The Brightfount Diaries

by Brian W. Aldiss

In a small provincial city, Peter lives with his long-suffering Aunt Anne and his eccentric Uncle Leo, and works in a bookshop called Brightfount’s, which he describes as a ‘shabby outpost of literacy’. Cutting the apron strings, he moves into a bed-sit and composes these witty diaries, in which he includes amusing remarks about publishers, authors, booksellers and customers, a revelation about his dotty uncle, and his efforts to find ‘a suitable girl’.

Genres: Fiction

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Pseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.

Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.

Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/710541.html[return][return]I knew of this, Brian Aldiss' first novel, from one of his autobiographies, but thought I would never get a chance to read it. However House of Stratus have reprinted it as part of their series of all Aldiss works - though it can't be doing awfully well as I picked it up for 99p somewhere (marked down from the original

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great fun. Of course, I'm totally biased since I've always wanted to own/run a bookshop...

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian W. Aldiss was one of the lights of my youth. One of his titles, "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand", remains a favorite sci-fi title of mine.
But this volume (my copy is a 1955 first edition from London's Farber and Farber), was Aldiss's first novel and a far cry from most of his later work. At the time he was working in a book store. He used that experience to fund the material here, the 'diary' of a book shop worker. Tales of literacy puns, customer portraits, and book shop life are intertwined with peeks at his love life and family life. The solidly 50s flavor of life remains substantially different from today's electronic muddle while the bookshop keepers' life bears a strong familiarity with today's independents who stock new and used titles.
Well-written, insightful, chock full of humor, this modest volume (200 pgs.) could command days to read if one researched every allusion and reference. Aldiss is subtle and winks at us on every page.
(Illustrated with line drawings by Pearl Falconer.)
Recommended.

[Andy Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's based on Brian Aldiss's experiences as a bookseller. It's written in a witty vein from the point of view of the junior bookseller with living nearby a slightly dysfunctional extended family group and with various nascent romantic interests. Aldiss wrote some good comic novels and some very thoughtful sci fi and I generally like him. But this is an early work and for ascorbic comic novels of the era better to look at Amis. This rambles a bit, there are slightly too many shop staff, too little development of the more interesting characters and plot twists and too few really strong jokes and comic moments.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what i expected

[Schopflin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally unexpected gem! brilliantly written and a wonderful set of observations into provincial life in the 1950s, also with genuine affection for books and the book trade.

[Rhys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Aldiss is one of my favourite writers, and he is also one of those few writers I intend to be a completist with, in other words I plan to read all the fiction he ever published (and maybe the non-fiction too). However, I am aware that not everything he wrote was especially good. I tried reading The Brightfount Diaries some years ago and soon abandoned it. But I am a completist! So I had to give it another go, and this time I not only managed to finish it, I rather enjoyed it. I say 'rather' because this isn't a novel that one is likely to fall in love with. There's no plot, very few ideas, and the characters are hardly compelling. The best thing about this book is the wordplay, the puns and little ditties that emerge from various members of the fictional bookshop's staff. I give the puns four stars but as a whole only three stars are deserved.