How long is it?
224 pages in the Pocket 1984 paperback edition.
Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction
The Elected Member
Highly regardedBooker Prize, 1970Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 41 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 224 pagesPocket · 1984
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Measured
- Emotional intensity
- 5 / 5
About 4 h 30 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 9 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
At forty-one, Norman Zweck has retreated to his bedroom in London's East End, taking amphetamines and seeing silverfish nobody else can see. Once a gifted child and successful barrister, he now relies on his elderly father, Rabbi Zweck, and his unmarried sister Bella. His father struggles to accept his need for psychiatric care, while Norman regards admission to hospital as a betrayal, leaving Bella caught between their demands and the family expectations governing her own life.
Reader notes
Painful family exchanges repeatedly tip into black comedy in this literary novel about addiction, mental illness and frustrated love. The humor comes from people whose devotion to one another coexists with resentment and barely concealed irritation.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Direct · Witty
- Tone
- Dark · Intimate · Melancholic · Unsettling
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships
- Setting
- London
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Addiction
- Belonging
- Community
- Family
- Guilt
- Mental health
Content notes
- Violence
- Mild
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- Mild
- Substance use
- Strong
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- Mild
Standing and awards
Highly regarded
- Booker Prize, 1970
Questions readers ask
Which edition is shown here?
Pocket · 1984 · Paperback. ISBN 9780671506308.
How long does it take to read The Elected Member?
About 4 hours 30 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 224-page Pocket edition. Dense books can take longer.
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Edition and details
- Publisher
- Publication year
- 1984
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 224
- ISBN
- 9780671506308
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1969
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction · Psychological fiction · Social novel · Dark comedy
- Editions
- 6
- Languages
- 2 (English, Unspecified)