THE ANGRY DECADE

by Kenneth Allsop ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 10, 1958

Since the publication of The Outsider and the stage production of Look Back in Anger, Britain's ""angry young men"" have gained publicity if not popularity in literary circles. The Angry Decade is an internal examination of the raison d'etre of these rebels. Allsop probes for the similarities among people like Colin Wilson, Stuart Holroyd, John Osborne and others which have caused the appellation to apply undifferentiated. The central paradox of the ""movement"" of the Fifties is that the new dissentients' true cognizance of their surroundings is obscured by their exclusive focus upon labyrinthine love and hate relationships -- their own. Dealing often with the semi-intellectual underdog, the problem becomes his secure placement on his own terms in the social structure. Rebellion it is, spiritual in tone, but anarchic in direction. The author claims that the proper task of the post-war writer is to acknowledge the fact that anger has a limited use in this age where innocence has been violated -- where we have reached the darkness of man's heart. ""Love has a wider application."" The Angry Decade will undoubtedly find its market among readers of the young men themselves.

Pub Date: Nov. 10, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: The British Book Centre

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION