The Story
- Genre: campus novel, comedy
- Form: novel
- Reading time: 6h-6h30
- Published in 1954
- Status: still copyrighted
- Setting: It takes place in a provincial university in England in the early 1950s
- Premise: James Dixon, “Jim”, tries to keep his job as a history lecturer at a university. He at least tries not to jeopardise his position despite his eccentric personality and his lack of motivation for his chosen subject, medieval history. To achieve his goals, he knows he must have an article published in an academic journal and deliver a lecture for a special event at his college. But Dixon is focused on pleasing Professor Welch instead. He thinks he must stay in the Professor’s good books to secure his job. How will he manage when his pranks and efforts always seem to backfire? And how will he manage to navigate between his two love interests, both related to the academic world in one way or another?
A Caricature of Academia
Lucky Jim is a caricature, a parody of the academic world. It is set in post-war Britain, a time when the young began to reject traditional ways of life. After two world wars, society was changing, and what people thought was important was changing too. The story shows the clash between the pomposity of academia and the ruling classes, and what younger people aspire to.
It is a funny book, but some readers may find it difficult to even smile. That is because this kind of humour is not often seen in books, but mostly in series, movies, or plays. The comedic aspect in this book is called comedy of situation. It is a kind of comedy based on action instead of wit or humorous sentences. Dixon makes faces, and he has an eccentric demeanour. He also imagine things in his mind and they are always funny situations he’d like to do or he’d like to happen. He is focused on details about other people’s appearances and movements. So the reader must imagine the scenes, visually, as in a movie. That’s very easy for some, but a challenge for others who are not the visual types.
Close Reading
I will be very vague to avoid spoiling, but for those who would like to slow read the book, you may want to pay attention to:
- The way his funny demeanour clashes with what he really feels (anger, irritation, etc) – how his thoughts don’t match the way he behaves
- What is the basis of his hatred for some people in the book? Why?
- What image does the book give about the academic world?
- What image does the book give about the art world?
- The way he notices sounds and voices, the permanence of music
- Why does he want to keep going in an academic career?
- His relationship with Professor Welch: how do you account for the Professor’s behaviour ?
- What are his relationships with his love interests? Is he in love?
- Why can’t he choose between the two? What appeals do they have for him, and what makes him want to reject them sometimes?
- The way the comedic elements add meaning to the scene and the themes of the book
- The way Dixon grows on you as you read, despite his flaws
- How do you react to the outcome in his professional and personal lives?
