A Quiet Life

Rating:
Summary: Facts on "A Quiet Life"
Review: The life of a family consisting of two parents, Joe and Connie, and their two children, Madge and Alan is shown in this book by Beryl Bainbridge. A Quiet Life describes the ups and downs of the family after WWII. Joe once had a great business, but after some events in the war, he is now bankrupt and is listening to the `wireless', as they called it (radio in our days). Connie, a woman who married Joe years ago because of his wealth, is now a very strict lady who reads novels at the train station alone every night, while during the day, she drinks tea. The daughter, Madge, is a girl who walks along the mine-filled seaside every night. She is a girl who is trusted by her mother, who often believes the lies of Madge, making her able to get away from the troubles she has done. Lastly, the main character is Alan, who is a 17 year old teenager who falls in love with Janet, another girl in his school.
The main idea of the book is shown in the title, A Quiet Life, because it is about Alan, trying to have his own life different from the kind he grew up in. Why he wants his own life is because there is a lot of chaos going on around the house that he has to put up with and try to live through them everyday. Starting with Alan and Madge meeting each other inside the café, a shift is made to the actual life these two children grew up in. With his father constantly getting upset with the family and his leftover wealth, things inside the house are often thrown around, while the two children always try to get out of the scene. During the story, Alan often argues with his sister about going to see a German P.O.W and almost causing a disaster for the family. These are only some of the problems that occurred within this spoiled family. This book has really grabbed my attention once I started reading it, because the plot is based on real life problems within a family.

Rating:
Summary: Facts on "A Quiet Life"
Review: The life of a family consisting of two parents, Joe and Connie, and their two children, Madge and Alan is shown in this book by Beryl Bainbridge. A Quiet Life describes the ups and downs of the family after WWII. Joe once had a great business, but after some events in the war, he is now bankrupt and is listening to the 'wireless', as they called it (radio in our days). Connie, a woman who married Joe years ago because of his wealth, is now a very strict lady who reads novels at the train station alone every night, while during the day, she drinks tea. The daughter, Madge, is a girl who walks along the mine-filled seaside every night. She is a girl who is trusted by her mother, who often believes the lies of Madge, making her able to get away from the troubles she has done. Lastly, the main character is Alan, who is a 17 year old teenager who falls in love with Janet, another girl in his school.
The main idea of the book is shown in the title, A Quiet Life, because it is about Alan, trying to have his own life different from the kind he grew up in. Why he wants his own life is because there is a lot of chaos going on around the house that he has to put up with and try to live through them everyday. Starting with Alan and Madge meeting each other inside the café, a shift is made to the actual life these two children grew up in. With his father constantly getting upset with the family and his leftover wealth, things inside the house are often thrown around, while the two children always try to get out of the scene. During the story, Alan often argues with his sister about going to see a German P.O.W and almost causing a disaster for the family. These are only some of the problems that occurred within this spoiled family. This book has really grabbed my attention once I started reading it, because the plot is based on real life problems within a family.

Rating:
Summary: TALK ABOUT A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY !!!
Review: This is a well written story of the cold reality of life, but I found it a little too depressing....A mother and father, daughter and son share a small English seaside house shortly after the end of World War II. Landmines are still scattered along the beach.....The mother escapes her disappointed life by reading novels at night in the train station....The father drinks. goes off into tantrums and throws things around in the house and outside....The fifteen year old daughter, Madge sneaks out after dark to meet with a German POW.....The adolescent son, Alan tries, in vain, to alter or ignore his family by retreating into silence.....There just was no answer to this family's problems.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This was my first exposure to Beryl Bainbridge; a friend reccommended another of her books to me, and this was the first one I could find in the library, so I picked it up. I've read a few more since then, and while this isn't her best book, it is still a solid read, moving, disturbing, and darkly comic by turns. There's not a whole lot of plot, but there is a story that pulls you along, and the characters are sketched out brilliantly. I can't remember the last time I read something that was quite this disturbing without ever being blatantly violent or horrorific; it's more about the evils people do to themselves and others in the real world than anything. I wouldn't necessarily suggest starting with this book if you're new to the author; but then, I did, and I'm a huge fan. Definitely worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: "A bit of combat does one the world of good."
Review: When it comes to the creation of darkly perverse characters, few equal the talent of Beryl Bainbridge. She consistently creates characters who appear normal--they function, have relationships, etc., but they are truly pathological. The darkly comic novel, "A Quiet Life," is a perfect example of Bainbridge's talent at work. The story is a simple one; the novel begins as Alan waits for his sister, Madge in a cafe to exchange a few personal belongings following the death of their mother. The meeting after a 15 year estrangement disturbs Alan, and he reminisces about events that took place within the family in post WWII England.

Alan lives with his sister, Madge in a cramped, damp house with their parents Connie and Joe. Stalin-obsessed Joe was once a successful businessman, but went bankrupt, and lost the "big house and the maid." Connie never recovered from the loss--or the decline in her circumstances, and as a result, she resents her husband terribly. She gives herself airs and graces and is desperate to maintain appearances. She disappears night after night, and her husband is convinced she is off having affairs. A continual state of war exists between the parents. The hostilities exist usually as an undercurrent, but battles erupt unpredictably and violently, and usually result in some damage to the house or its contents. Madge reacts by running after one of the German-prisoners-of-war, and Alan is divided between staying home and trying to maintain the peace, and escaping to the local youth club.

This brilliant book shows the inner workings of the dysfunctional family--wars that erupt with a simple word, retaliation delivered promptly and painfully, and two children caught in the middle. The occasions during which the family tries to be 'normal' are laced with black humour--the stroll on the beach, the outing to Alan's school--the family has the format down to the letter, but can't quite convince anyone--least of all themselves--that everything is normal. Alan little realises that he is a miniature version of his father, but this is reflected in his odd relationship with the cloying and annoying Janet Leyland. I particularly loved the character of Madge--a free spirit who "fancifully" calls the sycamore tree a willow, "pirouetted" in front of relatives while showing off her Sunday dress, and who whacks the local schoolboys with her umbrella. Is there anything quite as awful as an unhappy family? Bainbridge captures the essence of this phenomenon with her skilled prose and sharp characterisations. For Bainbridge fans, this is a 'must-read.' If you enjoy novels by William Trevor, you will probably enjoy Bainbridge books also--displacedhuman.