Towards the End of the Morning
Encyclopedia
Towards The End Of The Morning is a 1967 satirical novel by Michael Frayn
about journalists working on a British newspaper during the heyday of Fleet Street
.
Its protagonists work to compile the miscellaneous, unimportant parts of the newspaper - the "nature notes" column, the religious "thought for the day", the crossword and so on. The paper seems sunk in a state of torpor, and the journalists' work is extremely dull. Feeling their lives and careers are stalled, most of their day is spent complaining about work and dreaming of better things. John Dyson, the lead protagonist, longs to work in television
, and is at last given his chance towards the end of the book. However, fate seems determined to thwart him.
Towards was Frayn's third book after The Tin Men and The Russian Interpreter, and is probably based on his experiences at The Observer
from 1962 to 1968.
A central theme of the book is Dyson's struggle against what he sees as encroaching entropy
- indeed, the book was published in the United States under the title Against Entropy.
Michael Frayn
Michael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
about journalists working on a British newspaper during the heyday of Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
.
Its protagonists work to compile the miscellaneous, unimportant parts of the newspaper - the "nature notes" column, the religious "thought for the day", the crossword and so on. The paper seems sunk in a state of torpor, and the journalists' work is extremely dull. Feeling their lives and careers are stalled, most of their day is spent complaining about work and dreaming of better things. John Dyson, the lead protagonist, longs to work in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and is at last given his chance towards the end of the book. However, fate seems determined to thwart him.
Towards was Frayn's third book after The Tin Men and The Russian Interpreter, and is probably based on his experiences at The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
from 1962 to 1968.
A central theme of the book is Dyson's struggle against what he sees as encroaching entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
- indeed, the book was published in the United States under the title Against Entropy.