Bill Hopkins (novelist)
| Bill Hopkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bill Hopkins 5 May 1928 London |
| Died | 6 May 2011 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 20th century |
| Literary movement | Angry Young Men |
Bill Hopkins (5 May 1928 – 6 May 2011) was a Welsh novelist and journalist who has been grouped with the Angry Young Men. His father was Ted Hopkins, a popular stage performer; his mother was Violet Brodrick. He is survived by his German-born wife, Carla Hopkins, the proprietress of the antiques store they ran together for many years.
Hopkins's one published novel is a philosophical thriller, The Divine and the Decay (London, MacGibbon and Kee, 1957), also published as The Leap! In this story, the fate of Britain hangs in the balance. Political parties are jockeying for power. A recently formed political party, the New Britain Party, is led by a visionary firebrand, Peter Plowart, who has planned the assassination of his arch-rival, the leader of his own political party. As Plowart anticipates the assassination, he realises that he must establish an alibi to show that he was somewhere else when it comes to pass. After examining the statistical tables of a meticulously researched government census, he decides to make a journey to a little island off the coast of Britain (modelled on one of the smaller Channel Islands) and give a speech to the citizens there. If everything is timed properly, he can rely on the inhabitants vouching for his presence among them when the assassination takes place. His encounter with the islanders, however, leads him to question and test his "will power".
This Nietzschean novel is noteworthy in that the publisher voluntarily recalled all known copies of the work and had them destroyed, in response to critics' allegations that it contained fascistic themes. Surviving copies from the publisher's initial print run are rare and can command prices in three figures. The novel was reprinted in 1984 under the title "The Leap", with an introduction by Colin Wilson and a new preface by Hopkins. Copies sell for 30 pounds or more.
Hopkins was also the author of "Ways Without Precedent", an essay included in Declaration, edited by Tom Maschler (London, MacGibbon & Kee, 1957), an anthology of pieces by writers identified as Angry Young Men and Women. He also wrote some poems. In "Aiming for a Likeness", his contribution to Colin Wilson: A Celebration (1988), he recalls how he arranged a meeting between Colin Wilson and the portrait and fresco painter Pietro Annigoni.
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