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First in the Old Filth trilogy. A New York Times Notable Book. Sir Edward Feathers has had a brilliant career, from his early days as a lawyer in Southeast Asia, where he earned the nickname Old Filth (FILTH being an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong) to his final working days as a respected judge at the English bar. Yet through it all he has carried with him the wounds of a difficult and emotionally hollow childhood. Now an eighty-year-old widower living in comfortable seclusion in show more Dorset, Feathers is finally free from the regimen of work and the sentimental scaffolding that has sustained him throughout his life. He slips back into the past with ever mounting frequency and intensity, and on the tide of these vivid, lyrical musings, Feathers approaches a reckoning with his own history. Not all the old filth, it seems, can be cleaned away. Borrowing from biography and history, Jane Gardam has written a literary masterpiece reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling's "Baa Baa, Black Sheep" that retraces much of the twentieth century's torrid and momentous history. show lessTags
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teelgee Parallels in the exploration of a man's life, regrets, memories.
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This is a very, very English novel; very stiff upper lip very British. I mean what in the world are Raj orphans? Never heard of it. And Gillow furniture??For an American, this novel tested my limited knowledge of the UK. But fortunately, with some help from Wikipedia and Google, and because of the elegant writing style employed by Jane Gardam, my enjoyment of this novel wasn’t really hampered by my ignorance.
It is a tale told from both ends of Sir Edward Feathers life and Gardam takes us eloquently back and forth in time and space. He was born to English parents stationed in Malaya in 1914. His mother died as a result of the birth. His father was remote and showed no interest in or love of the boy. Eddie was a Raj Orphan, as were so show more many Brits born in the far-flung East. That meant he was hustled away from his parent when he was a preschooler back to England where he would be raised by a foster family, then on to boarding school. Eddie’s experience was nightmarish and haunts him for the rest of his life.
Even so, he goes on to be a good lawyer and judge in Hong Kong, where he comes to be known as Old Filth, the term Filth, an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. And we’re introduced to him, fairly close to the end of his life, in Dorset, where he and his wife Betty have retired. I loved the unique way that Gardam approached his life from both ends until they finally meet about ¾ of the way into the book. In a lesser author, this could have been dicey but Jane Gardam hasn’t won the Whitbred prize twice (the only writer to do so) for nothing. She has finely tuned her craft.
At any rate, Eddie has been abandoned and left on his own too many times throughout his young life to not have the results of that neglect leave a lasting impression. His feelings of invisibility and failure to connect with anyone leave him in an emotionally precarious place. Now, at the end of his life, he still is feeling those effects:
Loss’s defection was the metaphor for Eddie’s life. It was Eddie’s fate always to be left. Always to be left and forgotten. Everyone gone, now. Out of his reach. For the first time, Eddie was utterly on his own.” (Page 230)
I was so impressed at Gardam’s writing and the lovely way she seamed together all the threads of her unique and sad story that I’m already looking for more of her work. show less
It is a tale told from both ends of Sir Edward Feathers life and Gardam takes us eloquently back and forth in time and space. He was born to English parents stationed in Malaya in 1914. His mother died as a result of the birth. His father was remote and showed no interest in or love of the boy. Eddie was a Raj Orphan, as were so show more many Brits born in the far-flung East. That meant he was hustled away from his parent when he was a preschooler back to England where he would be raised by a foster family, then on to boarding school. Eddie’s experience was nightmarish and haunts him for the rest of his life.
Even so, he goes on to be a good lawyer and judge in Hong Kong, where he comes to be known as Old Filth, the term Filth, an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. And we’re introduced to him, fairly close to the end of his life, in Dorset, where he and his wife Betty have retired. I loved the unique way that Gardam approached his life from both ends until they finally meet about ¾ of the way into the book. In a lesser author, this could have been dicey but Jane Gardam hasn’t won the Whitbred prize twice (the only writer to do so) for nothing. She has finely tuned her craft.
At any rate, Eddie has been abandoned and left on his own too many times throughout his young life to not have the results of that neglect leave a lasting impression. His feelings of invisibility and failure to connect with anyone leave him in an emotionally precarious place. Now, at the end of his life, he still is feeling those effects:
Loss’s defection was the metaphor for Eddie’s life. It was Eddie’s fate always to be left. Always to be left and forgotten. Everyone gone, now. Out of his reach. For the first time, Eddie was utterly on his own.” (Page 230)
I was so impressed at Gardam’s writing and the lovely way she seamed together all the threads of her unique and sad story that I’m already looking for more of her work. show less
Brilliant!
A reread after fifteen years and better than I remembered. Beautifully written with impressionistic chapters alternating between Feathers early years (nineteen twenties to forties) and his life after his wife dies. There is wonderfully warm humour with gentle historical and literary references interwoven into the strong narrative. The ostensible subject matter of Raj orphan becoming a retired barrister sounds dull, but the book is about memory.
He sat at his desk and attempted a Memoir, but found it impossible. Opinions, Judgements had made him famous, but how to write without opinion or judgement? Statement of facts - easy. But how to decide which were the facts? He shrank from the tremendous, essential burden of seeing show more himself through other people’s eyes. Only God could do it. It seemed blasphemous to try. Such a multitude of impressions, such a magnitude of emotion. Where was the truth to be found?
Old Filth is the book that gave me a new favourite author, so that I read fourteen more books by Gardam in the following three years.
I started reading Last Friends, the third interconnected novel about William Feathers, Billie Fevvers or as he is known at the Bar, Old Filth, and was enjoying the writing so much that I decided to go back and reread this first book. And it is a delight to reacquaint myself with Old Filth and Gardam. show less
A reread after fifteen years and better than I remembered. Beautifully written with impressionistic chapters alternating between Feathers early years (nineteen twenties to forties) and his life after his wife dies. There is wonderfully warm humour with gentle historical and literary references interwoven into the strong narrative. The ostensible subject matter of Raj orphan becoming a retired barrister sounds dull, but the book is about memory.
He sat at his desk and attempted a Memoir, but found it impossible. Opinions, Judgements had made him famous, but how to write without opinion or judgement? Statement of facts - easy. But how to decide which were the facts? He shrank from the tremendous, essential burden of seeing show more himself through other people’s eyes. Only God could do it. It seemed blasphemous to try. Such a multitude of impressions, such a magnitude of emotion. Where was the truth to be found?
Old Filth is the book that gave me a new favourite author, so that I read fourteen more books by Gardam in the following three years.
I started reading Last Friends, the third interconnected novel about William Feathers, Billie Fevvers or as he is known at the Bar, Old Filth, and was enjoying the writing so much that I decided to go back and reread this first book. And it is a delight to reacquaint myself with Old Filth and Gardam. show less
Visitor from an older generation comes to reproach us with her refined and restrained diction, precise emotions, and era-spanning insights. But not with easy nostalgia for better times - she's unflinching in showing the callous and harmful ways of that older generation. Always interesting but never gripping, the tale goes back and forth through the memories of the title character, an aged and prosperous lawyer of Empire stock. The bit-part characters, quirky and unbalanced, are more memorable. Enjoy the language too, as a few archaic words are brought out of storage, delicately unwrapped from their tissue paper padding - 'gymkhana', 'sponge bag'.
Eddie Feathers, aka Old Filth (which stands for Failed in London Try Hong Kong), is an old man whose wife, Betty, dies a sudden death. This spurs him to find some of his old connections and revisit major events in his life. Some of these are revealed through his memories, and some are more of an authorial flashback. Filth is sometime confused, sometimes clear-headed; sometimes funny, sometimes a real ass. His childhood, and quite possibly his entire life, is defined by his experience as a "Raj orphan". These were the children of the English living abroad in the East who were sent back to foster parents in England because the death rate for children in the East was so high. Filth has a rough childhood an teenage years, but ends up having show more a well-respected career as a lawyer and judge in Hong Kong.
I'm not sure where to go with this review. It's one of those books where there is plenty of plot to report on, but it wasn't really the important part of the book for me. I really just loved the characters and the ideas the Gardam subtlety presents on aging, friendship, and the ties that truly bind people together.
I'm very much looking forward to the other two books in this series. show less
I'm not sure where to go with this review. It's one of those books where there is plenty of plot to report on, but it wasn't really the important part of the book for me. I really just loved the characters and the ideas the Gardam subtlety presents on aging, friendship, and the ties that truly bind people together.
I'm very much looking forward to the other two books in this series. show less
Historical fiction gives us a window into understanding how the world came to be the way it is. Gardam encapsulates the collapse of the British Empire in this story of Edward, born in Malay to a bureaucrat still suffering from WWI injuries. Raised for four years by servants since his mother died of childbed fever, he is then sent off to an abusive foster home in Wales along with two cousins.
The tale is told by Edward, now in his '80's, as he tries to find meaning in his life after his wife's death. We are only given glimpses of his childhood; he slams the window shut on the painful memories as often as they poke through. Yet his strong sense of moral rightness and duty keeps him prying at his memories. It seems his youth was spent show more blindered, so focused on excelling in his studies that he is unaware of most facts of life. The absence of loving parents has kept him from really loving anyone. His sole memory of freedom is mixed with the shame of being evacuated from England at age 17 rather than being allowed to fight for his country. We hear other people commenting "you would do well as a lawyer", but we never hear him express any desire for any career. He is intelligent and courteous, therefore he is respected by all who know him.
This tale includes many thoughtful phrases which are a pleasure to read. Edward, "Old Filth", remained in my mind in between my reading opportunities. Louise Erdrich referenced study by a pair of social psychologists and the New School who found that reading complex literature increased a person's empathy. This book will work on you; it's a pity Old Filth never read literature.[https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/CastanoKidd.htm] show less
The tale is told by Edward, now in his '80's, as he tries to find meaning in his life after his wife's death. We are only given glimpses of his childhood; he slams the window shut on the painful memories as often as they poke through. Yet his strong sense of moral rightness and duty keeps him prying at his memories. It seems his youth was spent show more blindered, so focused on excelling in his studies that he is unaware of most facts of life. The absence of loving parents has kept him from really loving anyone. His sole memory of freedom is mixed with the shame of being evacuated from England at age 17 rather than being allowed to fight for his country. We hear other people commenting "you would do well as a lawyer", but we never hear him express any desire for any career. He is intelligent and courteous, therefore he is respected by all who know him.
This tale includes many thoughtful phrases which are a pleasure to read. Edward, "Old Filth", remained in my mind in between my reading opportunities. Louise Erdrich referenced study by a pair of social psychologists and the New School who found that reading complex literature increased a person's empathy. This book will work on you; it's a pity Old Filth never read literature.[https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/CastanoKidd.htm] show less
Loved this book! Didn't want to put it down! OLD FILTH has been around for a dozen years, but I had never heard of it. The title is an eye-catcher though, and I found it in a local thrift store in like-new condition for half a buck. This lovely novel covers the long life of Sir Edward Feathers, a "child of the Raj," from his birth in remote Malaya to his death eighty-odd years later in Hong Kong. His mother died two days after his birth, his father was a broken veteran of the Great War. Raised first four years by a Malayan wet nurse, then sent "Home" for further education in boys'schools, Eddie never knew his father, and, despite abuse and neglect and shuttling between homes of friends and weird aunts, he survived WWII, with a tour in show more Badminton, protecting the Queen Mum, and then excelled at Oxford, becoming a successful barrister, then a judge in Hong Kong, and retiring back to England with his beloved wife. But it's all the repressed, in-between stories that make this book so compelling, so darn GOOD! Oh, and yeah, his adult nickname is Old Filth, a play on the axiom, "Failed in London? Try Hong Kong." I'm not gonna say any more. Some great characters here, and the story, which twists back and forth between past and present, slowly revealing some dark secrets of Old Filth's childhood, is simply superb. Oh, and it's filled with a marvelous, sly sense of humor too. Jane Gardam is a wonderful writer. My highest recommendation.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less
Sir Edward Feathers is retired, renowned (in legal circles), redoubtable, and almost entirely alone. Even his companion in life, his wife Betty, doesn’t know everything about him. And yet, it is said even of lawyers, that they once were children. Sir Edward’s childhood was both singular and sadly typical. A Raj orphan, he is spirited away from his Malaysia village as a small child to be taken Home for safe keeping, or in this case to Wales, where he suffers unspecified horrors that scar him for life. Of course in a life like his, what is one scar more or less? For shocks and betrayals and tragedy abound in his life. As do moments of wonder and light. And when all is said and done, it only remains to note how little has been said of show more what has been done.
Jane Gardam brings Sir Edward to life. Known as ‘Old Filth’ (Failed In London Try Hong Kong), he is a delightfully complex and almost inscrutable character. His life is so rich in event and masque that Gardam seems barely able to keep a grip on the reins of his story as it races round its curves. But that too is an effect that only a novelist like Gardam could achieve. And this is surely an achievement. With gentle touches and fitful forays into the past, Gardam humanizes Sir Edward. And while some of what happened to the young Eddie might come across as melodrama, the fact that Sir Edward contains and suppresses it all, doesn’t speak of it even to Betty, his wife, makes it seem merely the norm.
The writing is fresh and rich with detail and even emotion, for such an apparently emotionless man. The other characters are suitably enigmatic, at least to Sir Edward who little understands himself. Indeed most of the people we encounter here are damaged in one way or another, and most often by events in their childhood. And yet it all adds up to something satisfying, and terribly British.
A most fascinating and surprising read. Recommended. show less
Jane Gardam brings Sir Edward to life. Known as ‘Old Filth’ (Failed In London Try Hong Kong), he is a delightfully complex and almost inscrutable character. His life is so rich in event and masque that Gardam seems barely able to keep a grip on the reins of his story as it races round its curves. But that too is an effect that only a novelist like Gardam could achieve. And this is surely an achievement. With gentle touches and fitful forays into the past, Gardam humanizes Sir Edward. And while some of what happened to the young Eddie might come across as melodrama, the fact that Sir Edward contains and suppresses it all, doesn’t speak of it even to Betty, his wife, makes it seem merely the norm.
The writing is fresh and rich with detail and even emotion, for such an apparently emotionless man. The other characters are suitably enigmatic, at least to Sir Edward who little understands himself. Indeed most of the people we encounter here are damaged in one way or another, and most often by events in their childhood. And yet it all adds up to something satisfying, and terribly British.
A most fascinating and surprising read. Recommended. show less
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Wat een ongelofelijk gaaf boek heeft de Britse Jane Gardam (geboren 1928) geschreven met De onberispelijke man – wat knap om zoveel personages, tijdvakken, werelddelen, historische feiten en nog zo veel meer (schijnbaar) moeiteloos te verweven tot een zeer pakkend en aangrijpend verhaal! Het verhaal is spannend, ontroerend, verrassend, meeslepend en zo kan ik nog wel even doorgaan…lees show more verder > show less
added by Jordaan
Are you interested in venerable lawyers, the relic of empire? You will be. Do you want to know about the Far Eastern Bar? A reader of Old Filth, despite its unpromising title, will become passionately curious about such matters. This novel is surely Gardam's masterpiece. On the human level, it is one of the most moving fictions I have read for years. I shall always remember the scene in which, show more putting up at the garish hotel that has replaced The Old Judges' Lodging, this most ramrod-backed and disciplined of elderly men sees his wife's obituary whilst doing his stately breakfasting. He "wept silently behind his hands, sitting in this unknown place" show less
added by charl08
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Author Information
36+ Works 8,953 Members
Jane Gardam was born in North Yorkshire, England in 1928. She is the author of many children's novels that include "A Long Way from Verona" (1971). She has also written novels and collections of stories for adults that include "God on the Rocks" (1978), "Bilgewater and the Pangs of Love and Other Stories" (1983) and "The Summer After the Funeral." show more Her book "Groundlings" was taken from "Showing the Flag and Other Stories" (1989). Gardam's novels and stories have received many literary prizes. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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dtv (14567)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Old Filth
- Original title
- Old Filth
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Sir Edward Feathers, 'Eddy', QC; Sir Terence Veneering; Betty Macintosh; Isobel Ingoldby; Patrick Ingoldby; Albert Ross (show all 10); Harry Veneering; Garbutt; Queen Mary; Fiscal-Smith
- Important places
- England, UK; Hong Kong, China; London, England, UK
- Important events
- British Raj
- Epigraph
- Lawyers, I suppose, were children once
(Inscription upon the statue of a child in the Inner Temple Garden in London) - Dedication
- To Raj Orphans
and their parents - First words
- The Benchers' luncheon-room of the Inner Temple.
- Quotations
- Yes. You'll be a lawyer. Magnificent memory. Sense of logic, no imagination and no brains.
Without memory and desire life is pointless?
All my life… from my early childhood, I have been left, or dumped, or separated by death, from everyone I loved or who cared for me. I want to know why. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Oh yes. Travelling alone. Quite alone.
- Blurbers
- Mortimer, John
- Original language*
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 41
- ASINs
- 17