125. Geoffrey Willans & Ronald Searle - The Compleet Molesworth

November 23, 2020 John Mitchinson

The Compleet Molesworth (1958) by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle is the beloved book we're celebrating in this special fifth birthday episode of Backlisted, cheers cheers.

Joining John and Andy to discuss some of the funniest and most influential fictional creations of the 20th century - Nigel Molesworth, Basil Fotherington-Thomas ect ect ect - are satirical cartoonist and writer Martin Rowson and the novelist Lissa Evans, who as any fule kno was our guest on the very first episode of Backlisted in 2015.

Also in this episode John contemplates the huge and genuinely remarkable The Sea View Has Me Again: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness by Patrick Wright (published by the excellent independent Repeater Books) and Andy is enchanted by Piranesi, Susanna Clarke's long-delayed second novel, her first being the bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (both published by Bloomsbury).

Please note that all the links to in-pront books below now connect to the Backlisted bookshop on bookshop.org.

Books mentioned:

Geoffrey Willans & Ronald Searle - The Compleet Molesworth (Penguin Classics)
Martin Rowson - Stuff: A Memoir of Life & Death; The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman; Gulliver’s Travels; The Communist Manifesto; The Dance of Death
Lissa Evans - V for Victory; Old Baggage; Crooked Heart; Wed Wabbitt; Wed Wabbitt (audiobook)
Patrick Wright - The Sea View Has Me Again: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness; On Living in an Old Country
Uwe Johnson & Damion Searls - Anniversaries
Susanna Clarke - Piranesi; Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Ronald Searle - The Terror of St Trinian’s; To Kwai & Back: War Drawings 1939-1945
Rohan O’Grady - Let’s Kill Uncle
Ralph Steadman - The Joke's Over: Memories of Hunter S. Thompson
George Orwell - 1984
Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy
Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker
James Joyce - Finnegans Wake