George Passant (Strangers and Brothers) [Paperback]

Charles Percy Snow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2008 | Series: Strangers and Brothers

In the first of the Strangers and Brothers series Lewis Eliot tells the story of George Passant, a Midland solicitor's managing clerk and idealist who tries to bring freedom to a group of people in the years 1925 to 1933. Ten other novels follow this one.

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About the Author

C.P. Snow was born in Leicester, on 15 October 1905. He was educated from age 11 at Alderman Newton's School for boys where he excelled in most subjects, enjoying a reputation for an astounding memory. In 1923 he gained an external scholarship in science at London University, whilst working as a laboratory assistant at Newton's to gain the necessary practical experience, because Leicester University, as it was to become, had no chemistry or physics departments at that time. Having achieved a first class degree, followed by a Master of Science he won a studentship in 1928 which he used to research at the famous Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. Snow went on to become a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1930 where he also served as a tutor, but his position became increasingly titular as he branched into other areas of activity. In 1934, he began to publish scientific articles in Nature, and then The Spectator before becoming editor of the journal Discovery in 1937. However, he was also writing fiction during this period and in 1940 'Strangers and Brothers' was published. This was the first of eleven novels in the series and was later renamed 'George Passant' when 'Strangers and Brothers' was used to denote the series itself. Discovery became a casualty of the war, closing in 1940. However, by this time Snow was already involved with the Royal Society, who had organised a group to specifically use British scientific talent operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour. He served as the Ministry's technical director from 1940 to 1944. After the war, Snow became a civil service commissioner responsible for recruiting scientists to work for the government. He also returned to writing, continuing the Strangers and Brothers series of novels. 'The Light and the Dark' was published in 1947, followed by 'Time of Hope' in 1949, and perhaps the most famous and popular of them all, 'The Masters', in 1951. He planned to finish the cycle within five years, but the final novel 'Last Things' wasn't published until 1970. He married the novelist Pamela Hansford Johnson in 1950 and they had one son, Philip, in 1952. Snow was knighted in 1957 and became a life peer in 1964, taking the title Baron Snow of the City Leicester. He also joined Harold Wilson's first government as Parliamentary Secretary to the new Minister of Technology. When the department ceased to exist in 1966 he became a vociferous back-bencher in the House of Lords. After finishing th

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus (October 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842324225
• ISBN-13: 978-1842324226
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very much worth reading, August 25, 2010

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Epictetus (Hong Kong) (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: George Passant (Strangers and Brothers) (Kindle Edition)

There is a view that many of Snow's novels have not stood the test of time, including this one. Nonsense on stilts! This novel is an acute examination of human nature and especially the way that people see themselves and each other, and misperceive themselves and each other. For its pithy phrases and memorable observations it is to literature what Raymond Chandler is to fiction. For example:
- I was used to living on hope;
- George was a sensual man, often struggling against his senses;
- each pound at our age was worth ten to a man whose life was fixed;
- it was an antipathy such as one finds in any ... body of people brought together by accident and not by mutual liking;
- I have got to help people on their terms;
- perhaps he had to destroy his own hopes.

This story is also about how the older, wiser person views and handles the younger, less experienced person -- which may be of interest to younger readers and of amusement (or sadness) to older readers.

Finally, the story is interesting and very well told.

I picked up this book (in fact the Kindle edition) because it is listed in Burgess' _99 Novels_ (the list of Burgess' 99 is on Wikipedia, the book itself is also here on Amazon.)

"Epictetus"