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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Work hard, booze hard and don't let the bastards grind you down. A quite brilliant account of young Arthur's stagger through life. He loathes his employers but is proud of his good job and good life. Caught in a paradox he plots his week accordingly. This is written with energy that fizzes from...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“This book contains so much. Thoroughly enjoyed the kitchen sink drama. Amazed at Sillitoe's self education helped along by Robert Graves whilst both lived in Majorca. His effort to 'portray ordinary people as I knew them and in such a way that they would recognise themselves' was well worth while. Sometimes the fact that this was originally several short stories becomes obvious when there is lack of continuity between chapters but the humour, love, lust and hard work of the 1960's is so well painted.”
MRS C WILSON wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“"Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" is the first novel of Alan Sillitoe (born 1928 in Nottingham, England), and won the Author's Club First Novel Award. Set in 1950's Britain, "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" portrays the working class life of Arthur Seaton, a 21 year old, Nottingham factory worker. He is a womaniser, a liar, lazy, selfish and superficial. This is a interesting read into what life was like for a working class youth scared by the Second World War, although on the surface it is a brilliant fable about what can happen if you experience the excesses of life too much. "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" was adapted by Sillitoe into a 1960 film starring Albert Finney, directed by Karel Reisz, that won 3 British Academy Awards, and transformed British cinema. Alan Sillitoe died in April 2010.”
ramon terrones wrote this review Saturday, March 9, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Lottie Jane said: the concept of Saturday Night referring to the dangerous aspects of the main character's life and Sunday Morning when he has reformed his life.
Charisma wrote this review Friday, June 15, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I actually even didn't think of it. When I started the book, I was expecting the first part to be a continuous evening and night with the follow-up on the second part—the morning. I guess, I was thinking too straightforward. Overall I didn't dislike the book: it was easy enough to follow and in places even funny. I did feel it being realistic, and even if it wasn't, it was close enough to what could have really happened during such times in such a place. What struck me is the paragraph at the very end of the book, which is so true, even today, more than 50 years later:
"...trouble for me it'll be, fighting every day until I die. Why do they make soldiers out of us when we're fighting up to the hilt as it is? Fighting with mothers and wives, landlords and gaffers, coppers, army, government."”
“A coming of age tale for a young man who decides to give up his dangerous life for a more stable one.”
Lottie Jane wrote this review Thursday, April 12, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Jane H said: 4 stars
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Shelf wrote this review Sunday, April 15, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The life of a working class Brit that starts with drinking and carousing and ends when he faces his adulthood and responsibilities.
Lottie Jane said: 4 stars
I was rather impressed by this novel. In particular, the author did a good job of making the story realistic. I felt like I was truly following Arthur Seaton's life as it progressed through the story. In addition, the dialect that the main characters speak in is realistic to the time and place where the story is occurring. Last, the concept of Saturday Night referring to the dangerous aspects of the main character's life and Sunday Morning when he has reformed his life shows the author's skill in writing a simple plot line that contains complex meaning.
Also, the story contains violence, drinking, and sex just like a good soap opera :)”
“I really enjoyed this. It's set in Lenton and my own student street gets mentioned all the time. I enjoyed the local dialect and although it's not wildly fast paced, I loved following the antics of Arthur on his metaphorical Saturday night and onto his Sunday morning.”
Amy Alice D wrote this review Sunday, November 27, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“FAVOURITE QUOTE:
Rebecca E wrote this review Friday, September 23, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
"...trouble for me it'll be, fighting every day until I die. Why do they make soldiers out of us when we're fighting up to the hilt as it is? Fighting with mothers and wives, landlords and gaffers, coppers, army, government."”
“Brilliant kitchen sink drama and sound depiction of northern working class life. Excellent anti hero in Arthur Seton.”
KAY W wrote this review Sunday, July 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Good and important working-class novel, maybe a bit long. The film is awesome though.”
Oscar W wrote this review Friday, April 30, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Arthur, the unapologetic and strangely winsome protagonist, disdains convention, leading a private and mostly internal political revolution, the mere surface of which is expressed through his series of brawls, flings, binges and ever sardonic retorts. The book is perhaps best captured in the line repeated and reinvented throughout: "It's great life if you don't weaken."”
C.D. Stephens wrote this review Tuesday, January 26, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
