Comments on: Stanley Middleton

By: Dave Lull

Dave Lull — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:58:01 +0000

Allan Massie's review of Stanley Middleton's 45th novel can be found here:

http://living.scotsman.com/features/Book-review...

By: ewanwwilson

ewanwwilson — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:42:12 +0000

As a bookseller it has been one of my great pleasures to 'plug' authors who otherwise might get most unfairly overlooked- and none more so than Stanley Middleton who has been so unfairly neglected and even disdained by those grandees of modern novel writing and criticism whoose self regard far from promoting good story telling more often than not is destroying it.
Not so Mr Middleton. Like most of his fans, I came to him through his one Booker Prize, Holiday, that novel of pensive even melancholic self examination of a middle class man whose marriage and ordinary round are put under the clear but not necessarily merciless spotlight of Middleton's analysis and has a strangely compelling power for all its quiesence.
His recently reissued Harris' Requiem again quickens the quotidian and again captures provincial life beautifully. His latest ( presumably last) novel is Her Three Wise Men that clops along with a delightfully wry look at a 'troupe' of amateur dramatists; little spectacular bursts forth but the pedestrian and the circumscribed lives in Middleton's loving depiction exerts charm and fascination. His sad death even at the advanced age of eighty nine seems a preamture loss to the world of good solidly realised story telling.

By: ewanwwilson

ewanwwilson — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:42:12 +0000

By: bjr

bjr — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:22:48 +0000

I always remember 'Stanners' with deep affection. He was a very well-read, learned gentleman who encouraged and inspired us, his last 'A' level class, with quotes from so many writers and poets and was often prone to start talking to us is Greek or Latin. He kept us all riveted. We didn't seem to focus much of the lesson on the prescribed texts in his book cupboard of a classroom but he got some good grades out of us and we all felt valued by him. My friends and I often talk about him. He was a gem of a man and a truly warm and gifted teacher. He will be fondly remembered by many ex students of 46 and older.

By: tonyshaw

tonyshaw — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:45:53 +0000

For a number of years, the Booker-winning novelist Stanley Middleton (for Holiday (1974)), or Stan Middo as he was invariably and very affectionately known to us all, taught me English at High Pavement Grammar School, Gainsford Crescent, Bestwood Estate, Nottingham. I have many fond memories of him and his idiosyncrasies. During one lesson, he told me that he imagined me reading Norman Mailer's An American Dream in the bath, although I still don't know why he came out with that, and I hadn't read the book at the time! The tests he set us were also idiosyncratic: I well remember him giving us ten questions every Friday morning on a few chapters of Great Expectations, and that one of them was 'How many mice ran across Miss Havisham's floor'? Today, I don't remember what the answer was, and of course it is, and always was, completely unimportant, but I suppose it's an example of the importance of 'close reading' to Stan.

Although I didn't realize it at the time, Stan - like his friend and colleague Keith Dobson ('Dobbo' to us) - was an avid admirer of F. R. Leavis, and a piece of literature had to be studied in a vacuum, without historical, biographical, etc, trappings. In 2003 I was persuaded by a friend of Stan's to write to him: he'd once confided to me that although I thought he'd forget me, he wouldn't. Over all those years, he had of course forgotten me, but I received an interesting handwritten letter in reply.

I used to live a very short distance away from Stan, on Gunthorpe Drive, which was part of architect Thomas Cecil Hewitt's council house estate in Sherwood. Stan almost always walked to High Pavement: along Caledon Road into Hucknall Road and along it, then along Arnold Lane and into the school. I too frequently walked to school - our route was almost the same - and I would often overtake him with an exchange of greeting. In the long lunchtime, we would very often run into him and Dobbo as they walked around the playing fields. They knew my political views were (and indeed still are) well to the left, and on one occasion - when they saw me with a copy of New Society, they told me: 'Watch what you're eating!', as the paper was owned by a Conservative. A lovely man.

I have posted the full contents of the letter on my blog at http://tonyshaw3.blogspot.com

By: jennifer walmsley

jennifer walmsley — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:37:33 +0000

I met Stanley Middleton in 1990 when he was the creative writing tutor at Porthcawl Summer School. He returned two years in succession and treated his adult students with respect, generosity and humour.

Having enjoyed a twenty year correspondence with Stanley, with intermittent phone calls, the sad news of his death shocked me despite realising that he wasn't a well man.

I was privilaged to know this great man who was so proud of his wife and family.

By: gwynneharries

gwynneharries — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:20:02 +0000

So sad to hear about Stanley Middleton! He was my English Teacher at school (far too many years ago now!) and I remember with affection him taking part in our school performances of Gilbert and Sullivan and joining in with the school orchestra. However, it may have been me and my pubescent naivety, but it wasn't until adulthood that I realised that he was an award winning author. I am sure the other 'masters' knew of his writing but I don't remember it being mentioned. I remember him though for two things especially. The first for his valiant efforts at trying to get me and my classmates engaged in a turgid tome of John Buchan's Thirty Nine Steps. As he read his eyes shone and his facial expressions highlighted the drama of the text… but try as he may it was still thirty nine steps too far for us. On a more personal note he encouraged me in my learning of a poem for the school poetry reading competition in which I stumbled through 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' by Robert W. Service. My parents were the largest influence in this but it is fair to say that without Mr Middleton's positive encouragement I would have let the chance pass me by and my then latent interest in poetry would not now have had any chance of being nurtured.

Sad news indeed and I know his writing will be missed as much as he will as the man. Fond remembrances.

By: Damien G Walter

Damien G Walter — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:07:56 +0000

I had only heard of Stanley Middleton by name. Ross' description of his writing has made me want to discover it properly though. Sad news.

By: samjordison

samjordison — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:49:37 +0000

A fine writer moves on…