''A Kind of Loving'' is a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by the English novelist
Stan Barstow
Stanley Barstow FRSL (28 June 1928 – 1 August 2011) was an English novelist.
Biography
Barstow was born in Horbury, near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a coal miner and he attended Ossett Grammar School. He work ...
. It has also been translated into
a film of the same name, a television series, a radio play and a stage play.
Published in 1960, ''A Kind of Loving'' was the first of a trilogy, published over the course of sixteen years, that followed hero Vic Brown through marriage, divorce and a move from the mining town of Cressley to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The other two parts are ''The Watchers on the Shore'' (1966) and ''The Right True End'' (1976).
Plot summary
The story presents to us Vic Brown, a young working class man from Yorkshire, England, who is slowly inching his way up from his working-class roots through a white-collar job. Vic finds himself trapped by the frightening reality of his girlfriend Ingrid's pregnancy and is forced into marrying her and moving in with his mother-in-law due to a housing shortage in their Northern England town.
The story is about love and loneliness. Vic meets and is very attracted to the beautiful but demanding Ingrid. As their relationship develops and transforms into real-life everyday aridity and boredom, Vic ultimately comes to terms with his life and what it really means to love. The novel has had some influence on the literary community, leaving the label "lad-lit" behind, although the term itself was not coined until the 1990s.
Adaptations
In 1962 the novel was turned into a
film of the same name. Directed by
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...
and starring
Alan Bates as Vic and
June Ritchie
June Ritchie (born 31 May 1941) is a British actress.
Biography
Ritchie trained at RADA, where she graduated in 1961, having won the Emile Littler Award for Most Promising Actress and the Ronson Award for the outstanding female student.
She ...
as Ingrid, it was written for the screen by
Keith Waterhouse
Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series.
Biography
Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. H ...
and
Willis Hall
Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with h ...
.
''A Kind of Loving'' was adapted by Barstow as a radio play for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1964, with Brian Peck as Vic and June Barry as Ingrid. The two sequels followed, both for BBC radio, in 1971 and 1978
respectively, with the same actors reprising their roles.
In 1982 Barstow adapted his novel and the two sequels as a ten-part series for
, collectively entitled ''A Kind of Loving''.
as Donna (the woman with whom Vic has an affair and for whom he leaves Ingrid in the second and third books).