Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20201228 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 02 | 20201229 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 The local headmaster discovers a letter proving adultery between his wife and a teacher. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 03 | 20201230 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 Under Mr Slime's instructions, the villagers strike for the first time in their lives. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 04 | 20201231 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 The boys sneak into the landlord's garden to take a look at 'the Great' party. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 05 | 20210101 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 Political change is rippling through Barbados and fighting breaks out in the city. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 06 | 20210104 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 The rioters surround the houses, while the villagers watch, shaking with fear. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 07 | 20210105 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 G transitions into high school and begins to realise what he is leaving behind. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 08 | 20210106 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 Mr Slime promises the villagers their fortunes will change whilst WWII takes its toll. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 09 | 20210107 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 The villagers are horrified as their landlord sells the land from under their feet. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |
| 10 | 20210108 | In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition. It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd." Lamming wrote: "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...) Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement." Abridged by Florence Bedell Read by Paterson Joseph Produced by Clive Brill A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 G comes to realise the true significance of his race as he bids farewell to his village. A lyrical coming-of-age novel set amid the collapse of colonial rule in Barbados. |