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The Grim Smile of the Five Towns

Arnold Bennett

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .o himself that the age of miracles was not past; also that, after all, he was not so old as the tale of his years would mathematically indicate.



III

Her absence from chapel on the next Sunday disagreed with him. However, Robert was away nearly all the week, and he had the house to himself to dream in. It frequently happened to him to pass by Miss Emery's shop, but he caught no glimpse of her, and though he really was in serious need of writing-paper and envelopes, he dared not enter. Robert returned on the Friday.

On the morning of the second Sunday, John got up early, in order to cope with a new necktie that he had purchased in Hanbridge. Nevertheless he found Robert afoot before him, and Robert, by some unlucky chance, was wearing not merely a new necktie, but a new suit of clothes. They breakfasted in their usual august silence, and John gathered from a remark of Robert's to Maggie when she brought in the boots that Robert . . . Read More

Community Reviews

When you find yourself laughing at jokes more than 100 years old, the writer has clearly got something right. Short stories out of context are always a bit hit and miss, and some of these are better than others, but a high enough strike rate to give another set a go sooner rather than later. Or mayb

I have been meaning to read some of Bennett's work, and rather than dive into one of his novels (Clayhanger etc), I thought I'd try some of his short stories; and this book is a collection of tales from 'The Five Towns' that forms the setting for much of his writing.

Although written over a century a

If you're looking for unbridled mirth and raucous laughter, don't bother with these short stories. If you looking for excitement, intrigue, mystery and drama, don't bother with these short stories. But, if you're a seeker of humour that raises a heartwarming smile, occasioned by the peculiarities, e

A pleasant series of short stories linked loosely around life in Bennett’s Five Towns.

Not much to say about them in some ways. The tales simply flow out and his prose is easy and accessible. There’s something around the length of the work in hand – by which I mean that short stories are somehow ins

Seems perfunctory to say that these stories aren't fashionable any more, its hard to imagine that there was a time when they were ever fashionable. But they are an amusing set of tales, set among the well to do middle classes of what was once one of the country's leading manufacturing districts. The

This first dip into Arnold Bennett I enjoyed very much. That humour from the north of England may seem like a grim smile but it holds something more delicious. I was surprised at some of the whimsy here but there always seemed to a sting in these tales.

Pure whimsy - which was a surprise to me (I'd been expecting 'Love on the Dole' level grit). It's really just comedy of manners, this, and has the proto-sitcom feel of the always marvellous 'Diary of a Nobody' crossed with Jerome K Jerome. in fact, like Three Men on a Boat, it even has a cheese anec

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