Product Description

London 1939, and in the grimy publands of Earls Court, George Harvey Bone is pursuing a helpless infatuation with Netta who is cool, contemptuous and hopelessly desirable to George. George is adrift in hell, until something goes click in his head and he realizes that he must kill her.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10899 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
Suave, clever-clever story of a schizophrenic, his infatuation for a brutal, perverse young miss, and their coterie of dissipates who live in rather seedy circumstances in London's Earl Court. George Harvey Fone, lumberini, gauche, persistent, lonely, has two troubles. One, the "dead" moods which snap on and off and during which he realizes he has to kill Netta. Two, Netta, whom he timorously worships, and who only tolerates him for what he can buy her. How Netta, who "looked like a Byron beauty and was a fish", Peter, her Fascistic friend, go on riding and rooking Bone until finally his schizophrenic alter ego takes its violent revenge. Provocative, and handled with deliberate - acidulous details. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
London 1939, and in the grimy publands of Earls Court, George Harvey Bone is pursuing a helpless infatuation with Netta who is cool, contemptuous and hopelessly desirable to George. George is adrift in hell, until something goes click in his head and he realizes that he must kill her.

About the Author
Patrick Hamilton was one of the most gifted and admired writers of his generation. Born in Hassocks, Sussex, in 1904, he and his parents moved a short while later to Hove, where he spent his early years. He published his first novel, Craven House, in 1926 and within a few years had established a wide readership for himself. Despite personal setbacks and an increasing problem with drink, he was able to write some of his best work. His plays include the thrillers Rope (1929), on which Alfred Hitchcock's film of the same name was based, and Gas Light (1939), also successfully adapted for the screen (1939), and a historical drama, The Duke in Darkness (1943). Among his novels are The Midnight Bell (1929); The Siege of Pleasure (1932); The Plains of Cement (1934); a trilogy entitled Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky (1935); Hangover Square (1941); The Slaves of Solitude (1947); and The West Pier (1951), Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse (1953) and Unknown Assailant (1955), which together comprise The Gorse Trilogy. J. B. Priestley described Patrick Hamilton as uniquely individual ... He is the novelist of innocence, appallingly vulnerable, and of malevolence, coming out of some mysterious darkness of evil.' Patrick Hamilton died in 1962.

Customer Reviews

Patrick Hamilton - Hangover Square
Super! It's rare that I just pick up a book while browsing at random - normally I have very fixed ideas of what I wish to buy - but I bought this on a whim, grabbed by the synopsis, and I don't regret it a bit. Hangover Square is a wonderful read, a dark, comic tale of loneliness, obsession, schizophrenia and drunkeness. George Harvey Bone is obsessed with Netta Longdon, a beautiful, enigmatic woman, and, to be frank, a right bitch. She manipulates him and takes him for whatever she can, perfectly aware of his infatuation with her. Her and her coterie of similarly selfish friends treat kindly George as a mug, letting him dance attendance on them, a tolerated hanger on in their lifestyle of daytime drinking, smoking and general looseness. Bits of the book remind me of my own life (in more ways than one), which was certainly a striking experience! This was partly why the book was so fascinating to me, and the synopsis grabbed me so in the first place.

While it's a dark book, and one justly wants to give Netta a lot more than a good slap for the cruel way she goes about her business, it's also a very funny one, with a great sense of black humour. It's great fun to read, and one really hopes George will be able to release himself from the girl's grasp. The plot moves briskly, and there's not a dull page as a host of fascinating people dip in and out of things. Possibly the greatest achievement of the book is the underlying levels of compassion that Hamilton has for George, the saddening way the character's real loneliness is conveyed. Hangover Square is dark and funny and fascinating, but, come it's final few pages, it is also very, very sad. It's a book that should be far more widely read than it is.

Wake Up George!
I discovered this book almost by chance, it just seemed to be screaming at me from the shelf in the bookstore, I flipped through it and thought it was one of those arty books, but I gave it a go anyway.
I got home after work and picked it up, I was instantly hooked. There's something indescribable about this book, I just wanted to grab George by the shoulders and tell him that Netta wasn't worth all this pain and agony! I will say that at times it is a little depressing but definitely a classic that has sadly been forgotten.
I nearly cried at the end because of George's ending, the sad thing is though, there is people like that still in this world who are being taken advantage of at every possible stage.
Please give this book a go as it is truly breathtaking.

Sex, Madness and Utter Moral Failure
It's arguable, but I think this is Hamilton's masterpiece. The reason I say this is the way he creates such a plausible and compelling account of a descent into madness and links it so effortlessly to the moral collapse of Neville Chamberlains England.

I have read this book many times, and Hamilton is so skilled at playing the readers hopes that each time I root for George and hope he will make the two or three simple choices that will save him (one may have the same feelings about England when reading Churchill on the lead up to World War 2). But he never does- the tragedy unfolds from its seeds on the first few pages and is always terrible.

In Netta he has surely also created one of the finest and most repulsive femmes fatale ever.

If you have ever been unhappily in love and been led a merry dance, you will find George Harvey Bone in yourself and be both moved, afraid and grateful that you escaped.

If you have ever lived in a country busy being sold down the river by weak leaders, then the same applies.

Buy this book!