Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Penguin Books (1959), Paperback
Description
"Remember the name John Braine. You'll be hearing quite a lot about him. Room at the Top is his first novel and it is a remarkable one . . . it's a long time since we heard the hunger of youth really snarling and it's a good sound to hear again." - "Sunday Times" "The most discussed, debated and lauded first novel of the year." - "New York Times" "This novel is brilliant . . . The observation is shrewd and the emotion and the comedy are so true it hurts." - "Daily Express" Brought up amid squalor and poverty in a dead, ugly small town, young Joe Lampton has one ambition: to escape the anonymous, defeated crowd of "zombies" and make it to the top. Everything seems to be going according to plan when he moves to a new city, finds a good job and new friends, and inspires the love of a pretty girl with a rich father. Only one thing holds him back: his passionate affair with an older married woman. Forced to choose between true love and his ruthless pursuit of wealth and success, Joe will have to make a terrible decision, with violent and tragic consequences. "Room at the Top" (1957), the first novel by John Braine (1922-1986), earned widespread critical acclaim and was a runaway bestseller in England and America, running into dozens of printings and spawning a sequel and an Oscar-winning film adaptation. Still explosive more than half a century later, Braine's classic of the "Angry Young Men" movement returns to print in this edition, which features a new introduction by Janine Utell and the original jacket art by John Minton.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jon1lambert
A 60s' bestseller and of its time?
LibraryThing member otterley
Joe Lampton is one of the archetypal 'angry young men' who emerged in post war English novels and drama. A handsome, charismatic young man, imprisoned during the war, and working as an accountant in local government, he's sharp enough and canny enough to know that he can get what he wants -
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affluence, social respect, opportunities - through 'marrying up'. He's cynical enough to go for it, but not amoral enough to achieve it without causing pain and suffering to himself and, worse still, to the woman he really loves. Braine's portrait of post-war northern England is fascinating - the emergence of a 'bohemian' set of amateur thespians, alongside mill owners and local bureaucrats; women who are sexually active and powerful in their own right; the hidden impact of war experiences - all expertly narrated through a very flawed first person narrative. Romance, tragedy, comedy and social commentary - well worth reading Show Less
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
This novel has become celebrated as a tale of ambition and drive, and the manner in which obsession can be deleterious to the enjoyment of the very goals that drives its subject on.
The story is narrated by Joe Lampton, and starts with his arrival in Warley where he takes up a job as accounts clerk
In Warley, he takes lodgings with the Thompsons, a middle-class couple living in the better part of town, known locally as "T'top". Lampton is delighted to find himself already socially advantaged by taking, quite literally, a "Room at the top", and this serves as a metaphor for his ambition to better himself and to leave behind any vestige of his former life and acquaintances, many of whom he characterises as "zombies", lacking any trace of genuine life and character.
He is introduced to the local amateur dramatic society (always desperate for new cast members). There he encounters, and is smitten by, Susan Brown, the only daughter of a very successful local businessman. However, he also meets the apparently cold and standoffish Alice Aisgill, who plays many of the leading lady parts. Alice and Joe are drawn together and soon start a passionate though clandestine affair..
The novel is strangely dispassionate, even when some pretty awful things happen. Lampton's ambition is finely drawn, but the female characters all stretch credibility beyond comfortable limits.
The story is narrated by Joe Lampton, and starts with his arrival in Warley where he takes up a job as accounts clerk
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on the Town Council. These circumstances have led to him being determined to better himself. The greater part of the book centres on Joe's efforts to secure a future he can take pride in.In Warley, he takes lodgings with the Thompsons, a middle-class couple living in the better part of town, known locally as "T'top". Lampton is delighted to find himself already socially advantaged by taking, quite literally, a "Room at the top", and this serves as a metaphor for his ambition to better himself and to leave behind any vestige of his former life and acquaintances, many of whom he characterises as "zombies", lacking any trace of genuine life and character.
He is introduced to the local amateur dramatic society (always desperate for new cast members). There he encounters, and is smitten by, Susan Brown, the only daughter of a very successful local businessman. However, he also meets the apparently cold and standoffish Alice Aisgill, who plays many of the leading lady parts. Alice and Joe are drawn together and soon start a passionate though clandestine affair..
The novel is strangely dispassionate, even when some pretty awful things happen. Lampton's ambition is finely drawn, but the female characters all stretch credibility beyond comfortable limits.
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LibraryThing member vampkiss
3-3.5 stars. Very good writing (and hot smex scenes!), but I'm more of a HEA girl than the HFN ending that we got. I actually felt sorry for Liam because I didn't feel that Austin and Jay really loved him. More like they loved the idea of having him around with the benefits of sex thrown in. I'm
But, like any other review, that's just my opinion. :)
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sure they were fond of him, but they definitely put their relationship first and with a threesome book, I felt they should be a bit more equal on the feelings with each other. But, like any other review, that's just my opinion. :)
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LibraryThing member starbox
"I was moving into the attack and no one had better try to stop me"
By sally tarbox on 8 December 2017
Format: Paperback
Grabs you from the first page: narrated by fiercely ambitious young Joe Lampton, an intelligent lad from a humble background. It's just after WW2 and accountant Joe has broken away
And while he begins a love affair with older, married Alice, he's also studiedly making up to wealthy, innocent young Susan Brown:
"A Grade A lovely...the daughter of a factory-owner...the means of obtaining the key to the Aladdin's cave of my ambitions."
Compelling reading.
By sally tarbox on 8 December 2017
Format: Paperback
Grabs you from the first page: narrated by fiercely ambitious young Joe Lampton, an intelligent lad from a humble background. It's just after WW2 and accountant Joe has broken away
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from his grim northern hometown of Dufton for an accountancy position in the much more salubrious Warley. He appreciates his new, elegant lodgings,the middle class folk around him; he starts mixing with the select types who make up the local dramatic society; but he's constantly aware that he can never be the equal of the local bigwigs.And while he begins a love affair with older, married Alice, he's also studiedly making up to wealthy, innocent young Susan Brown:
"A Grade A lovely...the daughter of a factory-owner...the means of obtaining the key to the Aladdin's cave of my ambitions."
Compelling reading.
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
Set in post-war Britain, Joe Lampton, is a young ex-service man from a modest background. He moves from his home-town of Dufton to the more affluent wool rich town of Warley to pursue a career in local Government. Joe is handsome with an athletic figure and is a hit with the ladies but he is
When Joe moves to Warley he takes a room in a large house and joins the local amateur theatrical group where he meets Susan - a young, naive, attractive, girl from a wealthy family and Alice, a married woman some years his senior. Joe begins an affair with Alice but continues to see Susan also. Whereas his love for Susan is shallow, initially non-sexual and more about personal ambition, he finds that he has a real connection with Alice. It is soon very obvious that Joe is heading for heartache, will love or ambition win out?
First published in 1957 and set just after WWII when rationing was still in place and social mobility was difficult, this then is an example of social realism in literature and it's unsurprising that the luxuries afforded the wealthy were coveted by the many. Dufton, is a grimy, stagnant place, whose inhabitants go about their business with no thought of a better life whereas Warley is far brighter and more affluent, its inhabitants more ambitious but it is also obvious, that despite his social pretensions, Joe is unable to shake off his small-town up-bringing.
Joe is a difficult character to empathise with, although his frustration with the world around him is no doubt shared by a lot of young men even today, but is on the whole well drawn. However, Joe is playing against a system which is stacked against him in a game that he cannot possibly win. In contrast the women are rather sketchy and lack real depth character.
Overall I found this is a reasonable look at the class system of the time in Britain but I failed to get really excited about this novel. I found Braine's writing functional rather than gritty and the dialogue felt clunky, annoying and unreal at times. I suspect that it's literary merit at the time of publication just doesn't really compute with today's modern world. However, I do hope to read the follow up novel, 'Life at the Top', sooner rather than later.
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socially ambitious and after something more than he was born into. When Joe moves to Warley he takes a room in a large house and joins the local amateur theatrical group where he meets Susan - a young, naive, attractive, girl from a wealthy family and Alice, a married woman some years his senior. Joe begins an affair with Alice but continues to see Susan also. Whereas his love for Susan is shallow, initially non-sexual and more about personal ambition, he finds that he has a real connection with Alice. It is soon very obvious that Joe is heading for heartache, will love or ambition win out?
First published in 1957 and set just after WWII when rationing was still in place and social mobility was difficult, this then is an example of social realism in literature and it's unsurprising that the luxuries afforded the wealthy were coveted by the many. Dufton, is a grimy, stagnant place, whose inhabitants go about their business with no thought of a better life whereas Warley is far brighter and more affluent, its inhabitants more ambitious but it is also obvious, that despite his social pretensions, Joe is unable to shake off his small-town up-bringing.
Joe is a difficult character to empathise with, although his frustration with the world around him is no doubt shared by a lot of young men even today, but is on the whole well drawn. However, Joe is playing against a system which is stacked against him in a game that he cannot possibly win. In contrast the women are rather sketchy and lack real depth character.
Overall I found this is a reasonable look at the class system of the time in Britain but I failed to get really excited about this novel. I found Braine's writing functional rather than gritty and the dialogue felt clunky, annoying and unreal at times. I suspect that it's literary merit at the time of publication just doesn't really compute with today's modern world. However, I do hope to read the follow up novel, 'Life at the Top', sooner rather than later.
Show Less
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1957
Local notes
Penguin 1361
Other editions
Room at the top by John Braine (Paper Book)