Faber & Faber

This month’s featured reading group recently read and discussed Israel Rank by Roy Horniman. Here, group member Sarah Savitt talks about the group and tells us what they thought of the novel.

About the Book

Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman was first published in 1907 and has now been brought back into print through the Faber Finds imprint, a print-on-demand service for lost classics. It’s best known as the inspiration for the classic Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets.

The shortest way to describe the novel is to say that it’s a comedy about a serial killer. The novel takes the form of an autobiography and begins with a note from the narrator, Israel Rank: ‘There is an old saying, "Murder will out." I am really unable to see why this should be so ... I am convinced that many a delightful member of society has found it necessary at some time or other to remove a human obstacle, and has done so undetected and undisturbed by those pangs of conscience which Society, afraid of itself, would have us believe wait upon the sinner.’

Israel was raised by his lower middle-class parents in south London in Edwardian England. His father, who dies when Israel is seven years old, was Jewish, and his mother is descended from a branch of the aristocratic Gascoyne family, though she has no wealth of her own. When Israel examines the family tree, he realises that he is only six people away from becoming Lord Gascoyne. But as he finishes school and begins working, he also realises that - despite his aristocratic ancestry - he is destined to live a life of genteel semi-poverty, barred from advancement because of his class and religion. Unable to face this, Israel decides to murder those six people who stand in his way.

In between plotting the murders (including deaths by drowning, poison, and arson) he becomes entangled with both the loyal but dull Edith and the sexy but elusive Sibella. From the outset we know this ‘autobiography’ is being written from prison, and therefore that he does get caught, but there will be a final twist to Israel’s story ...

The Discussion

Helen chose the book after reading Simon Heffer’s review in the Spectator. Israel Rank is the basis for the classic Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets and so we decided to have our book discussion over dinner and then watch the film afterwards.

The book provoked very mixed reactions from the group. Half of us really enjoyed it and the others were more sceptical. Those who liked it admired the depiction of social classes and hierarchies in Edwardian Britain, the simple but clever plot, the classic unreliable narrator, the strange mixture of a light tone and sinister violence, and the strong female characters, especially the feisty and very sexy Sibella. Criticisms ranged from a feeling that it was slow to get going to not really believing in the character (especially his final mistake).

Some of us were reminded of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, especially the coincidences and plot twists. And in that it’s a book which tries to get into the mind of a psychopath, we also thought you could compare it to books like Lolita or American Psycho. As we finished dinner, we turned to the question which Simon Heffer raised in his Spectator article - whether the book is anti-Semitic - because of sentences like ‘At the same time, rank and wealth fascinate the Jew as much as precious stones’ and the fact that the entire plot is about a Jewish man who craves wealth and status so much that he is driven to murder. In general we agreed that it didn’t bother us because it seemed like Roy Horniman was trying to ridicule or at least comment on anti-Semitism, rather than participating in it. It is made more complicated by the fact that almost all of the anti-Semitic comments are ‘written’ by Israel Rank himself. The prejudice also seemed very much of its time and not particularly shocking when compared to books from the same era.

We had another brief discussion after the film. Everyone agreed - even if they liked the book - that the film is somehow more suave and charming than the book, which is darker and more menacing. We all thought it was interesting that the film had endured (for example it was voted the seventh greatest British film of all time by readers of Total Film magazine in 2004) while the book hadn’t, and this led to a conversation about other film adaptations of books. Those who didn’t like the book thought this was perhaps the only time in the history of cinema where the film was better than the book! Others thought that the film was so loosely based on the book that it was somewhat unfair to compare them. One significant way the film differs from the book is that the main character in the film is of Italian heritage rather than Jewish; the film was made only a few years after the end of World War II and probably explains this change.

Israel Rank is being published through the Faber Finds imprint. The production of the books means that there isn’t a blurb or author biography on the book jacket, and several people remarked that this made them realise how reliant they were on a book’s packaging for clues and context.

Although it wasn’t unanimously loved, it’s a fascinating, often funny book with a great plot and an intriguing narrator, and we’d definitely recommend it to anyone who has seen Kind Hearts and Coronets.

About the Group

Tell us a little about your group ...

There are six of us in the group and we were all already friends or friends of friends. Connie set up the group with the aim that it would be ‘no holds barred’ - so you could say exactly what you thought about the book and not worry about offending people! Saying that, we haven’t had any really violent disagreements yet.

How long you have been meeting and how regularly?

We’ve been going for 18 months and meet about once a month, schedules permitting.

Do you meet at the same place each time?

Whoever has chosen the book also cooks dinner for the whole group, so we rotate around our houses. Helen has cooked two impressive dinners related to the books she’s chosen. She made home-made sushi for the month where we read Murakami’s After Dark, and was inspired by Jewish cuisine for Israel Rank, including lamb stew and spinach, feta and matzo pie.

How do you get the conversation going?

We normally catch-up over drinks and snacks at the beginning of the evening; serving dinner marks the beginning of the discussion of the book. The person who chose the book normally starts off, but then it’s pretty free-flowing from there. Sometimes we bring favourite or noteworthy passages from the book and read them out loud to prompt further discussion. Other times we will email each other interesting reviews or articles about the book or author before we meet, and often we respond to reviews on the book jacket. Many of us see each other outside book club and we try not to discuss the book beforehand although sometimes it’s hard to resist!

How do you choose the books you discuss?

We take turns choosing books. There’s no voting and the only reason a book can be vetoed is if it’s not in paperback or if someone has already read it. Quite a few of the books we’ve discussed are books which someone has always meant to read and has never got round to before. Other times we take inspiration from newspaper articles, recommendations, or just happening to spot an interesting book in a bookshop. A few of us are big American and Russian fiction fans so that’s also influenced our choices so far.

Which books have provoked the best discussions?

The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley

This was our first ever discussion and one member felt that it ‘deeply wanted to be discussed, was written to be teased out and thought through’.

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

The File on H by Ismail Kadare

Easter Parade by Richard Yates

This was voted the best discussion overall.

The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin

This was probably the most ‘no holds barred’ discussion we’ve had - the opinions were very divided.

New Grub Street by George Gissing

Which have been your favourite books so far as a group?

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow: ‘Bellow's language was revelatory’.

Easter Parade by Richard Yates: One member commented that ‘Emily in the Easter Parade was so perfectly drawn that I both recognised myself in her and learnt a lot about myself by seeing what happened in her later life’.

More Books & Conversation:

The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Resistance by Owen Sheers

An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson