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A review by thebobsphere
Darkness Falls from the Air by Nigel Balchin
2.0
I know it’s been a while but I have not given up on my Backlisted project. The thing is one of the books got lost in the mail and it took two months and one replacement later. But it arrived, which means that I can continue with the project.
Nigel Balchin is quite an interesting figure, author, director and a consultant at Rowntree’s. He has had his fingers in British arts, the thing is that although he seems to have been forgotten, his legacy still lives on.
The book’s setting is the Second World War, right in the middle of the bombings and Bill Sarratt is a frustrated civil servant. He clashes with his colleagues and has problems getting his ideas across. As the environment is full of turmoil so is Sarratt’s personal life as his wife Marcie has an on/off relationship with the dandy Stephen. Sarratt is torn between being open minded and protecting his marriage.
Unfortunately I did not get on too well with Darkness Falls from the Air. On one hand the writing is great. There are plenty of first class one liners but I could not connect with what was happening and I did get restless at times. I was reminded of Graham Greene (albeit a witter one), an author I do not like too much. It’s a pity because I wanted to like Darkness… but considering my track record with the Backlisted books I’m bound not to like one now and then.
Nigel Balchin is quite an interesting figure, author, director and a consultant at Rowntree’s. He has had his fingers in British arts, the thing is that although he seems to have been forgotten, his legacy still lives on.
The book’s setting is the Second World War, right in the middle of the bombings and Bill Sarratt is a frustrated civil servant. He clashes with his colleagues and has problems getting his ideas across. As the environment is full of turmoil so is Sarratt’s personal life as his wife Marcie has an on/off relationship with the dandy Stephen. Sarratt is torn between being open minded and protecting his marriage.
Unfortunately I did not get on too well with Darkness Falls from the Air. On one hand the writing is great. There are plenty of first class one liners but I could not connect with what was happening and I did get restless at times. I was reminded of Graham Greene (albeit a witter one), an author I do not like too much. It’s a pity because I wanted to like Darkness… but considering my track record with the Backlisted books I’m bound not to like one now and then.