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Raspberry Jam
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Angus Wilson
90 books42 followersSir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, KBE (11 August 1913 – 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.
Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to an English father and South African mother. He was educated at Westminster School and Merton College, Oxford, and in 1937 became a librarian in the British Museum's Department of Printed Books, working on the new General Catalogue. During World War II, he worked in the Naval section Hut 8 at the code-breaking establishment, Bletchley Park, translating Italian Naval codes.
The work situation was stressful and led to a nervous breakdown, for which he was treated by Rolf-Werner Kosterlitz. He returned to the Museum after the end of the War, and it was there that he met Tony Garrett (born 1929), who was to be his companion for the rest of his life.
Wilson's first publication was a collection of short stories, The Wrong Set (1949), followed quickly by the daring novel Hemlock and After, which was a great success, prompting invitations to lecture in Europe.
He worked as a reviewer, and in 1955 he resigned from the British Museum to write full-time (although his financial situation did not justify doing so) and moved to Suffolk.
From 1957 he gave lectures further afield, in Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1968, and received many literary honours in succeeding years. He was knighted in 1980, and was President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1983 to 1988. His remaining years were affected by ill health, and he died of a stroke at a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 31 May 1991, aged 77.
His writing, which has a strongly satirical vein, expresses his concern with preserving a liberal humanistic outlook in the face of fashionable doctrinaire temptations. Several of his works were adapted for television. He was Professor of English Literature at the University of East Anglia from 1966 to 1978, and jointly helped to establish their creative writing course at masters level in 1970, which was then a groundbreaking initiative in the United Kingdom.
Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to an English father and South African mother. He was educated at Westminster School and Merton College, Oxford, and in 1937 became a librarian in the British Museum's Department of Printed Books, working on the new General Catalogue. During World War II, he worked in the Naval section Hut 8 at the code-breaking establishment, Bletchley Park, translating Italian Naval codes.
The work situation was stressful and led to a nervous breakdown, for which he was treated by Rolf-Werner Kosterlitz. He returned to the Museum after the end of the War, and it was there that he met Tony Garrett (born 1929), who was to be his companion for the rest of his life.
Wilson's first publication was a collection of short stories, The Wrong Set (1949), followed quickly by the daring novel Hemlock and After, which was a great success, prompting invitations to lecture in Europe.
He worked as a reviewer, and in 1955 he resigned from the British Museum to write full-time (although his financial situation did not justify doing so) and moved to Suffolk.
From 1957 he gave lectures further afield, in Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1968, and received many literary honours in succeeding years. He was knighted in 1980, and was President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1983 to 1988. His remaining years were affected by ill health, and he died of a stroke at a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 31 May 1991, aged 77.
His writing, which has a strongly satirical vein, expresses his concern with preserving a liberal humanistic outlook in the face of fashionable doctrinaire temptations. Several of his works were adapted for television. He was Professor of English Literature at the University of East Anglia from 1966 to 1978, and jointly helped to establish their creative writing course at masters level in 1970, which was then a groundbreaking initiative in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 18, 2025
Complicated Cruelty
I almost wrote "Crazy Cruelty," but thought better of it.
This is Wilson's classic story about three people who struggle with mental stability and social alienation, a recurring theme of the author, who himself had a period of a major mental heath breakdown.
The short story is about an English boy who regularly hangs out with the village's rich old sisters with his parents' approval. I'm not sure how much they know about all that goes on there—a bit like Pip's visits to Miss Havisham in Great Expectations—nor do they seem to inquire about the visits. The parents know something is not normal, something off, about their boy; we would likely call him neurodivergent now. The sisters, who he loves going to see, allow, encourage, and participate in his imaginative play. They are even odder than he is, touting their peculiar adult histories and distorted ideas into his young mind, too young to understand. All three are having a jolly good time being free to be themselves, unfettered by norms. Until one day when a cruel incident jointly perpetrated by the sisters results in a traumatic reaction in the child, nearing him toward a breakdown of his own.
I sought out this story after reading another one by the author, "Mummy to the Rescue," as part of The Short Story Group on GR. It also dealt with a child, mental challenges, and came to an unhappy end. One of the group pointed us to a BBC FOUR documentary on YT about Angus Wilson elevating my interest in his works. It is aptly titled "Skating on Thin Ice."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpCDZ...
I can see easily why this story doesn't garner high ratings. It is not pleasant. It is also lively, powerful, astute, and unforgettable.
I almost wrote "Crazy Cruelty," but thought better of it.
This is Wilson's classic story about three people who struggle with mental stability and social alienation, a recurring theme of the author, who himself had a period of a major mental heath breakdown.
The short story is about an English boy who regularly hangs out with the village's rich old sisters with his parents' approval. I'm not sure how much they know about all that goes on there—a bit like Pip's visits to Miss Havisham in Great Expectations—nor do they seem to inquire about the visits. The parents know something is not normal, something off, about their boy; we would likely call him neurodivergent now. The sisters, who he loves going to see, allow, encourage, and participate in his imaginative play. They are even odder than he is, touting their peculiar adult histories and distorted ideas into his young mind, too young to understand. All three are having a jolly good time being free to be themselves, unfettered by norms. Until one day when a cruel incident jointly perpetrated by the sisters results in a traumatic reaction in the child, nearing him toward a breakdown of his own.
I sought out this story after reading another one by the author, "Mummy to the Rescue," as part of The Short Story Group on GR. It also dealt with a child, mental challenges, and came to an unhappy end. One of the group pointed us to a BBC FOUR documentary on YT about Angus Wilson elevating my interest in his works. It is aptly titled "Skating on Thin Ice."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpCDZ...
I can see easily why this story doesn't garner high ratings. It is not pleasant. It is also lively, powerful, astute, and unforgettable.
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July 11, 2023Hideous cruelty. I HATED the Raspberry Jam story. 0 stars. Can you give minus stars?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews