Booker of Bookers
13 05 2008
One of the great tragedies of 20th Century Literature was the premature death of the great novelist J G Farrell.
Farrell wrote six and a half novels in his career - A Man From Elsewhere, The Lung and A Girl in the Head were his early novels. They were important only as precursors to what was to come later. The novels which made Farrell’s reputation were the so called Empire Trilogy - Troubles (1970), The Siege of Krishnapur (1973) and The Singapore Grip (1978). Telling the story of the collapse of Britain’s colonial power, the stories are beautifully written, like music on the page. They are witty, clever, angry and passionate.
The Siege of Krishnapur, perhaps the finest of his work, tells the story of an isolated British compound, under seige by Sepoys during the Indian Mutiny. The veneer of civilisation proves disturbingly thin. It won the Booker in 1973, and in a just world would win the Booker of Bookers prize now. James Higgs reviews it here. He advocates for Farrell to win the Booker of Bookers in the Telegraph blogs here.
If I had to choose one book to take to a Desert Island it would be the Siege of Krishnapur. It is a work of genius. If you haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you do so. It is funny, heartbreaking, horrifying and touching, and essentially British - a damning critique of Empire which never resorts to mere Empire-bashing.
In 1979 Farrell moved to an isolated cottage on the Sheepshead Peninsular in South-western Ireland. A few months later he drowned in Bantry Bay, apparently while angling. He was 44 years old. Thus died one of the greatest novelists Britain has ever produced. Who knows what literary wonders he would have produced had he lived. The novel he was working on at the time of his death (literally - he walked away from his typewriter to catch a fish for his supper and never came back) was published half written as The Hill Station… apparently a fourth episode in the Empire cycle. Even as a rough first draft it was better than the finished product of 99% of novelists.
UPDATE - I missed the most important bit - you can vote for JG Farrell to win HERE. Please do so.
Must look this one up.
Yes. Civilisation … a veneer.
It really is a super book EK… well worth a read. Watch out for the bit where the girl gets attacked by beetles. Quite priceless.
“attacked by beetles”? Have you read Patrick D. Smith? His books Forever Island, Allapattah and a A Land Remembered are BRILLIANT! Lots of ‘bugs’ (OK, mosquitoes) in ‘em too, so I know you would enjoy them
I will give them a try, Milady.
The Best of the Booker: The Siege of Krishnapur…
As we mentioned last month, the second Best of the Booker award will be given out this summer. Now the shortlist has been announced, and J.G. Farrell’s Siege of Krishanpur (a creative retelling about seemingly hapless Brits during the Sepoy…
Not heard of him til now, Fleet, thanks for the tip. My personal hero, Ian F, also pegged out early and also halfway through a book (Colonel Sun, finished by Kingsley Amis rather poorly IMHO); I reckon your man wrote the Siege aged around 37 - most impressive.
Farrell had suffered from Polio in youth, Bloggone, and the theory goes that when he was caught by a wave while fishing for his supper he lacked the strength to pull himself out. By the time his body washed ashore it was too far gone to be able to tell. Very sad. Troubles, about Ireland in the immediate post WWI period, runs Seige a close second in terms of excellent. Both are splendid sly portraits of the British Upper Class at bay.