Reading the 20th Century discussion

Welcome to the nominations thread for our group read in October 2019


With the imminent 90th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash - 29 October 1929 (Black Tuesday) - which in part triggered the Great Depression, you are invited to nominate books about either the...

The Wall St Crash / Great Depression

So that's fiction or non fiction that is connected to either the Wall Street Crash or the Great Depression

Happy nominating

I nominate John Kenneth Galbraith's
The Great Crash of 1929 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41...

The classic study of that disaster.
Absolutely brilliant book.
I wrote a review.

Thanks Greg - a seminal work (or so I understand)

I'll nominate Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath which has been on my TBR for a long time: it won him the Pulitzer and was cited extensively in his Nobel nomination.

Set during the Great Depression, it follows the plight of migrant farmers from Oklahoma struggling to get to California.

This might be a book that our US members are more familiar with than Europeans and others. I only read my first Steinbeck a year or so ago (East of Eden) and loved it.

Two great nominations already. Steinbeck is sometimes studied at school in the UK - I studied The Grapes of Wrath when I was about 14 and it made a very strong impression. I reread it a few years ago and found it very powerful.

I believe both my children had Of Mice and Men as a set text at school - I read it to discuss it with them. I don't think I have read any other Steinbeck novels as yet, though.

Thanks RC - another great nomination


Nominations so far....

Greg: The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
Roman Clodia: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

My children both read Of Mice and Men in the last few years - for school.


I've read four or five Steinbeck novels, possibly more, though all were in the 80s and 90s. A wonderful writer.

Roman Clodia wrote: "I'll nominate Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath which has been on my TBR for a long time: it won him the Pulitzer and was cited extensively in his Nobel nomination.

Set during the Gr..."

You might want to check out Sanora Babb's books too. Both Whose Names Are Unknown and An Owl on Every Post I gave five stars. The first is a novel and the second autobiographical.

My nomination is....


Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley

Angel Pavement is a novel by J. B. Priestley, published in 1930 after the enormous success of The Good Companions.

It is a social panorama of the city of London, seen largely through the eyes of the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, on the first floor of No. 8, Angel Pavement. Their lives are changed after the arrival of a mysterious Mr Golspie, who assures the future of their veneer-and-inlay company through imports from the Baltic. The story is set against the background of the Great Depression.

Some critics liken it to London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins which is one of my favourite books

One GR five star review observes...

Pity the generation that lived through the Great Depression. I thought this was one of the most moving books I have read for a long time. It is not dramatic, the action such as it is is very low key, the characters are mundane and the subject it deals with (office work) is hardly going to be thrilling, but Priestley had a knack of really getting under the skin of his characters so you cared about the outcome. I ended up wondering what happened to Turgis, Mr Smeeth, Miss Matfield et al after the book finished.



Nominations so far....

Greg: The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
Roman Clodia: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Nigeyb: Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley

I’ve been wanting to read Angel Pavement for ages - great nomination,

We had to read Grapes of Wrath in high school.

Anyone else nominating, or thinking of nominating?


Nominations so far....

Greg: The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
Roman Clodia: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Nigeyb: Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley

I will nominate: Love on the Dole

I read it when I was still in my teens, so it's all a bit hazy now! Here's the blurb:

In Hanky Park, near Salford, Harry and Sally Hardcastle grow up in a society preoccupied with grinding poverty, exploited by bookies and pawnbroker, bullied by petty officials and living in constant fear of the dole queue and the Means Test. His love affair with a local girl ends in a shotgun marriage, and, disowned by his family, Harry is tempted by crime. Sally, meanwhile, falls in love with Larry Meath, a self-educated Marxist. But Larry is a sick man and there are other more powerful rivals for her affection. The definitive deception of a northern town in the midst of the thirties' depression. Walter Greenwood's "Love on the Dole" was the first novel to be set against a background of mass unemployment and was instantly recognised as a classic when it was first published in 1933. Raw, violent and powerful, it was a cry of outrage that stirred the national conscience in the same way as the Jarrow march.

I spent a little while searching for a book which linked the Depression to the rise of nationalism / fascism in Europe, but hadn't found one I wanted to recommend in the time and have been a bit too busy to keep looking, so I will just go with one or other of those already nominated.

Thanks Val, thanks Susan


Susan wrote: "I will nominate: Love on the Dole"

I loved Love on the Dole when I read it a few years back.

This book was published in 1933 and there is a wealth of great period detail but it is the overriding impression of grinding, unremitting poverty that is most powerful

By the way, Love on the Dole, was Walter Greenwood's first novel and has never been out of print since. He wrote in on scraps of paper as he tramped the streets looking for work. The authenticity of his own experience imbues this book

Nominations....


Greg: The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
Roman Clodia: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Nigeyb: Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley
Susan: Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood

I'll get the poll up tomorrow - so last chance to nominate

Another great nomination. I won't nominate as I am torn between the books already on the list!

I also read Love on the Dole as a teenager, just about the time I was getting interested in politics. I remember being incensed by it as it's a powerful book, but can't remember details so would happily re-read if it wins.

I'm happy to go with any of the other nominations. The Grapes of Wrath is one of my all time favourites. The other two, Angel Pavement and Love on the Dole sound wonderful.

The poll is open...


http://bit.ly/2LCRRls

Vote now

Pleasing pattern to the voting so far....


Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley - 4 votes, 40.0%
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 3 votes, 30.0%
Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood - 2 votes, 20.0%
The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith - 1 vote, 10.0%

Latest status....


Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley - 5 votes, 41.7%
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 3 votes, 25.0%
Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood - 2 votes, 16.7%
The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith - 2 votes, 16.7%

12 total votes

Vote here....
http://bit.ly/2LCRRls

Final results....


Angel Pavement (1930) by J.B. Priestley - 5 votes, 38.5%
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 4 votes, 30.8%
Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood - 3 votes, 23.1%
The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith - 1 vote, 7.7%

Poll here: http://bit.ly/2LCRRls

Thanks to everyone who nominated, voted, discussed and got involved.

Here's to another splendid RTTC group read

I'm also pleased to confirm that our The Wall St Crash / Great Depression Mod Read will be (drum roll please)....

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck