''Party Going'' is a 1939 novel by British writer

Henry Green Henry Green was the pen name of Henry Vincent Yorke (29 October 1905 – 13 December 1973), an English writer best remembered for the novels ''Party Going'', ''Living (novel), Living,'' and ''Loving (novel), Loving''. He published a total of n ...

(real name Henry Vincent Yorke). It tells the story of a group of wealthy people travelling by train to a

house party A house party is a type of party held at the home of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, word of mouth, pos ...

. Due to a fog, however, the train is much delayed and the group takes rooms in the adjacent large railway hotel. Almost all of the action of the story takes place in the hotel.

Realism or symbolism?

Frank Kermode Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010) was a British literary critic best known for his 1967 work '' The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction'' and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing. He wa ...

maintained in his essay "The Genesis of Secrecy" that behind the realistic plot of this novel there is a complex web of mythical images, the most important being the figure of the classical Greek god

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

, which is strongly tied to one of the characters. This led Kermode to consider ''Party Going'' as a Modernist novel strongly influenced by the ideas of

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

References

* * * 1939 British novels Novels by Henry Green Novels set in hotels Hogarth Press books Modernist novels Novels set in one day NYRB Classics {{1930s-novel-stub