Journey's End (Penguin Modern Classics)

Product Information

Sherriff also wrote prose. A novelised version of Journey's End, co-written with Vernon Bartlett, was published in 1930. [17] His 1939 novel, The Hopkins Manuscript is an H. G. Wells-influenced post-apocalyptic story about an earth devastated because of a collision with the Moon. [18] Its sober language and realistic depiction of an average man coming to terms with a ruined England is said [ citation needed] to have been an influence on later science fiction authors such as John Wyndham and Brian Aldiss. The Fortnight in September, an earlier novel, published in 1931, is a rather more plausible story about a Bognor holiday enjoyed by a lower-middle-class family from Dulwich. [19] It was nominated by Kazuo Ishiguro as a book to 'inspire, uplift and offer escape' in a list compiled by The Guardian during the COVID-19 pandemic, describing it as "just about the most uplifting, life-affirming novel I can think of right now". [20] Journey's End” (1928), by English playwright Robert Cedric (R.C.) Sherriff, follows a group of British army troops in the days leading to Operation Michael, which was the last offensive operation from Germany that would mark the beginning of the end of WWI. Performed for more than two years in London, the play was one of the most popular productions of the 1920s. The work is based off of his own experience in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during WWI. In this private conversation on the subject of Raleigh's idolization of Stanhope, Osborne and Stanhope touch on the theme of heroism. Having looked up to Stanhope at school, Raleigh and Raleigh's sister turned him into a hero. However, Stanhope reveals in this dialogue his concern that Raleigh will see Stanhope for who he is truly is, having been damaged by the effects of war. Osborne sees things differently, and has faith that Raleigh will continue to see him as a hero, despite Stanhope's drinking and temper. Private Mason, a servant cook, often forgets about ingredients and key parts of the food that he prepares for the officers. He is really part of the infantry but the company has let him be a part-time cook. This play reminded me of the preface that Wilfred Owen wrote: “This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them.”

Wales, Roland (2016). From Journey's End to the Dam Busters: The life of R.C. Sherriff, Playwright of the Trenches. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1473860698. The theme of alcoholism arises with Hardy and Osborne’s discussion of Stanhope’s ability to drink more than other men. Hardy suggests that Osborne, since he is older and more levelheaded, should be in charge, not Stanhope. But Osborne is loyal to Stanhope, whom he says he loves. The exchange is ambiguous: either Osborne has genuine affection for Stanhope’s ability to command, or he is simply maintaining his position within the military hierarchy by refusing to disparage his superior; likely, Osborne is influenced by a mix of the two motivations. Osborne reads Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” during his rest hours for enjoyment and escapism. He reads loudly so that Trotter too can hear it.Purkis, Charlotte (2016) 'The Mediation of Constructions of Pacifism in Journey's End and The Searcher, two Contrasting Dramatic Memorials from the Late 1920s' https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1135753 A second eponymous English film adaptation was released in 2017, with a wider theatrical release in spring 2018. Producer Guy de Beaujeu said that, through the film, they want to interest younger people – particularly women – in the first world war and show them how it is “of importance and consequence to them”.

The play is set in the British military trenches of World War I-era France, in the four days leading up to the battle of St. Quentin. The stage is set as a British dugout, with steps leading up to the trench above. A large table is at the center, with wooden benches, wire-netting beds, and boxes for the soldiers to sit on. The only decorations are steadily burning candles in bottles and tattered magazine pictures of scantily clad women. The earth walls deaden the sounds of war coming from the front line, which is fifty yards away. Gloomy tunnels lead left and right. Hailed by George Bernard Shaw as 'useful [corrective] to the romantic conception of war', R.C. Sherriff's "Journey's End" is an unflinching vision of life in the trenches towards the end of the First World War, published in "Penguin Classics". There's tension here, sights and sounds of a terrible war, mixed with moments of friendship, camaraderie and the routines of normal English life. Still, everyone is on edge - some more than others - as they await the inevitable. Goodbye, Mr. Chips – which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay along with his co-writers Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA, FRSL (6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) [1] was an English writer best known for his play Journey's End, [2] which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. [3] He wrote several plays, many novels, and multiple screenplays, and was nominated for an Academy Award and two BAFTA awards. [4] Early life [ edit ]

Sherriff, R. C. (1968). No Leading Lady: An Autobiography. London: Gollancz. pp.14, 22. ISBN 0-575-00155-0. Gore-Langton, Robert (2013). Journey's End: the classic war play explored. London: Oberon. ISBN 9781849433952.

This is a group of men, and I forgot Hibbert who is the 'cowardly one', who can't express their feelings properly. Either because it isn't the done thing or because once they start they'll never stop. They can only bear this by trying not to think about it or by drinking themselves insensible. Sometimes you have to read something funny or say something humorous to kill the boredom and drabness of war or as an escape from reality. Do control your laughter on reading what Trotter is reciting. R.C. Sherriff wrote the play based on his own experiences, and appears to have no particular axe to grind - neither anti-war, nor patriotic - with its primary focus on the toll placed on the young officers and the working class soldiers thrown into such a horrific situation. His 1936 novel Greengates is a realistic novel about a middle-aged couple, Tom and Edith Baldwin, moving from an established London suburb into the then-new suburbs of Metro-land. [21] Award nominations [ edit ] Even crocodile smiles can be so deceiving. We had always known about its tears. By the way, Osborne is reading in candlelight as sunshine hardly comes inside the dugouts. When several candles are burning at the same time, it can make the temperature quite hot and unbearable. Then there were rats which nibbled at your shoes and worms which made you feel queasy.

After supper that evening Stanhope confided to Osborne that he was fearful of young Raleigh's opinion, and he declared that he meant to censor all the young officer's mail, lest Raleigh reveal to his sister the kind of man Stanhope, her fiance, had become. Stanhope was bitter that Raleigh had landed in his company when there were so many others in France to which he might have been assigned. He was also concerned over Lieutenant Hibbert, another officer who was malingering in an effort to get sent home to England. Stanhope, who hated a quitter, resolved that Hibbert should be forced to stay. Journey's End is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry company from 18 to 21 March 1918, providing a glimpse of the officers' lives in the last few days before Operation Michael. Journey's End" is a gripping and powerful read. I’d love to see this dialogue delivered on stage. It’s no surprise that this play continues to be revived. It’s a stunning and deeply moving evocation of the sacrifices made by so many young people during the conflict of 1914-1918 and well worth the hour or two it takes to read. I loved the exploration of the disconnect between the idyllic boarding-school days before the war (talk of rugby, holidays, and schoolboy idols) and the grim reality the characters face. There’s a kind of guilt and delicate avoidance of the topic, because things will never be the same again. It reminded me of Hartley’s opening line from The Go-Between: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” a b c d e f g h i Sherriff, Robert Cedric (1968). No Leading Lady: An Autobiography. London: Victor Gollancz. pp.39, 9, 43–44, 45, 52, 49, 70–76, 129, 130, 181. ISBN 978-0-575-00155-8.