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A review by moviebuffkt
Something to Answer For by P.H. Newby
Reflections and discussion questions from The Booker Prize Book Club:
According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography’s entry on this the first Booker Prize winner, “some found the award to Newby’s novel ironic because the prize was created and given by a company that represented values questioned in the novel… Booker Brothers McConnell, a multinational conglomerate, sold popular fiction as one of its commodities along with rum, sugar, and engineering products.” The company has 51% of future rights to Fleming’s James Bond novels, as well as several other authors including Agatha Christie.
The novel has been described as “hallucinatory” and “baffling or obscure.” Honestly, I could not agree more. After Townrow’s hit on the head, the rest of the novel is incredibly disorienting. As far as a “discussion” goes, all I came up with was a series of questions, completely based on trying to figure out what was going on in the novel. So, in light of that, I’m just going to list some of my questions and observations…. Let me now what you thought!
“Probably it was an accident….” Townrow never seems to be sure of his own intentions, nationality, or thought process. How does that affect your interpretations and impressions of the storyline?
Between Mrs. Khoury and Townrow, who are we supposed to believe? What happened to Elie’s body? Why is there so much confusion around the funeral, the body, the burial, etc.?
What do you make of the concept of Townrow’s true nationality?
There is a line in the novel that says “When you’re dead, how do you know it? I might have died from that crack on the head. And how do I know I didn’t?” Did anyone else have the impression that Townrow might have actually been dead?
What did you think of the ending of the novel? Was everyone saved? What is the significance of Townrow floating off with Elie’s body?
According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography’s entry on this the first Booker Prize winner, “some found the award to Newby’s novel ironic because the prize was created and given by a company that represented values questioned in the novel… Booker Brothers McConnell, a multinational conglomerate, sold popular fiction as one of its commodities along with rum, sugar, and engineering products.” The company has 51% of future rights to Fleming’s James Bond novels, as well as several other authors including Agatha Christie.
The novel has been described as “hallucinatory” and “baffling or obscure.” Honestly, I could not agree more. After Townrow’s hit on the head, the rest of the novel is incredibly disorienting. As far as a “discussion” goes, all I came up with was a series of questions, completely based on trying to figure out what was going on in the novel. So, in light of that, I’m just going to list some of my questions and observations…. Let me now what you thought!
“Probably it was an accident….” Townrow never seems to be sure of his own intentions, nationality, or thought process. How does that affect your interpretations and impressions of the storyline?
Between Mrs. Khoury and Townrow, who are we supposed to believe? What happened to Elie’s body? Why is there so much confusion around the funeral, the body, the burial, etc.?
What do you make of the concept of Townrow’s true nationality?
There is a line in the novel that says “When you’re dead, how do you know it? I might have died from that crack on the head. And how do I know I didn’t?” Did anyone else have the impression that Townrow might have actually been dead?
What did you think of the ending of the novel? Was everyone saved? What is the significance of Townrow floating off with Elie’s body?