A past Book Winner as I begin on my quest to read them all. Good so far.

Read as part of reading past Booker winners, and it is not a book that would have attracted me for any other reason. At first I thought well what's so special about this. It is going to be a thinly veiled renendering of the author's life:'how I made good out of poor beginnings', but in fact it turns out to be much more subtle than that. It is about being trapped by people's expectations of you. I also think I have never come across such a passive character in English Literature, life just happens to him as though nothing can be changed by his actions. I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting to (it was just the next one on my list) and I make it available to anyone else who is interested in Booker Winners through the ages. (This was 1976's winner from memory therefore liable to be wrong!!)