Welcome to The 1947 Club! It’s here at long last!
I’ll use this page to collect the reviews across the blogosphere – I’ll try to track them down, but do leave links (or, indeed, reviews) in the comment section :)
Just in case this all means nothing to you – Karen and I are hosting a week where we ask everybody to read and review books published in 1947, to get an overview of the year’s publishing. Everything is welcome – novels, stories, plays, non-fiction, whatever – published anywhere in the world, in any language.
(I’ll hunt for new reviews, but will also have a section for older reviews if you send ’em to me :))
Hurrah!
Reviews this week
Nelson Algren – The Neon Wilderness
Intermittencies of the Mind
Elizabeth Cadell – Last Straw for Harriet
Triciareads55 at LibraryThing
Italo Calvino – The Path to the Spiders’ Nests
Somewhere Boy
Albert Camus – The Plague
AnnaBookBel
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Madame Bibliophile Recommends
Agatha Christie – The Labours of Hercules
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Ravenscroftcloud
She Reads Novels
G.D.H. Cole – The Intelligent Man’s Guide to the Post War World
Briefer Than Literal Statement
Barbara Comyns – Sisters by a River
Books and Chocolate
Lettice Cooper – Black Bethlehem
Stuck in a Book
Osamu Dazai – The Setting Sun
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Hans Fallada – Nightmare in Berlin
1st Reading
Anthony Gilbert – Death in the Wrong Room
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
Michael Gilbert – Close Quarters
I Prefer Reading
Rumer Godden – A Dolls’ House
Corvus Cornix
Pamela Hansford Johnson – An Avenue of Stone
Mirabile dictu
Dorothy B. Hughes – In a Lonely Place
HeavenAli
Madame Bibliophile Recommends
My Book Strings
Philip Larkin – A Girl in Winter
JacquiWine’s Journal
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Somewhere Boy
Norah Lofts – Silver Nutmeg
Leaves and Pages
Thomas Mann – Doctor Faustus
Somewhere Boy
Vladimir Navokov – Bend Sinister
Shoshi’s Book Blog
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding – The Blank Wall
Stuck in a Book
The Blank Garden
Georges Simenon – Maigret stories
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
D.E. Stevenson – Mrs Tim Gets a Job
The Captive Reader
Rex Stout – The Silent Speaker
Past Offences
Alice Tilton – The Iron Clew
What Me Read
Sylvia Townsend Warner – The Museum of Cheats
Stuck in a Book
Lionel Trilling – The Middle of the Journey
Corvus Cornix
Henry Wade – New Graves at Great Norne
Briefer than Literal Statement
T.H. White – Mistress Masham’s Repose
Kate Macdonald
Tennesse Williams – A Streetcar Named Desire
ExUrbanis
Ethel Wilson – Hetty Dorval
The Captive Reader
E.H. Young – Chatterton Square
Stuck in a Book
(And honourable mention to Hard Book Habit for The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh, which turned out not to be from 1947!)
Older reviews
Dane Chandos – Abbie
Stuck in a Book
Joan Coggins – Dancing With Death
Crossexamining Crime
Manning Coles – Let The Tiger Die
Crossexamining Crime
Ivy Compton-Burnett – Manservant and Maidservant
Stuck in a Book
Barbara Comyns – Sisters By A River
Stuck in a Book
What Me Read
R.A. Dick – The Ghost and Mrs Muir
Stuck in a Book
A.A. Fair – Fools Die on Friday
Triciaread55 at LibraryThing
Hans Fallada – Alone in Berlin
ANZ LitLovers
Lizzy’s Literary Life
She Reads Novels
Hans Fallada – Nightmare in Berlin
ANZ LitLovers
M.F.K. Fisher – Not Now But Now
Leaves and Pages
Patrick Hamilton – The Slaves of Solitude
Adventures in Reading, Writing, and Working from Home
Books and Chocolate
Harriet Devine
JacquiWine’s Journal
Lizzy’s Literary Life
Stuck in a Book
Laura Z Hobson – Gentleman’s Agreement
Leaves and Pages
Dorothy B. Hughes – In a Lonely Place
Desperate Reader
JacquiWine’s Journal
What Me Read
Yasunari Kawabata – Snow Country
Lizzy’s Literary Life
What Me Read
Weldon Kees – The Fall of the Magicians
Slouching Towards Senescence
Edna Lee – The Web of Days
Leaves and Pages
Elizabeth P. MacDonald – Undercover Girl
Triciareads55 at LibraryThing
Helen MacInnes – Friends and Lovers
Leaves and Pages
Compton Mackenzie – Whisky Galore
Desperate Reader
Julian Maclaren-Ross – Of Love and Hunger
JacquiWine’s Journal
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Stuck in a Book
Arthur Miller – All My Sons
Stuck in a Book
Robert Nathan – Mr Whittle and the Morning Star
Stuck in a Book
Irene Nemirovsky – All Our Worldly Goods
ANZ LitLovers
Mollie Panter-Downes – One Fine Day
The Captive Reader
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Stuck in a Book
What Me Read
E.R. Punshon – Helen Passes By
Crossexamining Crime
Raymond Queneau – Exercises in Style
Always Doing
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Stuck in a Book
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding – The Blank Wall
Adventures in Reading, Writing, and Working from Home
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Leaves and Pages
She Reads Novels
Samuel Shellabarger – Prince of Foxes
She Reads Novels
John Steinbeck – The Pearl
Stuck in a Book
D.E. Stevenson – Kate Hardy
The Captive Reader
Elizabeth Taylor – A View of the Harbour
Adventures in Reading, Writing, and Working from Home
The Bookbinder’s Daughter
Stuck in a Book
What Me Read
Angela Thirkell – Private Enterprise
The Captive Reader
Alice Tilton – The Iron Clew
Crossexamining Crime
T.H. White – Mistress Masham’s Repose
Desperate Reader
Ethel Wilson – Hetty Dorval
Stuck in a Book
Ethel Wilson – The Innocent Traveller
Leaves and Pages
P.G. Wodehouse – Full Moon
I Prefer Reading
P.G. Wodehouse – Joy in the Morning
365 Days of Siri
E.H. Young – Chatterton Square
Books and Cooks
Harriet Devine
Hurrah indeed! :) It’s going to be a good week of reading!
Oh, boy, now I feel as though I’m not as well-read as I’d thought. Going through the list of books to be discussed I realized that I’d read only one. ONE! It’s “The Pearl”, which I read in high school half a millennium ago. It had been required reading as well. You’ve set me off on a reading adventure that will take years to complete, and I thank you so very much!
Exciting! I’m looking forward to reading Chatterton Square, which is next on my list. I have some old reviews of some other ones, but I’ll post them later.
Here is an older review of mine of A View of the Harbour if you would like to include it! https://thebookbindersdaughter.com/2015/06/02/review-a-view-of-the-harbour-by-elizabeth-taylor/
Thanks for the reco Melissa. :-)
Here’s my post on The Neon Wilderness by Nelson Algren. I shall probably post again on some of the other stories in the collection.
I read The Iron Clew for this club. I have also reviewed some other books from 1947, so I’ll track those down, Here’s my link: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/day-983-the-1947-club-the-iron-clew/
In a Lonely Place: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/day-674-in-a-lonely-place/
A View of the Harbour: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/day-494-a-view-of-the-harbour/
One Fine Day: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/day-934-one-fine-day/
Sisters by a River: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/day-739-sisters-by-a-river/
Snow Country: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/day-559-snow-country/
Hi, I’d like to submit Rex Stout’s The Silent Speaker, my first experience of Nero Wolfe.
https://pastoffences.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/rex-stout-the-silent-speaker/
I’m following this.
My first review is Close Quarters by Michael Gilbert,
http://tinyurl.com/zala26o
a murder mystery set in a Cathedral Close. I love clerical mysteries & i enjoyed this one very much.
Thank you Simon & Karen for organising the 1947 Club.
No 1947 novels in TBR pile unfortunately but here are a few old reviews of1947 books:
Joan Coggin’s Dancing With Death
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/a-brilliant-series-finish-in-joan-coggins-dancing-with-death-1947/
Alice Tilton’s The Iron Clew
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/the-iron-clew-1947-by-alice-tilton-phoebe-atwood-taylor/
E R Punshon’s Helen Passes By
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/recommended-by-dorothy-l-sayers-e-r-punshon-and-helen-passes-by-1947/
Manning Coles’ Let the Tiger Die:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/let-the-tiger-die-1947-by-manning-coles/
What a fantastic selection, thanks!
My first time joining in:
http://www.exurbanis.com/archives/11586 A Streetcar Named Desire
I’m excited to have a(n older) review to add this time around! Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau: https://alwaysdoing.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/exercises-in-style-by-raymond-queneau/
A couple on http://somewhereboy.wordpress.com/ so far – Philip Larkin and Italo Calvino – with one still to come.
I’ve previously done The Slaves of Solitude https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/book-reviews-95/ and A View of the Harbour https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/book-reviews-6/ . I have read A Girl in Winter years ago, too long to be on any blog!
What a richness of titles everyone is sharing! I have just finished one 1947 book, “Gentleman’s Agreement” by Laura Z. Hobson, and am currently reading Norah Lofts’ “Silver Nutmeg”, so am hoping to whip off reviews of those and share them very soon.
In the meantime here are some candidates for the “previously read” list.
Friends and Lovers by Helen MacInnes – https://leavesandpages.com/2012/05/12/review-friends-and-lovers-by-helen-macinnes/
Not Now But Now by M.F.K. Fisher – https://leavesandpages.com/2012/05/27/review-not-now-but-now-by-m-f-k-fisher/
The Innocent Traveller by Ethel Wilson – https://leavesandpages.com/2013/10/26/review-the-innocent-traveller-by-ethel-wilson/
The Web of Days by Edna Lee – https://leavesandpages.com/2013/03/12/review-the-web-of-days-by-edna-lee/
The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding – https://leavesandpages.com/2014/05/12/quietly-enthrallingly-noir-the-blank-wall-by-elisabeth-sanxay-holding/
I have tried to meet the requirements, albeit with a different genre: My post is up now at ‘www,gubbinal.com
My first time joining in: *pout* I can’t find anything published in Australia in 1947 either on my TBR or in the books I’ve read so I’m reading Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann but I don’t think I’ll be finished by the end of the week.
I have some old reviews:
Hans Fallada (both of these were published posthumously)
Nightmare in Berlin
https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/06/17/nightmare-in-berlin-by-hans-fallada-translated-by-allan-blunden/
Alone in Berlin
https://anzlitlovers.com/2013/05/25/alone-in-berlin-by-hans-fallada-translated-by-michael-hofman/
All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky
https://anzlitlovers.com/2009/02/28/all-our-worldly-goods-by-irene-nemirovsky-translated-by-sandra-smith/
.
Here’s another review. Full Moon by P G Wodehouse,
http://tinyurl.com/h6wa3nw
My first review for the club is up: Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson
My 2009 review of “The Blank Wall” is here: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/elizabeth-sanxay-holding-the-blank-wall/
Currently my favourite book, for the sheer dizzy intensity of the summer day described. Even when I’m not reading the book, I can feel the summer heat and the sense of Laura’s shocked surprise at being alive. The war is over, she has survived, and this is the summer day she never expected to see, a summer day in peacetime. This is the day she realises in mind and body that she is alive, when somehow the heat of the sun warms her senses into life. So she can see and hear the people around her with a sudden clarity. Some people have survived apparently unchanged, others are still twisted by grief or a dreadful apathy.
I’m making this sound like a very theoretical story, but it’s grounded in a very ordinary experience of having lived through something dreadful and gradually emerged from it. War isn’t something that most of us experience at present, but if you’ve lived through the illness of someone close to you, for example, you will recognise Laura’s tentative process of coming back to life, looking around to see what has survived, what has been lost.
OOps, I was talking about One fine day / by Mollie Panter Downes
I hope that this is the correct URL:
https://gubbinal.com/2016/10/12/the-1947-club-the-fall-of-the-magicians-by-weldon-kees/
My book os “The Fall of the Magicians” by Weldon Kees.
Here is a review of Joy In The Morning by P. G Wodehouse – http://www.365daysofsiri.com/2016/10/book-33-1947club-joy-in-morning-jeeves.html It was so much fun participating in this challenge and browsing through all the recommendations. Thanks!
Siri
Gentleman’s Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson, 1947. (It was actually published as a serial in Cosmopolitan in 1946, but hit the bookstores as a hardcover in ’47, and was filmed later that year, both formats receiving an enthusiastic – if slightly mixed – reception.)
Link to my review:
https://leavesandpages.com/2016/10/14/one-for-the-1947-club-confronting-the-bigot-within-gentlemans-agreement-by-laura-z-hobson/
I just posted my review of Sisters by a River by Barbara Comyns:
http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.de/2016/10/the-1947-club-sisters-by-river-by.html
And if you want to add it, I reviewed The Slaves of Solitude a few years ago:
http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.de/2011/06/slaves-of-solitude-by-patrick-hamilton.html
Thanks again for hosting the 1947 Club!
Here’s mine:
Death in the Wrong Room by Anthony Gilbert.
http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2016/10/the-1947-club-death-in-wrong-room-by.html
Thanks for hosting this.
Here’s another re-run, The Slaves of Solitude: http://harrietdevine.typepad.com/harriet_devines_blog/2016/10/the-slaves-of-solitude-by-patrick-hamilton–2.html
One more from me: Mrs Tim Gets a Job by D.E. Stevenson
Hi Simon,
I’ve got two please:
New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade: https://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/new-graves-at-great-norne-henry-wade.html
and The Intelligent Man’s Guide to the Post War World by G D H Cole: https://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/the-intelligent-mans-guide-to-post-war.html
thanks again for hosting this.
Victoria
The Middle of the Journey by Lionel Trilling: https://corvuscornix.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/the-middle-of-the-journey-by-lionel-trilling-1947-club/
A Dolls’ House by Rumer Godden: https://corvuscornix.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/a-dolls-house-by-rumer-godden-1947-club/
Just sneaking this in under the wire – it’s still October 16 in Canada.
Silver Nutmeg by Norah Lofts. Not a particularly good book, but here it is, for what it’s worth.
https://leavesandpages.com/2016/10/16/desperately-dramatic-in-long-ago-indonesia-norah-lofts-silver-nutmeg/
Congratulations on a very successful week, and many thanks for including the links to my reviews – much appreciated. I’m particularly interested in The Blank Wall, so I’m going to head over to your post for a closer look. :)
My post on B Comyns, Sisters by a River, came just as your week closed, and I didn’t initially realise it was a 1947 novel! Maybe it sneaks in tardily. Tried commenting on the review listed above, but WordPress wasn’t playing ball for some reason. Great array of posts to enjoy.
If interested, I reviewed Roger Lemelin’s The Town Below (Au pied de la pente douce), a once-celebrated, then neglected, and recently reissued debut novel a couple of years back:
http://brianbusby.blogspot.ca/2015/03/dirty-old-town.html
Note: the translation was published in 1948.