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FranklinMarsh
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The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Thread started on: Sep 5th, 2006, 06:59am » |
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The Siege Of Trencher's Farm. Gordon M Williams. published by Secker & Warburg 1969. Mayflower 1971
retitled Straw Dogs and reprinted 1972.
Straw Dogs has an unshakeable connection with A Clockwork Orange. The films were released within months of one another between November 1971 and January 1972, causing various critics to write to theTimes to defend ACO and hope it wouldn’t get caught up in the controversy surrounding SD. Both films concerned thuggery, rape, house-breaking. Both were made by name American directors and set in Britain. ACO concerns a violent person being forced to give up violence against his will. SD concerns a non-violent person being forced to use violence against his will. SD is rural, ACO urban. Both directors were castigated by Leslie Halliwell in his ’76 Film Guide for removing any reference in the films to their titles.
Burgess novel dated from 1962, Williams from 1969. Inspired by ‘mad axeman’ Frank Mitchell’s escape from Dartmoor whilst ex-journo Williams was living in Devon, Gordon churned out TSOTF in 9 days – an exercise in ‘hit and run’ pulp. Amazing considering, of his earlier novels, one had been short-listed for the all-new Booker Prize and another had been picked up by Hollywood for a tidy sum. Williams had ghost written the autobiography of Bobby Moore, and become friendly with Terry Venables. A detective series, Hazell, was co-written by Gordon and Terry. Williams is dismissive of Peckinpah and the film – and later gave up writing because he ‘got bored’.
Comparisons between the film and book are inevitable. Despite being advertised by one paperback publisher as ‘the famous novel of rape and violence’, there is no rape in the book. Henry Niles (film) is an amiable bumbling village idiot who seems to have done something dodgy with gurls in the past He accidently strangles teen temptress Janice Heddon who has led him on somewhat. In the novel he is a convicted child-killer and rapist taken to hospital from the Bedlam in which he is incarcerated, for some injections. The ambulance crashes in foul weather and Niles wanders into the snow. Janice Heddon (novel) is eight years old, handicapped and subject to fits. Frightened by the vicar dressed as Santa Claus at the village childrens’ party, she also flees into the blizzards.
George Magruder is an American historian with an English wife, Louise. Normally resident in the USA, the family (the Magruders have a young daughter) have travelled to England for a Sabbatical. It has given Louise a chance to visit her roots, and George a chance to prepare a book on Branksheer, an English academic and rakehell, in an authentic setting. Things aren’t good between husband and wife. English/American, Man/Woman, order/chaos, routine/spontaneity squabbles are commonplace, and their daughter is not enjoying her stay. There is tension between the Magruders and the local villagers, particularly the lower echelons. The dispossessed, poor, envious, ill-educated and parochial have nothing but suspicion for the ‘professor’, a high and mighty Yank.
Things come to a head when, returning from the party, the Magruders run down Niles in their car. Not realising who he is, they take him home and attempt to revive him, whilst seeking help. During this time his identity is revealed and this information reaches the irate menfolk, who have all been hitting the booze and fruitlessly searching for the lost Janice Heddon. They quickly reach the conclusion that Niles is responsible for Janice’s disappearance and head for Trencher’s Farm, temporary home of the Magruders.
The scene is now set for the siege – an incredibly tense onslaught wherein all manner of emotions, hatreds and problems surface to hinder all concerned. George and Louise alternate between defending Niles and wanting to throw him to the wolves. The villagers inadvertently murder one of their own (albeit of a higher caste) and so have nothing to lose. George, the mild mannered, prissy, history man has to look into himself and decide whether he is man enough to subdue his wife, defend his territory and, if it comes to it, kill those who would besiege his castle.
The presence of the young daughter heightens suspense, what with Niles in the house – outwardly a pathetic harmless little man, but whose shocking history is known to all.
What would you do?
It’s interesting to note that that the novel refers to contemporary issues such as the moon-landing and the abolition of capital punishment. Niles, to me, seems to be partly inspired by the Moors Murderers and the public outcry against them.
GMW gives both sides of the story – providing the villagers with plenty of motivation for their actions.
The film has inspired much controversy and newsprint. The novel less so, but the basics are there – a very powerful piece of story-telling.
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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demonik
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #1 on: Sep 5th, 2006, 09:11am » |
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I've not seen a copy of this for years. I read it in a library once - that should probably be "speed-read it" - and was disappointed, most likely because it was so different from the plain nasty (and often terrifying) film. Having read your review, I regret not yet having had opportunity to give it a re-match. Yet another novel added to my never ending wants list 
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The inn sign ... was in the nature of a coffin supported by six headless bearers goose-stepping towards a white headstone, and underneath this somewhat forbidding daub with grim irony, the legend 'Ye Journey's End' - Guy Preston, The Inn.
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FranklinMarsh
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #2 on: Sep 5th, 2006, 09:57am » |
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Believe it or not Dem I've just read a spare copy. I'll put it aside for you. I just meant to have a quick look at the first few pages, but, as with Get Carter, I just fell into it. Hope to get a couple of covers up later. Redemption published an edition illustrated with photos from the film. Picked it up on Saturday at the hospital along with that other OK-70s-thriller-turned-into-best-seller-thanks-to-controversial-film Brian Garfield's Death Wish. Got a feeling I'll be reading and reviewing that next!
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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demonik
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #3 on: Sep 5th, 2006, 10:57am » |
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Hey, thanks for that, FM!
on Sep 5th, 2006, 09:57am, FranklinMarsh wrote:| Picked it up on Saturday at the hospital along with that other OK-70s-thriller-turned-into-best-seller-thanks-to-controversial-film Brian Garfield's Death Wish. Got a feeling I'll be reading and reviewing that next! |
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Speaking of books that provided the basis for appalling films by putty-faced wanker Michael Winner, has anybody read Helen Zahavi's Dirty Weekend: A Novel of Revenge?
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The inn sign ... was in the nature of a coffin supported by six headless bearers goose-stepping towards a white headstone, and underneath this somewhat forbidding daub with grim irony, the legend 'Ye Journey's End' - Guy Preston, The Inn.
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FranklinMarsh
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #4 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 01:25am » |
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I have! Published around the same time as Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, it picked up a leetle controversy because the author was female. One I keep meaning to return to. The film was a fairly straight adaption - Ian Richardson was woefully miscast and what the heck was David McCallum doing there? For a 'putty-faced wanker' the esteemed gourmet/gourmand, oh all right then, fat bastid has made some good films.
The Jokers/I'll Never Forget Whatsisname/Lawman/Chato's Land/Death Wish/The Big Sleep/Dirty Weekend. I even enjoyed Bullseye - but then I have not a scintilla of taste.
70s novels turned into controversial films - haven't read this for far too long but Theodore (TV) Olsen's book Arrow In The Sun - a simple tale of cavalry escorting a young girl through the badlands being massacred, leaving the girl (who had been raised by indians and is tough as old boots) and a hopeless green recruit as the sole survivors making their way across the desert, was filmed as Soldier Blue - the filmmakers throwing in an incredibly excessive welter of gore at the end as the US Army carry out the Sand Creek Massacre - an appalling revenge attack nowhere to be seen in the novel. Made as a reaction to the shocking news of the My Lai incident in Vietnam (the film contains a scene relating directly to the South East Asian revelations - the women and children of the tribe are herded into a ditch and butchered.) apparently. Anyone picking up the retitled, rereleased book with the nude Indian woman, wrists bound, on the cover and expecting the book of the film was in for a disappointment. The ultimate savage Western - rereleased in the late 1970s as a popular double bill with Straw Dogs.
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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FranklinMarsh
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #5 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 02:12am » |
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http://www.dacre.org/flash/www/gbq06559.jpg
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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Calenture
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #6 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 08:07am » |
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on Sep 5th, 2006, 06:59am, FranklinMarsh wrote:A Clockwork Orange concerns a violent person being forced to give up violence against his will. Straw Dogs concerns a non-violent person being forced to use violence against his will. Straw Dogs is rural, A Clockwork Orange urban. Both directors were castigated by Leslie Halliwell in his ’76 Film Guide for removing any reference in the films to their titles....
Burgess novel dated from 1962, Williams from 1969. Inspired by ‘mad axeman’ Frank Mitchell’s escape from Dartmoor whilst ex-journo Williams was living in Devon, Gordon churned out TSOTF in 9 days – an exercise in ‘hit and run’ pulp. Amazing considering, of his earlier novels, one had been short-listed for the all-new Booker Prize and another had been picked up by Hollywood for a tidy sum.
... A detective series, Hazell, was co-written by Gordon and Terry. Williams is dismissive of Peckinpah and the film – and later gave up writing because he ‘got bored’.
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There's a lot of interesting stuff buried in this block of text. That comparison of Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange brought me back to take a closer look.
I didn't know about Gordon Wiliams earlier books - and I used to be a big fan of Hazel!
Yeah, it's about time they gave that series another spin, too. 
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victoria
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #7 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 1:37pm » |
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I enjoyed the book and the film of "Dirty Weekend"- I think he managed the v.v. dark humour of the book really well (thought the bit where she's got the bloke strapped to the chair was brilliant). I admit I saw the film first and had to persevere with the book a bit, but it was worth the trouble.
Speaking of film/book subjects, have any Arthur C. Clarke fans got any idea what "2001: A Space Oddessy" is all about? Mr. M and myself watched it the other night (I'd actually seen it before on the strength of a love of "The Shining" and "A Clockwork Orange"), but I didn't remember it being so bloody weird!! I know it's kind of drifting into sci- fi but I've got a feeling someone here will have a clue. My best guess was something to do with the nature of power balances in relationships, and the urge of those with power to destroy. Of course, it might just have been about monkeys and spaceships.
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'It can't be nice being a nice woman.'
'I get by.'
Helen Zahavi
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Calenture
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The Masked Thread Hijacker Strikes Again!
« Reply #8 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 2:30pm » |
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on Sep 6th, 2006, 1:37pm, victoria wrote:| Speaking of film/book subjects, have any Arthur C. Clarke fans got any idea what "2001: A Space Oddessy" is all about? Mr. M and myself watched it the other night (I'd actually seen it before on the strength of a love of "The Shining" and "A Clockwork Orange"), but I didn't remember it being so bloody weird!! I know it's kind of drifting into sci- fi... |
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This thread-hijacking is becoming a habit, Vicky! 
Why not live dangerously? I think SF is great, and we know now that Bernard Taylor is an SF writer, too, as well as Mary Shelley being the first SF writer...
So...
I know people have been asking this question about 2001 since Ken Russell made it, but personally I always thought it was crashingly obvious. It was about Man being manipulated through the ages by some benign 'cosmic' agency, until finally he makes the leap which transforms him to godhood (or Superman).
The thing is, that's shown clearly in the film, from the appearance of the Sentinel at the start - a sentinel suggests that it was just watching for the first awakenings of intelligence, but I'm sure it's shown to be actually manipulating the ape-men through some radiated energy.
The Sentinel appears again at various key stages of human evolution, buried on the Moon, then drifting beyond Jupiter. And finally it seems to become a portal - and as the astronaut passes through it, he's changed.
All this seems clear to me, but I've heard so many people - many of them smarter than me - debating the question, I keep thinking I must be missing something. Is there more? Suddenly I wish I hadn't typed this. 
Nah, I'm right, everyone else is wrong.
P.S. I'm not an Arthur C Clarke fan. Too impersonal for me. Philip Dick, Brian Aldiss, Jack Vance, Theodore Sturgeon, yes yes yes. Clarke...no.
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| « Last Edit: Sep 6th, 2006, 2:32pm by Calenture » |
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severance
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Re: The Masked Thread Hijacker Strikes Again!
« Reply #9 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 2:55pm » |
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on Sep 6th, 2006, 2:30pm, Calenture wrote:| I know people have been asking this question about 2001 since Ken Russell made it |
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Ken Russell?? I don't remember Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood indulging in weightless naked wrestling while on the spaceship
Seriously, that's a damn good explanation of 2001: A Space Odyssey - one of my all-time favourites. I've always thought that the monoliths are forcing mankind to evolve - the apes evolve by using weaponry after initial contact with a monolith - David Bowman evolves into the star-child(?) after his own encounter. I think arty-film types would say there's much more in it and to it, but that's the basic gist, and should be readily identifiable.
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I'm holding on by a fingernail and my right bollock!
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Calenture
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Re: The Masked Thread Hijacker Strikes Again!
« Reply #10 on: Sep 6th, 2006, 5:19pm » |
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on Sep 6th, 2006, 2:55pm, severance wrote:Ken Russell?? I don't remember Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood indulging in weightless naked wrestling while on the spaceship
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I think that was the Director's Cut, Sev'.
on Sep 6th, 2006, 2:55pm, severance wrote:| I think arty-film types would say there's much more in it and to it, but that's the basic gist, and should be readily identifiable. |
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I think you can get as deep as you like with anything, Sev', Vicky.
I used to use the i ching a lot. After a while it started telling me not to waste its time and mine.
The point is, if you study the hexagrams too long, they get in the way of looking at the real question.
I think 2001 is a beautiful and thoughtful film, and you can probably use it to illustrate any number of human problems or issues.
P.S. We collected some great cinema tickets (and books) on this thread, huh? How about turning it into a Rogue Moviedrome thread, Franklin?
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| « Last Edit: Sep 6th, 2006, 5:24pm by Calenture » |
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FranklinMarsh
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #11 on: Sep 7th, 2006, 02:10am » |
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Fine by me Rog! I was obsessed by Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah as a teenager. (The Devils being released a few months before Straw Dogs). I bought Alexander Wanker's Stanley Kubrick Directs because it had a lot of pictures from ACO in it. A couple of years later I read the rest of it, and it put me on to The Killing, Dr Strangelove and 2001 - all brilliant films. I still think they're the three greatest film directors (although Hitch is a master). I'll go along with the Monolith assists evolution theory. I saw 2001 on 70mm at the National Film Theatre one afternoon (they screened it as a tribute to Geoffrey Unsworth. Breathtaking. DVD and a widescreen telly also make it a great experience.
I read the book of Dirty Weekend first, Vic. That's why I was surprised that Michael Winner was so faithful to it. I forgot to mention his film of Jeffrey Konvitz' The Sentinel.
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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Calenture
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #12 on: Sep 7th, 2006, 05:41am » |
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Wondering whether to mention Franklin's brilliant typo, he decides to pass quickly on...
on Sep 7th, 2006, 02:10am, FranklinMarsh wrote:| I was obsessed by Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah as a teenager. (The Devils being released a few months before Straw Dogs). |
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I didn't really enjoy The Devils; but Straw Dogs was fun, and almost everything else I saw by Peckinpah. The book didn't seem to have the power of the film, I thought.
My fave Peckinpah film is Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. No surprises there then...
I love watching Peter Sellers in Kubrick's Strangelove. I'd be interested in seeing that First World War film with Kirk Douglas again - yes, they're all great.
But I think he was just taking the piss with The Shining, although I've had fun with it now and again.
on Sep 7th, 2006, 02:10am, FranklinMarsh wrote:| I still think they're the three greatest film directors (although Hitch is a master). |
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Hitch rules OK.
on Sep 7th, 2006, 02:10am, FranklinMarsh wrote:| I forgot to mention his film of Jeffrey Konvitz' The Sentinel. |
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I keep forgetting Winner made that film; I've never seen it, and it never seems to turn up on telly. Seems an odd choice for him, a story about an old brownstone sitting over the door to Hell, with weird tenants in every room.
Oh well, back to printing more Filthy Creations while I plan my next half-cut after-midnight coup. If I'm very quiet, maybe I can sneak in a Just William thread here without Dem' noticing...
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| « Last Edit: Sep 7th, 2006, 05:45am by Calenture » |
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Rymer
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #13 on: Sep 7th, 2006, 12:02pm » |
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Wandering back to Gordon M Williams...
Does anyone know if he's still with us?
I watched a double-bill of Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange last week. The former is still a dark, disturbing, provocative film; the latter still seems to me to flounder badly once Alex gets nicked - a good 40 minutes followed by an hour and a half of nothing much. And mostly the problem is that the acting is so dreadful, with the spectacular exception of Malcolm McDowell, who plays a blinder.
Maybe it's just my problem, but Kubrick's movies lack any warmth and humanity, as far as I can see. I'm not convinced that he was very interested in giving any direction to his actors - more a technician than a director.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 7th, 2010, 2:35pm by demonik » |
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FranklinMarsh
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Re: The Siege Of Trencher's Farm/Straw Dogs
« Reply #14 on: Sep 7th, 2006, 2:12pm » |
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Gordon is still around as far as I know - 72 years young and off the booze for a good few years. The oddest thing about the film of Clockwork is how dated it has become. Kubrick's lack of humanity appeals to me in a strange way. Some of the grotesques in his films (Dr Strangelove, Mr Alexander, Jack Torrance, Private Pyle) are simultaneously hilarious and chilling.
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I should not wish to give way unreservedly to what is so unattractively called the libido, it suggests a state of affairs in which beach pyjamas are worn and jitterbugging is compulsory
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