prendere questa donna come tua legittima sposa?».
«No,» rispose Humphrey «francamente no».
L'aggettivo più indicato per questo libro potrebbe essere: bizzarro.
Muriel Spark imbastisce una commedia ricca di humor inglese ambientandola nella Londra degli anni '60, una Londra industrializzata e sempre più attenta alla situazione degli impiegati. È in questo scenario che entra in gioco il protagonista di questa sinistra ballata: è Dougal Douglas, esperto di "scienze umane" incaricato da una piccola industria tessile di studiare gli impiegati e di migliorarne condizioni di lavoro e di vita, arrivando infine a ridurre l'assenteismo.
Questo bizzarro personaggio, gobbo da una spalla e non meno nell'animo, non sembra però essere la persona più indicata per un lavoro del genere. Aggirandosi guardingo fra impiegati e operai, intesse relazioni e mette zizzania, irretisce segretarie e scopre sotterfugi, cerca di guadagnarsi un posto più in alto nella ditta e nel frattempo si fa assumere da una industria concorrente, lasciando così un segno indelebile del suo breve passaggio in tutta Peckham Rye.
La commedia della Spark, che inizia in maniera tradizionale, viene sconvolta da un personaggio sopra le righe, impossibile da decifrare anche per il lettore: sinistro, a tratti quasi perverso, pronto a calunniare e a mentire per i suoi misteriosi scopi — che sia forse l'incarnazione stessa del demonio? Da metà libro la situazione diventa così un turbine di avvenimenti inattesi, che contemplano in breve spazio atti di spionaggio e controspionaggio, pedinamenti malcelati, risse da pub che si trasformano in sgangherati balli, fughe in tunnel scavati nel cuore di Londra, addirittura inaspettati omicidi (!) e matrimoni che, nella più classica delle situazioni da commedia, vanno in fumo al momento del "sì" sull'altare.
"La ballata di Peckham Rye" è un libro divertente e intelligente al tempo stesso, una lettura che coinvolge e che lascia un segno nel lettore, il quale non potrà che rimanere affascinato e sconcertato da una trama che irride l'intera società inglese del periodo.
«No,» rispose Humphrey «francamente no».
L'aggettivo più indicato per questo libro potrebbe essere: bizzarro.
Muriel Spark imbastisce una commedia ricca di humor inglese ambientandola nella Londra degli anni '60, una Londra industrializzata e sempre più attenta alla situazione degli impiegati. È in questo scenario che entra in gioco il protagonista di questa sinistra ballata: è Dougal Douglas, esperto di "scienze umane" incaricato da una piccola industria tessile di studiare gli impiegati e di migliorarne condizioni di lavoro e di vita, arrivando infine a ridurre l'assenteismo.
Questo bizzarro personaggio, gobbo da una spalla e non meno nell'animo, non sembra però essere la persona più indicata per un lavoro del genere. Aggirandosi guardingo fra impiegati e operai, intesse relazioni e mette zizzania, irretisce segretarie e scopre sotterfugi, cerca di guadagnarsi un posto più in alto nella ditta e nel frattempo si fa assumere da una industria concorrente, lasciando così un segno indelebile del suo breve passaggio in tutta Peckham Rye.
La commedia della Spark, che inizia in maniera tradizionale, viene sconvolta da un personaggio sopra le righe, impossibile da decifrare anche per il lettore: sinistro, a tratti quasi perverso, pronto a calunniare e a mentire per i suoi misteriosi scopi — che sia forse l'incarnazione stessa del demonio? Da metà libro la situazione diventa così un turbine di avvenimenti inattesi, che contemplano in breve spazio atti di spionaggio e controspionaggio, pedinamenti malcelati, risse da pub che si trasformano in sgangherati balli, fughe in tunnel scavati nel cuore di Londra, addirittura inaspettati omicidi (!) e matrimoni che, nella più classica delle situazioni da commedia, vanno in fumo al momento del "sì" sull'altare.
"La ballata di Peckham Rye" è un libro divertente e intelligente al tempo stesso, una lettura che coinvolge e che lascia un segno nel lettore, il quale non potrà che rimanere affascinato e sconcertato da una trama che irride l'intera società inglese del periodo.
May 17, 2020
Maybe it's not one of Muriel Spark’s best, yet it was pointed and pretty hilarious. It’s a short fable set in Peckham, and peopled by a bunch of mostly working-class South Londoners. Though offbeat and humorous there’s still a whiff of class condescension in Spark’s portraits, but at least she doesn’t attempt to replicate their Sarf Lunnon accents.
Into this community comes the Trickster character of Dougal Douglas (or Douglas Dougal depending on where he works), an arts graduate from Edinburgh. With a dubious position at a textile factory that enables him not to do any actual work, he smoothly insinuates himself into local society. “Liked by some, disliked by others”, he gets them to behave – or rather, misbehave - in untypical ways.
Is he a Confessor, a Devil or both? Either way, he's behind the opening and closing notes of the ballad, where a man responds at his wedding to:
“Wilt thou take this woman to be thy wedded wife?” with “ ‘No,’ Humphrey said, ‘to be quite frank, I won’t’ ”.
There are also some piercingly clever vignettes, including what is probably the most arid and loveless affair ever penned - between the unhappily married Mr Druse, factory manager, and Merle the supervisor of his typing pool. And of course, being Muriel Spark, there is an unexpected murder.
Into this community comes the Trickster character of Dougal Douglas (or Douglas Dougal depending on where he works), an arts graduate from Edinburgh. With a dubious position at a textile factory that enables him not to do any actual work, he smoothly insinuates himself into local society. “Liked by some, disliked by others”, he gets them to behave – or rather, misbehave - in untypical ways.
Is he a Confessor, a Devil or both? Either way, he's behind the opening and closing notes of the ballad, where a man responds at his wedding to:
“Wilt thou take this woman to be thy wedded wife?” with “ ‘No,’ Humphrey said, ‘to be quite frank, I won’t’ ”.
There are also some piercingly clever vignettes, including what is probably the most arid and loveless affair ever penned - between the unhappily married Mr Druse, factory manager, and Merle the supervisor of his typing pool. And of course, being Muriel Spark, there is an unexpected murder.
February 18, 2013
A wickedly funny and odd little book, hard to know how to read it. A clue is in the title: The Ballad... The character of Dougal Douglas or Douglas Dougal, is the quintessential "stranger who comes to town" and leaves many maimed in his wake. Is he the devil incarnate? perhaps. Is Dame Muriel Spark a devilishly good writer, always surprising, nudging her characters and the reader off balance...? Yes, indeed.
January 16, 2020
Of the four Muriel Sparks novels that I have so far read this was easily my favorite. The plot of a quirky, outsider, a sort of Demon-lover without the love, stepping into a community and turning it topsy-turvy goes so perfectly with Spark's wicked wit, pithy prose, and excellent story-telling capabilities that it's a natural. Besides the perfect marriage of topic, form, and style. The Ballad of Peckham Rye also seems to me to be the most carefully and cleverly written of her novels that I've read. The title sets it up perfectly as a kind of urban folk tale, a legend spread about in barrooms and hair salons, a perfect street myth beginning at the ending, going back to the beginning, and then rounding out the moral of the tale at the end. (Note: I do believe there will be as many morals to this story as readers.) Exquisite!
May 6, 2024
Una presenza diabolica sembra essersi insinuata, rapida e silenziosa, per le strade Peckham. Una presenza che ha assunto le sembianze di Dougal Douglas, un ragazzo dal forte accento scozzese e con una leggera deformazione alla spalla destra. Il giovane ha risposto ad un annuncio di una ditta della zona, la Meadows, Meade & Grindley, che sta cercando un esperto in scienze umane.
Capace di incantare il signor Druce con le sue camaleontiche espressioni del viso e del corpo, Dougal viene assunto come esperto per comprendere l’umore dei dipendenti e trovare una soluzione all’assenteismo sempre più dilagante. L’azienda, infatti, si pregia di voler davvero rivoluzionare le cose all’interno del freddo settore dell’industria, trasformando quell’asettico capannone in una vera e propria famiglia, unita di fronte alle avversità.
Cosa faccia davvero Dougal tutto il giorno, è difficile dirlo. Il suo ufficio è quasi sempre vuoto, tutti lo cercano, ma nessuno lo trova, mentre il giovane si aggira per le strade di Peckham, assorbendone gli umori, i pettegolezzi, le storie nascoste dietro ogni angolo. Il suo aspetto e i suoi modi decisamente insoliti suscitano – al contempo – le simpatie e le antipatie degli abitanti del paese: se c’è chi lo adora e si lascia irretire dai suoi discorsi bizzarri, ma profondi, c’è chi, invece, sospetta in lui propositi decisamente malevoli e non ha nessuna intenzione di perderlo d’occhio.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
Capace di incantare il signor Druce con le sue camaleontiche espressioni del viso e del corpo, Dougal viene assunto come esperto per comprendere l’umore dei dipendenti e trovare una soluzione all’assenteismo sempre più dilagante. L’azienda, infatti, si pregia di voler davvero rivoluzionare le cose all’interno del freddo settore dell’industria, trasformando quell’asettico capannone in una vera e propria famiglia, unita di fronte alle avversità.
Cosa faccia davvero Dougal tutto il giorno, è difficile dirlo. Il suo ufficio è quasi sempre vuoto, tutti lo cercano, ma nessuno lo trova, mentre il giovane si aggira per le strade di Peckham, assorbendone gli umori, i pettegolezzi, le storie nascoste dietro ogni angolo. Il suo aspetto e i suoi modi decisamente insoliti suscitano – al contempo – le simpatie e le antipatie degli abitanti del paese: se c’è chi lo adora e si lascia irretire dai suoi discorsi bizzarri, ma profondi, c’è chi, invece, sospetta in lui propositi decisamente malevoli e non ha nessuna intenzione di perderlo d’occhio.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
July 3, 2012
I don't like Muriel Spark. She's not really on my side. I feel that she hates us all for the dreadful time we're having (fair enough) but she is convinced that it's our fault. And so she sneers at us and it isn't very attractive.
A couple of the best sneers:
"She said, 'I feel as if I've been twenty years married instead of two hours.'
He thought this a pity for a girl of eighteen."
"'God!' she said. 'Dougal, I've had a rotten life.'
'And it isn't over yet,' Dougal said,"
A couple of the best sneers:
"She said, 'I feel as if I've been twenty years married instead of two hours.'
He thought this a pity for a girl of eighteen."
"'God!' she said. 'Dougal, I've had a rotten life.'
'And it isn't over yet,' Dougal said,"
June 23, 2021
I am decidedly a fan of Muriel Spark. She writes like a cross between Shirley Jackson and Graham Greene. Witty, satirical, elegant and enigmatic. I very much enjoyed this.
October 8, 2020
4* The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
3* The Girls of Slender Means
3* Memento Mori
3* A Far Cry from Kensington
2* The Bachelors
2.5* The Ballad of Peckham Rye
TR The Driver's Seat
About Muriel Spark:
3* Muriel Spark: The Biography
3* Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship With Muriel Spark
3* The Girls of Slender Means
3* Memento Mori
3* A Far Cry from Kensington
2* The Bachelors
2.5* The Ballad of Peckham Rye
TR The Driver's Seat
About Muriel Spark:
3* Muriel Spark: The Biography
3* Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship With Muriel Spark
July 25, 2013
Well, it turns that out my initial positive feeling after reading the first couple pages of Muriel Spark's The Ballad of Peckham Rye was short-lived and quickly replaced by indignation. This novel tries too hard to be some kind of bizarre satire but ends up as nothing more than an affectedly quaint and nonsensical farce without any substantial value. The characters are all flat; their motivations entirely incomprehensible. Muriel Spark can often be applauded for her sly wit, snappy dialogue and wildly humorous stories but none of these attributes are found here. I didn't laugh once. However, I will admit that some of the dialogue is slightly amusing in a droll way but rendered inconsequential since it is not supported by engaging characters or a credible story, which drifts around without any purpose. The only true redeemable quality here is the Penguin edition's snazzy cover-art. Feel free to admire the striking photograph from afar but I would not recommend venturing to read any of the written content inside.
Let me try and attempt to describe the basic plot and perhaps, highlight some of its many absurdities. A Scottish man named Dougal Douglas arrives in the town of Peckham and gets two jobs working for rival textile factories as a consultant on the board of Human Resources to investigate and better understand the discontent amongst workers. The main problem is the increased absenteeism and slacking on the job. Dougal describes his field of research as the study of "industrial psychology" (84). In order to fully understand the situation, he decides to personally interact with the workers and establish relationships with them in order to derive a more thorough understanding of the labor unrest spreading in the small town. She alludes to the negative effects of capitalism but never fully engages with the issue. This ambiguous approach to narrative recurs throughout the rest of the novel where she cruelly teases the reader by introducing various ideas, characters or plot developments that seem important but actually contain no value. Dougal is also keen to point out to others that the two bumps on his head are the result of having his horns removed--of course, the implication being that he is the devil. Unfortunately, Spark gives the reader no reason to care. The story could have potentially been a lot more interesting as an allegory but she decides to indulge in ridiculous inanity instead.
Dougal makes friends with a young man named Humphrey who is a Marxist but referred to as a "union man" although has no affiliation with factory work. He is engaged to marry a teenager named Dixie who holds down two jobs because she wants to save money for the marriage. Unfortunately for her, she is left at the alter by Humphrey for reasons that are never explained. There is also a gang of young thugs lead by Trevor who want to run Dougal out of town and these two find themselves in physical confrontations on more than one occasion. Additionally, a wandering evangelist, a managerial typist, an old landlady with visions of her dead brother walking around the street and a woman working with Dougal to write an autobiography of her life growing up in Peckham all get mixed up in the baffling plot. Dougal is a strange character who is prone to to acts of impulsive behavior: dancing with a trash-can lid, having an emotional break-down at work for "losing his girl," getting into bar fights and his obsession with a tunnel excavation taking place in town. The wild story is all over the place and includes blackmail, violence and even murder but it's all pointless.
It's almost as if Spark had a general idea of what she wanted to write about but couldn't figure out where to take the story, so instead of tossing it in the rough draft pile she decided to string a bunch of arbitrary plot threads together with the hope that utilizing ambiguity would somehow amount to something meaningful. Wrong. I want my time back Miss Spark, this novel was terrible.
Let me try and attempt to describe the basic plot and perhaps, highlight some of its many absurdities. A Scottish man named Dougal Douglas arrives in the town of Peckham and gets two jobs working for rival textile factories as a consultant on the board of Human Resources to investigate and better understand the discontent amongst workers. The main problem is the increased absenteeism and slacking on the job. Dougal describes his field of research as the study of "industrial psychology" (84). In order to fully understand the situation, he decides to personally interact with the workers and establish relationships with them in order to derive a more thorough understanding of the labor unrest spreading in the small town. She alludes to the negative effects of capitalism but never fully engages with the issue. This ambiguous approach to narrative recurs throughout the rest of the novel where she cruelly teases the reader by introducing various ideas, characters or plot developments that seem important but actually contain no value. Dougal is also keen to point out to others that the two bumps on his head are the result of having his horns removed--of course, the implication being that he is the devil. Unfortunately, Spark gives the reader no reason to care. The story could have potentially been a lot more interesting as an allegory but she decides to indulge in ridiculous inanity instead.
Dougal makes friends with a young man named Humphrey who is a Marxist but referred to as a "union man" although has no affiliation with factory work. He is engaged to marry a teenager named Dixie who holds down two jobs because she wants to save money for the marriage. Unfortunately for her, she is left at the alter by Humphrey for reasons that are never explained. There is also a gang of young thugs lead by Trevor who want to run Dougal out of town and these two find themselves in physical confrontations on more than one occasion. Additionally, a wandering evangelist, a managerial typist, an old landlady with visions of her dead brother walking around the street and a woman working with Dougal to write an autobiography of her life growing up in Peckham all get mixed up in the baffling plot. Dougal is a strange character who is prone to to acts of impulsive behavior: dancing with a trash-can lid, having an emotional break-down at work for "losing his girl," getting into bar fights and his obsession with a tunnel excavation taking place in town. The wild story is all over the place and includes blackmail, violence and even murder but it's all pointless.
It's almost as if Spark had a general idea of what she wanted to write about but couldn't figure out where to take the story, so instead of tossing it in the rough draft pile she decided to string a bunch of arbitrary plot threads together with the hope that utilizing ambiguity would somehow amount to something meaningful. Wrong. I want my time back Miss Spark, this novel was terrible.
October 12, 2011
Dougal Douglas, or Douglas Dougal depending upon when and on what side of town you meet him, is a Scottish devil. He offers to let most anyone feel the nubs of his horns buried in his curly red hair. The good working-class citizens of Peckham Rye, a South London suburb where people speak with distaste of any need to "cross the river," don't know quite what to make of Dougal or his nubby horns. If he is not a devil he is certainly a rascal, a young man who cons his way into local industry as an "arts man," a position recommended by progressive minded politicians who think if only workers could expand their minds they might also be less inclined to absenteeism. Dougal takes this position at two competing firms, hence the name change, and sets about his "human research" that assures he seldom darkens either of his offices. Instead he makes friends all over Peckham, which means, in effect, he sets about ruining several peoples' lives.
When Spark published her novel in 1960, Peckham Rye was a shining example of British pettiness and tedium. During the next decades it would become one of the highest crime districts in London, and hints of violence among discontented youth run throughout the novel. For her characters the sophisticated city across the river was equally a lure and a object of distrust. They like their quiet life in Peckham Rye, which retains some of its pre-suburban village character. They are sitting ducks for Dougal's freewheeling, mayhem-inducing charades. By the time the Scotsman feels its time to leave, he has left broken hearts, cancelled weddings, and crimes of passion in his wake.
Spark tells her story in an economical 140 pages.
When Spark published her novel in 1960, Peckham Rye was a shining example of British pettiness and tedium. During the next decades it would become one of the highest crime districts in London, and hints of violence among discontented youth run throughout the novel. For her characters the sophisticated city across the river was equally a lure and a object of distrust. They like their quiet life in Peckham Rye, which retains some of its pre-suburban village character. They are sitting ducks for Dougal's freewheeling, mayhem-inducing charades. By the time the Scotsman feels its time to leave, he has left broken hearts, cancelled weddings, and crimes of passion in his wake.
Spark tells her story in an economical 140 pages.
November 22, 2016
I started this with high hopes, initially enjoying the writing style and story, but as the book progressed I found it less and less well written, and despised almost all of the characters. The shocking climax of the book happens on the last few pages, and it's utterly ridiculous. Not a good initial introduction to Muriel Spark.
May 28, 2020
The gloriously off-kilter world of Muriel Spark continues to be a source of fascination for me. I loved this novella, especially the first half. It’s wonderfully dark and twisted, characteristically Sparkian in its unconventional view.
Central to the narrative is young Dougal Douglas who, on his arrival in Peckham from Scotland, sets about wreaking havoc on the community, disturbing the residents’ lives in the most insidious of ways.
As the novella opens, people are discussing an aborted wedding involving Dixie Morse, a typist at Meadows, Meade & Grindley (a local textiles’ factory), and Humphrey Place, a refrigerator engineer. Some three weeks’ earlier, Humphrey had said ‘no’ at the altar, walking out on Dixie and a church full of guests.
Spark is very skilled in her use of dialogue to convey the story, a technique that gives the novella a sense of closeness or immediacy, almost as if the reader is eavesdropping on a conversation between friends. The saga of Dixie’s abandonment is relayed through gossip at the pub, with various locals chipping in, adding their two pennies’ worth to the anecdote as it passes along.
The barmaid said: ‘It was only a few weeks ago. You saw it in the papers. That chap who left the girl at the altar, that’s him. She lives up the Grove. Crewe by name.’
One landlady out of a group of three said, ‘No, she’s a Dixie Morse. Crewe’s the stepfather. I know because she works at Meadows Meade in poor Miss Coverdale’s pool that was. Miss Coverdale told me about her. The fellow had a good position as a refrigerator engineer.’
‘Who was the chap that hit him?’
Some friend of the girl’s, I daresay.’
‘Old Lomas’s boy. Trevor by name. Electrician. He was best man at the wedding.’
‘There was I,’ sang out an old man who was visible with his old wife on the corner bench over in the public bar, ‘waiting at the church, waiting at the church.’
His wife said nothing nor smiled. (p. 11–12)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
Central to the narrative is young Dougal Douglas who, on his arrival in Peckham from Scotland, sets about wreaking havoc on the community, disturbing the residents’ lives in the most insidious of ways.
As the novella opens, people are discussing an aborted wedding involving Dixie Morse, a typist at Meadows, Meade & Grindley (a local textiles’ factory), and Humphrey Place, a refrigerator engineer. Some three weeks’ earlier, Humphrey had said ‘no’ at the altar, walking out on Dixie and a church full of guests.
Spark is very skilled in her use of dialogue to convey the story, a technique that gives the novella a sense of closeness or immediacy, almost as if the reader is eavesdropping on a conversation between friends. The saga of Dixie’s abandonment is relayed through gossip at the pub, with various locals chipping in, adding their two pennies’ worth to the anecdote as it passes along.
The barmaid said: ‘It was only a few weeks ago. You saw it in the papers. That chap who left the girl at the altar, that’s him. She lives up the Grove. Crewe by name.’
One landlady out of a group of three said, ‘No, she’s a Dixie Morse. Crewe’s the stepfather. I know because she works at Meadows Meade in poor Miss Coverdale’s pool that was. Miss Coverdale told me about her. The fellow had a good position as a refrigerator engineer.’
‘Who was the chap that hit him?’
Some friend of the girl’s, I daresay.’
‘Old Lomas’s boy. Trevor by name. Electrician. He was best man at the wedding.’
‘There was I,’ sang out an old man who was visible with his old wife on the corner bench over in the public bar, ‘waiting at the church, waiting at the church.’
His wife said nothing nor smiled. (p. 11–12)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
April 29, 2023
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 30 of 348 reviews