Minutes June book: The Go-Between

The Go-Between

by L.P.Hartley

(chosen by Gypsy)

Theme: The past is a foreign country




Gypsy declared that her choice of this book was either very lazy, or demonstrated  uncharacteristically risky behaviour for her, as she chose it without pre-reading it. This month's theme does in fact come from the first line of this novel, which makes it an eminently suitable choice!

About the author:

Leslie Poles Hartley was born in  England in 1895. For more than thirty years from 1923 he was a a fiction reviewer for periodicals. He published his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Night Fears, in 1924 and his first full-length novel, The Shrimp and the Anemone, did not appear until 1944.

The Go-Between (1953) was awarded the Heinemann Foundation Prize of the Royal Society of Literature in 1954 and was later made into an internationally successful film. L. P. Hartley died in 1972.

(general biographical detail from the publisher's website)

What the publisher says about the book:

When one long, hot summer, young Leo is staying with a school-friend at Brandham Hall, he beings to act as a messenger between Ted, the farmer, and Marian, the beautiful young woman up at the hall. He becomes drawn deeper and deeper into their dangerous game of deceit and desire, until his role brings him to a shocking and premature revelation. The haunting story of a young boy's awakening into the secrets of the adult world, The Go-Between is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society.

What we discussed about the book:

• How many elements of this novel were autobiographical?
• How old was Marian? 18? 
• How did Marian justify her behaviour? Could it be described as 'grooming'?
• How did Marian wield power over Leo? 
• What was the exact definition of 'spooning' as intended by Hartley?
• What role does Marcus play in the novel? To what degree is he the 'honest' narrator, telling it like it is with no hidden agenda?
• The stratified nature of the household.  
• The characteristics of the plant, belladonna. How was it used metaphorically in the plot?
• The symbolism of Janus with relation to Lord Trimingham.
• Why does Leo deliver the final message at the end of the novel?
• How had these events impacted on the rest of Leo's life? Did Marian in any way acknowledge her role?
• What does Leo actually remember about events and what does he think he remembers?
• Was the behaviour of the adults cruel?
• Did we foresee Ted's fate?
• The role of the climate in mirroring the plot.
• Symbolism of the gods - Mercury, Janus etc
• To what extent was this novel an allusion to an earlier style of writing rapidly becoming unfashionable in the 1950s?

And then we were sidetracked into:

• How is the past a foreign country? Do they do things differently there?
• How this novel portrays the British class system at that time. 
• Parallels with Lady Chatterley's Lover
• Did we imagine Downton Abbey when we read about Brandham Hall?
• The role of written journals in  recreating the past/memory many years later.
• The concept of memory. What can be trusted? What does our contemporary mind add to it?
• Did the endnote references dotted throughout the text aid or interrupt our reading?

In other news, we discussed:

• The mechanics of memory - how you only ever remember your last recollection of a memory, not the initial event itself. Hence, memories alter like Chinese whispers.
• The current state of Australian newspapers...which one offers quality, balanced journalism?
• The documentary about 11 year old boys sitting the Harrow entrance exam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYaoWPdUOI)
• The 'Eton Style' (Gangnam parody)...an oldie, but a goodie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FtZkVRkusQ
• What we would change in life if we won lotto
• Is life best lived at on mediocre middle line...does having extreme highs risk oncoming falls?? 

Ratings:
Range: 7.5 to 10
Average: 8.83

Next book: Poorly Made in China by Paul Midler (chosen by KM)