In this wonderful book, which could be regarded as both a fantasy and a diatribe against modern meaninglessness, Priestly delves once more into his obsession with time. Charles Ravenstreet is relieved from his postition as head engineer at the electrical company that he has devoted his life to, and having neither wife nor children, he thinks that his life is over. He then is drawn into a very questionable business scheme that is both dangerous and immoral. The head of the scheme, Mervil, seeks to become one of the ruling "elite" by the manufacture of "Sepman 18", a drug much like Huxley's soma, which is used to keep the people satisfied and happy until they die. But an aircraft accident brings three very old and very powerful gentlemen into contact with Ravenstreet. With their assistance, he comes to realise that his past, and everyone else's, is not over and done with. By experiencing "Time Alive", he is able to go back (literally) to the past and relive his past again, and possibly change these events, in an Ouspensky-like recurrence. By a series of strange turns, he also discovers that he has a grown son (through an affair long ago) and two grandchildren as well as a new daughter-in-law. Eventually, Ravenstreet comes to realise that far from being over, his life has just begun, and his pessimistic, nihilistic modern-day philosophy is abandoned in favour of a more life-affirming one and also comes to understand, that in the tradition of J.W. Dunne's "Serial Universe" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five", our lives are not contained entirely in passing time. A profoundly philosophical novel, "The Magicians" is John Boynton Priestly at his finest.

"Priestley is a man of large and powerful abilities, and in his plays and novels he has given a picture of the externals of his time, and of their internal stresses and longings.... In THE MAGICIANS this sense of longing is particularly poignant, and though the resolution of Ravenstreet's problem is neither complete nor clear, it is honest: man's salvation in a despairing world lies, to a great extent, within his own power; let him exert that power and external help will be vouchsafed to him."

Powys (I have only read this and his Visons and Revisions) is the sane and wise version of the expressive sort of writer that I crave. One delights in his 'volubility' where it would be the handicap of a lesser writer. He had few 'ghosts' and without the difficulties of a Henry Miller or Vincent van Gogh (he was blessed with stipends and a career that he loved and which allowed him time for 'books') he was able to pursue a 'surrogate activity' most appropriate for one with his sort of 'system of nerves'. This book definately makes my list of '100 most influential' books in my life, and at the moment it holds First Place!

In this book, JBP attempts to isolate the essence of the Englich character. The thesis of the book is that the English have a very fuzzy and indefinite border between their unconscious and conscious minds (an idea that may have been influenced by his friend and colleague, C.G. Jung). This gives the English their distinctive tastes in literature, philosophy and the like and results in the characteristic English temperament. This is probably Priestley's most perceptive work, and it goes a long way towards explaining the most prolific literary culture in the world.

'Man and Time' is an excellent book not only because of the thoroughness in which the material is presented, but also because of the breadth of the author's imagination and the clarity of the theories that are expounded. It is a complete personal view of time and the part that it plays in our lives. Extremely interesting, usable information.

A wonderfully detailed and readable account of the Regency era (1811-1820) and its focal point--Prince George IV. The author ably explores,within the context of the eras mores and singular fashion, the lives of its most celebrated and scandalous figures. The author also recounts the events of the Napoleaonic Wars taking place at the time in an interesting and relevant fashion. All in all, I found this book to be a very easy and enjoyable read with just enough history and gossip to keep you moving right along. If you are interested in the era, I would also recommend The Regency Companion, an enjoyable and detailed reference work of the time.

This novel is Priesltey at his best. We meet Ben Sterndale, a cynical fact-gathering reporter, who accepts a job from a powerful business tycoon in order to find out information about "The Shapes of Sleep", which turn out to have been discovered by a communist professor of experimental psychology. The "shapes of sleep" are geometrical shapes which have a hypnotic effect on the populace and could form a deadly weapon of mass mind-control if used by politicians or marketers. There are enough twists and turns here to satisy any devotee of detective or spy novels, and the book contains a considerable amount of satire of the foibles of the modern age (with a dash of romance added for good measure). A very enjoyable read!

This book is about 158 pages long and reads like a serial in a newspaper--reminds me of Charles Kurult's bus trips across the U.S. except the camera crew travels across the U.K. Bainbridge records the daily trip in a writer's jounal.

The sections are laid out in journal form covering events day by day and many of the cities warrent a separate chapter. Like a motion picture camera, Bainbridge vividly records the detail of what is to be seen -- the view from the bus, the accomodations, the food, the highlights and frustrations. Her trip begins in Southhampton, then goes to these places: Salisbury, Bristol; Cotswolds; Birmingham; Stoke-on-Trent; Mancester, Liverpool, Bradford; Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Stockton-on-Tees; York, Lincoln, and Norwhch; and ends in Milton Keynes.

Baninbridge's trip is a "sort-of" southwest-northeast drive and one you might consider replicating in part if you're thinking of taking a motor trip though England. You'll miss many historic places (London), but you'll get a feel for the diversity of the land and it's people.

This tiny book is an excellent analysis and assessment of Hazlitt's work (arguably the most unfairly negelected of writers -- something like Priestley is nowadays). Priestley oultines to what extent Hazlitt had an impact on his own writing and unfortuneatlely praises him at the expense of the "Angry Young Men" whom he unfairly maligns as being primarily negative in tone. This book is an excellent introduction to an unjustly forgotten genius, but for a better notion of the man's worth, read his essays, and only look at this book AFTER reading Hazlitt himself.

In this novel, Tom Dekker, an engineer and heavy drinker who has been given a leave of absence from his work to "set himself straight", meets a young lady who he finds himself instantly attracted to. But rather than throwing herself at him, she decided to see if Tom is worth the trouble and makes him an offer: she will reward him handsomely, but he must be willing to find her -- and she could be anywhere in England. Tom is intrigued and decides to take her up on her offer. The novel is short and sweet, but it lacks any real depth; if you want a quick, amusing time-killer, you'll appreciate Priestley's last novel, but don't consider this his best work. It's not.