John Braine

John Gerard Braine (April 13, 1922 – October 28, 1986) was an English novelist. Braine is usually associated with the Angry Young Men movement.

Biography

Born in Bingley, near Bradford, Yorkshire, Braine left St. Bede's Grammar School at 16 and worked in a shop, a laboratory and a factory before becoming, after the war, a librarian. Although he wrote twelve works of fiction, Braine is chiefly remembered today for his first novel, "Room at the Top" (1957), which was also turned into a successful film in 1959. Following his success he moved to the south of England, living for a time in the town of Woking (Surrey, England). His 1968 novel, The Crying Game, is set in London and captures some of the atmosphere of the 'Swinging Sixties'. (It is not related to the 1992 film of the same name).

Braine, who was once on the left of British politics, turned to the right-wing. This passage is exemplified in a short pamphlet that was brought out for the 'Conservative Monday Club
Monday Club'.

Braine's reputation is somewhat diminished, a remarkable decline considering the impact of his early novels.

elect bibliography

Fiction

*"Room at the Top" (1957)
*"The Vodi" (1959)
*"Life at the Top" (1962)
*"The Jealous God" (1964)
*"The Crying Game" (1968) (Not related to the 1992 film of the same title)
*"Stay with Me Till Morning" (1970)
*"The Queen of a Distant Country" (1972)
*"The Pious Agent" (1975)
*"Waiting for Sheila" (1976)
*"One and Last Love" (1981)
*"The Two of Us" (1984)
*"These Golden Days" (1985)

Non-fiction

*"Writing a Novel" (1974)
*"J. B. Priestley" (1978)

[http://www.houseofstratus.com House of Stratus] have recently republished some of Braine's novels.

External links

* [http://www.nmyork.freeuk.com/braine.html Biography ("Famous Bradfordians")]
* [http://www.archives.wyjs.org.uk/bdimage.htm An image of John Braine on "Any Questions" in 1959]
* [http://www.booksellerworld.com/john-braine.htm John Braine] bibliography of first editions