The Go-Between (Penguin Readers (Graded Readers)) - Softcover

Hartley, L P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0582419204 ISBN 13: 9780582419209

Publisher: Longman, 1999

Synopsis

In the summer of 1900, Leo stays with his friend, Marcus. He finds himself falling in love with Marcus's beautiful older sister and, in consequence, agrees to become the "go-between" for her and the local farmer - a relationship that her parents know nothing about.
This secret leads to trouble and by the end of the holiday Leo's childhood is over.

About this title

Review

"Exuding such a sense of summer the pages might be warm to touch, Hartley's coming-of-age tale is set during the heatwave of 1900. It all ends in tears, but not before there have been plenty of cucumber sandwiches on the lawn." --"The Observer
The first time I read it, it cleared a haunting little spot in my memory, sort of like an embassy to my own foreign country . I don't want to spoil the suspense of a well-made plot, because you must read this, but let's just say it goes really badly and the messenger (shockingly) gets blamed. Or he blames himself anyway. And here the mirror cracks; the boy who leaves Brandham is not the one who came. Indeed the narrator converses with his old self as though he were two people. That was the powerful gonging left by my first read: What, if anything, bundles us through time into a single person? Ann Brashares, All Things Considered, NPR
I can't stop recommending to anyone in earshot L.P. Hartley's "The Go-Between" . One of the fabled opening lines in modern literature: The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there. The NYRB paperback has a superb new introduction by Colm Toibin, but don't read it until after you've read the book itself. Frank Rich, "New York "Magazine.com
""

"Exuding such a sense of summer the pages might be warm to touch, Hartley's coming-of-age tale is set during the heatwave of 1900. It all ends in tears, but not before there have been plenty of cucumber sandwiches on the lawn." --The Observer

"The first time I read it, it cleared a haunting little spot in my memory, sort of like an embassy to my own foreign country.... I don't want to spoil the suspense of a well-made plot, because you must read this, but let's just say it goes really badly and the messenger (shockingly) gets blamed. Or he blames himself anyway. And here the mirror cracks; the boy who leaves Brandham is not the one who came. Indeed the narrator converses with his old self as though he were two people. That was the powerful gonging left by my first read: What, if anything, bundles us through time into a single person?" - Ann Brashares, "All Things Considered," NPR

"I can't stop recommending to anyone in earshot L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between.... One of the fabled opening lines in modern literature: 'The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.' The NYRB paperback has a superb new introduction by Colm Toibin, but don't read it until after you've read the book itself." - Frank Rich, New York Magazine.com

Book Description

L. P. Hartley’s enduring coming of age story about a forbidden love and its terrible consequences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Longman
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0582419204
• ISBN 13: 9780582419209
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160