Keenly observed autobiographical fiction and journal entries from acclaimed writer Denton Welch, featuring an introduction by William S. Burroughs “In Youth Is Pleasure” recounts the summer vacation of Orvil Pym—a sensitive, withdrawn, and deeply unhappy boy of fifteen. Following a trying year at public school, Orvil spends the summer with his father and two older brothers. The quotidian events of a seemingly ordinary summer are rendered dazzling by the intensity of adolescence and Welch’s gift for human observation. First published in 1945, “In Youth Is Pleasure” is based closely on Welch’s own adolescent experiences of solitude and introspection. This volume also includes “I Left My Grandfather’s House,” an unforgettable account of a walking tour through the British countryside. These two works feature Welch at his autobiographical best.
First published in 1945, In Youth Is Pleasure recounts a summer in the life of 15-year-old Orvil Pym, who is holidaying with his father and brothers in a Kentish hotel, with little to do but explore the countryside and surrounding area. 'I don't understand what to do, how to live': so says the 15-year-old Orvil - who, as a boy who glories and suffers in the agonies of adolescence, dissecting the teenage years with an acuity, stands as a clear (marvelously British) ancestor of The Catcher In The Rye's Holden Caulfield. A delicate coming-of-age novel, shot through with humour, In Youth Is Pleasure, has long achieved cult status, and earned admirers ranging from Alan Bennett to William Burroughs, Edith Sitwell to John Waters. 'Maybe there is no better novel in the world that is Denton Welch's In Youth Is Pleasure,' wrote Waters. 'Just holding it my hands... is enough to make illiteracy a worse crime than hunger.
Welch’s piercing, intimate, slightly fictionalized, and posthumously published work deals with the bicycle accident that would cause his death thirteen years later At age twenty, Denton Welch was bicycling from London, where he was studying art, to Surrey to pay a visit to his aunt and uncle when he was struck by a car. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, unable to move, gazing up at the sky, scarcely aware of anything but the sensation of grass against the back of his neck and the sound of a voice asking him questions. As he swam in and out of consciousness, nurses, doctors, and relatives came and went, days passed, and he remained bedridden in a hospital ward. In his characteristic unsparing prose, Welch takes readers through every step of his painful journey toward a partial recovery. Full of unflinching self-scrutiny, A Voice Through a Cloud is an unforgettable work of pain and healing.
A moving coming-of-age novel based on the author’s adolescent experiences in China At sixteen, Denton Welch was attending school in Derbyshire, England. One morning, instead of taking the train to school, he caught a bus traveling in the opposite direction with no real plan except to start a new adventure. Although he reluctantly returned to school at his family’s bidding, he soon received a letter postmarked from Shanghai—a letter from his father suggesting that Denton join him China. So began a momentous journey that would shape young Denton Welch’s life. Leaving behind his companions at school as well as the life he had known, he traveled across the globe to China, where he was seized with a sense of wonder completely new to him. It was there, so far from his roots, that young Denton began to explore his ambitions, aspirations, and secret desires. Written with an artist’s keen sensibility for observation and inspired by J. R. Ackerley’s Hindoo Holiday, Maiden Voyage is an unforgettable tale of growing up and discovering oneself.
Certainly the writer who most directly influenced my work." - William S. Burroughs A Voice Through A Cloud is Denton Welch's unfinished masterpiece. Welch, one of the most gifted creative artists of his generation, died in 1948 at the age of thirty-one, leaving this, perhaps his finest work, almost but not quite completed. Under the thin disguise of fiction Welch recreates the world of hospitals and nursing homes in which he spent so many months after the accident which was eventually to prove fatal to him. The details of daily routine, the fellow patients, the nurses and doctors, the comedies and tragedies which loom so large in the confined existence of the sick, all are described so vividly, with so much humour and pathos, with so accurate a listening ear, so watchful and penetrating an eye, that it is almost impossible to believe that the experience on which it is based was one of long exhausting pain to the author himself, and that book was conceived in pain and carried through with failing physical powers. "Rapt attention to the aesthetic ... essential." - The Paris Review "So deliciously subversive, it is enough to make illiteracy a worse social crime than hunger." - John Waters About the author Denton Welch (1915-1948) was born in Shanghai in 1915, the youngest of four boys, to a wealthy British--American family. After leaving his English boarding school (Repton), Welch decided to follow his dream of becoming a painter, and studied art at Goldsmiths in London. The physical injuries sustained in a cycling accident in 1935, however, saw him increasingly turn towards a hitherto secondary interest: writing. When Welch's debut, Maiden Voyage, was published in 1942, it was an instant literary sensation ('I have been told that it reeks of homosexuality, ' wrote Winston Churchill's secretary; 'I think I must get it'). This was followed by In Youth Is Pleasure in 1945 and, after his premature death from spinal tuberculosis in 1948, the publication of his unfinished masterpiece, A Voice Through A Cloud. 'If any writer has been neglected it is Denton', wrote William Burroughs in 1985 - but Welch is also a writer who has attracted a firm coterie of admirers, ranging from W.H. Auden to Alan Bennett, Edith Sitwell to John Waters. Of his short life, Edmund White has noted, 'He had the power to generate interest out of even the most meagre materials. He had this gift from the beginning but suffering and illness refined it to a white--hot flame.' Praise 'That rare being, a born writer.' - Edith Sitwell 'The real horror implicit in the book is that pain is the only reality.' - Jocelyn Brooke 'Are we not all, emotionally, what Mr Welch is in fact - orphans, each traveling alone on a journey which, if it is headed in the direction of unknown dangers, at least is heading away from the fears one knows?' - W.H. Auden 'An incomparable account of shattered flash and refracted spirit.' - John Updike, The New Yorker 'A Voice Through a Cloud is one of the saddest books in all fiction. It is also one of the most exquisite.' - Lars Iyer 'His best book.' - The New York Review of Books 'Rapt attention to the aesthetic ... His protagonists are misfits: alienated, implicitly gay, longing for love, frequently hard to be around, always fixated on small pleasures that compensate for an essential feeling of not belonging.' - The Paris Review
Unlike any other person I had come across, Welch seemed to be speaking particularly to me' Alan Bennett 'Vivid ... surprising ... an exquisite balance of pain and beauty' Guardian Orvil Pym does not fit in. A waifish, eccentric, sensitive fifteen-year-old, he hates school and longs to be alone. Spending his Summer holidays in a genteel Surrey hotel with his mysterious father and two brothers who don't understand him, he explores ancient churches, spies on a man rowing in the river and collects antiques, escaping into his own singular aesthetic world. First published in 1945, this is an unforgettable portrayal of a young man's sensuous coming-of-age. 'A heightened, sensual journey ... it is Orvil's vibrant energy that allows this book to bubble ... beautifully odd ... spectacular' Independent
The record of a thrilling and tormenting gay love affair in World War II England, these letters also reveal a devastating experience of disability and, above all, the awakening of a remarkable and unforgettable literary voice.
When Kentucky Blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985—carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine—the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the U.S. government. The story of Thornton and “The Company” he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.
Conflict over moral, religious, social, political, and economic values fuel social movements. People form organized collectivities to promote or to oppose changes in societal norms and values. The steady growth in globalization and access to information have increased the perception of threats to identity, values, and culture. Persuasion and Social Movements provides a solid foundation for understanding how people collectively shape society. The latest edition marks three decades of synthesizing, applying, and extending research and theories about the persuasive efforts of social movements. Historic and current examples illustrate the many facets of social movement persuasion: Persuasion is inherently practical; we can study it most profitably by examining the functions of persuasive acts. Even apparently irrational acts make sense to the actoreffective analysis discovers the reasoning behind the acts. People create and comprehend their world through symbols, and it is people who create, use, ignore, or act on these symbolic creations. Although they remain important in social movement persuasion, speeches are now one of many resources for organizing and carrying out a variety of protests. New technologies have transformed how social movements come into existence, constitute organizations, establish coalitions, pressure institutions, and communicate with a wide variety of audiences. Social movements sometimes sell conspiracy theories to skeptical audiences, justify inherently divisive tactics, and use violence as a rhetorical strategy. Institutions and countermovements have a variety of strategies for resistance.
At the age of twenty, the novelist Denton Welch suffered a cycling accident that left him partially paralyzed; the injuries that he sustained were to leave him in almost constant pain for the rest of his life, as well as bestowing upon him the spinal tuberculosis that would kill him at the age of 33. A Voice Trough a Cloud - increasingly regarded as Welch's masterpiece - is his account of this accident and the period of convalescence soon after. The unsparing chronicle of the world of a hospital patient - riddled with anger, boredom, almost unbearable stabs of pain and sharp flashes of humour - A Voice Trough a Cloud is, as John Updike wrote in The New Yorker, "An incomparable account of shattered flash and refracted spirit." His third and final novel, and written at a point when Welch could write for no more than a few minutes a day, A Voice Trough A Cloud is nonetheless possibly one of the most complete accounts of health and mortality; as Edmund White says, it is a book of "long slow dying", "through which all the world's strangeness can be perceived.
The third volume in Enitharmon's Denton Welch series is his autobiographical novella I Left My Grandfather's House, written in 1943, first published posthumously in 1958 and only briefly in print since. In the novella Welch recounts a walking tour undertaken in southern England ten years before, while he was a painting student at the Goldsmiths' School of Art. His many adventures along the way are described with a characteristic lyricism and energy, as well as with a sense of nostalgia not only for the pre-war world, but also for the innocent enjoyment of existence in the years before Welch was permanently disabled by a life-threatening accident. As Edmund White has written: 'Welch has the power to generate interest out of even the most meagre materials. He had this gift from the beginning but suffering and illness refined it into a white-hot flame.
The tale of the Bechtel family dynasty is a classic American business story. It begins with Warren A. 'Dad' Bechtel, who led a consortium that constructed the Hoover Dam. From that auspicious start, the family and its eponymous company would go on to 'build the world,' from the construction of airports in Hong Kong and Doha, to pipelines and tunnels in Alaska and Europe, to mining and energy operations around the globe. Today Bechtel is one of the largest privately held corporations in the world, enriched and empowered by a long history of government contracts and the privatization of public works, made possible by an unprecedented revolving door between its San Francisco headquarters and Washingto
Maiden Voyage is Denton Welch's debut novel, a frankly autobiographical account of a short period in his life when - at the age of 16 - he ran away from his English boarding school, before being sent back to Shanghai to live with his businessman father. "Trembling with sex", is how Alan Bennett wonderfully describes Maiden Voyage; and as well as portraying so acutely the passions and nameless longings of a teenage boy, and the strange quirks and brutalities of public school life, it is also a novel that deals with the agony of childhood bereavement - the suffering of a boy who has only recently lost his mother. When Maiden Voyage was first published in 1943 it was an overnight sensation, and so graphic in its depiction of adolescence and the schooling system that Welch's publisher - Herbert Read - was forced to seek legal advice. Seventy years on, there is little to shock the modern reader - but more than enough to earn a new generation of fans and admirers. William Burroughs said, "If ever there was a writer who was neglected, it was Denton. He makes you aware of the magic that is right beneath your eyes.
The record of a thrilling and tormenting gay love affair in World War II England, these letters also reveal a devastating experience of disability and, above all, the awakening of a remarkable and unforgettable literary voice.
Longhorn Hoops documents the history of basketball at the University of Texas. For men's basketball, Richard Pennington goes season by season, describing every game the Longhorns have ever played from 1906 to 1998. He does the same for women's basketball, except for the first two chapters, which cover longer spans of time leading up to the establishment of basketball as a varsity sport for women in 1974. Pennington demonstrates that Texas basketball, while always secondary to King Football, actually has a long and colorful history. Beside stories of games won or lost, points scored, and rebounds collected, Pennington recalls the orange-and-white stars of yesteryear--from Clyde Littlefield to Reggie Freeman--and brings the greatest teams to life, including the unbeaten Steers of 1924, the Final Four team of 1947, Harold Bradley's 1963 team, Abe Lemons' 1978 NIT champions, and Tom Penders' 1990 Longhorns. Perhaps the most interesting story in Longhorn Hoops is how Anna Hiss, director of women's physical education at Texas from 1921 to 1957, helped lead a nationwide movement against intercollegiate competition for women, which shut down UT women's basketball for several decades and and made progress in the 1960s and 1970s much more difficult. Some determined co-eds got it going again, and, with the energy and direction of women's athletic director Donna Lopiano and coach Jody Conradt (whose teams have won more than 700 games), the Longhorns built a powerhouse program that reached its apex with an undefeated team in 1986, winning the NCAA championship with the heroics of freshman star Clarissa Davis. Basketball, as Pennington notes in his preface, is the most beautiful sport ofall, and its history at the University of Texas has now been told. This comprehensive book features a foreword by Dr. Denton Cooley, the world-famous heart surgeon who helped the Longhorns win an SWC title in 1939.
While the unemployment rate for young people has always tended to be well above the average, this tendency has been greatly accentuated in recent years. There is a large turnover in the youth labour force, and the employment of experience of those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five has been marked by seasonal variations. This study discusses the factors which contribute to the high youth unemployment rate, examines the historical record of labout force participation, and provides some projections into the future.
This book examines types of political participation in ten Asian countries. The inquiry begins by building on past theories of types of political behavior and who participates in each type. Then six dimensions of political participation are constructed and tested using a survey dataset from the Asian Barometer Survey. The findings from this empirical analysis indicate that Asians also fall into six political behavior types.The analysis continues with an examination of social characteristics (such as age, gender, income, etc.) that help determine with which type of participation one will be involved. After examining participation in the region as a whole, the scope of this book turns to a quantitative investigation of individual countries in Asia.
Technologically driven information overloads corporate leaders, managers, and employees alike, forcing them into a reactive mode with little time for reflection or strategic thinking. When the survey is completed, the teleconference over, and the weekend retreat a distant memory, we go back to our jobs unchanged. We hope that our activities contribute to corporate objectives, but we quickly lose sight of the connection between our work and critical outcomes. It doesn't have to be that way. Denton explains how to combine new interactive Intranet Web-based technology with new managerial software to focus on strategic decision making, effective team management, and the big picture. Along with its companion Web site, www.CIVID3.com, this book provides an innovative solution that integrates and displays your critical information in real time. Condense all the reports received from finance, operations, marketing, and other divisions into a single interactive visual display that's always up to date. Establish two-way communication that allows managers and workers at all levels of the company to participate. This is the first system to graphically display—on a single desktop screen—the status of your key organizational and group performance measures. Combine outcomes and processes. Use subjective as well as objective information. Integrate and display the results in a user-friendly format, in real time. This book's solution allows organizational members to focus on their ultimate purpose and makes it easier to implement strategic or operational decisions.
In recent years, an expanding body of research evidence has begun to high light the value of nursing care. This evidence confirms what nurses have known for many years - that nursing care helps more patients to get better quicker. Patients value nurses as those members of the health care team that make them feel 'human' and ensure that their treatment is not more of an ordeal than their illness. The research also shows that nursing care is value for money. For the 29000 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer annuaIly, the value of nursing is self evident. Every woman should have access to the care, expertise and support of a breast care nurse. Nursing care is changing. Patients are rightly more informed about different treatment options and more assertive in seeking high quality services. They are much more likely to be aware that breast care nurses have a special service to offer and they are very likely to want help and support at horne as weIl as or instead of in hospital., The outreach work of breast care nurses provides a model for many other patient services where people need continuous support from before diagnosis, through diagnosis, surgery or treatment, to after care, rehabilitation and monitoring.
Originally published in 1977, Energy II provides a comprehensive and updated bibliography of energy in the context of the social sciences. Following on from the first bibliography published in 1975, this book offers a fully updated bibliography, and argues that energy problems are best seen in the context of social phenomena, such as social attitudes, social behaviours, social institutions and structures and populations. The book provides a unique list of references that examine energy problems outside of the context of social factors.
This will help us customize your experience to showcase the most relevant content to your age group
Please select from below
Login
Not registered?
Sign up
Already registered?
Success – Your message will goes here
We'd love to hear from you!
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.