J. R. Ackerley (1896-1967) was the arts editor of the BBC’s weekly magazine, The Listener. We Think the World of You (1960) was his only work of fiction. In addition to this one novel, Ackerley is also well regarded for his memoirs, including such titles as My Father and Myself and Hindoo Holiday.
The Plot of We Think the World of You
Frank is a middle aged public servant still in love with a young working class man named Johnny. Johnny has gotten himself into some trouble recently, for petty theft, and is now serving a short jail term.
In order for Frank to get in contact with Johnny, he must deal with his family. There is Johnny’s wife, Megan, who Frank can’t stand. And then there is Johnny's mother Millie and her fourth husband Tom, who are also minding his Alsatian dog Evie, in their tiny working class house.
As Frank laments his inability to get a prison meeting with his beloved Johnny, he develops an interest in Evie, the Alsatian dog. He takes Evie out for a walk and the two develop an instant rapport. Frank starts to become concerned about the dog’s welfare when he discovers that Tom sometimes mishandles the dog. This concern develops to the point where Frank steps over the line into the somewhat blunt working-class world of Millie and Tom.
A tussle for the possession of Evie ensues, one in which Johnny’s emotional shadow lingers over the action. Frank’s unfulfilled desired for Johnny, a relationship he comes to see as doomed, finds some release in the relationship with Evie the dog.
Themes of We Think the World of You
Published in 1960, We Think the World of You’s central relationship between Johnny and Frank is presumed to be homosexual in nature by the reader. There is nothing explicit in the text to point to the real emotional nature of the relationship: a sexual longing for Johnny on Frank’s part.
Slightly stranger still, in the novel Frank is at least on friendly terms with Millie, Johnny’s mother. He regularly visits her house, and tolerates the gruff Tom. Yet the reader must presume that Millie and Tom and even the wife, Megan, know nothing of the true nature of Frank’s relationship with Johnny.
The theme of the novel is on the impossibility of Frank's deep emotional desires finding full and everlasting expression. There is an awful loneliness that surrounds Frank’s life. He may be educated and smart, but his life seems horribly empty. Where once he thought he could possibly bend the world to his desires, he sees that he lives in one world and Johnny in another. The two can’t possibly mix. Johnny’s circumstances are entirely tied up in his family – his wife and children. Frank has no such obligations.
In the end, Frank extracts a small solace for this heartbreak by developing a relationship with Evie.
The Extraordinary Portrait of Evie
The highlight of the novel is the extraordinary portrait of the dog, Evie. Ironically, of all the characters in the book, it is Evie that is given the most three dimensional life. Ackerley has obviously studied his own dog’s expressions and psychology in depth. In the end it is Evie who is really the star of the novel. Anyone who has owned a pet will immediately relate to the close bond that develops between Frank and Evie.
We Think the World of You is a minor literary gem that mixes acerbic comedy with a deep sadness. It is a story that employs the relationship between a man and a dog to describe what happens when desire fails to obtain its object.
We Think the World of You, published by NYRB Classics (2000). ISBN-13:978-0940322264
Chris Saliba - Chris Saliba is a freelance writer. Read more of his workplace articles at chrissalibafreelancewriter.blogspot.com
Join the Conversation