The Bottle Factory Outing: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 1974

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This book came my way courtesy of an Abacus Books 50th Anniversary gift box, and a few details made me reach for it first: the Camden (London) setting; a new Introduction by Amanda Craig; and the beguiling strangeness of Bainbridge herself. The Bottle Factory has now been adopted into Southwark’s conservation area which will mean it stands the test of time while the area surrounds are being lost to residential redevelopment. Peter Tinniswood in The Times writes "This is a superb novel. It is taut in construction, expansive in characterization, vibrant in atmosphere and profoundly comic". [7]

Brenda, who was easily embarrassed, didn’t care to be seen gawping at the window. She declined to look at the roof of the hearse, crowned with flowers like a Sunday hat, as the coffin was shoved into place.We have four different size bottles to choose from, as such you can tailor the bottle size and shape specifically to suit your needs. You can choose from several different colours (5 colours available) of sports bottles. You also have the option to choose the colour of the cap (7 colours available), and with our fantastic printing facilities you can have your own artwork or logo printed on them to perfectly promote your business/school/club. Bainbridge's story is set in a small Italian-run factory somewhere in London which bottles wines and some spirits. Freda and Brenda are two members of the workforce , working alongside some middle aged Italians who clean and label the bottles for despatch. The pair share a workbench by day and a miserable bedsit room by night. They also share a bed though they build a wall of books to ensure there is a clear demarkation of space on the mattress. Knjiga je kancer. Sve suprotno od onoga što je obećano. Radnja je neinventivna, dosadna, glavni likovi (ličkinje, likuše, likenjke?) su dve toliko stereotipno kliše žene, da je bilo bolno čitati. Uvek je jedna neodlučna i mutava mommy issues od muža pobegulja, a druga kamenjarka koja samo što ne počne da bije sve oko sebe kao Boda Tajson, ali joj feminizam bude ubijen u pojam čim vidi mačo Italijana. S druge strane nalazi se milion likova Italijana i jedan Irac koji su - pogađate - MASNO PROKLETO STEREOTIPNO KARAKTERIZOVANI. Da, Beril, svi su Italijani strastveni, svi zalizuju kosu. A najbitniji među njima - lepi maniri, brčići, macho look, obrazovan, još samo fali da drži spojene prste kad objašnjava. Irac - taman posla da ne bude narandžaste kose i kože tako da "svetli u mraku". Taman posla da se ne potkači "on je Irac, kako sme da ne zna katoličke običaje". Karakterizacija likova - minus hiljadu. Ja ne pamtim da sam neku ovako kratku knjigu sa ovolikim proredom čitao duže. U sinopsisu piše - komedija, ali je kraj tužan. Od komedije ovde nema ni K, Kursadžije su izmislile komediju za ovo. Od tužnog kraja - jok, možda patetika, i to pod slabo razjašnjenim okolnostima. S v a š t a. In the opening paragraphs, Brenda and Freda are watching the early stages of a funeral with the removal of a coffin from another flat in their building. As they speculate on the deceased – an old lady who lived with her cat – the differences between the two women become increasingly apparent.

Ouch. And the worst thing is that by this stage in the novel we know something of Brenda. I actually found myself questioning whether she does talk too much. And so found myself wondering whether an entirely unreasonable statement had any kind of justification. And so again, after the laughter there had come a stomach lurch. It’s all similarly queasy and unsettling. It’s tremendous artistry. It’s a novel with a uniquely woozy feel – a jelly-legged sense of uncertainty – that feels all the stranger because the sentences appear so superficially straightforward. Jordison, Sam (18 October 2013). "The Bottle Factory Outing's unsettling brilliance is short but barbed". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 January 2023. You are not flotsam washed up on the shore, without recourse to the sea,’ continued Freda. She was lifting one vast leg and polishing the toe of her boot on the hem of the curtains. ‘When we go on the Outing you bloody well better participate.’ The Bottle Factory Outing is a novel inspired by Bainbridge's own experience of working in a bottling plant. At times offbeat, the humour is mingled with moments of poignancy particularly in the final scenes as the workers gather at a bizarre party in the factory attic.

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A string vest?’ said Brenda dubiously, and Freda couldn’t explain – it would have been wasted on her. Provides two print areas for your artwork/logo; a band of 19.2cm x 1.2cm around the top of the bottle and a main print area of 19.2cm x 5.0cm. Brenda had fashioned a bolster to put down the middle of the bed and a row of books to ensure that they lay less intimately at night. Freda complained that the books were uncomfortable – but then she had never been married.

Set in London in the 1970s, the novel is essentially the story of two lonely young women, Brenda and Freda, who share a bedsit and who are as different from each other as chalk is from cheese. Brenda has an unhappy marriage largely behind her - she came to London from the north of England primarily to escape the clutches of her frequently drunken husband who is prone to urinating on the doorstep of the family home. Privately educated Brenda is a diffident and downtrodden person who has little or no personal confidence. From an early age, she was taught by her mother to give in on things she doesn't want to do and to resist those things that she does want to do. Freda is from a lower social class than Brenda but has bags more confidence and is not averse to speaking her mind. She has ambition and determination. Both characters work at a wine bottling factory down the road from where they live. They are two of only three women employed at the factory, which is staffed primarily by Italian male immigrants. One of the male employees, Rossi, is keen on Brenda. Freda is determined to forge a relationship with one of the other employees, Vittorio. The thrust of the plot is an outing for everyone at the factory - to a stately home with beautiful gardens - that Freda has organised. However, Freda's plans go awry. The outing becomes something rather different, with fewer participants. Tragedy strikes during the course of the trip, an event that has far-reaching consequences for all of the factory staff.Our 300ml sports bottle is very popular with young children due to its weight and size. This makes it an ideal choice for junior schools and nurseries. When Freda spoke like that Brenda would have run into another room, had there been one. Uneasily she said,‘I do participate. More than you think.’ Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and named ‘one of the greatest novels of all time’ by the Observer, this riveting novel shows Beryl Bainbridge at her darkly comic best Their day of freedom fails to live up to all their expectations. It's starts with the non appearance of the van they'd booked as transport and gets steadily worse because instead of a wine-fuelled picnic in the grounds of a stately home, they have to enjoy their repast on a patch of grass near the road. It all ends in in tragedy.