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Available
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Publication
Penguin Classics (1991), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML: Author and journalist Arnold Bennett was born in the Potteries district of Staffordshire in England's West Midlands area. So named because of its long-time association with pottery and ceramics production, the Potteries communities exerted a strong influence on Bennett's literary career. Many of his novels, including the action-packed The Card, are set in and around the area..
User reviews
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
A hilarious and affectionate account of the life of a supreme opportunist, charting his rise from exceptionally humble origin to becoming Mayor of the Five Towns.
Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin scored his first coup on the mo0rning before his exam for a scholarship, seizing the opportunity to amend
As ever, Bennett's portrayal of the Five Towns (clearly modelled on the six towns that eventually metamorphosed into Stoke On Trent) is pellucid, and never wholly subject to rose-tinted lenses, and he gives us a fantastic insight into the prevailing mores of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century in a bustling industrial town.
Humorous throughout. the episode of the rivalry between the two local newspapers is especially engaging. Denry Machin is one of the great characters from that period, and deserves to be far better know than he is.
Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin scored his first coup on the mo0rning before his exam for a scholarship, seizing the opportunity to amend
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the end of year score in his report card. From that point on his career as opportunist was assured, and Bennett chronicles his rise (and occasional reverse) with great clarity and humour.As ever, Bennett's portrayal of the Five Towns (clearly modelled on the six towns that eventually metamorphosed into Stoke On Trent) is pellucid, and never wholly subject to rose-tinted lenses, and he gives us a fantastic insight into the prevailing mores of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century in a bustling industrial town.
Humorous throughout. the episode of the rivalry between the two local newspapers is especially engaging. Denry Machin is one of the great characters from that period, and deserves to be far better know than he is.
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LibraryThing member wirkman
The tale of Denry Machin, as told by novelist Arnold Bennett in The Card (Methuen, 1911), is a lark, a droll comedy, a jovial adventure in business and life success - a literary "Horatio Alger" story. Bennett tells his story in short chapters, and the book as a whole is not long. It is consistently
As such, the novel serves a fine contrast to the generally sour look late 19th and early 20th century writers cast upon both business enterprise and the common people. Here, the common folk are not mere victims, and the businessmen not uniformly predatory. Indeed, one of the signature marks of Bennett's oeuvre is his rescuing the non-intellectual classes from the derision of the intelligentsia. This is one such work that demonstrates Bennett's essential humanitarianism and lack of class bias.
It is one of the handful of Bennett's many books that the author himself deemed a complete success - and it is worth noting that all the others are serious affairs: Old Wives' Tale, Riceyman Steps, and the Clayhanger trilogy. I have, as of yet, read only a few of Bennett's works, excluding the other certified Bennett classics save the magnificent Riceyman Steps. I can say that I have a soft spot in my heart for his light work. Buried Alive strikes me as nearly as fine as The Card, though not as consistently comic. But it, too, is a light work, a romp, and was scorned for that by folks like H.L. Mencken, who otherwise regarded Bennett's best work as expert and near-perfect presentations of man as he actually exists.
I have known cards, actually, and this book captures their essence quite well. I recommend it.
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light-hearted, often witty, with short comments of a comedic nature concluding most chapters as well as interspersed throughout. His central character is someone who often spontaneously and sometimes with forethought pulls off daring social maneuvers that astound and delight his townsfolk, and lead to his ultimate success. He is, as the people say, "a card."As such, the novel serves a fine contrast to the generally sour look late 19th and early 20th century writers cast upon both business enterprise and the common people. Here, the common folk are not mere victims, and the businessmen not uniformly predatory. Indeed, one of the signature marks of Bennett's oeuvre is his rescuing the non-intellectual classes from the derision of the intelligentsia. This is one such work that demonstrates Bennett's essential humanitarianism and lack of class bias.
It is one of the handful of Bennett's many books that the author himself deemed a complete success - and it is worth noting that all the others are serious affairs: Old Wives' Tale, Riceyman Steps, and the Clayhanger trilogy. I have, as of yet, read only a few of Bennett's works, excluding the other certified Bennett classics save the magnificent Riceyman Steps. I can say that I have a soft spot in my heart for his light work. Buried Alive strikes me as nearly as fine as The Card, though not as consistently comic. But it, too, is a light work, a romp, and was scorned for that by folks like H.L. Mencken, who otherwise regarded Bennett's best work as expert and near-perfect presentations of man as he actually exists.
I have known cards, actually, and this book captures their essence quite well. I recommend it.
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LibraryThing member taku
This is a story of a man. His name is Denry. When he was young he was not so rich, but after he got new job his life changed.
His business is very unigue. His way is win and win.Not only he but also his partneres or his customeres can get money. His business goes very well and he became very rich.
Is it just a story made by someone? No! we can learn from Denry's way.
His business is very unigue. His way is win and win.Not only he but also his partneres or his customeres can get money. His business goes very well and he became very rich.
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Now we know that we have few resource on the earth. If we keep being salfish we can't live longer. So we have to think much carefully about every living on the Earth.Is it just a story made by someone? No! we can learn from Denry's way.
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LibraryThing member thorold
When I first saw the 1952 film version of this rags-to-riches comedy, I jumped to the conclusion that the slapstick scenes with runaway furniture vans and excitable mules must all have been added by the film-makers to ginger the story up a bit, but it turns out they're all there in the book. Even
The paradox that underpins the story is Bennett's observation that while ambition and success are normally unforgivable crimes against good taste in Staffordshire, you can get away with almost anything if you are prepared to play the fool and make yourself ridiculous from time to time. Public figures like Richard Branson and Boris Johnson still exploit this principle shamelessly today (shamelessly is, of course, the only way you can do it...). Not just in Staffordshire: the well-known Berlusconi Effect is based on the same basic understanding.
Bennett was rather despised by contemporaries for the huge amount of money he was able to make out of literature. This book, in which he clearly encourages the reader to look for autobiographical elements, may have been designed to defuse that criticism. In the very first sentence, he establishes that Denry shares his own birthday, 27 May 1867 (it's also well-known that Bennett started out as a solicitor's clerk and rent collector). The last sentence, in which someone comments that Denry is "identified with the great cause of cheering us all up", seems to be a strong hint to the reader that this identification goes for Mr Bennett too. On this occasion, at least, it seems to hold good...
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though it was written and published three years before Sir Alec Guinness first saw the smoke in Maida Vale, you can't help feeling that Bennett's famously shrewd business eye had already spotted the possibilities of the new medium and that he wrote his book with the film rights in mind. The paradox that underpins the story is Bennett's observation that while ambition and success are normally unforgivable crimes against good taste in Staffordshire, you can get away with almost anything if you are prepared to play the fool and make yourself ridiculous from time to time. Public figures like Richard Branson and Boris Johnson still exploit this principle shamelessly today (shamelessly is, of course, the only way you can do it...). Not just in Staffordshire: the well-known Berlusconi Effect is based on the same basic understanding.
Bennett was rather despised by contemporaries for the huge amount of money he was able to make out of literature. This book, in which he clearly encourages the reader to look for autobiographical elements, may have been designed to defuse that criticism. In the very first sentence, he establishes that Denry shares his own birthday, 27 May 1867 (it's also well-known that Bennett started out as a solicitor's clerk and rent collector). The last sentence, in which someone comments that Denry is "identified with the great cause of cheering us all up", seems to be a strong hint to the reader that this identification goes for Mr Bennett too. On this occasion, at least, it seems to hold good...
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LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
Right in my wheelhouse, clever dialogue and set in Victorian England.
LibraryThing member devenish
Edward Henry Machin,generally known as Denry, makes a name for himself as an eccentric,or card. Living as he does in Bursley,one of the Five Towns,he first makes a name for himself by wangling a ticket for himself and two others to the Countess of Chell's Ball. From then on nothing can stop him in
The thing is,that out of an ordinary story of an ordinary life,Bennett has written a wonderfully funny book,and one which I cannot commend enough.
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his various exploits,including starting a 'thrift club' with thousands of subscribers and running trips out of Llandudno to visit a wreck. He finally becomes very rich and manages to get himself made Mayor of the town,where he started out as a lowly clerk.The thing is,that out of an ordinary story of an ordinary life,Bennett has written a wonderfully funny book,and one which I cannot commend enough.
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LibraryThing member snash
A fun and humorous book about a young man, born poor, who by a series of ludicrous yet surprisingly effective schemes moves up the social and financial ladder to mayor of the town.
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1911
1910
Physical description
224 p.; 7.2 inches
ISBN
0140180176 / 9780140180176
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