Andrew Sinclair may well be my new literary obsession. In The Breaking of Bumbo (1959) a coming-of-age story meets the roman a clef. Young Bumbo Bailey passes from Eton to National Service in the Guards. He is a hopeless soldier, a good officer and an amiable chap. Posted to Wellington Barracks in the Mall, Bumbo does Public Duties at the Tower and Palace and on Horseguards Parade, and in his spare time becomes embroiled in London Society both High and extremely Low. It all takes place against the backdrop of the Suez Crisis about which Bumbo has scuples, which lead to his breaking.
It is all done with tremendous brio. Sinclair has an experimental style which still reads fresh and lively more than sixty years on. The training sector is laugh out loud hilarious. The mood then becomes gradually darker. Despite the light surface there are considerable depths here and I was surprised at how long it took me to read such a short novel. Yet I absolutely adored it. I'm off now to track down more of Sinclair's work.
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