The host for the evening and the proposer of A. J. Cronin's “The
Citadel” (1937) was a retired General Practitioner. He opened proceedings by
explaining the reasons for his choice of book and detailing the author’s
background.
He explained that he first became aware of A. J.
Cronin (“AJ”) when his family
watched Dr Finlay’s Casebook. BBC TV broadcast the series between 1962 and 1971
and, while he did not admit to watching all 191 episodes, the programme had
undoubtedly influenced his subsequent career choice. He was smitten by the
writings of “A.J” after reading “Hatters Castle”, and subsequently sought out
most of Cronin’s other books. He first read "The Citadel" in the 1970’s.
“The Citadel” was published in 1937 and was a global best
seller. It sold 100,000 copies in the first three months of becoming available
and was reprinted at a rate of 10,000 per week. It established Cronin as one of
the most popular novelists of the 1930’s. By today’s standards the novel
elevated Cronin to multi-millionaire status. In common with a number of his
books it was turned into a successful film in 1938, winning four Oscar
nominations and grossing $2.5 million.
Cronin was born in Cardross in Dumbartonshire in 1896.
His father was an Irish Catholic and his mother was from a staunchly Protestant
family. They lived in Cardross for
six years, but his father’s deteriorating health forced them to move to
Helensburgh. There he died suddenly from pulmonary T.B. when Cronin was only
seven years old. His mother then took “AJ” to stay with her parents in
Dumbarton. She later moved to Glasgow where she obtained employment as a
sanitary inspector.
“AJ” was an all rounder. He was gifted academically,
and also excelled in athletics and football. He moved from St Aloysius College
to Glasgow University having won a Carnegie Scholarship to study medicine.
After a short spell in the Royal Navy, he returned to Medical School,
graduating in 1919 with honours. He met his future wife, May, also a medical
student about this time. He went on to obtain the additional higher medical
degrees of MRCP and MD, as well as the Diploma in Public Health.
After graduating he worked in various hospitals in
Glasgow and Dublin. Whilst employed as medical superintendant in Lightburn
Hospital near Glasgow, a post for an unmarried doctor, he was pressured into
marrying May as she had announced that she was pregnant. Following a quiet
wedding in Glasgow, they moved to the Welsh mining town of Treherbert where he
was briefly employed as a GP assistant. He moved again to a GP post in the
larger nearby mining town of Tredegar where in 1924 May gave birth to their
first son Vincent.
In the same year they moved to London, where “AJ” took
up an appointment as the Medical Inspector of Mines for Great Britain.
While in this post he published reports linking coal
dust exposure to pulmonary disease. In 1926 he bought a medical practice in the
City. His second son, Patrick was born in the same year. He successfully built
up his practice, but he suffered from a chronic gastric ulcer. This, together with significant profits
from investments made by an Investment Group to which “AJ” had been introduced
to by a grateful patient, influenced his decision to leave medicine. In 1930 he put down the stethoscope and
picked up the pen, thereby fulfilling a longstanding ambition.
AJ’s third son, Andrew was born in 1937 by which time
he had become a successful author. In 1939 he moved to the USA where his
reputation was already established. “The Citadel” won the National Book Award
in the USA in 1937 and in a Gallup poll in 1939 it was voted the most
interesting book that readers had read.
He was in great demand and moved around the country
promoting his work. The family never stayed more than a year in any one house
until he eventually purchased a house in Connecticut in1947. He remained there
until moving to Switzerland in 1955. By this time he was a very wealthy man,
and his move was probably motivated by his tax situation. He died in 1981.
Some members of our group had experienced difficulty
in acquiring a copy of the book and there was a concern that there would be
differences between the various editions read. This concern proved unfounded.
More amusingly, kindle editions of Cronin’s novels, including “The Citadel”,
had newly become available on the day of our meeting. Some thought that the
demand created by our members and followers had forced Amazon’s hand. Others
suggested that this simply confirmed a growing interest in Cronin’s writings as
a result of the publication of the second biography of his life (“The man who
created Dr Finlay” by Alan Davies, 2011). This publication, and a discussion
paper published in the journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
on the possible influence that “The Citadel had on the formation of the NHS,
seem to have stimulated renewed interest in Cronin’s work. Whatever the truth, the coincidence, if
that is what it was, proved a source of great frustration to all of those who
had had difficulty obtaining a copy.
There was a unanimous view that the book was an “easy”
read. It was a “good yarn” written in what one of our group described as “stage
direction “ style. It was agreed that the strength of the book came partly from
AJ being able to draw on his own experiences, both personal and professional.
While the autobiographical basis of the novel successfully captured the nature
of the challenges encountered by Dr Andrew Manson, it was also extremely
controversial, as a number of people threatened to sue Cronin over his
depiction of them in his characters.
The group spent some time trying to understand the
reasons for their generally positive view of the book. It was described as a
polemic, challenging the social conventions of the time and dealing with the
exploitative nature of parts of the medical profession in the 1930’s. The
crusading theme of the novel was a major factor in its popularity. The book was
dedicated to uncovering systematically the unsatisfactory practices of
significant sections of the medical profession, and to confirming the view that
money was indeed the root of all evil. The book was shocking, and it generated
controversy and moral outrage. It uncovered the practices of a profession which
hid behind the mysteries of medical science. This sensational content was an
important factor in the group’s enjoyment of the novel.
We discussed the wider impact of the book. Its
popularity both here in the UK and in the USA focussed attention on medical
services and the way they were organised. The criticisms of the medical
profession delivered through the eyes of those working within the service, and
from the perspective of those on the receiving end, had undoubtedly had an
influence on the debate that eventually led to the creation of the NHS in 1948.
Indeed some suggested that the book had a profound affect on these
deliberations. Nye Bevan, one of the architects of the NHS, probably knew
Cronin when Bevan served on the Tredegar Hospital Committee, and may well have
been influenced by the book.
Many of our Group considered that at least part of
their enjoyment of the book could be attributed to their familiarity with the
social conventions of the time. All were anxious to point out that they were
too young to be directly involved but they were all able to relate to the
experiences of their parents!
Other factors contributing to our enjoyment were AJ’s
persuasive narrative skills, his acute observations, graphic descriptions and
his impressive characterisations. Other compelling features were the idealistic
nature of the plot, combined with the “feel good” factor, and the triumph of
right over wrong.
On the negative side some thought that the novel was
“wordy” and that the writing was “pedestrian” particularly when compared with
other notable authors. One member questioned the pace of the novel. He pointed
out that the first part of the book, describing Manson’s life in Wales,
occupied some 56% of the book, his period in London 36% and the passages
dealing with his wife’s death, his selling up and the “trial”only 8%. He
suggested that one explanation was that the earlier passages were
autobiographical while the rest was not. This raised a question about the
writing process adopted by “AJ” and speculation over whether or not he planned
the structure of the novel or simply allowed it to emerge as he wrote.
One member pointed to apparent contradictions in the
book, such as investigations into lung disease but the acceptance of heavy
smoking, and the toleration of the unhygienic practices of his dentist friend,
Boland, while being very critical of poor hygienic standards elsewhere.
The discussion moved on to consider whether or not the
characteristics associated with the provision of medical practice, as described
by “AJ”, still exist today. The increasing importance of private practice and
the presence of more and more competition were cited as examples of factors
that have remained features common to medical service delivery, both pre and
post NHS. It was, however, accepted that such a comparison had little meaning.
The NHS, having brought structure to the previously unstructured organisation
of medical services, had had to meet the challenges of rapid medical advances
and growing individual expectations, and these factors ruled out any serious
attempt at comparison.
Our host encouraged us to read more of “AJ’s” work and
some of the group seemed motivated to do so. However, no one anticipated a
profound career changing impact as a consequence.
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