The Major Novels of John Wain: A Study

The first impression that a novel of John Wain creates is that of ‘a world of external reality’ existing ‘Independently of the author’s testimony’, but not of his sensibility’.  A post-war British novelist, Wain was the first among the younger writers of his generation to come out with a novel which stirred the imagination of a large number of readers and greatly influenced the younger writers of the nineteen-fifties. This novel, Hurry On Down, published in 1953, was wain’s maiden work and was an instant success.  It presented a tangible world, a world of pulsating reality, not an unsubstantial dream-world, and caught the mood of the time-the mood of impatience and disenchantment of the younger generation of the post-war era.