Simple Annals by Roy Watkins
Memories of growing up in an ordinary but loving family in Lancashire in the 1940s and early 50s, brought to the page with an almost pre-verbal immediacy.
‘The memoir of the world as seen by a child with its partialities and misapprehensions belongs to a distinguished tradition, from Great Expectations to Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist and Frank O’Connor’s An Only Child, and from What Maisie Knew to The Death of the Heart. But Watkins does something new and remarkable. He gives a more faithful representation of the child’s perceptions by often leaving its confusions unresolved … This short memoir is an absorbing masterpiece which sustains over its 127 pages the lyric intensity of the great practitioners of the short story.’ – Bernard O’Donoghue, Literary Review
‘The past is also a banana skin. The temptation to rationalise and explain, to do a little Freudian voice-leading, can be almost overwhelming. Miraculously, Watkins avoids that altogether, ending his memoir in his eleventh year so as to avoid any attempt to give artificial coherence or psychological significance to his memories. They are simply delivered … It’s an astonishing achievement.’ – Brian Morton, Times Literary Supplement
‘The past is also a banana skin. The temptation to rationalise and explain, to do a little Freudian voice-leading, can be almost overwhelming. Miraculously, Watkins avoids that altogether, ending his memoir in his eleventh year so as to avoid any attempt to give artificial coherence or psychological significance to his memories. They are simply delivered … It’s an astonishing achievement.’ – Brian Morton, Times Literary Supplement
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781909585393 |
| ISBN 10 | 1909585394 |
| Title | Simple Annals |
| Author | Roy Watkins |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | CB Editions |
| Year published | 2021-02-24 |
| Number of pages | 136 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |