Still Life: A Tunbridge Wells Childhood

by Richard Cobb

Still Life: Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood (the sub-title is important) was first published in 1984. It won the J.R. Ackerley Prize for Literary Biography in that year. It is a classic among middle-class memoirs. In twenty-one short chapters the town is vividly anatomized. And so are its residents: meet Dr Ranking and, best of all, meet the Limbury-Buses living a life of contented ossification.
'Cobb remembers, and that, as well as his redeeming freedom from all conventional standards of dignity and relevance, is what makes this offbeat, capricious book a rare treasure'. John Carey, Sunday Times
'A remarkable feat of making purest autobiography part of a general, social history... Cobb has broken one of the strangest silences in English social commentary; on the missing history of the English bourgeoisie'. Michael Neve, Times Literary Supplement

Genres: Memoir, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

224 pages, clothbound

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Richard Cobb was a British historian. He became Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, after an initially unconventional academic career in which he spent a dozen years working as an independent scholar in French archives. His work was recognised in France by the award of membership of the Legion d'Honneur. He is known for his work on the background to the French Revolution, and for his autobiographical writings.

Reviews

[Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gossipy fun mixed with a detailed mainly middle class social history of Tunbridge Wells in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when Richard Cobb was a child. He appears to have a wonderful memory, but this must have been assisted by his mother continuing to live there until the 1960’s and Richard’s visits to her. I know my mother talks about the old people who lived in houses when I take her out for drives, but I cannot recount the extraordinary and fascinating level of detail provided here.
I suspect that some may find it lacking purpose, but I found this a delightful series of verbal portraits, recreated by Cobbs’ easy and descriptive prose. Although my childhood was much later, in the 1970’s, I found some of the characters and scenes described brought back similar, though previously forgotten memories for myself.

[Adrian]

Loving portrait of the staid, private world of the south-east England city from the 1920s to 40s. Sharp portrayals of his mother, Kate the nanny, his eccentric cousins and Mr. Evans and his watercolours. Charming and funny writer.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Judging by the positive reviews and awards this book has received, I'm in a minority, but I find this quite unenjoyable and distinctly odd. There were snippets of description that I appreciated, but most of it was tedious and very status-obsessed, constantly worrying over whether or not different people were the same class as the Cobb family, and if not, how much to associate with them. I also found it time-hopped in a disconcerting manner, leaping from the author's early childhood to adult life and back again, so that I never knew if I were reading about Cobb the 10-year-old or Cobb the 35-year-old.

There's an extremely strange section where he describes making surreptitious visits to his mother's room to rummage through her clothing because he likes the feel of them, and "the sheen of pretty fabrics and soft silks and tussores." He goes on for pages about her different clothes and how much he loves handling them and that he helps himself to any stray shillings that he finds. I assumed that this was when he was a small child, but then he claims that his mother knew what he was doing and that her "discretion saved us both from mutual embarrassment. It would have been awkward asking for or giving me such pocket-money when I was in my mid-thirties." Is it just me, or is it super-weird that a guy in his mid 30s is not only dependent on his mother for 'pocket money' but that his hobby is rummaging through her clothing?!!

If you know Tunbridge Wells, then there might be some interest in reading his descriptions of the town and seeing how much it has changed in the past 100 years - but otherwise, I'd recommend avoiding this one.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

“For lavatories and the strange marks on their doors or their walls constitute the secret places in which is guarded the spirit of a house, the trusted companion of a secure childhood.”

[Devs38 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great. Skillful, engaging portrayal of the life and environs of Tunbridge Wells England in the 1920's and 1930's.