Trawl
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | B. S. Johnson |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Holden |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg (UK) |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 183 |
| Preceded by | Albert Angelo |
| Followed by | The Unfortunates |
Trawl is the third novel by the experimental British novelist B. S. Johnson. Published by Secker & Warburg in 1966, the book is an autobiographical novel based on a trip Johnson took on a fishing trawler to the Barents Sea. In 1967, Trawl was joint-winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.
Plot
[edit]Trawl follows an unnamed narrator who takes a three-week journey on a fishing trawler to the Barents Sea.[1] As well as observing the activities carried out by the crew, the narrator also looks back at his life, metaphorically "trawling" through his past.[2] This includes recounting past love interests and his childhood as a wartime evacuee.[3]
Style
[edit]Trawl was described by Johnson as: "all interior monologue". The book features an absence of paragraphs, while the length of lines in the book is shortened, thus the book is printed in a long, narrow format.[4] When Johnson presented the work to Fredric Warburg of publishers Secker & Warburg, Warburg believed the work to be an autobiography rather than a novel. Johnson denied this, saying in response: "It is a novel, I insisted and could prove; what it is not is fiction."[3]
The novel is noted for differing from many of Johnson's other works in that it features a positive ending: when the trawler arrives home, the narrator finds his current love interest, Ginnie, at the dock waiting for him. Ginnie is based on his then-partner and future wife Virginia Kimpton.[3][5]
Reception
[edit]In 1967, Trawl was joint-winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, given to writers to enrich their work through experience of foreign countries. He co-won with Andrew Sinclair's The Better Half.[6] Johnson won £500, on condition that the money should be spent on foreign travel.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Trawl: B S Johnson". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ^ Burrow, Colin (11 April 2013). "Fetch the Scissors". London Review of Books. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ^ a b c Coe, Jonathan (4 June 2004). Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B S Johnson. Picador (imprint). p. 19-21.
- ^ "B. S. Johnson". New Directions Publishing. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ^ Guignery, Vanessa (May 2011). "A Fat Man on a Beach: Conflicting Horizons in B.S. Johnson's Work". Études britanniques contemporaines (40). Société d'Études Anglaises Contemporaines: 41–52. doi:10.4000/ebc.2364. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ^ "Somerset Maugham Awards". Society of Authors. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ^ Coe, Jonathan (4 June 2004). Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B S Johnson. Picador (imprint). p. 232.