Panic Party

BERKELEY, Anthony.

Verlag: Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1934

Beschreibung

1st Edition. Description: Blue cloth with black titles to front and spine. Language: English. Book Condition> Poor: Heavy wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Tears to spine edge cloth. Heavily rubbed boards and spine. Cracked endpapers. Remains of plate to rear paste down. Page 31 detached and creased. Tanned pages with occasional spots or marks. DJ Condition> Na. 320pp. Size: 12mo (large) 19.5cm by 13cm. Book Resume: In Panic Party (1934), Sheringham alone stands resolute and decent when a group of pleasure-cruisers are stranded on a desert island and, believing that there is a murderer amongst them, panic breaks out This book reveals Berkeley at his shrewdest and most cynical about human nature, as he outlines a chilling scenario of Ôcivilised' human beings reverting into savages This same premise was used to devastating effect twenty years later in William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954) Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery (1927) saw the introduction of Inspector Moresby of Scotland Yard Moresby is the detective who works most frequently with Sheringham and is remarkably tolerant of his amateur interference Berkeley was so busy trying to subvert the detective fiction tradition set by Conan Doyle, whereby the amateur or private detective always outdoes the professional, that often Moresby's methodical plodding reaches the correct conclusion while Sheringham is still wallowing in his Ôpsychological' misconceptions Indeed, one of the hallmarks of the Roger Sheringham books is that the amateur detective frequently reaches totally the wrong conclusion Panic Party is one of Berkeley's most fascinating books, an innovative exploration of human psychology under stress The puckish Mr Pidgeon strands fourteen guests on an island he has bought, tells them one of them is a murderer, and watches the reaction Although he intended it as a joke, he is pushed off a cliffÑand it becomes clear that Mr Pidgeon's joke may have been no laughing matter Sheringham takes charge in an effort to maintain civilisation and prevent an emotional volcano from erupting, and has a very difficult job of it, with madness and violence breaking out all over the place In Berkeley's view, society equals restraint, a mask concealing the individual's true character and feelings; with society gone, the mask vanishes, and the raw person is left . PLEASE ASK for additional photographs if required. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 7100

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Panic Party

Verlag: Hodder & Stoughton, London

Erscheinungsdatum: 1934

Einband: Hardcover

Zustand: Poor

Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Na

Auflage: 1st Edition.