The Sleep of Reason

By C.P. Snow

Sir Lewis Eliot returns to his hometown in the tenth, and penultimate, novel in the Strangers and Brothers sequence.

Although now mature in the world of affairs and in possession of a knighthood, the older Lewis has much to contend with – his eyesight is failing and a risky operation is on the horizon, his father is dying, and his old mentor, George Passant, has asked him to observe the trial of his niece – a young woman accused of the torture and murder of a child . . .

Written in the wake of the notorious Moors murders, The Sleep of Reason depicts an ageing generation struggling to understand the new, more permissive society of the 1960s, with great insight and sensitivity.

A meticulous study of the public issues and private problems of post-war Britain, C. P. Snow’s Strangers and Brothers sequence is a towering achievement that stands alongside Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time as one of the great romans-fleuves of the twentieth century.

Praise for the Strangers and Brothers sequence

“Together, the sequence presents a vivid portrait of British academic, political and public life. Snow was that rare thing, a scientist and novelist.” Jeffrey Archer, Guardian

“Balzacian masterpieces of the age” Philip Hensher, Telegraph

“Through [the Strangers and Brothers sequence] as in no other work in our time we have explored the inner life of the new classless class that is the 20th century Establishment” New York Times

“A very considerable achievement … It brings into the novel themes and locales never seen before (except perhaps in Trollope).” Anthony Burgess

“The most comprehensive, the most informative and, all in all, the most impressive portrait of modern England that any novelist has yet given us.” Michael Millgate, Commentary

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Feb 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781509864416

C.P. Snow

C.P. Snow was born in Leicester, on 15 October 1905. He was educated from age 11 at Alderman Newton's School for boys where he excelled in most subjects, enjoying a reputation for an astounding memory. In 1923, he gained an external scholarship in science at London University, whilst working as a laboratory assistant at Newton's to gain the necessary practical experience, because Leicester University, as it was to become, had no chemistry or physics departments at that time. Having achieved a first class degree, followed by a Master of Science he won a studentship in 1928 which he used to research at the famous Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. Snow went on to become a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1930 where he also served as a tutor, but his position became increasingly titular as he branched into other areas of activity. In 1934, he began to publish scientific articles in 'Nature', and then 'The Spectator' before becoming editor of the journal 'Discovery' in 1937. He was also writing fiction during this period and in 1940 'Strangers and Brothers' was published. This was the first of eleven novels in the series and was later renamed 'George Passant' when 'Strangers and Brothers' was used to denote the series itself. 'Discovery' became a casualty of the war, closing in 1940. However, by this time Snow was already involved with the Royal Society, who had organised a group to specifically use British scientific talent operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour. He served as the Ministry's technical director from 1940 to 1944. After the war, he became a civil service commissioner responsible for recruiting scientists to work for the government and also returned to writing, continuing the 'Strangers and Brothers' novels. 'The Light and the Dark' was published in 1947, followed by 'Time of Hope' in 1949, and perhaps the most famous and popular of them all, 'The Masters', in 1951. He planned to finish the cycle within five years, but the final novel 'Last Things' wasn't published until 1970. C.P. Snow married the novelist Pamela Hansford Johnson in 1950 and they had one son, Philip, in 1952. He was knighted in 1957 and became a life peer in 1964, taking the title Baron Snow of the City Leicester. He also joined Harold Wilson's first government as Parliamentary Secretary to the new Minister of Technology. When the department ceased to exist in 1966 he became a vociferous back-bencher in the House of Lords. After finishing the 'Strangers and Brothers' series, Snow continued writing both fiction and non-fiction. His last work of fiction was 'A Coat of Vanish', published in 1978. His non-fiction included a short life of Trollope published in 1974 and another, published posthumously in 1981, 'The Physicists: a Generation that Changed the World'. He was also inundated with lecturing requests and offers of honorary doctorates. In 1961, he became Rector of St. Andrews University and for ten years also wrote influential weekly reviews for the 'Financial Times'.

Reviews for The Sleep of Reason

[naggedman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Slow and steady and very much of its period, probably not a book for the modern reader in the 21st century.

[eamonn12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I find this novel to be a good read, second only to 'The Masters' in this series 'Strangers and Brothers'. It held my interest throughout and has very few of the doldrums that afflict some of the other novels in the series. Lewis Eliot seemed a little artificial as a creation in the other novels, and also came across as something of a dull dog, but in this book he seemsa person of real complexity and genuine sensitivity. This is not something new in him, but in this book seems to be more clearly developed. I wonder is this new appreciation of mine anything to do with the fact that Eliot has now reached my own age? I say this because I relate very much to his shock at incurring a serious eye problem. Its unexpectedness and its psychological effect on him mirror a recent experience of mine, and so I am all the sharper in recognising whether or not the event is portrayed realistically. Believe me, it is. This is, of course, a very subjective reaction, but who better placed to appreciate the versimilitude of a narrative than one who has undergone a similar experience? That dreaded moment when the bandages had to come off, and success or otherwise discovered... This is well done by Snow. And here is good old George Passant again. Or bad old George, depending on your point of view! I can certainly sympathise with those who groan to see him re-enter the series. But like him or not, he definitely represents a type that I met in my younger days (and later, though these later had a less overt, and less petulant, rebelliousness). Some of these, like George, never changed and bore a grudge against the world (that 'didn't understand them') into and beyond middle life. Now arriving at the end of things, George still has something of that old charm left and there's something grimly attractive about his solid unrepentedness. He is someone in whose absence you have no difficulty in judging an unsavoury character, but when you meet up with them again once more exerts a fascination on you and leaves you thinking that maybe you have misjudged them after all and that you yourself have become too staid and priggish.I suppose that it is because the novel is placed near the end of the series that death has such a strong presence. Certainly the portraits of the two old men are well drawn. Eliot's father is well done. His tears over the loss of his last 'duty' (with the choral society) are deeply affecting, as is the circumstance of his spending his last night in the company of his lodger only. The lack of empathy between him and his son is, ultimately, neither man's fault. Eliot had crossed a social divide. His father was a proud and 'independent-minded' man. It worked out to be difficult for them, though there were no clean-cut breaks between them. This is underscored by the easy, affectionate relationship between the old man and his grandson, Lweis' son, Charles. A very common phenomenon, this re-establishment of empathy across the divide of a generation.One or two other comments. The trial: perhaps a bit long-winded and tedious. But that's the way these things go. And it is fascinating all the way. Central to the procedings (and not meaning in any way to distract from the heniousness of the crime) is the question of personal responsibility, a question as pertinent today as it was then, perhaps even more so, given the growing proliferation of reasons for exculpation. It is this that exercised the mind of Eliot throughout the trial, along with, and to a lesser extent, the fascination that evil deeds have on the public imagination. Modern TV series such as 'The Sopranos', films such as the 'The Godfather', accounts of Jack the Ripper.. we can't get enough of them!Lots of other interesting aspects: Young Charles arguing with his father whether a lowly starting position is better than a privileged one because this would make one more ambitious and single-minded in the pusuit of place. And I won't dwell on the number of times I've had to consult my dictionary. 'Hebetude'? 'Nephente'? 'Suffragan bishop'?A very good, wothwhile, read.