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thebobsphere's review against another edition
2.0
I know it’s been a while but I have not given up on my Backlisted project. The thing is one of the books got lost in the mail and it took two months and one replacement later. But it arrived, which means that I can continue with the project.
Nigel Balchin is quite an interesting figure, author, director and a consultant at Rowntree’s. He has had his fingers in British arts, the thing is that although he seems to have been forgotten, his legacy still lives on.
The book’s setting is the Second World War, right in the middle of the bombings and Bill Sarratt is a frustrated civil servant. He clashes with his colleagues and has problems getting his ideas across. As the environment is full of turmoil so is Sarratt’s personal life as his wife Marcie has an on/off relationship with the dandy Stephen. Sarratt is torn between being open minded and protecting his marriage.
Unfortunately I did not get on too well with Darkness Falls from the Air. On one hand the writing is great. There are plenty of first class one liners but I could not connect with what was happening and I did get restless at times. I was reminded of Graham Greene (albeit a witter one), an author I do not like too much. It’s a pity because I wanted to like Darkness… but considering my track record with the Backlisted books I’m bound not to like one now and then.
Nigel Balchin is quite an interesting figure, author, director and a consultant at Rowntree’s. He has had his fingers in British arts, the thing is that although he seems to have been forgotten, his legacy still lives on.
The book’s setting is the Second World War, right in the middle of the bombings and Bill Sarratt is a frustrated civil servant. He clashes with his colleagues and has problems getting his ideas across. As the environment is full of turmoil so is Sarratt’s personal life as his wife Marcie has an on/off relationship with the dandy Stephen. Sarratt is torn between being open minded and protecting his marriage.
Unfortunately I did not get on too well with Darkness Falls from the Air. On one hand the writing is great. There are plenty of first class one liners but I could not connect with what was happening and I did get restless at times. I was reminded of Graham Greene (albeit a witter one), an author I do not like too much. It’s a pity because I wanted to like Darkness… but considering my track record with the Backlisted books I’m bound not to like one now and then.
muggsyspaniel's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely outstanding book.
The plot is simple, a man, our narrator Bill Sarratt, works in the Civil Service during WWII and juggles his job with the love triangle he his wife and a chap named Stephen are involved in. There is little else in the novel but so much more.
Sarratt is a wonderfully sardonic narrator and the dialogue rings beautifully true in an old fashioned way.
There are some strange choices from Balchin in this novel, the started subplots which never go anywhere beyond their initial mention, the fact that we are never given very much of an idea what his job actually involves despite so much of the novel being spent following Sarratt at work. All these things left unsaid are just as important that way, it's a novel about the unsaid as far as I could see. The department he works in is almost as darkly comical as the Government of Joseph Heller's Good as Gold, as it says on the back of the edition I read "Whitehall 1940 - where the only sin was to do something"
As to the main thread of the story the affair between Marcia and Stephen, or rather Bill's take on it as we never actually see them alone together, it's brilliantly told.
Stephen is an artistic chap, again we don't really know what he does at all other than write. He loves to be the centre of attention and play the tortured artist and Bill's put downs of him are priceless. While Marcia and Bill's relationship is beautifully told without resorting to detailed descriptions of how they met or any of the usual stuff. Balchin tells his story with the least amount of detail possible and it's all the clearer for that.
So good I already ordered another book by Balchin before this one was finished.
The plot is simple, a man, our narrator Bill Sarratt, works in the Civil Service during WWII and juggles his job with the love triangle he his wife and a chap named Stephen are involved in. There is little else in the novel but so much more.
Sarratt is a wonderfully sardonic narrator and the dialogue rings beautifully true in an old fashioned way.
There are some strange choices from Balchin in this novel, the started subplots which never go anywhere beyond their initial mention, the fact that we are never given very much of an idea what his job actually involves despite so much of the novel being spent following Sarratt at work. All these things left unsaid are just as important that way, it's a novel about the unsaid as far as I could see. The department he works in is almost as darkly comical as the Government of Joseph Heller's Good as Gold, as it says on the back of the edition I read "Whitehall 1940 - where the only sin was to do something"
As to the main thread of the story the affair between Marcia and Stephen, or rather Bill's take on it as we never actually see them alone together, it's brilliantly told.
Stephen is an artistic chap, again we don't really know what he does at all other than write. He loves to be the centre of attention and play the tortured artist and Bill's put downs of him are priceless. While Marcia and Bill's relationship is beautifully told without resorting to detailed descriptions of how they met or any of the usual stuff. Balchin tells his story with the least amount of detail possible and it's all the clearer for that.
So good I already ordered another book by Balchin before this one was finished.
avid_d's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
frazzle's review against another edition
5.0
So tightly written. Fantastic characterisation.
I was stuck not knowing whether I hated or loved the narrator, identified with him or wanted to strangle him. That's testament to the human complexity that Balchin manages to weave into his militarily precise prose.
The fact some of his quips made me literally laugh out loud was a plus as well. I have highlighted some of his descriptions of characters' appearances. Top knotch stuff.
I was stuck not knowing whether I hated or loved the narrator, identified with him or wanted to strangle him. That's testament to the human complexity that Balchin manages to weave into his militarily precise prose.
The fact some of his quips made me literally laugh out loud was a plus as well. I have highlighted some of his descriptions of characters' appearances. Top knotch stuff.
eddie's review
3.0
One of my reading projects is slightly train-spottery: I’m trying to read at least one book published in each calendar year as far back as I can go (currently aiming for my grandfather’s birth year 1900). I was missing 1942: hence this book.
It inspires thoughts about ‘authenticity’ - how do we define it? This book is undoubtedly ‘authentic’ in that it was written and published during the Blitz; it’s about the Blitz; the author was living in London during the blitz and thus had direct personal experience; and he worked for the government: the war time civil service is another huge theme of this book.
But the book’s faults, and paradoxically, comparisons to more recent novels, undercut for me its undoubted (and somewhat celebrated) authenticity.
It inspires thoughts about ‘authenticity’ - how do we define it? This book is undoubtedly ‘authentic’ in that it was written and published during the Blitz; it’s about the Blitz; the author was living in London during the blitz and thus had direct personal experience; and he worked for the government: the war time civil service is another huge theme of this book.
But the book’s faults, and paradoxically, comparisons to more recent novels, undercut for me its undoubted (and somewhat celebrated) authenticity.
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