Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Book Recommendation

One of my favourite books is ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ by Alan Sillitoe. The novel is set in Nottingham – where the author himself was from – and it follows the main character of Arthur Seaton, a working-class character who seems to think himself better than the mediocre existence he has. Another important aspect of the novel is the affairs that Arthur has with married women, which ultimately get him into trouble and perhaps make him realise that he needs to settle down; something which he plans to do at the end of the novel with Doreen.

Although this is a widely recognised and acclaimed novel, it is my experience that many people my age have never read it. They may have heard about it or even watched the film but few have read it. Perhaps this might be a result of the type of the people I hang around with but I prefer to think that it is because the book has lost some of its popularity over the years. Admittedly, I was only aware of the novel because my dad – an English Teacher – bought me the novel and it is unlikely I would have discovered it without him. The book was written before my dad’s time as well, his mother had given him her copy – which he still has! – and he particularly enjoyed it. So much so that he chose to do some of his A-Level English coursework on the novel. It could be argued that it has been passed down throughout the family.

I understand that not everyone has an English teacher in their family and so that may be one of the reasons for a lack of people my age being aware of the novel. However, I think that there could also be some argument that the novel was very much of its time, it became its own sort of genre. ‘The Angry Young Men’ texts that appeared in the fifties and early sixties is what it became a part of or even one of the famous ‘Kitchen Sink’ dramas and films. The novel is an expression of working-class mediocrity in the period after the war; particularly following main characters that seem to lie between classes. In this case Arthur is clearly intelligent and so he often feels better than the class he has been born into but he doesn’t particularly have any way to escape the trappings of it. Perhaps he doesn’t want to; but there is obvious conflict from his character which I think was a very real issue at the time. I think many young people were confused about where they belonged in society, particularly in working-class towns where they had the ability to escape mundane living but not necessarily the opportunity. Even though history has suggested that the nineteen sixties allowed for a greater advancement of young people, I think that it doesn’t do justice to the continued struggle of young working-class people.

I suppose my affinity for the novel is not one of personal experience. I am not a working-class person, there are plenty of opportunities that I can take advantage of to better myself. However, what does draw me to the novel might be a greater understanding of my dad when he was my age. He read the novel and felt some connection to it, he too was from a working-class northern town and I think he shared some of these sentiments of escape and bettering himself, something he was encouraged to do. It is something he was able to do which separates him from Arthur but there is some obvious emotional connection. By reading the novel I am able to understand my dad more to some extent and I think that is one of the great things about literature, the connections it creates and the feelings it emotes.

The novel is not about anything particularly profound which I also think is a good thing. It has complicated characters [which was quite revolutionary at the time, working-class characters were usually very two-dimensional] but they are complicated in these mundane, everyday settings and that is what makes the novel very real. It looks at real issues that a lot of people would have experienced at the time of its publication which I think is what makes it so interesting and so great. It is an easy read but it explores these deep issues that are a very good representation of normal life, which I think is what drew me to it the most. I also think as a student of history I enjoyed it as it provided me with a reflection of societal feelings and expectations at the time. It takes a look at working-class life not anything imperial or out of touch and that is so interesting to me as working-class history is overlooked quite often. How many royal historians do we need?

Ultimately, the novel is a significant novel from the fifties. It is a great demonstrations of complex working-class life in an accessible way, however although this is what makes the novel great it has perhaps also resulted in its loss of popularity. It is not something that anyone can relate to anymore and so it has fallen out of the public sphere which I think is such a shame. I don’t think I could recommend the book enough.