jmiae's review against another edition
3.0
It is a little embarrassing to think it took me about the same time to read The Brothers Karamazov as it did to read this book. But last year I was attempting to read 50 books, so I put myself on something of a reading regime. 2015 I've decided to cut myself some slack, with the result that it took me an entire month to get through Hamilton's trilogy (technically three books, I guess?).
That aside, I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Hamilton's prose is smooth and easy to read, marked by creative turns of phrase and witty insights into human nature that helped carry me along. The stories themselves are somewhat lacklustre, although the way Hamilton closes out the final instalment of the trilogy left me with the suspicion that the humdrum-ness of his tales was deliberate. In essence, this is a portrait of life in London for the working class during the 1930s, but inevitably we always find something to relate to in these types of books, no matter how long ago it was published or what social strata it depicts. It does not illustrate the nicer aspects of everyday life in a big, lonely city, though, and it left me feeling a bit melancholy.
That aside, I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Hamilton's prose is smooth and easy to read, marked by creative turns of phrase and witty insights into human nature that helped carry me along. The stories themselves are somewhat lacklustre, although the way Hamilton closes out the final instalment of the trilogy left me with the suspicion that the humdrum-ness of his tales was deliberate. In essence, this is a portrait of life in London for the working class during the 1930s, but inevitably we always find something to relate to in these types of books, no matter how long ago it was published or what social strata it depicts. It does not illustrate the nicer aspects of everyday life in a big, lonely city, though, and it left me feeling a bit melancholy.
grubstlodger's review against another edition
5.0
I adored this trilogy - the first and third books were the best of them. I have reviewed them individually.
erin_boyington's review against another edition
5.0
At the Midnight Bell, a quiet struggle embroils the hearts of three people: Ella the barmaid loves Bob the waiter, and Bob is hopelessly in love with Jenny--a prostitute with worries of her own.
This is a trilogy comprised of three novellas: The Midnight Bell (Bob's story), The Siege of Pleasure (Jenny's story), and The Plains of Cement (Ella's story) as these three unfortunates struggle against their fate in the backdrop of 1930s London. Hamilton has a gift for characterization, and each of the three vertices of the failed love triangle display his virtuosity at getting into the heart of each character.
Hamilton's side characters are something to behold: the denizens of the bar where Bob works, the two spinsters who employ Jenny, and Ella's pushy suitor feel like people Dickens might have written about, and the humor they bring relieves some of the bleakness of the main stories. His writing is gorgeous, witty, and sympathetic to these anguished souls.
Bob sees and falls madly in love with the beautiful Jenny one night when she comes into The Midnight Bell. His quixotic quest to buy her love drains him of his carefully saved money (though he is not paying Jenny for sex) and sends him into a turmoil as he tries to gain the upper hand.
From Bob's story: "(She would never, he perceived, under any circumstances take anything; and she never, under any circumstances, failed to take everything.)" - 148
In The Siege of Pleasure, the weakest story, Jenny flashes back to the night that led her to become a prostitute in the first place. Jenny remains something of a cipher, an empty vessel into which other characters pour their own desires and ideas. Most of her actions seem accidental, and she has no dreams of her own.
From Jenny's story: "It is doubtful whether Jenny could be said to be the owner either of a character or conscience. Though no frequently inspired with true generosity, she had no active evil in her soul, and her gift of pleasing was as yet an invaluable discipline upon her conduct. It often happens that to make people good it is not advisable to tell them to be good,but to tell them that they are good." - 248
Ella's story in The Plains of Cement was by far the most powerful of the three, detailing Ella's futile love for Bob as she figures out how to cope with the unwelcome advances of Mr. Eccles, an older man with a vague yet forceful method of courtship that she feels helpless to repel. Mr. Eccles' half-drunken interrogation of her one night, consisting entirely of the word "What?" has a bleak humor as Ella tries to figure out the best way to extricate herself. All the while Ella is clear-eyed enough to realize that her hope of gaining Bob's love is unattainable, though that fact does not deter her steadfast adoration. The end of her story is quietly devastating, and neatly ties up Bob's story as well.
From Ella's story: "There he went again--blurring the issue with conventional phrases which still told her absolutely nothing. Again she was tempted to succumb to the tremulous yet loose and meaningless atmosphere with which he sought to wrap her, but she stuck fast." - 416
Opportunities appear and vanish before these three hapless beings, all of whom live with terrible loneliness in spite of each being the focus of someone else's desires and dreams.
This is a trilogy comprised of three novellas: The Midnight Bell (Bob's story), The Siege of Pleasure (Jenny's story), and The Plains of Cement (Ella's story) as these three unfortunates struggle against their fate in the backdrop of 1930s London. Hamilton has a gift for characterization, and each of the three vertices of the failed love triangle display his virtuosity at getting into the heart of each character.
Hamilton's side characters are something to behold: the denizens of the bar where Bob works, the two spinsters who employ Jenny, and Ella's pushy suitor feel like people Dickens might have written about, and the humor they bring relieves some of the bleakness of the main stories. His writing is gorgeous, witty, and sympathetic to these anguished souls.
Bob sees and falls madly in love with the beautiful Jenny one night when she comes into The Midnight Bell. His quixotic quest to buy her love drains him of his carefully saved money (though he is not paying Jenny for sex) and sends him into a turmoil as he tries to gain the upper hand.
From Bob's story: "(She would never, he perceived, under any circumstances take anything; and she never, under any circumstances, failed to take everything.)" - 148
In The Siege of Pleasure, the weakest story, Jenny flashes back to the night that led her to become a prostitute in the first place. Jenny remains something of a cipher, an empty vessel into which other characters pour their own desires and ideas. Most of her actions seem accidental, and she has no dreams of her own.
From Jenny's story: "It is doubtful whether Jenny could be said to be the owner either of a character or conscience. Though no frequently inspired with true generosity, she had no active evil in her soul, and her gift of pleasing was as yet an invaluable discipline upon her conduct. It often happens that to make people good it is not advisable to tell them to be good,but to tell them that they are good." - 248
Ella's story in The Plains of Cement was by far the most powerful of the three, detailing Ella's futile love for Bob as she figures out how to cope with the unwelcome advances of Mr. Eccles, an older man with a vague yet forceful method of courtship that she feels helpless to repel. Mr. Eccles' half-drunken interrogation of her one night, consisting entirely of the word "What?" has a bleak humor as Ella tries to figure out the best way to extricate herself. All the while Ella is clear-eyed enough to realize that her hope of gaining Bob's love is unattainable, though that fact does not deter her steadfast adoration. The end of her story is quietly devastating, and neatly ties up Bob's story as well.
From Ella's story: "There he went again--blurring the issue with conventional phrases which still told her absolutely nothing. Again she was tempted to succumb to the tremulous yet loose and meaningless atmosphere with which he sought to wrap her, but she stuck fast." - 416
Opportunities appear and vanish before these three hapless beings, all of whom live with terrible loneliness in spite of each being the focus of someone else's desires and dreams.
amanda_hart's review
5.0
Cleverly written - three books in one, centered around the pub, The Midnight Bell. A tenderhearted perception of love and relationships by author Patrick Hamilton who manages to sensitively portray the challenges of class and position in the 1930's. A touching story of hope and despair.
stephrampton's review
5.0
This is actually three books in one. Each book focuses on a different character and the story is told from their perspective. Hamilton's use of words is wonderful. I really believed in the characters and cared about what happened to them. He is able to describe the most ordinary everyday events in such compelling detail. Very sad getting to the end of the book (a rare feeling these days)
lnatal's review
4.0
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The Midnight Bell
Patrick Hamilton - Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky Episode 1 of 3
London, 1927: Bob meets a prostitute called Jenny and Ella is invited to the theatre by Mr Eccles.
Starring Steven Pacey as Bob, Annette Badland as Ella, Emily Morgan as Jenny and John Moffatt as Ernest Eccles
Patrick Hamilton's semi-autobiographical trilogy set in working class, inter-war London.
Violet.... Alice Arnold
Rex.... Christopher Good
Andy ... David Goudge
Tom ... Paul Downing
Marian .... Margot Boyd
Bella .... Joan Matheson
Ella's mother ..... Anna Cropper
Guvnor .... David King
Mrs Guvnor .... Jo Kendall
Other parts ..... Vincent Brimble, Brian Miller & Joan Walker
Dramatised for radio in three parts by Frederic Bradnum.
Producer: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07g8d1l
The Midnight Bell
Patrick Hamilton - Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky Episode 1 of 3
London, 1927: Bob meets a prostitute called Jenny and Ella is invited to the theatre by Mr Eccles.
Starring Steven Pacey as Bob, Annette Badland as Ella, Emily Morgan as Jenny and John Moffatt as Ernest Eccles
Patrick Hamilton's semi-autobiographical trilogy set in working class, inter-war London.
Violet.... Alice Arnold
Rex.... Christopher Good
Andy ... David Goudge
Tom ... Paul Downing
Marian .... Margot Boyd
Bella .... Joan Matheson
Ella's mother ..... Anna Cropper
Guvnor .... David King
Mrs Guvnor .... Jo Kendall
Other parts ..... Vincent Brimble, Brian Miller & Joan Walker
Dramatised for radio in three parts by Frederic Bradnum.
Producer: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07g8d1l
sarahkomas's review
3.5
Mixed bag - actually 3 novels in one book. Sharply observant characterisation, and I really enjoyed the 3rd book, but the first two didn't engage me as well.
joolsca's review
5.0
I cannot fault Patrick Hamilton's writing in any way. I believe he is Britain's answer to Sartre; perfectly capturing the internal monologue of the chronically depressed/lonely/misunderstood.
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