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Het Conclaaf
"Martin Graham Crispin Knight is afkomstig uit een nette Londense buitenwijk, en hoewel hij behept is met esthetische neigingen kiest hij aan het begin van de jaren tachtig voor een succesvolle carriere als systeemanalist.
Nauwgezet brengt Bracewell de eerste dertig jaar en tien maanden uit Martins leven in beeld. Werk en relaties, kunst en seks, uitgaan en thuisblijven - geen enkel aspect van zijn bestaan wordt de lezer onthouden. Maar terwijl hij in de postmoderne welvaart van de jaren tachtig, en daarna de 'krach' in de jaren negentig over zich heen laat komen, wordt Martin zelf eigenlijk slechts gekweld door drie vragen: 1) Is hij interessant? 2) Is hij saai? Of: 3) Is alles veel ingewikkelder dan hij aanvankelijk dacht? Het antwoord, zo ontdekt hij, is een paradox die kenmerkend lijkt voor deze tijd."
Nauwgezet brengt Bracewell de eerste dertig jaar en tien maanden uit Martins leven in beeld. Werk en relaties, kunst en seks, uitgaan en thuisblijven - geen enkel aspect van zijn bestaan wordt de lezer onthouden. Maar terwijl hij in de postmoderne welvaart van de jaren tachtig, en daarna de 'krach' in de jaren negentig over zich heen laat komen, wordt Martin zelf eigenlijk slechts gekweld door drie vragen: 1) Is hij interessant? 2) Is hij saai? Of: 3) Is alles veel ingewikkelder dan hij aanvankelijk dacht? Het antwoord, zo ontdekt hij, is een paradox die kenmerkend lijkt voor deze tijd."
- GenresFiction
376 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2009
Remarkable novel by a British social/art critic. Michael Bracewell who wrote a fantastic pre-history of the band Roxy Music, and I came upon his novel by accident. Just recently re-released by the very interesting Capuchin Classics publishing house.
"The Conclave" sort of reminds me of Patrick Hamilton in that he really gets into the heads of his main characters - which tells the bigger story of being on the move and on the up in 1980's England. In many ways this could be a 'Situationist' novel in that it shows the conflicts of chasing a certain status or style for the sake of appearance. Or the 'dream life' that is there but really doesn't exist. At times I felt I was reading a British 19th Century novel that takes place in the go-go 80's.
Totally readable (page turner) yet a very complexed and layered novel. In a manner it is sort of a cousin to Brett Easton Ellis' "American Psycho" but without the violent imagery - and the obvious satire. "The Conclave" is funny, but in a very bitter way. And also it has ties to our current financial world. A must-read in my opinion.
"The Conclave" sort of reminds me of Patrick Hamilton in that he really gets into the heads of his main characters - which tells the bigger story of being on the move and on the up in 1980's England. In many ways this could be a 'Situationist' novel in that it shows the conflicts of chasing a certain status or style for the sake of appearance. Or the 'dream life' that is there but really doesn't exist. At times I felt I was reading a British 19th Century novel that takes place in the go-go 80's.
Totally readable (page turner) yet a very complexed and layered novel. In a manner it is sort of a cousin to Brett Easton Ellis' "American Psycho" but without the violent imagery - and the obvious satire. "The Conclave" is funny, but in a very bitter way. And also it has ties to our current financial world. A must-read in my opinion.
February 10, 2014
If Patrick Bateman from American Psycho lived in England and never thought of killing anyone he would be Martin Knight, the main character of this book. Written around the same time as American Psycho, The Conclave is one of those books that perfectly paints a picture of a certain place and time.
We follow Martin Knight from his middle class childhood to his pretentious prep school days to his money obsessed adulthood. Obsessed with the idea of beauty, Martin meets his match in Marilyn Fuller, a young woman with little ambition other than to be stylish. They are drawn together by their mutual love of shopping, and together they live through the decade of overindulgence, spending money like water and worrying about nothing other than finding the perfect soap dish to match the faucets.
At first I really enjoyed this book. Martin Knight is an everyman, a product of his generation. Although we see things to criticize in him, we can also see aspects of ourselves. Bracewell's descriptions are elegant and poetic, and it almost didn't matter that nothing really happened. But then... it started to matter. About halfway through the book I started to grow bored and become somewhat infuriated by Martin's lack of common sense. His inner monologues became repetitive and I lost some of my enthusiasm for the book. I still found the book interesting, but I can see why American Psycho is a much more popular book.
We follow Martin Knight from his middle class childhood to his pretentious prep school days to his money obsessed adulthood. Obsessed with the idea of beauty, Martin meets his match in Marilyn Fuller, a young woman with little ambition other than to be stylish. They are drawn together by their mutual love of shopping, and together they live through the decade of overindulgence, spending money like water and worrying about nothing other than finding the perfect soap dish to match the faucets.
At first I really enjoyed this book. Martin Knight is an everyman, a product of his generation. Although we see things to criticize in him, we can also see aspects of ourselves. Bracewell's descriptions are elegant and poetic, and it almost didn't matter that nothing really happened. But then... it started to matter. About halfway through the book I started to grow bored and become somewhat infuriated by Martin's lack of common sense. His inner monologues became repetitive and I lost some of my enthusiasm for the book. I still found the book interesting, but I can see why American Psycho is a much more popular book.
November 6, 2024
Michael Bracewell is a master stylist whose prose is so effortlessly charming, so balanced and finely-weighted, it's almost a different medium altogether. There's a razor-keen aesthetic sense, reminiscent perhaps of Denton Welch, but Bracewell's prose manages to be aware of its own (in a good way) preciousness and subtly to comment on it, without ever being po-faced. It's an extraordinarily versatile prose style which could tell any number of stories; but in "The Conclave" it has probably the ideal subject.
This is an essential novel of 1980's Britain which analyses consumerism as a quest for meaning/truth through beauty. It is a novel about money, but money is always a means, not the end in itself that so many 80's narratives make it. The members of "The Conclave" aren't braying loadsamoney types - those barely feature on the very periphery of the narrative - but ordinary imperfect individuals responding to a societal sea-change they are hardly aware of. Their addiction to credit and nice things isn't politicised; Thatcher is referred to only once or twice, obliquely. And by showing us how things were so quietly and immersively, Bracewell gives a better account of why things were than any number of Amises; in fact he does for this small segment of society what Waugh did for the bright young things of the 1930's.
There is simply no reason not to read this book. My only minor quibble is with the conclusion, which feels rushed - as though history caught up with the author before he was finished. But this must have been how it felt for the characters, too, when the clock ticked over into 1990.
This is an essential novel of 1980's Britain which analyses consumerism as a quest for meaning/truth through beauty. It is a novel about money, but money is always a means, not the end in itself that so many 80's narratives make it. The members of "The Conclave" aren't braying loadsamoney types - those barely feature on the very periphery of the narrative - but ordinary imperfect individuals responding to a societal sea-change they are hardly aware of. Their addiction to credit and nice things isn't politicised; Thatcher is referred to only once or twice, obliquely. And by showing us how things were so quietly and immersively, Bracewell gives a better account of why things were than any number of Amises; in fact he does for this small segment of society what Waugh did for the bright young things of the 1930's.
There is simply no reason not to read this book. My only minor quibble is with the conclusion, which feels rushed - as though history caught up with the author before he was finished. But this must have been how it felt for the characters, too, when the clock ticked over into 1990.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews