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Tunes of Glory
Lt. Colonel Jock Sinclair is a rough talking, whisky drinking soldier's soldier, a hero of the desert campaign who rose to his position through the ranks. Colonel Barrow, an officer graduate of Oxford and Sandhurst, had a wretched war in Japanese prison camps. But he has come to take command of the Battalion he has long admired, the one that Jock Sinclair has served in since he was a boy. In the claustrophobic world of Campbell barracks, a conflict is inevitable between the two men and a tragedy unfolds with concentrated and ferocious power. James Kennaway served in a Highland regiment himself, and his feeling for 'tunes of glory, for the glamour and brutality of army life gives added authenticity and humour to this, his first and most famous novel. He died in a car crash at the tragically early age of forty.
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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About the author
James Kennaway
15 books4 followersJames Kennaway was born in Perthshire, Scotland in 1928 and went to public school at Trinity College, Glenalmond. After serving as an officer with the Cameron Highlanders, he attended Trinity College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in economics and politics. After graduating, he worked as an editor for a London publishing firm and married his wife Susan in 1951; their sometimes turbulent relationship is documented in The Kennaway Papers (1981), which she published after his death.
His first novel, Tunes of Glory (1956), earned critical acclaim and was adapted by Kennaway for an Oscar-nominated motion picture starring Alec Guinness. His other novels include Household Ghosts (1961), The Mind Benders (1963), The Bells of Shoreditch (1963) and Some Gorgeous Accident (1967). Two books, The Cost of Living Like This (1969) and Silence (1972), a novella, appeared posthumously. Kennaway was also an accomplished screenwriter, writing several screenplays, three of them based on his own novels. At the age of 40, James Kennaway suffered a massive heart attack while driving home and died in a car crash just before Christmas in 1968.
His first novel, Tunes of Glory (1956), earned critical acclaim and was adapted by Kennaway for an Oscar-nominated motion picture starring Alec Guinness. His other novels include Household Ghosts (1961), The Mind Benders (1963), The Bells of Shoreditch (1963) and Some Gorgeous Accident (1967). Two books, The Cost of Living Like This (1969) and Silence (1972), a novella, appeared posthumously. Kennaway was also an accomplished screenwriter, writing several screenplays, three of them based on his own novels. At the age of 40, James Kennaway suffered a massive heart attack while driving home and died in a car crash just before Christmas in 1968.
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September 3, 2019
Tunes of Glory was the debut novel of the Scottish author and screenwriter, James Kennaway. When it was published in 1956, it received much positive critical acclaim and it became his most popular work.
Four years after its publication, it was adapted for the screen with Alec Guiness and John Mills cast in the starring roles. The movie script adhered closely to the book, which is no surprise since Kennaway wrote the screenplay, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to Richard Brooks’ adaptation of Elmer Gantry.
Tunes of Glory is a study of character and military leadership in an unnamed Highland Regiment in Scotland that is struggling to adapt to peacetime during the post-World War II era. It is also a study of how some leaders who thrive and rise to the top during war often experience difficulty in making that transition to peacetime. In American history, I can think of two prominent examples that stand out: George Armstrong Custer and George S. Patton.
In Tunes of Glory, it is Jock Sinclair (Alec Guiness in the movie), a soldier who rose through the ranks during WWII, eventually becoming acting lieutenant colonel as well as acting commander of his battalion. But after four and a half years in which both the rank and the command remained temporary, he is replaced by Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills in the movie).
The change is made because Sinclair’s superiors believe him to be too rough around the edges and that Barrow, because he is a “gentleman” who entered the military directly from Oxford University, would be more acceptable as a commander in the peacetime army. Undoubtedly, it also is an indication of the role that the class system plays in the decision to make the change.
While Sinclair had become a combat hero during the war, Barrow spent much of the war imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp. This difference becomes one of the critical factors in the uneasy relationship that develops between the two officers. In a clash of opposites, Sinclair, the uncooperative second in command, engages in a detrimental psychological battle of wills with the new commander, one that forces the other officers in the battalion to take sides.
After WWII, James Kennaway served in the Gordon Highlanders in occupied Germany. He liked the military, but not his regiment. He was troubled by its disruptive rivalries and most of the characters in the novel are based on officers he knew in Germany.
Kennaway was only twenty-eight when his novel was published. He went on to write six others. In addition, he wrote four screenplays, two of which were based on his novels.
Two of his novels were published posthumously, for in 1968 he suffered a massive heart attack while driving home one day and died in an automobile crash. He was forty years old.
I’m sure Kennaway is well-remembered in his native Scotland, but I’m not sure that is the case elsewhere. Here on Goodreads, Tunes of Glory, his best-known novel, has a high average rating of 4.11. However, it has been rated by only thirty-six readers and been reviewed only five times.
James Kennaway is another of those forgotten writers who deserves to be remembered – and so does his book.
Thank you, Ian, for leading me to this book. I also want to thank you for advising readers not to read Allan Massie’s detailed introduction until after they had read the book. As a result, I read it afterwards and as you indicated it contained several major spoilers.
Ian’s excellent review of the book can be read here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Four years after its publication, it was adapted for the screen with Alec Guiness and John Mills cast in the starring roles. The movie script adhered closely to the book, which is no surprise since Kennaway wrote the screenplay, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to Richard Brooks’ adaptation of Elmer Gantry.
Tunes of Glory is a study of character and military leadership in an unnamed Highland Regiment in Scotland that is struggling to adapt to peacetime during the post-World War II era. It is also a study of how some leaders who thrive and rise to the top during war often experience difficulty in making that transition to peacetime. In American history, I can think of two prominent examples that stand out: George Armstrong Custer and George S. Patton.
In Tunes of Glory, it is Jock Sinclair (Alec Guiness in the movie), a soldier who rose through the ranks during WWII, eventually becoming acting lieutenant colonel as well as acting commander of his battalion. But after four and a half years in which both the rank and the command remained temporary, he is replaced by Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills in the movie).
The change is made because Sinclair’s superiors believe him to be too rough around the edges and that Barrow, because he is a “gentleman” who entered the military directly from Oxford University, would be more acceptable as a commander in the peacetime army. Undoubtedly, it also is an indication of the role that the class system plays in the decision to make the change.
While Sinclair had become a combat hero during the war, Barrow spent much of the war imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp. This difference becomes one of the critical factors in the uneasy relationship that develops between the two officers. In a clash of opposites, Sinclair, the uncooperative second in command, engages in a detrimental psychological battle of wills with the new commander, one that forces the other officers in the battalion to take sides.
After WWII, James Kennaway served in the Gordon Highlanders in occupied Germany. He liked the military, but not his regiment. He was troubled by its disruptive rivalries and most of the characters in the novel are based on officers he knew in Germany.
Kennaway was only twenty-eight when his novel was published. He went on to write six others. In addition, he wrote four screenplays, two of which were based on his novels.
Two of his novels were published posthumously, for in 1968 he suffered a massive heart attack while driving home one day and died in an automobile crash. He was forty years old.
I’m sure Kennaway is well-remembered in his native Scotland, but I’m not sure that is the case elsewhere. Here on Goodreads, Tunes of Glory, his best-known novel, has a high average rating of 4.11. However, it has been rated by only thirty-six readers and been reviewed only five times.
James Kennaway is another of those forgotten writers who deserves to be remembered – and so does his book.
Thank you, Ian, for leading me to this book. I also want to thank you for advising readers not to read Allan Massie’s detailed introduction until after they had read the book. As a result, I read it afterwards and as you indicated it contained several major spoilers.
Ian’s excellent review of the book can be read here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
September 6, 2024
The Scottish author James Kennaway died in 1968 at the early age of 40. This 1956 novel was his first and remains his best known, and was made into a 1960 film that started Alec Guinness as Jock Sinclair and John Mills as Basil Barrow. In the Introduction to the book, the writer Allan Massie comments that anyone who has seen the film will find it hard not to picture Sinclair and Barrow as they were portrayed by Guinness and Mills, a comment I would agree with. I would say though, that if you don't already know the story you should avoid Massie's Introduction, as he includes major spoilers, discussing the events of the novel in great detail.
Although I had seen the film I still found this an unexpected treat. It's a superbly written drama about escalating rivalries amongst the officers of a British Army battalion in a barracks in post war Scotland. At the centre are the battalion's two senior officers. Major Jock Sinclair, DSO and bar, has been promoted from the ranks for heroism during WWII, and is worshipped by some of the junior officers and ordinary soldiers. However the aggressive qualities that made his name in wartime are less suited to a peacetime command. Sinclair is both a bully and a loose cannon. Lt. Col Barrow came to the Army via Eton and Oxford, and had a nightmarish war as a POW of the Japanese. He though has the support of those who feel their Colonel should be a gentleman. Other factors also play a part in the complex web of loyalties between the officers. At one point the author manages to create a tense and memorable scene out of an argument over the correct way to dance an Eightsome Reel.
The British class system is an obvious undercurrent to the novel. Personally I couldn't help wondering whether the relationship between Sinclair and Barrow was also in some way symbolic of the relationship between Scotland and England, though I doubt whether many of my countrymen would agree. At heart though this is a novel about personal disputes within a closed environment, where none the characters are wholly good or wholly bad.
Although I had seen the film I still found this an unexpected treat. It's a superbly written drama about escalating rivalries amongst the officers of a British Army battalion in a barracks in post war Scotland. At the centre are the battalion's two senior officers. Major Jock Sinclair, DSO and bar, has been promoted from the ranks for heroism during WWII, and is worshipped by some of the junior officers and ordinary soldiers. However the aggressive qualities that made his name in wartime are less suited to a peacetime command. Sinclair is both a bully and a loose cannon. Lt. Col Barrow came to the Army via Eton and Oxford, and had a nightmarish war as a POW of the Japanese. He though has the support of those who feel their Colonel should be a gentleman. Other factors also play a part in the complex web of loyalties between the officers. At one point the author manages to create a tense and memorable scene out of an argument over the correct way to dance an Eightsome Reel.
The British class system is an obvious undercurrent to the novel. Personally I couldn't help wondering whether the relationship between Sinclair and Barrow was also in some way symbolic of the relationship between Scotland and England, though I doubt whether many of my countrymen would agree. At heart though this is a novel about personal disputes within a closed environment, where none the characters are wholly good or wholly bad.
September 4, 2024
Set in Scotland in the 1950s, this book is a story of two leaders: Lt. Colonel Jock Sinclair is a war hero much beloved by his battalion. Colonel Barrow is Sinclair’s replacement, an educated man who has never led troops and spent much of WWII in a Japanese POW camp. The two possess completely different leadership styles and clash immediately. When Sinclair, impaired by alcohol, strikes an enlisted man, Barrow initiates court-martial proceedings, but Sinclair’s loyal troops resist Barrow’s orders.
These characters are vividly portrayed. Sinclair is a popular personality among his troops and the local populace, a colorful, forceful, boisterous character. Barrow is almost his opposite. He is quiet, introverted, obviously has suffered mental distress during his years as a prisoner. The story moves to an inevitable climactic scene. Neither character backs down. They each take action consistent with their personalities. Published in 1956, the ending of this book seems to represent the end of an era – after many years of war, changes are taking place, and this book represents a break wartime and post-war armed forces service, and the difficulties of adapting to change. I enjoyed it very much.
These characters are vividly portrayed. Sinclair is a popular personality among his troops and the local populace, a colorful, forceful, boisterous character. Barrow is almost his opposite. He is quiet, introverted, obviously has suffered mental distress during his years as a prisoner. The story moves to an inevitable climactic scene. Neither character backs down. They each take action consistent with their personalities. Published in 1956, the ending of this book seems to represent the end of an era – after many years of war, changes are taking place, and this book represents a break wartime and post-war armed forces service, and the difficulties of adapting to change. I enjoyed it very much.
March 2, 2016
This is a stunning, intense novel about a duel between two officers for the control of a Scottish Infantry battalion, in the mid-1950's.
It's as much about bad leadership as it is about PTSD- and the closed and insular world of a Scottish Highland regiment, transitioning between two distinct eras. The author (according to the introduction) drew on his own experiences as a post-WWII officer in the Gordon Highlanders, and used several of his fellow officers as models for some characters in the book. (Kennaway said, he'd rather "serve with the Argentine Police" than accept a regular commission in the Gordons...)
If you've seen the excellent film, this novel will illuminate a couple of corners for you. Finely written, highly recommended.
If you haven't seen the movie and choose to read the book first, leave the introduction by Allan Massie (if you have that edition) until the end, because it details the entire plot and course of the novel, including the ending.
It's as much about bad leadership as it is about PTSD- and the closed and insular world of a Scottish Highland regiment, transitioning between two distinct eras. The author (according to the introduction) drew on his own experiences as a post-WWII officer in the Gordon Highlanders, and used several of his fellow officers as models for some characters in the book. (Kennaway said, he'd rather "serve with the Argentine Police" than accept a regular commission in the Gordons...)
If you've seen the excellent film, this novel will illuminate a couple of corners for you. Finely written, highly recommended.
If you haven't seen the movie and choose to read the book first, leave the introduction by Allan Massie (if you have that edition) until the end, because it details the entire plot and course of the novel, including the ending.
June 18, 2025
Jock Sinclair has been Acting Lieutenant-Colonel of the Battalion based at Campbell Barracks in the Scottish Highlands for four years. From a working-class background, he came up through the ranks, receiving a battlefield commission at Alamein in recognition of the heroism of his actions there. His brash, abrasive personality is not so suited to peacetime however, while the army is reverting to its norm of choosing officers for their social background rather than their skills as warriors. It has been announced that a new man has been given command of the Battalion – Colonel Basil Barrow, a product of Eton and Sandhurst, Scottish by birth, perhaps, but English by education and accent. A gentleman. Barrow also served in the war, although he spent most of the duration in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The two men butt heads and the loyalty of the other officers is divided. At first Sinclair gets the upper-hand in their rivalry, but then he does something stupid that lays him open to a possible court martial and a dishonourable end to his distinguished career. His fate is in Barrow’s hands…
This is another of these largely forgotten Scottish classics that Canongate Books has done a fine job of bringing back into print and the public consciousness. Kennaway died tragically young of a heart attack, at the age of just 40. This means his bibliography is short – perhaps if he had had time to build up a bigger body of work he may be better remembered. This book did make its mark at the time, though, (it was published in 1956), being made into a film starring Alec Guinness and John Mills. It’s a little sad that today the film is better known than the book, though even it is fading into the mists of time, I think.
Campbell Barracks doesn’t exist, but is probably based on one of the two Highland regiments with which Kennaway served – the Camerons or the Gordons. In the spoiler-filled introduction, which you most certainly shouldn’t read before you read the book, Allan Massie is convinced the book is based on the Gordons. I’m happy to go along with that.
In truth, it doesn’t matter, though. Kennaway is showing the uneasy return to peacetime activities after a protracted war, the army under-occupied and finding it hard to maintain standards when their days are filled with relative trivia in comparison to what they’ve been through, and when many of the men are emotionally scarred by their experiences. While not a term in use at the time, both Colonels seem to show signs of suffering from PTSD. In Sinclair, this takes the form of excessive drinking and a kind of boisterous gaiety – an eat, drink and be merry outlook. Barrow, in contrast, is intense, introverted and nervy. Both men love their regiment and its traditions, but Barrow is better suited to the social obligations expected to be fulfilled by a Battalion commander. This is a clash not just of personalities, but of class.
And there are some subtle hints that it may also be about the resentment against the Englishing of Scotland – the idea that a man with an English education and accent is somehow more fit to lead than a man who speaks like his own men do. The fact that Barrow’s nickname is “Barrow Boy”, with its connotations of London Cockneys, is not accidental, I feel, and nor is the way the two men argue over the correct way to dance Scottish dances.
The characterisation of the two men is excellent, especially Jock Sinclair who is the heart of the story. A soldier to his core, a warrior and a natural leader, even if he is also sometimes a bully and often uncouth. A man his men will follow to their deaths if they must, or dance an eightsome reel if that’s what he commands. Jock plays the bagpipes and loves all the old tunes – to him, these things are part of soldiering and he dances as he fights, roughly, vigorously and with a will to win. Barrow dances neatly and considerately, soberly, and expects his officers to do the same. But for all his gentility, Barrow is a soldier born too, though in his case born to be an officer. His grandfather once led the Battalion, and this appointment is the culmination of all Barrow’s ambition.
It is clear throughout that we are heading for tragedy. When it finally comes, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the suddenness of it, but nonetheless I found it deeply moving. We wave our flags and cheer for victory, and we expect the victorious men to shrug off their experiences and resume life as it was before war. With Sinclair and Barrow, Kennaway shows this is not always possible, but by showing their weaknesses, their flaws and the damage done to them, he made them more heroic in my eyes. An excellent book that should be much better known. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
This is another of these largely forgotten Scottish classics that Canongate Books has done a fine job of bringing back into print and the public consciousness. Kennaway died tragically young of a heart attack, at the age of just 40. This means his bibliography is short – perhaps if he had had time to build up a bigger body of work he may be better remembered. This book did make its mark at the time, though, (it was published in 1956), being made into a film starring Alec Guinness and John Mills. It’s a little sad that today the film is better known than the book, though even it is fading into the mists of time, I think.
Campbell Barracks doesn’t exist, but is probably based on one of the two Highland regiments with which Kennaway served – the Camerons or the Gordons. In the spoiler-filled introduction, which you most certainly shouldn’t read before you read the book, Allan Massie is convinced the book is based on the Gordons. I’m happy to go along with that.
In truth, it doesn’t matter, though. Kennaway is showing the uneasy return to peacetime activities after a protracted war, the army under-occupied and finding it hard to maintain standards when their days are filled with relative trivia in comparison to what they’ve been through, and when many of the men are emotionally scarred by their experiences. While not a term in use at the time, both Colonels seem to show signs of suffering from PTSD. In Sinclair, this takes the form of excessive drinking and a kind of boisterous gaiety – an eat, drink and be merry outlook. Barrow, in contrast, is intense, introverted and nervy. Both men love their regiment and its traditions, but Barrow is better suited to the social obligations expected to be fulfilled by a Battalion commander. This is a clash not just of personalities, but of class.
And there are some subtle hints that it may also be about the resentment against the Englishing of Scotland – the idea that a man with an English education and accent is somehow more fit to lead than a man who speaks like his own men do. The fact that Barrow’s nickname is “Barrow Boy”, with its connotations of London Cockneys, is not accidental, I feel, and nor is the way the two men argue over the correct way to dance Scottish dances.
The characterisation of the two men is excellent, especially Jock Sinclair who is the heart of the story. A soldier to his core, a warrior and a natural leader, even if he is also sometimes a bully and often uncouth. A man his men will follow to their deaths if they must, or dance an eightsome reel if that’s what he commands. Jock plays the bagpipes and loves all the old tunes – to him, these things are part of soldiering and he dances as he fights, roughly, vigorously and with a will to win. Barrow dances neatly and considerately, soberly, and expects his officers to do the same. But for all his gentility, Barrow is a soldier born too, though in his case born to be an officer. His grandfather once led the Battalion, and this appointment is the culmination of all Barrow’s ambition.
It is clear throughout that we are heading for tragedy. When it finally comes, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the suddenness of it, but nonetheless I found it deeply moving. We wave our flags and cheer for victory, and we expect the victorious men to shrug off their experiences and resume life as it was before war. With Sinclair and Barrow, Kennaway shows this is not always possible, but by showing their weaknesses, their flaws and the damage done to them, he made them more heroic in my eyes. An excellent book that should be much better known. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
March 21, 2019
Lt Colonel Jock Sinclair, ex-Barlinnie, has come up from the ranks and the Pipe Band via a good war to become acting commander of a battalion of an unnamed Scottish regiment. While the battalion is engaged in boisterous dancing practice the new Colonel, Basil Barrow, graduate of Eton, Oxford and Sandhurst (and a Japanese POW camp,) arrives the evening before he was expected. His displeasure at the raucous activity is clear and the seeds of conflict are sown. The new Colonel is soon dubbed Barrow boy, and his demand that all officers gather in the early morning three days a week to practice dancing in a more refined style incurs resentment.
Sinclair has a penchant for drink and a daughter, Morag, of whom he is overly protective. He also maintains an interest in Mary Titterton, an actress in the local Repertory company, with whom he can relax. These two women are the only two in the book and are little more than placeholders. Kennaway’s interests lie elsewhere, in the exigencies of army life, the necessity of sticking to military etiquette and the drawbacks these entail.
Sinclair’s behaviour on a night out in the town eventually puts Barrow in an impossible position. Neither can deal with the consequences.
I watched the film made from this on television a few years ago. As far as I recall it, it stayed remarkably true to the book. In his introduction Allan Massie says the ending works better cinematically than in the novel, mainly due to Alec Guiness’s presence as an actor. There is something to this analysis but Kennaway’s examination of army life and the pressures it puts on emotional life is nevertheless illuminating.
Sinclair has a penchant for drink and a daughter, Morag, of whom he is overly protective. He also maintains an interest in Mary Titterton, an actress in the local Repertory company, with whom he can relax. These two women are the only two in the book and are little more than placeholders. Kennaway’s interests lie elsewhere, in the exigencies of army life, the necessity of sticking to military etiquette and the drawbacks these entail.
Sinclair’s behaviour on a night out in the town eventually puts Barrow in an impossible position. Neither can deal with the consequences.
I watched the film made from this on television a few years ago. As far as I recall it, it stayed remarkably true to the book. In his introduction Allan Massie says the ending works better cinematically than in the novel, mainly due to Alec Guiness’s presence as an actor. There is something to this analysis but Kennaway’s examination of army life and the pressures it puts on emotional life is nevertheless illuminating.
January 6, 2026
Tunes of Glory by James Kennaway was the 1961 Nominee for Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for the author of the original, James Kennaway, it is also included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list – you find more than five thousand notes on films from The NYT Best 1,000 and other sites, along with another about 5k reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other pages on my blog and YouTube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... I think there are three subscribers, you might join a select group
9 out of 10
Alec Guiness https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was one of the greatest thespians of all time – though I think it should be Sir Alec Guiness, and you find on the net this story told by Sir Michael Caine: he was about to act with Lord Laurence Olivier in Sleuth, there were only two actors there
Michael Caine receives a letter from his partner in the film, which said ‘you may wonder how to address me, from the moment we will meet I will be Larry to you’, words to that effect, and then many years later, Sleuth is made again, this time with Sir Michael Caine and Jude Law, so the knighted actor sends a letter to Jude Law…
Alec Guiness has written an autobiography, My Name Escapes Me https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... in which he talks about his experience on a number of films, I think I remember one puzzle in there, related to Star Wars.
The majestic actor became so famous after he appeared in Star Wars, although he had had roles that had been much more relevant – this cinephile feels this way, I am not a fan of the series, I do not watch Marvel movies, except once in a period of say seven years – such as the king of Saudi Arabia in Lawrence of Arabia
The latter is one of the top five or Ten Best Movies Ever Made, or used to be, there are compilations now where they insist on other features – I am still waiting to watch the number one on the most recent Top 100 released by The British Film Institute, apparently, a film where not much happens, a bath takes fifteen minutes in the film…
While Alec Guiness was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Obi Won Kenobi in the Star Wars movie, he did win the Academy Award for The Bridge on The River Kwai https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... another of the Top 20 Best Films Ever Made
In Tunes of Glory Alec Guiness has the role of the commanding officer of a Highland Regiment, Jock Sinclair, who is replaced after the end of the World War II by Col. Basil Barrow, played by another great actor, John Mills, the result is a dispute between the two, who have opposite styles of leadership, and different backgrounds
Jock Sinclair drinks whisky, quite a lot, he does get drunk, his style appears to be more permissive, but when the new commander arrives, the latter insists on respect for the rules, and I have to say that I admire that, on one account because we had had this problem in my land, still do, people breaking the rules
But it is also due to what I have read from William Golding https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... author of one of the Top 100 Best Books of the last century – and in my top 200 of all time – who gave an interview and spoke about his magnum opus
William Golding was asked about the reason why there are no girls on that island and the novelist said he knows about boys, he grew up among them, and then with a mixed sex presence, he would have to include sex, but then he also talked about what was most important: he wanted to show ‘that if you have no rules, you have nothing’
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence
Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
9 out of 10
Alec Guiness https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was one of the greatest thespians of all time – though I think it should be Sir Alec Guiness, and you find on the net this story told by Sir Michael Caine: he was about to act with Lord Laurence Olivier in Sleuth, there were only two actors there
Michael Caine receives a letter from his partner in the film, which said ‘you may wonder how to address me, from the moment we will meet I will be Larry to you’, words to that effect, and then many years later, Sleuth is made again, this time with Sir Michael Caine and Jude Law, so the knighted actor sends a letter to Jude Law…
Alec Guiness has written an autobiography, My Name Escapes Me https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... in which he talks about his experience on a number of films, I think I remember one puzzle in there, related to Star Wars.
The majestic actor became so famous after he appeared in Star Wars, although he had had roles that had been much more relevant – this cinephile feels this way, I am not a fan of the series, I do not watch Marvel movies, except once in a period of say seven years – such as the king of Saudi Arabia in Lawrence of Arabia
The latter is one of the top five or Ten Best Movies Ever Made, or used to be, there are compilations now where they insist on other features – I am still waiting to watch the number one on the most recent Top 100 released by The British Film Institute, apparently, a film where not much happens, a bath takes fifteen minutes in the film…
While Alec Guiness was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Obi Won Kenobi in the Star Wars movie, he did win the Academy Award for The Bridge on The River Kwai https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... another of the Top 20 Best Films Ever Made
In Tunes of Glory Alec Guiness has the role of the commanding officer of a Highland Regiment, Jock Sinclair, who is replaced after the end of the World War II by Col. Basil Barrow, played by another great actor, John Mills, the result is a dispute between the two, who have opposite styles of leadership, and different backgrounds
Jock Sinclair drinks whisky, quite a lot, he does get drunk, his style appears to be more permissive, but when the new commander arrives, the latter insists on respect for the rules, and I have to say that I admire that, on one account because we had had this problem in my land, still do, people breaking the rules
But it is also due to what I have read from William Golding https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... author of one of the Top 100 Best Books of the last century – and in my top 200 of all time – who gave an interview and spoke about his magnum opus
William Golding was asked about the reason why there are no girls on that island and the novelist said he knows about boys, he grew up among them, and then with a mixed sex presence, he would have to include sex, but then he also talked about what was most important: he wanted to show ‘that if you have no rules, you have nothing’
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence
Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
May 10, 2016
When two feisty men are cooped up in a bunker together, all hell lets loose.
August 14, 2022
An old and neglected novel recommended by a newspaper reviewer. Made into a famous film which I haven't seen but will look out for.
Lt-Col Jock Sinclair has risen from the ranks to command a Highland infantry battalion, leading it through all its campaigns in WW2. Unexpectedly he is passed over for the permanent command in favour of a career officer, Col. Barrow, who spent the war in a Japanese POW camp and has been a desk soldier since. There are even dark mutterings as to whether he's a "proper" Scotsman.......
Conflict between the two is inevitable and eventually boils over into disgrace and tragedy. In the meantime we are given an insight into the life of a peacetime officers' mess (the author served in a Highland regiment himself) with its petty squabbles, hierarchies and snobberies.
All of the main characters are well-drawn and believable, and though you sense your sympathies are being steered towards the hero (in both senses of the word) Sinclair, there are no blacks and whites, just shades of grey. The open conflict between Sinclair and Barrow starts not over any military issue but over the ludicrous question of how officers dance at social functions, and it reflects poorly on both men. Barrow is intransigent and insensitive (though you sense he's at least trying). Sinclair is a boorish bully and drunk, who is insubordinate and behaves like a spoilt child. The junior officers are mostly loyal to their old commander but are embarrassed by his increasingly erratic behaviour. The final twist is not quite believable but doesn't detract from a very enjoyable book. Sadly the author died at the age of 40 and left very little else behind.
Lt-Col Jock Sinclair has risen from the ranks to command a Highland infantry battalion, leading it through all its campaigns in WW2. Unexpectedly he is passed over for the permanent command in favour of a career officer, Col. Barrow, who spent the war in a Japanese POW camp and has been a desk soldier since. There are even dark mutterings as to whether he's a "proper" Scotsman.......
Conflict between the two is inevitable and eventually boils over into disgrace and tragedy. In the meantime we are given an insight into the life of a peacetime officers' mess (the author served in a Highland regiment himself) with its petty squabbles, hierarchies and snobberies.
All of the main characters are well-drawn and believable, and though you sense your sympathies are being steered towards the hero (in both senses of the word) Sinclair, there are no blacks and whites, just shades of grey. The open conflict between Sinclair and Barrow starts not over any military issue but over the ludicrous question of how officers dance at social functions, and it reflects poorly on both men. Barrow is intransigent and insensitive (though you sense he's at least trying). Sinclair is a boorish bully and drunk, who is insubordinate and behaves like a spoilt child. The junior officers are mostly loyal to their old commander but are embarrassed by his increasingly erratic behaviour. The final twist is not quite believable but doesn't detract from a very enjoyable book. Sadly the author died at the age of 40 and left very little else behind.
January 29, 2022
This was recommended in The Times as a classic one shouldn't miss and I read it out of interest in the mid-20th century Army and the ordeals of the regulars. Evelyn Waugh, Alexander Baron etc. It's short enough to read in a day and is an evocative window into a time and culture that has almost faded away with the officers of the second world war. I found it entertaining, plausible and sad, and just about revealing enough even to my 1980s eyes, to show a hint of the traumas of the combatants from the last war. It's still spare and brisk. The only thing that caught me out was the description of people having to sign in at hotels as travelers. I think that's because in Scotland at the time, to eat or drink on a Sunday was a legal unless one was passing through. Proof that the the old order has completely transformed, that I didn't know what was going on.
July 12, 2021
Unrivaled Legacy and Beauty of Military Tradition
“If not I loved honor more” these fighting Scots are indeed a rare and noble breed as their long glorious history reveals. These are men heart bound to one other, Regiment, by the hallowed supreme love of honor.
“If not I loved honor more” these fighting Scots are indeed a rare and noble breed as their long glorious history reveals. These are men heart bound to one other, Regiment, by the hallowed supreme love of honor.
March 20, 2020
even better than the movie...he was a real talent..too bad he died so young
July 7, 2024
Great tale and even better movie with Alec Guiness as a mad Jock army guy. But the biggest talking point for me is that the author was Le Carre's best friend and ended up being cuckolded by him.
July 31, 2021
This novella is just okay. While the "executive officer acting as CO passed over in favor of an outsider" story could have worked, I felt the writing was a bit choppy and there simply wasn't enough of it to develop a real connection to any of the characters, including the protagonist. At under two hundred pages, I don't think there's enough meat here to make a full story. I won't be surprised if I end up feeling that the movie is actually better.
January 7, 2026
Novel that the movie of the same name was based on -- with screenplay written by the same author.
Great read, especially in how it fleshes out the Jock character a touch more than we see in the movie.
Great read, especially in how it fleshes out the Jock character a touch more than we see in the movie.
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