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Upstairs at the Party Linda Grant 9781844087495 Books

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Upstairs at the Party Linda Grant 9781844087495 Books

Of the same vintage, university and common acquaintances - I really looked forward to Linda Grant's recollections of the period.
It started slowly - with her only family and journey to university not especially interesting or sharply done. The transition to meeting her university friends and the mysterious androgynous couple was fun.... but the best writing comes in the final third, when she returns to catch up with them all years later. A bit slow to start but well worth the ride. Lots of lessons here for ex-Trotskyists.


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Upstairs at the Party Linda Grant 9781844087495 Books Reviews

Upstairs at the Party is both a fascinating and frustrating read. As other reviewers have noted, it is a keenly observed and evocative portrayal of the characters’ time at university. It does not sentimentalise this era; some scenes are grim and confronting, and the social comment is apposite.

It is also a scathing indictment of selfish, self-centred people. We watch as the characters waste their lives and fritter away the value that their education and the privileges and responsibilities that it endowed them with on empty pursuits.

I found myself skipping bits as I became increasingly frustrated by characters’ aimless ineptitude. Their engagement with life is often oblique and peripheral. Perhaps this is Grant’s point – that their impotence has as much to do with flawed and undeveloped personalities as it has to do with the social conditions in which they live. She thereby reminds us of the importance of social and cultural engagement that goes beyond gestures and rhetoric.
Loved it.
Loved the sense of time and place in this novel of university student life in early to mid 1970's England . The Music, fashion and ideas of the time contextualised against earlier memories of painful post war childhoods. A great read.
I enjoyed this and the plot had some unusual twists. The best part for anyone at university in the UK at this time is the complete evocation of time and place.
This story is like a coming of age story for an older audience, or for someone looking back. There are humorous experiences, quirky characters, and brutally honest observations about how the world works. It reads like a memoir (creative nonfiction-style) but, unlike most of life, the events mirror each other, creating patterns and plot. I could easily sit down and immerse myself in the world of the story.
A wonderful read. I'm proud to add this to my collection.
I have loved all Linda Grant's novels and this is no exception. Once again she takes us into a fully realised world with characters we want to know more about. I could have happily known even more!
I enjoyed thinking about how different our university days were without cell phones, computers etc and how they have changed our lives.
I get this book so much it almost hurts.

Growing up in the same era I have been glued to it all the way through. Everything in it is familiar to me and it is written in such a way that I cannot help but be involved. It follows a very clever path through an era of freedom, feminism and friends that most English baby boomers will relate to in some way. Linda Grant's honest and provocative style brings to life a very recognisable state of mind, and consciousness, that explains the very core of many of us born after the war.

I can't recommend this book enough and will be interested to read comments from other readers.
Of the same vintage, university and common acquaintances - I really looked forward to Linda Grant's recollections of the period.
It started slowly - with her only family and journey to university not especially interesting or sharply done. The transition to meeting her university friends and the mysterious androgynous couple was fun.... but the best writing comes in the final third, when she returns to catch up with them all years later. A bit slow to start but well worth the ride. Lots of lessons here for ex-Trotskyists.