Product Description

Vic Brown is attracted to the beautiful but demanding Ingrid. As their relationship grows and changes he comes to terms - the hard way - with adult life and what it really means to love. Set in the 1960s, the novel raises issues against a clearly-evoked social and historical context.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #650207 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

Customer Reviews

One of the greatest novels of the 20th century
I first read this book (& its two follow-ups " the watchers on the shore" & " the right true end”) when we did " a kind of loving" in drama at high school, in which for some reason I was given the lead part of Vic Brown (I think it was the fact that I could actually read in my native Yorkshire accent, rather than my acting abilities, which no-one else seemed able to do!!).As our adaptation progressed I became more & more impressed by the depth of Stan Barstow’s writing and this lead me to my local library, where I found the follow-ups and several other novels by the same author. I quickly ordered the second & third novels of the "Vic Brown trilogy then all Mr Barstow’s other novels which also impressed me, but after over 20 years I am still drawn back repeatedly to the kind of loving trilogy. Simply, in my humble opinion it is one of, if not the, greatest novel of the 20th century.

THE ORIGINAL LADS' NOVEL
Stan Barstow's landmark 'Brit-Lit' novel of the sixties immortalized Vic Brown, the amiable working class lad from the North and led the way for author's like Nick Hornby writing similar slice-of-life drama. Still as fresh and alive today, it spawned two sequels which are equally as good: The Watchers on the Shore and The Right True End. All three novels are collected in A Kind of Loving: The Vic Brown Trilogy. And the cult 1962 film adaptation starring Alan Bates is out now on video. Essential reading and highly recommended. A timeless classic.

Gritty and gripping
Gritty tale of 1950s teenage life in a small northern town. Decent Vic Brown is brought down by his lust for Ingrid Rothwell. Engaging and funny, this, the first of a trilogy of books, brings to life a bygone world.