Hangover Square

[crackerjack]

What was the explanation for his preoccupation with Maidenhead? Something to do with a (deceased) sister or something? I like the way lots of things like this are just alluded to and kind of drift through the story and affect it quite strongly without ever being totally explained. Similarly the business he had with Bob (was it?) that went tits up in some unspecified manner, seems as though that was a defining moment in Bone's life (and not in a good way).

The Maidenhead thing was, i think, some moment of perfect happiness out on the lake in a boat with his sister, something that just stuck in his mind eternally. There was no real logic to it beyond that. Likewwise the bit with Bob, he was happy cos he was in business with a popular, dynamic sot of bloke and felt some of Bob's populairty rubbed off on him (same thing later with Johnnie).

A lot of the book is to do with the politics of freidnship; how self-esteem depends to some extent not just on what we think of ourselves, but how others view us, and how we view the people who like or don't like us. An American high school drama set among 30-something drinkers

That's why the internal dialogue was better than the external.

Edit: oh God, just noticed how rambling that was. Flu-ed up to fuck. I'm gonna lie on the couch.

 

[IdleRich]

"That's why the internal dialogue was better than the external."

That's a good point, or at least there was certainly a lot more internal dialogue and it was more complicated and it's basically what was used to tell the story. The external dialogue was really limited to Netta and Peter saying a few short lines that basically seemed to show that Bone's characterization of them was correct.
Related to this and something I meant to mention earlier is how lonely Bone is. He basically has no friends whatsoever which is a situation I find extremely hard to imagine (although I think I'm a lot less sociable than I used to be). Because of this I think it's a very melancholy book - although low-key, this isn't thrust down your throat - and the ending in particular is just very sad.

 

[STN]

I recall being especially horrified at the scene (right at the beginning) where Peter (leaning on the mantelpiece?) enquires as to whether he got a tip off his aunt and Bone feels guilty but laughs along at her 'meanness' or something? That establishes the these-aren't-your-real-friends thing quite neatly, I think.

The Midnight Bell has good portrayal of the depressing pub banter dynamic.

 

[IdleRich]

Yes indeed. I was actually expecting the book to be about a more cynical character but of course Bone is simply vulnerable - I mean, his betrayal (in name) of his aunt is cynical but he doesn't really mean it, it's just because he's weak. He's basically a decent sort and that's part of what makes it sad I suppose.

What's the Midnight Bell then?

 

[STN]

The Midnight Bell is the first book in Patrick Hamilton's 20,000 Streets Under the Sky trilogy (abysmally adapted by the BBC a few years back) - similar theme - geezer falls in love with a prostitute. The Midnight Bell focuses on a barman working in a pub off the Euston Road (called The Midnight Bell) and how he falls in love with a prostitute who drinks in the pub.

 

[IdleRich]

OK cheers, I'll check it out when I get a minute. I only realised that he was the same guy who wrote Gas Light when I read the introduction.

 

[STN]

Yeah, and 'Rope'. 20,000 Streets is nowhere near as good as Hangover Square.

For more drinking your allowance away in a boarding house japes, check Of Love and Hunger by Julian MacLaren Ross.

 

[IdleRich]

OK, noted.

 

[jenks]

Yeah, and 'Rope'. 20,000 Streets is nowhere near as good as Hangover Square.

For more drinking your allowance away in a boarding house japes, check Of Love and Hunger by Julian MacLaren Ross.

Yeah, old X Trapnel in Dance...by Powell.

JMR is having a bit of a rebirth at present isn't he? I remember finding it impossible to get hold of his stuff a few years ago but now it's nearly all back in print.

second your appraisal of Midnight Bell. I also liked the Gorse trilogy which really does have a heartless bastard as its cenrtal character.

twenty pages of Hangover to go - trying to finish it before hitting the pub for Champs League - old Bone would've been much better off with abig screen Tv in his local!

 

[STN]

Yeah, old X Trapnel in Dance...by Powell.

JMR is having a bit of a rebirth at present isn't he? I remember finding it impossible to get hold of his stuff a few years ago but now it's nearly all back in print.

Yes and yes.

I used to work for one of the guys who was instrumental in the JMR revival. All worth reading. The journals are fucking funny.

Went to see his son and biographers speak about him at The Wheatsheaf, Fitzrovia a few years back.

 

[empty mirror]

FINALLY got my copy of this book. I will admit that I am posting without having read the bulk of the 29 posts in this thread (SPOILER fear) but hey. Pleased to learn that Hamilton authored the work on which Hitchcock's Rope (probably my favorite Hitchcock film) was based.

Can't wait to get cracking!

 

[jenks]

A few thoughts

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

I think those final thirty or so pages are really very good. I love the way we get the one moment of affirmation in the tale - he rides in the Rolls, hobnobs with the stars and you can see how it could all turn out alright with Johnnie looking after him. I read those pages with a real smile on my face, as if , at last, Bone triumphs over Netta.

But there is something quite heartless in Hamilton - the way he uses the words 'of course' is particularly so, to give the impression of inevitability:

'And then, of course, a little later, something snapped in his head.'

'Of course, if Maidenhead let him down there was only one thing he could do, because that would be the end of all things.'

I also thought that the way money works in the novel was interesting - he starts flush having sponged off his aunt - he makes a reckoning on his spending and fairly blazes through the cash. Just before the end Hamilton writes:

'Then, completely penniless, he went back to his room...' as if the final petering out of money is connected to the inevitable necessity of his suicide. ( I was also wondering about the original audience's sympathies - obviously the death penalty was still in force - would Bone have been hanged, or would some understanding of his mental state been taken into consideration?)

Finally, the murders of Netta and Peter are carried out to the background of Chamberlain declaring war - what purpose does this serve Hamilton? Is it to contrast the insignificance of Bone and his acts against the larger, 'historical' stage? Or is it a mimicry of bloodshed and violence to come in Europe?

Anyway, i hope Empty hasn't read any of this post before finishing the book.

 

[IdleRich]

"Can't wait to get cracking!"

It won't take you long to read anyway.

Back to the spoilers....

"I think those final thirty or so pages are really very good. I love the way we get the one moment of affirmation in the tale - he rides in the Rolls, hobnobs with the stars and you can see how it could all turn out alright with Johnnie looking after him. I read those pages with a real smile on my face, as if , at last, Bone triumphs over Netta.

But there is something quite heartless in Hamilton - the way he uses the words 'of course' is particularly so, to give the impression of inevitability:

'And then, of course, a little later, something snapped in his head.'"

Yes indeed, there is a sense in which he's allowing him a few moments of pleasure before rudely jerking him back down to earth with a bump. I kept waiting for one of the stars to turn on him and I'm glad that didn't happen but I still had the feeling that something was going to go wrong.

'Then, completely penniless, he went back to his room...' as if the final petering out of money is connected to the inevitable necessity of his suicide.

Yes, agreed, that was roughly what I was trying to get at with the feeling of time/money running out that I've had myself at times (though fortunately not so badly as Bone). I think that in the position he is in with no friends or resources of any kind to draw on (except possibly the aunt and Johnnie I suppose) when the money runs out he is utterly helpless and utterly alone. It does seem a bit neat that he should kill himself really, in a way it's a cop-out that everything related to the story sort of comes to an end at the same time and all the loose ends are tied up. On the other hand, I actually liked the ending and it didn't feel (as it often does with this kind of ending) as though the author had painted himself into a corner where it was the only possible ending.
Have you ever read Moon Palace by Paul Auster? There is a bit in that at the start where the narrator who has inherited a room full of books from a grandfather lives friendless in New York with no money. He survives by selling his books one by one so that soon his vast library has been depleted to the last few and finally none. There is some phrase (can't remember it exactly) about how his room is no longer a library but a machine for turning books into food or something - anyway, the feeling of measuring exactly how long he can survive with no prospect of renewal once the books disappear was what came back to me, both at the start of Hangover Square when he talks about the largeish but finite sum of money in his bank account and also at the end when his last few bits of money seem to represent the length of life remaining to him.

"Finally, the murders of Netta and Peter are carried out to the background of Chamberlain declaring war - what purpose does this serve Hamilton? Is it to contrast the insignificance of Bone and his acts against the larger, 'historical' stage? Or is it a mimicry of bloodshed and violence to come in Europe?"

My guess is, yes, it just hammers home exactly how petty and pointless Netta, Peter, Bone and there empty concerns are in the grand scheme of things. Or alternatively, maybe it just contrasts the small and personal with the facelessness of international politics.

 

[crackerjack]

Finally, the murders of Netta and Peter are carried out to the background of Chamberlain declaring war - what purpose does this serve Hamilton? Is it to contrast the insignificance of Bone and his acts against the larger, 'historical' stage? Or is it a mimicry of bloodshed and violence to come in Europe?

I thought there was a hint of righteous violence about that, like he was drawing a parallel between Bone finally standing up to N&P and Chamberlain to Hitler. Of course his subsequent suicide makes it a less-than-perfect fit as an analogy...

 

[jenks]

Also, the inclusion of Peter in his plans - here we have the most obviously fascistic member of the group. He has been inside for violence at 'meetings', he is given a physical presence and enjoys the triumph of Hitler over Chamberlain.

Why do you think bone has to murder him as well - I suppose it's connected to my previous question about the outbreak of war.

Is hamilton trying to comment on larger issues than a schizophrenic murderer? Bone isn't exactly a great symbol of English manhood is he? Unless Hamilton sees the british as somehow a schizophrnic nation? I'm not sure.

Also, Netta is allowed a blood free death - a quick drowning whilst Peter's end is much more bloody - a whack over the head with a golf club.

And being good at golf - what's that about?

 

[STN]

I think it might be about inevitability. Bone's actions tying into war, I mean.

 

[IdleRich]

Is hamilton trying to comment on larger issues than a schizophrenic murderer? Bone isn't exactly a great symbol of English manhood is he? Unless Hamilton sees the british as somehow a schizophrnic nation? I'm not sure.

I didn't really think it was that, I just thought it was about how it's possible to be lonely in the big city and how some people aren't cut out for life, what happens when casual cruelty is displayed to such people and how they might snap. Maybe war is showing how dysfunctional the whole of modern society is while Bone shows it at an individual level.

"Also, Netta is allowed a blood free death - a quick drowning whilst Peter's end is much more bloody - a whack over the head with a golf club."

Dunno, just thought that was to do with the practicalities of the way they arrive (plus I'd rather get the club than drown personally I reckon) - what's the significance of him taping it all up for the police though?

 

[jenks]

what's the significance of him taping it all up for the police though?

I liked that detail - it was genuinely odd yet fitted in entirely to his system of logic that is operating while he is in his alternative state. That idea that it made sense to him and should therefore be obvious to others.

I think that is where Hamilton works so well - getting (literally) inside his head.

I agree with what others have said upthread about these internal sections being more successful, although it is important to see Netta and the gang from another perspective so that we know it isn't all in Bone's head.

I did wonder about Brighton as well. There are two moments of 'triumph' for Bone in the novel - the 68 at golf and the meeting of rich and famous (and being accepted by them) and they both occur in Brighton. I wondered why Brighton - what would the contemporary impression of Brighton be, was it a 'dirty weekend' kind of place or did it have a particular resonance to the original readers?

 

[IdleRich]

"That idea that it made sense to him and should therefore be obvious to others."

Yep, probably same as everything being all right when he gets to Maidenhead.

"although it is important to see Netta and the gang from another perspective so that we know it isn't all in Bone's head."

Are you talking about that curious little scene where he meets the guy who has observed them from a distance for some time? I liked that scene anyway, don't know why, I guess it is also the one time you see Bone from the view of an outsider, I think it tells you that Bone may be a more prepossesing person than he realises.

"There are two moments of 'triumph' for Bone in the novel - the 68 at golf and the meeting of rich and famous"

Not sure about Brighton (beyond it being a holiday destination) but I think that the 68 was a rather cruel triumph just like you were saying before about when he met the stars - he gets the good score and is walking joyfully back to the hotel and then Netta turns up with Pete and the guy she sleeps with and ruins his mood, another rough slap back down.

 

[bastowe]

Hangover Square is just great, though the blackouts got a bit shticky after a bit, but Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude is perfection itself, an absolute gem of a book with one of the best villains in literature, the horrible Thwaites. It's also deeply alcoholic, poor man. Good, good, good reading. And I've just picked up the latest NYRB reissue, the very long 20,000 Leagues Under the Sky or something. I'm sure I'm going to get that title wrong for the next 12 years.