Sinister Street is a grand and immensely detailed account of a boy growing up in antebellum England–the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, that lost paradise that was pre-war England. Pre GREAT war, that is to say–there were lesser wars a-plenty! The first Boer war makes a particularly poignant appearance, first filling our hero’s heart with patriotism and fervor, but then casting him into despair when a beloved uncle dies in the conflict.
After reading Mr. Mackenzie’s wonderfully silly Scottish fables, it was odd to find him writing in this completely serious and earnest manner–often a little romantical, but entirely suited to the subject matter. This book is the first volume of two, and the author excused the perhaps excessive length by asking “are a thousand pages too long for the history of twenty-five years of a man’s life, that is to say if one holds as I hold that childhood makes the instrument, youth tunes the strings, and early manhood plays the melody? “
We first meet Michael Fane as a small boy, who has just moved from the country to a house in London. His childish delights and concerns are believable and vivid–including the dreadful nanny who told him terrifying stories about what happened to bad boys, stories which he wholeheartedly believes. From childhood, he grows to boyhood–school days, fraught with battle–treats from the tuck shop–his favorite books—his enthusiasms, defeats and triumphs. Along the way, he learns to love his sister, a talented pianist. The first book ends with his entry into university, and his sister’s triumphant debut concert. So many stories, so much matter!
The details of childhood and adolescence, the agonies of social embarrassment and the happiness of boyhood adventures–including a beautiful and ethereal first love–are lovingly assembled and examined. England’s green and pleasant land is ever present in the background, with its lush fields, charming water meadows, spinneys and copses–and of course, the seaside, the cliffs and beaches.
It is the vision of a whole elaborate social world–now long departed–that I found so fascinating. We encounter both dire cruelties and precious refinements unheard of today. The schoolboys say things like “beastly rotters”, “I say, this is awfully decent!”, “How jolly ripping!”–all phrases now associated with Monty Pythonesque satires, but of course, quite true to life for the time. History exact and evident, right there on every page.
Gutenberg has the book available online.
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