Episode 20: "The Ballad of Peckham Rye" by Muriel Spark

Dougal Douglas doing the Dougie down by the docks

We’re edging closer to THE PRIME, but today we chat about The Ballad of Peckham Rye. Spark’s novels are incredibly fun, but this might be the wildest, featuring an incredible character name (Dougal Douglas), a lot of absenteeism, a textile factory, a Nun Tunnel, and dancing. Lots of dancing.

One of the truly remarkable aspects of her novels is how much she manages to fit into 140-170 pages: entire lives are discussed and brought to life; entire genres of the novel are explored; humor and horror and hope and every other emotion that begins with an “h“ all find expression. And The Ballad of Peckham Rye might be the finest example of that (certainly of the humor) so far.

As always, thank you for listening.