Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Michael Frayn
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I have read Spies and enjoyed it, but don’t remember much about it
Susan wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations?"As novels, no. I read his first, The Tin Men, once but wasn't hugely impressed. However...
Noises Off is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in the theatre. I saw Paul Eddington in it (which gives you some idea how long ago it was); both he and the rest of the cast were excellent and the play itself was fantastically well done. I've rarely been in pain from laughing too much in the theatre, but I was that night.
And Copenhagen is simply brilliant. I've read quite a lot of fiction which tries to include quantum mechanics; most of it is simply ridiculously wrong and very few authors really get it. Frayn does, and his evocation of the relationship between Heisenberg and Bohr, their respective morals and the parallels between that and the physics are all excellently done - as is the role of Margrethe Bohr (Neils's wife) as a sort of quiet, sane mediator. It's one of the finest things I've seen and I can really recommend it. (The BBC made an excellent film of it 20 years ago with Stephen Rea, Daniel Craig and Francesca Annis. Sadly, it's not on iPlayer at the moment.)
(And it makes a wonderful contrast to Hapgood, Tom Stoppard's attempt to show off how much he knew about physics. I saw that with a fabulous cast including Felicity Kendall before it went to the West End and have to denounce it as incomprehensible, nonsensical tosh.)
Don't know whether that's of any help, but it's my two penn'orth.
I have read Spies and enjoyed it. I have a copy of Headlong and will read it at some point.
I have read Spies, Headlong and The Human Touch. Spies was the most enjoyable - found Headlong a little disappointing.
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"Don't know whether that's of any help, but it's my two penn'orth"
A great read Sid - thanks
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Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. His novels include 'Towards the End of the Morning', 'The Trick of It' and 'A Landing on the Sun'. 'Headlong' was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize, Whitbread Novel Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. His most recent novel, 'Spies', is now available in paperback. His thirteen plays range from 'Noises Off' to 'Copenhagen', and he has translated a number of works, mostly from Russian. He is married to the biographer and critic Claire Tomalin.
Does anyone have any recommendations?