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The Go-Between
[Penguin Readers Level 4]
L.P. Hartley's moving exploration of a young boy's loss of innocence The Go-Between is edited with an introduction and notes by Douglas Brooks-Davies in Penguin Modern Classics.
'The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there'
When one long, hot summer, young Leo is staying with a school-friend at Brandham Hall, he begins to act as a messenger between Ted, the farmer, and Marian, the beautiful young woman up at the hall. He becomes drawn deeper and deeper into their dangerous game of deceit and desire, until his role brings him to a shocking and premature revelation. The haunting story of a young boy's awakening into the secrets of the adult world, The Go-Between is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society.
Leslie Poles Hartley (1895-1972) was born in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford. For more than thirty years from 1923 he was an indefatigable fiction reviewer for periodicals including the Spectator and Saturday Review. His first book, Night Fears (1924) was a collection of short stories; but it was not until the publication of Eustace and Hilda (1947), which won the James Tait Black prize, that Hartley gained widespread recognition as an author. His other novels include The Go-Between (1953), which was adapted into an internationally-successful film starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates, and The Hireling (1957), the film version of which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
If you enjoyed The Go-Between, you might like Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.
'Magical and disturbing'
Independent
'On a first reading, it is a beautifully wrought description of a small boy's loss of innocence long ago. But, visited a second time, the knowledge of approaching, unavoidable tragedy makes it far more poignant and painful'
Express
L.P. Hartley's moving exploration of a young boy's loss of innocence The Go-Between is edited with an introduction and notes by Douglas Brooks-Davies in Penguin Modern Classics.
'The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there'
When one long, hot summer, young Leo is staying with a school-friend at Brandham Hall, he begins to act as a messenger between Ted, the farmer, and Marian, the beautiful young woman up at the hall. He becomes drawn deeper and deeper into their dangerous game of deceit and desire, until his role brings him to a shocking and premature revelation. The haunting story of a young boy's awakening into the secrets of the adult world, The Go-Between is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society.
Leslie Poles Hartley (1895-1972) was born in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford. For more than thirty years from 1923 he was an indefatigable fiction reviewer for periodicals including the Spectator and Saturday Review. His first book, Night Fears (1924) was a collection of short stories; but it was not until the publication of Eustace and Hilda (1947), which won the James Tait Black prize, that Hartley gained widespread recognition as an author. His other novels include The Go-Between (1953), which was adapted into an internationally-successful film starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates, and The Hireling (1957), the film version of which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
If you enjoyed The Go-Between, you might like Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.
'Magical and disturbing'
Independent
'On a first reading, it is a beautifully wrought description of a small boy's loss of innocence long ago. But, visited a second time, the knowledge of approaching, unavoidable tragedy makes it far more poignant and painful'
Express
152 pages, Paperback
Published February 16, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 18, 2024
Básicamente la historia de como se manipula a un niño de 12 años y se lo termina perjudicando con el fin de usarlo como intermediario en un juego de clases y romances prohibidos.
March 25, 2015
Incrível como uma história nos consegue envolver desta maneira. "The Go-Between" continua a ser, sobretudo depois desta segunda leitura, um dos livros mais mágicos que já me passaram pelas mãos.
Um miúdo revisita uma infância que é a sua. Foca-se num acontecimento que mudou a sua vida por completo. Todo este livro é um conjunto de acontecimentos sucessivos de mistério, crueldade, natureza humana. Sim, porque a diversidade de personagens é incrível: desde o personagem principal, na altura criança, a Mrs Maudsley, muito dona de si e de estatuto superior.
Não se trata de uma simples crise familiar. É muito mais que isso.
Como foi bom relê-lo!
Um miúdo revisita uma infância que é a sua. Foca-se num acontecimento que mudou a sua vida por completo. Todo este livro é um conjunto de acontecimentos sucessivos de mistério, crueldade, natureza humana. Sim, porque a diversidade de personagens é incrível: desde o personagem principal, na altura criança, a Mrs Maudsley, muito dona de si e de estatuto superior.
Não se trata de uma simples crise familiar. É muito mais que isso.
Como foi bom relê-lo!
September 16, 2012
Read this (three times) for university entrance exam (English philology). It was a bit too short and streamlined for my taste; as the rear cover says, this is an "intermediate" level book intended for those who have yet to discover "the joy of reading for pleasure". I certainly had before reading this.
Read
July 3, 2011Marian wants both an attractive boyfriend the farmer and a noble rich man. If nobody had found out her affair with the farmer, she have would be a perfect life (I think).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews