B. S. Johnson
Encyclopedia
B. S. Johnson (5 February 1933 - 13 November 1973) was an English experimental novelist, poet, literary critic, producer of television programmes and film-maker.
family, Johnson was evacuated from London
during World War II
and left school at sixteen to work variously as an accounting clerk, bank junior and clerk at Standard Oil Company. However, he taught himself Latin in the evenings, attended a year's pre-university course at Birkbeck College and, with this preparation, managed to pass the university exam for King's College London
.
After he graduated with a 2:2, Johnson wrote a series of increasingly experimental and often acutely personal novels that would now be considered visual writing. In his early years he collaborated on several projects with a close friend and fellow writer, Zulfikar Ghose
, with whom he produced a joint collection of stories, Statement Against Corpses. Like Johnson's early stories (at least superficially) his first two novels, Travelling People (1963) and Albert Angelo (1964), at first appear relatively conventional in plot terms. However, the first novel uses several innovative devices and includes a section set out as a filmscript. The second includes famously cut-through pages to enable the reader to skip forward. His work became progressively even more experimental. The Unfortunates
(1969) was published in a box with no binding (readers could assemble the book any way they liked) and House Mother Normal
(1971) was written in purely chronological order such that the various characters' thoughts and experiences would cross each other and become intertwined, not just page by page, but sentence by sentence.
Johnson led and associated with a loosely-constituted circle of 'experimental' authors in Sixties Britain, which included Alan Burns
, Eva Figes
, Rayner Heppenstall
, Ann Quin
, Stefan Themerson
, and Wilson Harris
among others. Many of these figures contributed to London Consequences, a novel consisting of a palimpsest of chapters passed between a range of participating authors and set in London, edited by Margaret Drabble and Johnson. Johnson also made numerous experimental films, published poetry, and wrote reviews, short stories and plays. For many years he was the poetry editor of Transatlantic Review. At the age of 40, increasingly depressed by his failure to succeed commercially, and beset by family problems, Johnson committed suicide.
Johnson was largely unknown to the wider reading public at the time of his death, but has a growing cult following
. A critically acclaimed film adaptation of the last of the novels published while he was alive, Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry
(1973) was released in 2000. Singer-songwriter Joe Pernice paid tribute to Johnson on the 2006 Pernice Brothers album
Live a Little. Jonathan Coe
's 2004 biography Like a Fiery Elephant (winner of the 2005 Samuel Johnson prize) has already led to a renewal of interest in Johnson's work. In the sleeve notes of Los Campesinos!
' Romance is Boring
, Gareth Campesinos! cites Johnson as an influence and references some of his work in the lyrics on the album.
Biography
Born into a working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
family, Johnson was evacuated from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and left school at sixteen to work variously as an accounting clerk, bank junior and clerk at Standard Oil Company. However, he taught himself Latin in the evenings, attended a year's pre-university course at Birkbeck College and, with this preparation, managed to pass the university exam for King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
.
After he graduated with a 2:2, Johnson wrote a series of increasingly experimental and often acutely personal novels that would now be considered visual writing. In his early years he collaborated on several projects with a close friend and fellow writer, Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism....
, with whom he produced a joint collection of stories, Statement Against Corpses. Like Johnson's early stories (at least superficially) his first two novels, Travelling People (1963) and Albert Angelo (1964), at first appear relatively conventional in plot terms. However, the first novel uses several innovative devices and includes a section set out as a filmscript. The second includes famously cut-through pages to enable the reader to skip forward. His work became progressively even more experimental. The Unfortunates
The Unfortunates
The Unfortunates is an experimental "book in a box" written in 1969 by English author B. S. Johnson and reissued in 2008 by New Directions. The 27 chapters are unbound, with a first and last chapter specified...
(1969) was published in a box with no binding (readers could assemble the book any way they liked) and House Mother Normal
House Mother Normal
House Mother Normal is a novel by the experimental writer B.S. Johnson. As is typical of Johnson's work the novel is written in an unorthodox style.-Plot summary:...
(1971) was written in purely chronological order such that the various characters' thoughts and experiences would cross each other and become intertwined, not just page by page, but sentence by sentence.
Johnson led and associated with a loosely-constituted circle of 'experimental' authors in Sixties Britain, which included Alan Burns
Alan Burns
Professor Alan Burns FREng FIET FBCS SMIEEE CEng is a professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of York, England. He has been at the University of York since 1990, and held the post of Head of Department from 1999 until 30 June 2006, when he was succeeded by John McDermid.He is...
, Eva Figes
Eva Figes
Eva Figes is an English author.Figes has written novels, literary criticism, studies of feminism, and vivid memoirs relating to her Berlin childhood and later experiences as a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany. She arrived in Britain in 1939 with her parents and a younger brother...
, Rayner Heppenstall
Rayner Heppenstall
John Rayner Heppenstall was a British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer.-Early life:...
, Ann Quin
Ann quin
Ann Quin was a British writer noted for her experimental style. The author of Berg , Three , Passages and Tripticks , she committed suicide in 1973 at the age of 37, the same year as B.S. Johnson...
, Stefan Themerson
Stefan Themerson
Stefan Themerson was a Polish, later British poet, novelist, film-maker, composer and philosopher.-Early life:Stefan Themerson was born in Płock in what was then the Russian Empire on 25 January 1910 and died in London on 6 September 1988....
, and Wilson Harris
Wilson Harris
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris is a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam in what was then...
among others. Many of these figures contributed to London Consequences, a novel consisting of a palimpsest of chapters passed between a range of participating authors and set in London, edited by Margaret Drabble and Johnson. Johnson also made numerous experimental films, published poetry, and wrote reviews, short stories and plays. For many years he was the poetry editor of Transatlantic Review. At the age of 40, increasingly depressed by his failure to succeed commercially, and beset by family problems, Johnson committed suicide.
Johnson was largely unknown to the wider reading public at the time of his death, but has a growing cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. A critically acclaimed film adaptation of the last of the novels published while he was alive, Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry
Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry
Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry is the penultimate novel by the late British avant-garde novelist B. S. Johnson. It is the metafictional account of a disaffected young man, Christie Malry, who applies the principles of double-entry bookkeeping to his own life, "crediting" himself against society...
(1973) was released in 2000. Singer-songwriter Joe Pernice paid tribute to Johnson on the 2006 Pernice Brothers album
Live a Little. Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
's 2004 biography Like a Fiery Elephant (winner of the 2005 Samuel Johnson prize) has already led to a renewal of interest in Johnson's work. In the sleeve notes of Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Although the band formed in Wales, none of its members are Welsh. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and followed this up by releasing a record...
' Romance is Boring
Romance Is Boring
-Release history:-Album Sound & Influences:The album generally stays true to the band's original indie pop genre. However, they were also applauded for greatly expanding their sound...
, Gareth Campesinos! cites Johnson as an influence and references some of his work in the lyrics on the album.
Selected filmography
- You're Human Like the Rest of Them (1967).
- The Unfortunates (1969).
- Paradigm (1969).
- B.S. Johnson on Dr. Samuel Johnson (1971).
- Unfair! (1970).
- Fat Man On A Beach (1973).
Biography
- Jonathan CoeJonathan CoeJonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
. (2004) Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson. Picador.
Academic Studies
- Philip TewPhilip TewProfessor Philip Tew is an English academic. A professor in English in the School of Arts at Brunel University , Tew is a literary critic and theorist in the field of contemporary and modern British fiction after 1945, and of various strands of critical or 'high' theory, particularly metarealism...
. (2001) B. S. Johnson: A Critical Reading. Manchester University Press. - Philip TewPhilip TewProfessor Philip Tew is an English academic. A professor in English in the School of Arts at Brunel University , Tew is a literary critic and theorist in the field of contemporary and modern British fiction after 1945, and of various strands of critical or 'high' theory, particularly metarealism...
, Glyn White. (2007) Re-reading B.S. Johnson. Palgrave Macmillan - Vanessa Guignery. (2009) Ceci n’est pas une fiction. Les romans vrais de B.S. Johnson. Paris : Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, collection « Britannia ».