''Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man'' is a novel by
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...
, first published in 1928 by
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
. It won both the
Hawthornden Prize
The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...
and the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...
, being immediately recognised as a classic of
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defin ...
. In the years since its first appearance, it has regularly been a set text for British schoolchildren.
Background
Prior to its publication, Siegfried Sassoon's reputation rested entirely on his poetry, mostly written during and about
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...
. Only ten years after the war ended, after some experience of journalism, did he feel ready to branch out into prose. So uncertain was he of the wisdom of this move that he elected to publish ''Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man'' anonymously. It is a depiction of his early years presented in the form of an
autobiographical novel
An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...
, with false names being given to the central characters, including Sassoon himself, who appears as "George Sherston". Sassoon was motivated to write the work by a war incident, when a fox was loose in the trenches and one of his friends shot and killed it. However, the book draws heavily on his pre-war life, with riding and hunting being among the favourite pastimes of the author.
Much of the material for the novel came from Sassoon's own diaries. He said he was inspired by the work of
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...
, saying, "A few pages of Proust have made me wonder whether insignificant episodes aren't the most significant". In particular, his relationship with "Aunt Evelyn", a fictionalised representation of his mother
Theresa, is revealed as having been a major influence in his upbringing.
Plot
The story is a series of episodes in the youth of George Sherston, ranging from his first attempts to learn to ride to his experiences in winning
point-to-point races. The title is somewhat misleading, as the book is mainly concerned with a series of landmark events in Sherston/Sassoon's childhood and youth, and his encounters with various comic characters. "The Flower-Show Match", an account of an annual village cricket match – an important fixture for those involved – in which young Sherston plays a significant part, was later published separately by Faber as a self-contained story.
Open Library
/ref> The book as a whole is a frequently humorous work, in which fox-hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of h ...
, one of Sassoon's major interests, comes to represent the young man's innocent frame of mind in the years before war broke out. The book ends with his enlistment in a local regiment, the Sussex Yeomanry, and his subsequent transfer, with a commission, to the Flintshire Fusiliers, a battalion of the Royal Welsh which was sent to France. The story is continued in two sequels: '' Memoirs of an Infantry Officer'' and ''Sherston's Progress
''Sherston's Progress'' is the final book of Siegfried Sassoon's semi-autobiographical trilogy. It is preceded by '' Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man'' and '' Memoirs of an Infantry Officer''.
Synopsis
The book starts with his arrival at 'Slateford ...
''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Memoirs Of A Fox-Hunting Man
1928 British novels
Books by Siegfried Sassoon
British autobiographical novels
British memoirs
English novels
Faber and Faber books
Fox hunting
Hawthornden Prize-winning works
Novels about orphans
Roman à clef novels