Literary Significance and Reception
The Good Companions was an instant hit on publication, but was not particularly well regarded by critics. Despite this, it remained popular for over forty years. It then fell out of favour, not only because the novel was written from a (rather old fashioned) middle class perspective but also because it deals with a phenomenon (a travelling music hall troupe) which no longer exists.
Nonetheless, Priestley's ear for dialectal foibles is keen, and many of his constructions (e.g. 'Unkerlathur' for 'Uncle Arthur') are acutely observed. More recently there has been a reappraisal of this and other Priestley works: a new edition of The Good Companions appeared in October 2007 with a foreword by Dame Judi Dench, accompanying a reappraisal of the various versions by Ronald Harwood, Andre Previn and Judy Cornwell amongst others.
Read more about this topic: The Good Companions
Famous quotes containing the words literary, significance and/or reception:
“... my last work is no sooner on the stands than letters come, suggesting a subject. The grandmothers of strangers are crying from the grave, it seems, for literary recognition; it is bewildering, the number of salty grandfathers, aunts and uncles that languish unappreciated.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)
“For a parent, it’s hard to recognize the significance of your work when you’re immersed in the mundane details. Few of us, as we run the bath water or spread the peanut butter on the bread, proclaim proudly, “I’m making my contribution to the future of the planet.” But with the exception of global hunger, few jobs in the world of paychecks and promotions compare in significance to the job of parent.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)