Customer Reviews

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (CSA Word Classics)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A brilliant, sad and moving account of life in Edwardian England for the working class "Philanthropists" struggling through poverty in order to make their employers rich. Though starving and wretched the majority of these working men react furiously to suggestions that their poverty is caused by their "masters" robbing them of the fruits of their labours. They are referred to as philanthropists due to their generosity of spirit and material wealth , gladly handing over all the benefits of the luxuries and necessaries of life which they help to create, to their greedy paymasters and employers. The solution to their problems is provided by the author as a Socialist, Cooperative Commonwealth of Nations under God, where the marvels of modern science and technology should be harnessed, owned by the people, and producing an abundance of the comforts of civilisation, not for one company's profit but for everyone's needs. An old lesson whose truths are as relevant today as they were when this masterpiece was written. A Socialist's bible if ever their was one.

When I read this book, it stoked an emotional fire which fuelled a belief in the politics of social justice. Tressell is not as misty-eyed or naive as most socialist writers. He doesn't rely upon an unrealistic belief in human nature. Instead, he tackles ignorance, short-sightedness and cynicism head-on.

No Happy Endings here - it could never be a Hollywood film. The bitterness and pain you feel at the end leaves you wanting to change the world. To fight those forces ranged against the underdog. Even though you'll probably lose.

Seen in that light it feels as relevant today as it was when it was written.

I was given the book by a much older friend. I've now bought copies for half-a-dozen people. It's one of those books you just should read to be an all-rounded person.

A friend of mine sent me this book, which I had never heard of at the time. If you get past the awkward title, and the somewhat purple Victorian prose, it really is a wonderful book. First and foremost, it reads really well. It's well-written, the story is compelling, and the characters likeable. The overall flavor I would describe as Dickensian, although nowhere near as baroque or whimsical. So it's not some boring polemic. And, second, it's socialist in its outlook. It explains socialism and the old Labour movement not in some theoretical, jargonistic way, but by means of practical examples that the central character uses to explain the movement to his co-workers. At the same time they're learning, you're learning, too - and it's very well done. Of course, the plot of the story drives home the lessons you've learned as well. And the arguments for more social equity work - I guess they can be argued against, if you're so inclined, but they're not at all simplistic or overly idealistic - they're really rather practical. Overall, a wonderful book for just about anyone thinking about the construction of society - even capitalists who'd like to cut their teeth against challenging political arguments.

now, this new century, this new millennium, we think we are all so original and all of us behave as if we are the first in almost everything. this book is one of the books i have read that show me, clearly, that we, humans, are all more or less the same: we don't like being used up, but we all need money to excist, so therefore we act all a bit like f... slaves. the author is so funny about this perpetuous jobhunting, that it makes you wanna cry. the worldly stage upon we act our lives doesn't change as much as we believe it does, only technics and science doe. but we remain fragile human bodies, made of flesh and bones, and we are hungry every single day. he, Tressell, gives us that clear view of our totall depending on others. before communism, already in the grave, he was a fine specimen of a good human,who foresaw the coming of a whole lot of misery.this simply because we need food, housing. i loved his book because one can't ceep un crying over us. he is geniusly funny, and that is a quality i canreally dig, can you? life is sad, but i wanna keep laughing. against all odds.

I think that this book is excellent. It illustrates the workers, who have been made ignorant by a capitalist system premised on the values of feaudalism, in which wokers - or serfs - know their place, which is at the bottom of the hierachy. This contributes towards the workers intrasigence in their refusal to see the causes of their poverty, which subsequently causes them to be ingnorant. Those who became enlightened to the true causes of their poverty could be forgiven in their reluctance to fully embrace socialism for they were in a minority, and prone to assault as illustrated in the book.

This attitude prevails today, as it did in the early part of the 20th century, in that the majority of the British working class still insist that poverty, and inequality are caused by the drunken, the lazy unemployed, lone parents asylem seekers, and cheap foreign imports. As this attitude is encouraged by media propaganda, in a similar manner as those who benefit from the system in Tressell's book, then the working classes of post modern Britain remain just as intrasegent and ignorant as ever, the majority seeing edication as irrelevant to to them.

One aspect of the book that I am grateful to Tressel for is the way he highlighted the conditions of women in working class Britain in the early 20th century. By doing this Tressell gives credibility to the feminist movement, and its achievements so far.

If you've ever felt concerned about your work in relation to the welfare of yourself and your family, you need to read this book. It is an entertaining description of working class life 100 years ago, yet it will strike a chord for every working person today. Please give it a go. It's pretty funny too.

Parts of the book are influenced by actual events. Because of this, the characters are very 3 dimensional but the story can be slow at times. The author does a great job of "creating" the world of Mugsborough, the town in which the story takes place, and you really feel like an actual observer in an old English town of roughly 100 years ago. I recommend it, but just take your time with it.

This is an excellent book that should be read every few years or so by everyone, no matter what their political leanings. It centres on the appalling, to our modern eyes, working and living conditions of not just the unskilled but the vast majority of trained and skilled artisans and their families in early-1900s England.
It has been said that this book had a strong influence on the formation of the Labour Party and one can readily see why. Although this work is centred on the building trade, it gives a feel generally for the times that anyone studying social history would find the reading of rewarding.

While reading the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists I was aware that I was reading a truly great book but also that the prose and structure was poor. I think that, in a strange way, the book benefits from this as it gives the pages a raw genuine feel. It's a little repetitive, didactic and author Tressel is tough on his characters.It was strange for me reading about similar boss corruptions, abuses of authority, sycophancy a hundred years ago. Though in those days the target was more work for food, now the target is more is that newer car or perhaps that bigger house.It stinks now as it did then but I was so glad to read a book with it all laid out. John Steinbeck also has touched upon it in the Grapes of Wrath less brutally but more beautifully. I would like to force everyone to read this book - especially the Misery's. A friend recently told me that the book was initially entitled The Ragged Ars** Philanthropists.Any way it was very good. N.B. I tried to change my rating to four stars but the Amazon site wouldn't let me!

A lady I worked with, a long time ago, recommended this book to me. It is genuinely Socialistic in outlook (although Mr. Tressell was not afraid to critise what he saw as 'wrongs' in Socialism itself. This makes great sense, as no one political system is perfect as we all know.

The book is based on a Company of builders in the early 20th Century 'Botich & Co.' if I remember rightly. You read the conditions of the workers which are pretty harrowing (as working class environment was, at the time). You meet the workers' families as well. You see the struggles they have to survive on the times when bad weather put the builders 'off work'

The Foreman liased between the Management and the workers. I cannot remember his name now, as it is a long time since I have read the book.He is an important character.

Some of the workers' try to justify their injustices as being 'what they, as working class people must expect' There was One man who joined the company, who tried to educate his fellow workers as to how wrong they were, about the inequalities of Capitalism. He was not popular for taking this stance.

It sounds a heavy book, but it is extremely readeable. I recommend it to anyone interested in how people lived and worked. It does NOT force you into taking a political stance. The book is there to be enjoyed...