Reading the 20th Century discussion

A new favourite author thread for the wonderful...


David Nobbs


David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015) was an English comedy writer, best known for writing the 1970s television series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted from his own novels


Novels

The Itinerant Lodger (1965)
Ostrich Country (1968)
A Piece of the Sky is Missing (1969)
The Death of Reginald Perrin (1975, later reissued as The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin)
The Return of Reginald Perrin (1977)
The Better World of Reginald Perrin (1978)
Second From Last in the Sack Race (1983)
A Bit of a Do (1986)
Pratt of the Argus (1988)
Fair Do's (1990)
The Cucumber Man (1994)
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin (1996)
Going Gently (2000)
Sex and Other Changes (2004)
Pratt à Manger (2006)
Cupid's Dart (2008)
Obstacles to Young Love (2010)
It Had to be You (2011)
The Fall and Rise of Gordon Coppinger (2012)
The Second Life of Sally Mottram (2014)

According to Jonathan Coe...


The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) by David Nobbs is one of the great British novels of the 1970s – as a piece of comic fiction streets ahead of anything by Kingsley Amis, in my opinion – but it has never received its due because it was overshadowed by the TV adaptation (also brilliant in its own way).

It should be republished as a modern classic.

Now then, Jonathan Coe knows a thing or two about comedic masterpieces and so, if it's good enough for JC it's good enough for me.

I finally read the Reggie Perrin books having loved the TV series as a young person.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) is the first in the series. It was published by Penguin. Of course.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin is available in the Reginald Perrin Omnibus and as a stand alone book. Kindle editions of both are also available.



Reginald Iolanthe Perrin is sick to death with selling exotic ices at Sunshine Desserts. He's fed up with his boss C.J. who delights in making his life hell. And he's had enough of his eager young assistants who think everything is 'super'.

So begins Reggie's battle against consumerism. Driven to desperation by the rat race and the unpunctuality of Britain's trains, Reggie's small eccentricities escalate to the extreme.

Until, finally, he leaves behind the unacceptable face of capitalism altogether. Driven off in a motorised jelly, and creating the world's biggest loganberry slick on his way, he dumps his clothes on a Dorset beach and sets off for new adventures...

I nominated The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) for our May 2021 group read (celebrating Penguin Books). It didn't win but I read it anyway

It's both very funny and quite poignant

It's also interesting in terms of the social attitudes of the 70s.

For anyone who grew up with the TV series it's impossible not to see the characters as that amazing cast in the stunning adaptation. That said the book really stands up on its own merits.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) by David Nobbs is splendid. Right up there with The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury.

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976)



Blimmin marvellous

Review here....

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

4/5

The two subsequent novels, which I will be reading soon, are The Return of Reginald Perrin (1977) and The Better World of Reginald Perrin (1978) and these were both used for the next two series of the classic BBC sitcom.

The second novel The Return of Reginald Perrin (1977) has emotional depth alongside the laughter - it's quite a feat...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It won't be long until I complete the trilogy by reading The Better World of Reginald Perrin (1979). Great. Super.

4/5

I'm also intrigued by Henry Pratt


The Complete Pratt compiles the first three volumes of the misadventures of Henry Pratt, beginning with a brilliantly funny evocation of a Yorkshire boyhood in SECOND FROM LAST IN THE SACK RACE; Henry's first job is as a cub reporter on the Thurmarsh Evening Argus, told in PRATT OF THE ARGUS, hailed by Sue Townsend as 'very funny'. Finally, in THE CUCUMBER MAN, Henry decides to take on a new role and a new challenge - working for the Cucumber Marketing Board in Leeds.


Anyone read any of them?


The reviews here are v positive...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I just spontaneously bought a copy of the first Henry Pratt novel from eBay for a ludicrously cheap price...


Second from Last in the Sack Race (1983)


I'll report back

Needless to say if anyone fancies a buddy read then reply below but perhaps it's a tad niche?


I notice the character appeared in a Granada TV series which rings no bells whatsoever...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103473/...


First episode here...
https://youtu.be/u41Pb8zMHYA


Book blurb...

Born into poverty, saddled with a born loser and parrot-strangler for a dad, short sighted and ungainly, young Henry Pratt doesn't exactly have a head start in life.

But in David Nobbs's brilliantly funny evocation of a Yorkshire boyhood, unathletic and over-imaginative little Pratt proves he can stick up for himself with the stoic good nature of the great British underdog

Thanks, Nigeyb. Great! Super!

I've also enjoyed A Bit of a Do (which I read before I started writing reviews) and can heartily recommend Obstacles to Young Love, for which my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Odd that Second From Last in the Sack Race was published immediately after Reginald Perrin and was also part of a trilogy. Do you think the author was attempting to recreate a success or was Perrin immediately a huge hit? Did it become more successful with the TV show?

I think it was the TV series that really made Reggie a huge hit. It's certainly what put me onto the novels.

I don't know why DN published another trilogy then; I suspect that he was just a prolific writer who enjoyed following his characters through more extended periods than just a single novel - as in A Bit Of A Do, as well - but I'm no expert.

Also, where does Pratt a Manger come in? It is listed as book 2 on Amazon, but Nigeyb has Pratt Of The Argus as the second in what seems to be a quartet? Suspicious!

Can't help there, I'm afraid, because I've not read the Pratt series. Something to be remedied if I get the time.

Yes, exactly. I think I would read Reggie Perrin first, but I also struggle with humorous novels. Lucky Jim didn't even raise a smile... I still think it's one of the dullest reads I've read. Finding much the same with Haywire: The Best of Craig Brown. Some of it is very interesting, but I am struggling to find much of it funny.

Lucky Jim? Unpleasant and dull, as I recall. I think I gave up about half way through. Nobbs is une autre bouilloire des poissons altogether. (Note my enviable mastery of French idiom there. 😉) He has real sympathy with his central character and the rest are often genuinely funny, I think. Plus, he's making some rather insightful and sometimes poignant points about people's lives. Well worth a try, I'd say.

Yes, very dull and unpleasant, Sid. I was so disappointed, as it was supposed to be this great comic novel. I would like to try David Nobbs, if only because he has such a good name!

I remember A Bit of a Do as a great TV series, although I never read the book.

Susan wrote:


"Also, where does Pratt a Manger come in? "

So far as I can tell it's a belated fourth book in the series


Sid wrote:

"I've also enjoyed A Bit of a Do (which I read before I started writing reviews) and can heartily recommend Obstacles to Young Love"

Both look great. Your review of Obstacles to Young Love is particularly inspiring. Thanks Sid.


Judy wrote:

"I remember A Bit of a Do as a great TV series, although I never read the book."

Another TV series - Nobbsy was on a roll 🤩