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''Sinister Street'' is a 1913–1914 novel by
Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of th ...
. It is a kind of ''
Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...
'' or novel about growing up, and concerns two children, Michael Fane and his sister Stella. Both of them are born
out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
, something which was frowned upon at the time, but from rich parents. In the UK, the novel was published as two volumes. However, in the United States, the volumes appeared as two separate books: ''Youth's Encounter'' (1913) and ''Sinister Street'' (1914).


Sequels

The novel had several sequels, which continue until Michael Fane's marriage: * 1917 – '' Guy and Pauline'' (published in the United States as ''Plashers Mead'') * 1918 – '' The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett'' (made into the 1935 romantic comedy film '' Sylvia Scarlett'', starring Katharine Hepburn and
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
) * 1919 – '' Sylvia and Michael''


Adaptations

The book was turned into a 1922 silent film, '' Sinister Street'', directed by
George Beranger George Beranger (27 March 1893 – 8 March 1973), also known as André Beranger, was an Australian silent film actor and director in Hollywood.Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central ...
. In 1969, it was adapted for a TV series, '' Sinister Street'', by 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. ...
...
.


Reception

George Orwell enjoyed the book illicitly as a prep school boy at St Cyprian's School in
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
where the headmistress, Mrs "Flip" Wilkes, gave a prize for the best list of books read.
Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine '' Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote '' Enemies of Promise'' (1938), which comb ...
reported in '' Enemies of Promise'' "although I won the prize through heading my list with
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
's '' The French Revolution: A History''—and Orwell won it next—we were both caught at last with two volumes of ''Sinister Street'' and our favour sank to zero." Orwell responded to Connolly with the comment, "There was a fearful row about bringing that kind of book into the school."
Bowker Bowker is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alan Bowker, Canadian diplomat and educator *Albert H. Bowker (1919–2008), American educator *Aldrich Bowker (1875–1947), American actor * Art Bowker (born 1961), American writer * ...
suggests:
It was not surprising that ''Sinister Street'' should so rivet young Eric. Its hero, Michael Fane, is studying Classics at a prep school, and moves with his mother from the countryside to Kensington (close to where Orwell's Aunt Nellie lived). He spends holidays in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
(as Orwell's family did), visits Bournemouth (where Orwell's Uncle Charlie lived), and meets a girl from an Anglo-Indian family whose father is away in
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. He visits
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and thinks what a lovely place. (Hollow laughter from Blair and Connolly, no doubt). Fane envies a wild looking, unkempt boy he sees wandering down Kensington High Street and longs to be "a raggle-taggle wanderer".
Connolly also wrote critically of the book in the first section of ''Enemies of Promise'', stating:
Nineteen fourteen was also the year of an important bad book ''Sinister Street''. It is a work of inflation, important because it is the first of a long line of bad books, the novels of adolescence, autobiographical, romantic, which squandered the vocabulary of love and literary appreciation and played into the hands of the Levellers and Literary Puritans.
Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturd ...
said of it:On Compton Mackenzie: Allan Massie
There is no book on Oxford like it. It gives you the actual Oxford experience. What Mackenzie has miraculously done is to make you feel what each term was like.
Frank Swinnerton Frank Arthur Swinnerton (12 August 1884 – 6 November 1982) was an English novelist, critic, biographer and essayist. He was the author of more than 50 books, and as a publisher's editor helped other writers including Aldous Huxley and Lytton S ...
, literary critic, described it thus: John Betjeman said of it, "This has always seemed to me one of the best novels of the best period in English novel writing."
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
thought it to be the most remarkable book written by a young author in his lifetime.


References

* Linklater, Andro ''Compton Mackenzie: A Life'' The Hogarth Press (1992, London)


External links

* {{Compton Mackenzie 1913 British novels 1914 British novels Novels by Compton Mackenzie British bildungsromans Scottish bildungsromans Martin Secker books British novels adapted into films