The Bowie Book Club discussion

It is no spoiler to say that the book's timeframe spreads just over one day, hence a Saturday.
Part I covers the chapters 1 to 3 that take place in the (late) morning.

Please, mind the book part you are commenting on in order to avoid spoilers.

Discussion leader finally checking in here! As I mentioned elsewhere, this week was very busy, so reading took a bit of a back seat for the time being... plus I'm reading this as an ebook, and I always have trouble feeling engaged with a book when it's not good ol' paper and ink in my hands. In any case...

I'm enjoying Billy Liar so far, but it's quite a light read with not much to sink my teeth into. I'm finding so far that I'm mainly interested in how it feels very of its time -- a kind of snapshot of working-class and lower-middle-class British life after the war. There's definitely a sense of claustrophobia and dullness that surrounds Billy, so little wonder that he is so tied into his various fantasy worlds. I think that the cultural history of "swinging London" is so weighty -- all those images of the Beatles and the Stones and Carnaby Street, etc. -- that it's easy to overlook that for a good 15 years after the war, British life wasn't really much like that at all.

I enjoy Billy as a narrator, in particular his exasperated, ironic, irreverent tone when recounting the morning battle with his family. I also got a kick out of the routine of jokes and impressions he does with his coworkers at the funeral business -- it reminded me a lot of a couple of different Monty Python routines (particularly the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition sketch and the Prince Launcelot scene from Holy Grail), so I'm assuming these were all based in established cultural tropes/references that had become cliches at that point. I can certainly imagine a young David Jones finding it all pretty hilarious, even if it doesn't necessarily hold the same significance for readers 50 years on.

Speaking of Bowie, I found that one wonderfully vivid line in chapter 2 really jumped out at me: "Frowning women, their black, scratched handbags crammed with half-digested grievances, pushed through the vegetable stalls to the steps of the rates office." I was immediately reminded of the opening lines to Five Years: "Pushing through the market square / So many mothers sighing." It struck me as the kind of image that may have gotten stuck in his mind as a young reader, which then surfaced all those years later when he was writing the song.

Other thoughts or impressions?

Thanks Sara, I'm currently reading chapter one. I had some difficulty to get past the two first pages but I persevered ;-)

It is very British indeed, it brings me back in time - in my early years - having spent much holiday time in London where the only distraction was to pick up the fresh milk left by the milkman at the doorstep and going for a walk to the local newsagents' in order to buy some sweets (obviously, as a child, I could not wander all by myself in Camden Town or Portobello Road).

Billy tells his family about the possibility of writing comedy for a famous London comedian and he gets back in return the likes of "what about your job", "who do you think's going to keep you?". This passage makes me think of David Bowie.

I've just finished Chapter...1 (applause, thank you, thank you). Lol.

I enjoyed it. I loved the sub-plot around the disposal plans of the "stolen" calendars (before Facebook, Youtube, etc., there were calendars with cute pictures of cats and dogs. Human don't change that much). Wonder how Billy's going to manage.

^ Thanks Cynthia. I look forward to reading what you make of it as you work through it

Sara wrote: "I'm enjoying Billy Liar so far, but it's quite a light read with not much to sink my teeth into"

I'll be interested to read your conclusions when you finish Sara. I think there's a lot more going on than first appears.

Nigeyb wrote: " I think there's a lot more going on than first appears."

I agree! The further I've gone on (no plot spoilers for anyone who hasn't read past chapter 3) the more it's challenging my expectations. (I wonder if some of those expectations come from the fact that it's often described primarily as a comedic novel, and while there is a lot of great humor in it, it's really a bit darker than that.)

Sara wrote: "Nigeyb wrote: " I think there's a lot more going on than first appears."

I agree! "

In Chapter 1, you get that sense that Billy's future seems bleak with little prospect of self-advancement.
His parents - anyway his dad for sure - are not supportive of any of his ideas and Gran seems to consider him just as another piece of furniture in the house.

When I read the concluding sentence of Billy's mother's letter to the radio programme editor which Billy had not posted, "we're just ordinary folk", I felt very sorry for her.
Those words encompass all the lost possibilities, the forgotten dreams, the buried regrets.
There's also this very brief but powerful moment of motherly love, before Billy leaves for work, where you can feel the mum's longing for Billy to have another life in store for him where he could fulfil his dreams.

A great observation Cynthia. Wonderful.

I'll add another couple of themes I noticed: the tensions between burgeoning adult responsibility versus teenage dreams; and creativity versus conformity.

Nigeyb wrote: "A great observation Cynthia. Wonderful.

I'll add another couple of themes I noticed: the tensions between burgeoning adult responsibility versus teenage dreams; and creativity versus conformity."

Yes :-) Billy's character is 19, no better age to mark the transition between adolescence and adulthood.
Creativity vs conformity, that surely spoke to Bowie.

I'm happy to announce that I finished chapter 3 last night, lol.
The episode in the cabinet is very funny.

I'm finding it hard to immerse myself in the story, but I intend to finish it.