| Title | : | Paradise Postponed |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 014009864X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780140098648 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 373 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1985 |
Paradise Postponed Reviews
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Published in 1985, this novel is very much a product of the 1980’s, complete with the miners strike, Falklands, Thatcher, CND and other events which I can recall very vividly from the time.
This is the story of the Reverend Simeon Simcox, a socialist rector in a small, English village, full of the usual class snobbery and clear-cut social barriers. Simeon Simcox lives with his wife, Dorothy and sons Henry and Fred. Sir Nicholas and Lady Grace Fanner live in the manor with daughter Charlie. Young Leslie Titmuss, son of working-class parents, did odd jobs at the rectory and brings the rector little gifts. While Henry and Fred go off to boarding school, Leslie wins a place at grammar school.
The book begins with the news that, after his death, the Reverend Simcox has bizarrely left his shares in the Simcox Brewery to Leslie Titmuss, who has, over the years, become a city developer and Conservative cabinet minister. Why, his son Henry cries, has he left his money to someone who represents everything he has fought against his entire life? As the novel continues, we learn of the entwined life of the characters; of Henry and Fred’s relationships with the beautiful Agnes, of Leslie’s rise and marriage to Charlie Fanner, of his deep desire to be a success and his humiliations.
Mortimer cleverly weaves his characters together. He managed to make all of those involved interesting and sympathetic, as, through Fred Simcox, he explores the reasons for the Reverend’s strange decision. Full of family secrets, memorable characters, and a lot of dark humour, this is an excellent novel. Thankfully, it is the first of a trilogy and I look forward to reading on and exploring more of John Mortimer’s work. It is always good to find a ‘new’ author, even if you discover them rather late… -
Un paraíso inalcanzable tiene un punto de partida sin duda intrigante: al morir Simeon Simcox, párroco socialista en Rapstone Fanner, cuyo despacho lo preside un busto de Karl Marx, su familia descubre que ha dejado todas sus pertenencias a Leslie Titmuss, diputado conservador sin demasiados escrúpulos. Henry, el hijo mayor, novelista que perteneció en el pasado al grupo de los angry young men, quiere impugnar el testamento, mientras que el hijo menor, un médico rural, intentará averiguar qué llevó a su padre a tomar tan sorprendente decisión.
John Mortimer, que además de novelista fue guionista y abogado (famoso por llevar numerosos casos en favor de la libertad de expresión), escribió simultáneamente esta historia en forma de novela (1985) y de guión para televisión (1986). Posteriormente se le añadirían otras dos obras, también con el personaje de Titmuss como central.
Esta novela coral (me gustaría que alguien me hubiese avisado: ¡haz un pequeño esquema de los personajes!) nos llevará desde los años de la posguerra hasta el gobierno de Margaret Thatcher, y en una especie de crónica social e histórica de la Inglaterra rural mezclada con novela costumbrista, con un tono tremendamente irónico, con diálogos ingeniosísimos, acompañaremos durante casi cuatro décadas a unos personajes anónimos a los que los “grandes” hechos cambiaron su vida cotidiana. -
I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the humor embedded in the lines. We chuckle at human behavior. There is a question, a mystery to be solved, and the closer we come to the end, the more the focus shifts to the plot and the resolution of the questions that must be resolved. I enjoyed the problem-solving phase less than the humoristic, thought-provoking exposition of the characters. Plot-wise, the characters’ shenanigans seem too convoluted, too complicated. There are lots of characters to keep track of. The setting is the 1950s through the 1980s in a village two hours west of London. Everything has to make sense, and it does, but “Who cares?!” is what predominated ny sentiments and thoughts by the end.
At the death of the village pastor, all are confused. He left his money not to his family but to one who held conservative views, opposing all that he had stood for and fought for his entire life. One son fights the will and sets out to prove that his father was no longer sane. The other son seeks to discover why their father made the will as he did. That is the mystery to be solved, and it is resolved. It was in the untangling of the knot that I lost interest. The knot is too thick, heavy and tightly drawn!
Why would a person change his life values with the approach of death? I had a hunch at the start—a most probably lay at the core. And I was !
I want to read more by the author because his writing skills are good, but I want a less complicated plot. This is what I think I might get in the author’s connected stories presented in
Rumpole of the Bailey.
Paul Shelley gives a fantastic narration in the audiobook version. He uses different accents VERY well. There is an American film director. Every time he opens his mouth, I simply had to smile. He sounds so American! It’s just plain funny. The contrast between British and American speech is perfect and amusing. Characters of different ages, sex and classes are all wonderfully performed Shelley sings songs. He does it well—he sings just as the different characters would sing them. Five stars for the narration. It could not have been better. Shelley gives an impressive performance that I loved all the way through.
******************
*
Paradise Postponed 3 stars
*
Rumpole of the Bailey TBR -
When someone tells me they like reading novels, this is exactly the sort of book I imagine them reading, sitting in a comfy, worn-out armchair, possibly by the fire. A great meaty novel.
‘Paradise Postponed’ is a satire, but not a satire the way some authors understand it, i.e. you have to be funny in every single sentence, as if the whole book were part of your stand-up routine (inevitably ending up being not funny at all). Another side effect of such ha-ha-ha funny is that all characters end up being cartoonish which makes it impossible to get emotionally involved in the story.
Mortimer doesn’t fall in that trap, he is only funny when there is a really good joke and it’s quite enough. His characters are real, yet the satire on the British class system is still cutting.
It’s essentially a story of what happens to a family when the father, leftist minister (as in a religious one, rather than the one who is in the government), dies and leaves all his money to a sleazy Tory MP. Everyone is a little confused to say the least and tries to deal with it in a different way. Old secrets get uncovered and some hilarity ensues.
Here are some quotes that are way better than this review:
“She felt a tightness in her chest and sent for Dr Simcox.
'What's the trouble?'
'Look out there, that's the trouble! It's so green and quiet and it's always bloody raining.'
'That's England, Mrs Mallard-Greene. I'm afraid there's no known cure for it.”
“The first sight of the Rapstone Valley is of something unexpectedly isolated and uninterruptedly rural; a solitary jogger is the only outward sign of urban pollution.”
“She believed that, in an ideal world, the working class would rule the country, but she had no particular desire to ask any of them to tea.”
“You can't change people. You know that. You can't make them stop hating each other, or longing to blow up the world, not by walking through the rain and singing to a small guitar. Most you can do for them is pull them out of the womb, thump them on the backside and let them get on with it.”
“Oh, you think everyone's interesting. That's because you're a Red. I don't. I believe that quite a lot of people were just manufactured when God was thinking of something else.”
“Take sex, for instance.'
'What do you want me to do with it?'
'Try to be serious for a moment. Take the sex life of our father.'
[...]
Even after a couple of brandies he felt extremely reluctant to discuss sex and his father. 'It's something I'd rather not think about,' he said. 'We all come into existence as a result of a momentary embrace by our parents which find impossible to imagine. [...] We all assume we're the result of our own particular immaculate conception.”
“He's a cabinet minister and his mother was a cook. My father was a doctor and I'm a cook. Perhaps I passed him on the way down, or did he pass me on the way up?”
“Alfie Dawlish. Invented all sorts of imaginary ailments for the family at the Manor so he could rob them and treat the village for nothing. It was his primitive version of the Health Service”
“What on earth was Henry talking about?'
'His soul. I wonder where he keeps it.”
“A hundred pounds! He couldn't remember ever having seen a hundred pounds, all at one time. He found himself envying his father, who had nothing to worry about except the future of mankind.”
“In the middle of the swinging sixties people in England were apparently under some sort of obligation to have a good time and most of them didn't. A Russian and an American walked about in space to no one's particular advantage. The Beatles received their British Empire medals and, so it was said, smoked cannabis in the lavatories at Buckingham Palace. American aeroplanes were bombing Vietnam, but no one seemed to talk about the nuclear holocaust any more.” -
Unexpectedly successful literary fiction, somewhere between your better-than-average beach read and "the great British novel"; a book of manners for a time and place that (almost) had none.
Mortimer is clever with dialogue and complicated social scenes, deploying scathing understatement and layered language to chuckle-worthy and plot-advancing affect. The conundrum described on the cover drives the whole book, which never loses sight of what story it is telling despite multiple POVs and flashbacks. Easy to follow yet gratifyingly complex. Recommended. -
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Auguro que este año va a ser muy difícil hacer mi habitual selección de libros favoritos; si digo esto, es precisamente por la cantidad y calidad de las obras que están saliendo; teniendo en cuenta que, además, solo llevamos la mitad del año…. Sinceramente la cosa promete, más sabiendo algunas de las novedades que vienen para septiembre y octubre.
Una de las candidatas a este top de mis libros favoritos es sin duda “Un paraíso inalcanzable” del británico John Mortimer, ¿exagero al decir que esta novela de 1983 se ha convertido ya en un clásico instantáneo? Para nada, a continuación daré las razones para el entusiasmo:
-En primer lugar, el punto de partida, la trama que nos propone Mortimer encierra un enigma, un misterio ¿por qué Simeon Simcox deja parte de su herencia, la más importante, a un político conservador (Leslie Titmuss) y con ideas radicalmente distintas en detrimento de su propia familia? Este primer nivel presagia una trama en la más pura tradición policíaca, algo a resolver y que será la base argumental que dará consistencia a toda la novela.
-En segundo lugar, con la base anterior, la estructura que plantea se ordena según esto; tendremos que conocer el pasado de los personajes para poder resolver la cuestión principal. Para ello, se producen continuos saltos de tiempo, vamos adelante y atrás sin un orden establecido, solo el que el autor establece a su criterio (a principio, al final del capítulo, entre medias, varias veces en el capítulo…); la apariencia es la de un puzzle, ya que necesitamos conocer todas las piezas para llegar al final; esta estructura no sirve solo para la trama sino también para pintar los personajes (especialmente las dos familias principales), dando una gran riqueza a la narrativa. Esta falta de linealidad ayuda a que se convierta en algo más retador.
-En tercer lugar, los siguientes párrafos ayudan a comprender un tercer nivel de lectura:
“Inglaterra entró en la década de 1960.
En el gran mundo de la política, sesenta y nueve africanos fueron asesinados en Sharpeville y Simeon Simcox escribió más de sesenta y nueve cartas. ��El amante de Lady Chatterley” fue declarada una lectura apta para el pueblo inglés, acontecimiento que no tuvo ningún efecto notable en el romance de Fred y Agnes Salter. En la Asociación Conservadora de Harstcombe, la sensación general era que el señor Macmillan estaba en la gloria y que en el mundo todo iba más o menos bien. En este ambiente confiado, la asistencia a las veladas de las Juventudes Conservadoras empezó a decaer, pero Leslie Titmuss nunca se perdió ni una reunión.”
“A mediados de los febriles años sesenta, parecía que los ingleses tuvieran la obligación de pasárselo bien, pero la mayoría no lo lograba. Un ruso y un americano anduvieron por el espacio sin que eso le sirviera de mucho a nadie. Los Beatles recibieron sus condecoraciones del Imperio Británico y, según se dijo, fumaron cannabis en los aseos del palacio de Buckingham. Aviones estadounidenses bombardeaban Vietnam del Norte, pero ya nadie hablaba del holocausto nuclear. Hasta las cartas de Simeon a The times se volvieron menos frecuentes y más benignas. Fue entonces cuando Fred se convirtió en médico.”
“La huelga de mineros, aquella prolongada guerra por las minas agonizantes y los agonizantes pueblos y aldeas, apenas tuvo eco en Hartscombe. Una pequeña cuadrilla de piquetes se apostó ante la cervecera con pancartas que rezaban: “La cerveza es nuestra”, “Salvemos 300 empleos”, “Exigimos el derecho a trabajar” y hasta “¡Que beban los trabajadores! .“
A lo largo de los capítulos y, sin un orden aparente que puedas esperar, se suceden los frescos de la sociedad inglesa según los saltos temporales que se van produciendo; por lo tanto, vemos la dimensión social de lo que está sucediendo y, además, aprovecha para unirla a las vivencias de sus personajes en dicho momento histórico y cómo les afecta. Esto ofrece otra posibilidad de disfrute más allá de la trama principal.
-En cuarto lugar, los personajes; todo lo anteriormente citado puede haceros una idea de la riqueza de detalles con la que los personajes aparecen cincelados. En efecto es fácil identificarlos y, naturalmente, empatizar con ellos; especialmente fascinante es Leslie Titmuss, figura indispensable y gran protagonista:
“Simeón miró al joven que tenía delante (Leslie) y se preguntó, no por primera vez, cómo sería haber nacido sin capacidad para dudar. ¿Sería una bendición, una maldición o una simple carencia física, como nacer sin sentido del olfato?”
O Charlie Simcox, el joven airado, de él surgen algunos de los momentos más humorísticos del libro (otra de las razones que podrían aparecer para recomendarlo), como podemos ver en esta conversación con su posible editor:
“-¿No le gusta el final? […]
-¡Me parece conmovedor! Me parece muy artístico. Creo que muestra una autenticidad que cala muy hondo, aunque quede como un poco gilipollas. Pero ¿quién diablos va a pagar dos dólares, además de lo que hoy en día cuesta comer fuera, el aparcamiento y la canguro, para ver la historia de un gilipollas? Creo que mi socio pondrá pegas a su final. Algunas personas solo piensan en el dinero.”
-Y dejo para el final lo que, contrariamente, aparece al principio: toda una declaración de principios de lo que Mortimer entiende que debería ser una novela, en boca del joven airado:
“-Qué haces? –Leslie interrumpió su trabajo para preguntar.
-Escribo una novela.
-¿Qué es una novela?
-Es un retrato de nuestra sociedad, de la cabeza a los pies. Una historia humana.”
Esta novela se convierte en un retrato de la sociedad desde lo macro, la sociedad al completo y los acontecimientos que comenté anteriormente hasta lo micro, las particularizaciones individuales de esos hechos y su influencia sobre las personas, a lo largo del tiempo desde la postguerra británica hasta los tiempos de Margaret Thatcher; reflejo del zeitgeist de una sociedad: la inglesa.
Es tal la cantidad y variedad de lecturas que admite este evento literario tan jubiloso que no puede dejar indiferente a casi nadie y puedo casi estar seguro que debería gustar a la mayoría de las personas que la lean, se me antoja imprescindible conocerla. Entre otras cosas porque, por si fuera posible decir algo más, el gran John Mortimer realza en la parte final la importancia de la libertad individual de cada persona, libertad que está por encima de cualquier predestinación y herencia recibida.
“-¡Eso es un poco triste! –Agnes lo miró con burlona desesperación-. Crees que solo somos lo que nuestros padres hacen de nosotros. ¿No tenemos elección?
-Nosotros la tuvimos, una vez. Tú y yo. Y yo me equivoqué.
-Ahora es un poco tarde para pensar en eso.
[…]
-Nunca es demasiado tarde –dijo Fred- para empezar.”
En definitiva, leedla. Una novela de las más grandes que se van a publicar en este año. Sin lugar a dudas.
Textos de la traducción del inglés de Magdalena Palmer para esta edición de “Un paraíso inalcanzable” de John Mortimer por Libros del Asteroide. -
I'll agree with the other reviewers here, at first there are far too many characters, all introduced in quick succession and with such tiny snippets into their lives you don't get to know them well. Also the book jumps backward and forward in time which can be really disconcerting and make it harder to get into the story. However, the pace really picked up halfway through and I found myself growing quite attached to some of the characters.
The book is satirical, with a wry look at how Britain has changed socially since the end of the war, particularly in light of the various governments that have ruled during this time. Mortimer makes some spot-on observations, particularly in terms of how history repeats itself at times.
I felt the twist at the end was rather trite, as was the way the left-wing characters of the book were portrayed, as though being left-wing and fighting a cause was perhaps a way of escaping life or rebelling against privilege. However, this is a satirical book, and I daresay charicatures are par for the course.
I think Leslie Titmuss is a really good example of the "go get 'em" Conservatism that was prevalent during the time of Macmillan and Thatcher. The book is part of a three part series, and I'll be really interested to see how Leslie deals with the Blairite 90's.
This takes a while to get into but once it does, it is a really heart-warming read. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it's become a new favourite, and I'm looking forward to devouring the rest of the saga! -
If I had to pick, Paradise Postponed is one of my all-time Top 5.
I spent about 85% of the book with a smile on my face. John Mortimer creates brilliant characters--vivid, quirky, and beautifully drawn--then follows them through the distant past, the middle past, and the present day (circa 1986). At the core are Fred and Henry, the polar-opposite sons of Rector Simeon Simcox. Fred has become a country doctor, who relaxes playing drums in a local jazz band. Henry starts out as a flaming liberal author when he's young, quite liberal indeed, wanting to overthrow the "oppressive" entrenched, older conservatives. By the time he's middle-aged, he's swung to the stodgy right, dashing off essays to the Sunday papers, complaining about liberal government and those horrible damned young people.
When Simeon dies, he leaves all of his shares in his family's Simcox Breweries (stock which had added nicely to his meager parson's salary) to seemingly the last person in the valley to need more money. The mystery as to why he does this, leads to all manner of odd and funny revelations.
I've read this book ten times at least, and it always sparkles and delights. You can tell John Mortimer has genuine affection for his characters, and I can't imagine anyone NOT sharing his feelings. I can't recommend this book enough. -
I thought this novel was well thought out and mostly entertaining. At times, it offered insightful comments on social, personal and political issues and Mortimer did wrap it up well, even if some of the twists weren’t that surprising. I also enjoyed many of the character portrayals and interactions, some of which reminded me of those from a Robertson Davies or Iris Murdoch novel. That is a good thing to me.
However, I found the over-abundance of time switches and lightly-explained characters made for an often disconcerting read. I had trouble visualizing certain events and never thought I really had a full grip on all the story’s events.
Also, I did not find this to be, as my back cover blurb says: “a hilarious novel.” While I don’t think Mortimer really intended it to be ‘hilarious’ just lightly humorous and satirical, I presume some of the humor and satire was lost on me as I rarely laughed or chuckled. I do remember smiling at a few passages.
The unsettled feeling caused by the time switches and over-plotting has me rating this as somewhere just above 3 stars. However, it was still a mostly entertaining read and I did find Leslie Titmuss an interesting enough creation to consider reading the other novels in this series. Also as I am a fan of Mortimer’s Rumpole series, I may have entered this read with overly high expectations, resulting in my slight disappointment. Evaluating all these factors, I am rounding up to 4 stars.
Besides reading on in the series, I would also be interested in seeing the TV series where, presumably, the story is presented in a less disconcerting manner. -
I've never read any Rumpole books but if they are anything like as good as this first book in the Rapstone trilogy then I should.
This is a book that jumps back and forth in time frequently but it's never confusing. There's a huge cast of characters but you never lose track of who is who or who said or did anything in particular.
Mortimer keeps total control over everything and leads us through the lives of the characters from shortly after WWII up until the middle of the eighties.
The story concerns a socialist rector in a small town not very far from London who at the outset dies only for it to be discovered he has left the shares for the family brewery to an odious Conservative Minister Leslie Titmuss. The rectors youngest son Fred sets out to discover the reason while his older brother, celebrated author Henry decides to go to court to prove their fathers insanity. During the course of the investigations, such as they are, we travel back and forward through time learning about their lives and the changing state on the nation. It's excellent stuff and easily stands up to a second reading. Highly recommended. -
This was was an ok read for me, but one where I could leave it at any time. There are a lot of characters involved, and the story continually jumps between time frames. This is primarily about the middle-class, and a boy wanting to up his status from working class, also the inter marriage/relationships within a small community. It was a bit of a disappointment to me, as I really enjoyed the Rumpole TV series and was maybe expecting too much from this.
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Quintessentially English, kept me guessing until the end. This one’s a true gem 💎
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Un libro muy recomendable, con ese sentido del humor inglés, cáustico y mordaz que emplean los hijos de la pérfida Albión para criticar todo lo que se les pone por delante, empezando por ellos mismos. En esta obra se narra/critica la evolución de la Inglaterra actual, desde la posguerra hasta mediados de los años 80, en pleno thatcherismo. El escenario elegido para hacerlo es un pequeño y típico pueblecito inglés en el que su párroco, Simeon Simcox, un clásico reverendo anglicano ultraprogre, socialista y "salvad-las-ballenas", famoso en todo el país por su activismo y opiniones controvertidas y progresistas (trad: izquierdistas), fallece y deja toda su fortuna (sí, era socialista con fortuna, en este caso era accionista de una fábrica de cervezas) a Leslie Titmuss, un ministro del Gobierno Thatcher. El individuo en cuestión no puede estar más lejos de lo que ha defendido el reverendo toda su vida, por lo que sus dos hijos se quedan perplejos.
Uno de ellos, Fred, médico rural, se lo toma con filosofía y, si piensa en el tema, es para recordar lo que ha sido su vida desde que él y su hermano eran niños y compartían juegos ocasionalmente con el desagradable Titmuss. Sin embargo, su hermano mayor, Henry, lo encaja bastante peor. En su juventud tan progre o más que su padre, es actualmente un escritor y guionista de éxito, rico, famoso y terriblemente aburguesado. Trata por todos los medios de invalidar el testamento, demostrando que su padre estaba loco, si es preciso.
En el libro se combinan, así, la narración de los hechos presentes con frecuentes flashbacks (sobre todo a partir de los recuerdos de Fred) que desentrañarán el misterio de la herencia Simcox, nos mostrarán cómo y por qué han cambiado los protagonistas de nuestra historia, sus flaquezas, errores y triunfos y, a la vez, se nos desvelan los tremendos cambios experimentados por la propia sociedad británica en 30 años.
Un libro para leer con una sonrisa y alguna carcajada ocasional, estupendamente escrito y que deja con ganas de que se editen en español los dos siguientes volúmenes de la saga de Rapstone: "Titmuss Regained" y "The Sound of Trumpets", que nos llevarán hasta los años de Blair y el New Laborism.
Por cierto, he leído alguna reseña en la que se dice que este libro es una ácida crítica contra el thatcherismo; no es cierto: es una ácida crítica contra absolutamente todo: thatcherismo, socialismo, ateísmo, anglicanismo, curas progres, gauche divine, escritores aburguesados, famosos, aristócratas mohosos, convencionalismos sociales, médicos timoratos, trepas varios... En fin, un libro altamente recomendable. -
John Mortimer offers a riveting procession of complex characters and dramatic events in this wonderful novel – and many of those events are based firmly on fact. The story is set against a backdrop of English history between the late 50’s and early eighties – embracing the ban the bomb demonstrations, Harold Macmillan’s government and the Profumo scandal in 1963, Lord Home’s brief period as Prime Minister, Edward Heath’s confrontation with the coal miners in 1974, the rise of Margaret Thatcher, and the Falkland’s war in 1982.
The story unfolds within the rural environment of the Thames Valley near London. It begins with the death of the local vicar in the village of Rapstone Fanner and the revelation that none of his family are included in his will - the entire estate going to Leslie Titmuss.
Titmuss is a determined social climber who despises his background, ridicules his parents, and ruthlessly pursues money, status and power. As a boy, he had been befriended by Simeon Simcox and his family, but that in no way explains his choice as sole beneficiary.
The Rev Simeon Simcox is a passionate socialist, constantly agitating for a fairer society, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, justice and personal liberty. A regular supporter of CND, he takes part in the Aldermaston marches and other ‘ban the bomb’ demonstrations. His active and highly visible involvement in frequently controversial causes attracts strong criticism – plenty of it emanating from his two sons.
His oldest boy, Henry, is a writer with a successful novel under his belt and the possibility of a film adaptation. As with many older siblings he patronises and denigrates his younger brother, Fred, who is at medical school.
Henry’s decision to contest the vicar’s will is a key ingredient in the remainder of the story. He is determined to prove that his father was of unsound mind when the will was made - a claim that Fred refutes and begins investigations into his family’s past, which reveal plenty of skeletons in the cupboard.
Fred is the more restrained and thoughtful of the two. In his spare time he plays drums with a traditional jazz group. His girl friend, Agnes, is the daughter of the local GP, Dr Salter – a feisty, bibulous and unlikely doctor whose first love is hunting. He claims he only became a doctor because he couldn’t pass the exams to be a vet! As Fred has chosen medicine as a career, Doctor Salter becomes his friend and mentor. Fred is in love with Agnes but runs into trouble when she becomes pregnant.
His efforts to borrow 100 pounds in cash for an abortion come to nothing. Henry, with money in the bank from his writing, entices Agnes away from Fred, provides the money and whisks her away to California – where his book ‘The Greasy Pole’ is in line for a Hollywood movie.
Fred has done classics at school, two years national service, and now wants to be a doctor – without even possessing the basic educational requirements in science. Agnes realises any future with Fred is a long way off – hence her preference for Henry – who takes a delight in gloating over his conquest.
Fred and Henry are just two of the many unusual and complicated characters which John Mortimer creates so effectively in ‘Paradise Postponed’. To fast forward his career and acquire a home from her wealthy upper class parents, Leslie Titmus marries Charlotte, daughter of Sir Nicholas and Lady Fanner.
But it is not a good marriage. When Leslie becomes an MP and a member of Mrs Thatcher’s cabinet, he reminds Charlotte of his achievements. She respects none of them, as the following extract amply demonstrates:
'What are you now?' 'Nothing'.
'Nothing?' 'Only a member of Her Majesty’s government, only in the cabine'. 'Exactly what I said, Nothing!' The last word rose in volume to just under a scream'.
More friction ensues with the birth of their son, Nicholas. When Leslie decides he must go away to school, Charlotte asks Mrs Titmuss to try to persuade her son to keep Nicky at home:
'Will you tell him not to send Nicky away?'
'He wants him to have all the advantages.'
'The advantages of being buggered and beaten and brought up by a lot of bloody snobs?'
Charlie sometimes reverted, at moments of emotion, to the language of the London School of Economics.
Charlotte hates the trimmings of her privileged upper class life and claims she was attracted to Leslie because he was ‘rough trade’. She is down to earth, outspoken, and proud of her life as a social worker with the poor and needy. If she had lived in Victorian England in the previous century, one suspects she would have volunteered for the coal mines! Maybe ‘complicated characters’ is an understatement!
Fred also puts down Leslie for his political activity. When the latter again boasts about his position in the Cabinet, Fred responds with:
‘where’s that got us all? back to where we were before the war, wasted lives, no jobs , back to the years before Simeon made his well meaning offer of Paradise. Why on earth would our father have left everything to a person like you?’
Leslie is outraged. The ’well meaning offer of paradise’ refers to the Rev Simcox’s reforming zeal and belief that the causes he supports can only lead to a better quality of life for everyone. Before he dies, he concludes that it has all been an impossible dream – Paradise remains postponed.
Agnes displays similar disillusionment with her life, coming to despise Henry because of his monstrous ego and his grovelling cultivation of Hollywood movie moguls in order to secure film adaptations of his novels. She also laments Henry is no longer the ‘angry young man’ he once was.
One can lament all of this character assassination and lack of support which these women give to their husbands. But maybe their husbands cannot cope with what Dr Salter describes as the greatest challenge of them all – being loved. Or perhaps, as Lennon and McCartney wrote in ‘She’s Leaving Home’, it’s a case of ‘love is the one thing that many can’t buy.’ Henry and Agnes ultimately divorce.
Similar discontent is rife amongst the local gentry. Despite her wealth and privilege, Lady Grace Fanner consistently criticises her husband, Sir Nicholas. She looks down on the poor, and harks back to the days of the war which, amazingly, she enjoyed. She is selfish, hyper critical, patronising, and unable to love Charlotte, who despises everything her mother stands for.
She spends her days drinking gallons of champagne and yearning for her younger days while endlessly playing the 30’s Cole Porter hit ‘You’re The Top.’ John Mortimer has also skilfully incorporated the popular music of the 50’s and 60’s into the story - including jazz giant Charlie Parker with ‘Now’s The Time’, avant garde pianist Dave Brubeck with ‘Take Five’, and the Platters singing ‘Twilight Time’,
The women who offer their husbands support and respect include Mrs Titmuss Snr and the vicar’s wife, Dorothy. Dorothy’s commitment is particularly interesting, as towards the end of the story, it is revealed that her husband’s sex life included the same obsessive and frequently inexplicable attractions as the rest of us – yet another unexpected twist, and one which explains why he willed what he believed to be his substantial fortune to Leslie Titmuss. But was it that substantial?
That is yet another unexpected outcome in this human, true to life, beautifully written and highly original story. ‘Paradise Postponed’ is a gem. -
I remember seeing the TV version of this book when it was 1st broadcast 100 years ago and it has taken my all this time to actually read it. Mortimer had a good or bad habit of concurrently writing the script and novel of much of his works and this is born out in that I felt I was reliving the show as I read. (Probably says something about my memory more than anything else).
I have always enjoyed Mortimer's writing style and his arguments on contemporary Britain & this novel is no exception. In hindsight, the 80's ultra greed was an ultimatum of the previous four decades, but for some of us who lived through it, it came as a shock. This book beautifully discusses how people who nobody backgrounds could amass great power and be quite ruthless to all concerned. No noblesse oblige for these people.
As a novel discussing this "greed is good" period, I felt it was fair and biased, but in an honest, recognised way. It is well known that Mortimer was anti-Thatcher, so he is hardly going to write a novel highlighting their qualities. I loved the characters and loved the typical Mortimer bon mots throughout. I hope the sequel is as enjoyable. -
I loved this book, and found it at just the right moment (and I'm pleased to say it's the first of three in a series). This is a funny satirical look at life in rural England, not far from London. There are some great characters - a number of landed gentry, a poor working class man eager to get into politics for the Tories, and Socialist rector and his sons, ariter of fiction and screen plays, and a local GP. The book starts in the later 50s and goes up to the mid 80s. A time of great change in English politics. I think you 'd have to be familiar with England and it's history/politic/rural and urban types, to get full enjoyment from this book. But I heartily recommend it if you need an uplifting book to read.
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Most people know John Mortimer as the author of the celebrated Rumpole Mysteries. As wonderful as those are, Mortimer was a wonderful writer of fiction as well. Being a Barrister as well as a writer, there is always a bit of a mystery in his fiction, but the big pull in this novel is the characters. Simeon Simcox, the left-leaning village rector leaves his estate to Mr. Leslie Titmuss, a very disagreeable fellow indeed. Why? Read this wonderful story to find out—and then read the sequels, “Titmuss Regained” and “Summer’s Lease”! Have fun...
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Written in 1985 when Thatcher's England was top of all out minds, the excellent John Mortimer's sharp satire tells of the rise of Leslie Titmuss, from nobody to Tory cabinet minister, and his unexpected inheritance from a left-wing vicar. Why did he inherit? This forms the mystery at the heart of the tale, but what really makes this a minor classic is the sharply accurate writing - and, of course, the humour.
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Ok country-village drama, but not especially memorable.
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I thought this would be a bit of a cosy English comedy of manners that I could escape into for a week, which it is, but actually the story of class tensions, countryside gentrification and devious grabby Tories is as disappointingly relevant now as it was when the book was first published in 1985. I've never read any Mortimer before and he has a charming, easy style, though the way the timeline jumps about is quite jarring. The characters are universally unlikeable and I didn't care what happened to any of them, but I did like the way they were captured and - particularly in the second half of the book - there's quite a satisfying mystery that gets solved. It's a lightly amusing read and an excellent example of its genre, but I probably won't be seeking out the follow-up instalments of the trilogy.
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Written by a Brit for Britons. The subject matter in the novel is, for the most part, provincial. In other words, if you're not intimately familiar with the social and cultural milieux of the average post-war Brit, you won't understand half of what the author is talking about. Slang terms, colloquialisms, and obscure idioms abound, making the story difficult to decipher. Add wordiness to the mix and you've got a dismal, ponderous read. The author evidently expects the plot itself to intrigue readers and reward their efforts, but it turns out to be bleakly cliche.
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Confusing list of characters and narrative initially jumps between several time frames in this novel set in post was England, but the story develops and the last quarter of the book becomes an interesting set of interwoven threads as one of the characters tries to unravel the mystery of his father’s will.
Not as laugh out loud as some of the author’s Rumpole stories, but a pleasant read. Have tracked down the next book in the series. -
If I was the sort of person who enjoyed compiling "top 10s" then this would have to be included in my book list. An inspired combination of genteel mystery and family saga, brilliantly satirising the politics of the English middle classes from the 50s to the 80s while, at the same time, never losing sympathy for the characters. It's been more than 35 years since it came out and I still can't read it without smiling.
