How Far Can You Go? is a novel by the distinguished British writer and academic David Lodge. It was first published by Martin Secker and Warburg in 1980, won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in that year, and went straight into paperback in Penguin Books in 1981. In the US it was published under the title Souls and Bodies. David Lodge (born January 28, 1935 at London, England) is a British author. ... See also: 1979 in literature, other events of 1980, 1981 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Whitbread Book Awards are among the United Kingdoms most prestigious literary awards. ... Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The book deals with the intersecting lives of a group of English Catholics from their college years in the early 1950s up to the late 1970s. The characters are confronted with a wide range of issues and experiences including marriage, contraception, adultery, sickness, loss, and, most important of all, the changes in the Catholic Church brought about by the Second Vatican Council and the papal encyclical against contraception, Humanae Vitae (1968). Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... Marriage is a legal, social, and religious relationship between individuals which has formed the foundation of the family for most societies. ... Adultery is generally defined as consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their lawful spouse. ... A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... Loss has several meanings including: Loss in electronics is the ratio of the system output to system input In electronics, loss is the ratio of system output to system input. ... The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ... The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... In the ancient Church, an encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area. ... Humanae Vitae (Latin of human life) is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and promulgated on July 25, 1968. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

The title's meaning is twofold: it is on the one hand a reference to how far you ought to go with a member of the other sex before marriage, but also to the question of disorientation in the face of abrupt changes in the Church within only a few years.

The novel is a bitterly funny satire on life for young English Catholics in the 1950s and 1960s, depicting them juggling the pressures of youth, sexual desire and the modern world with rigid rules about the avoidance of pleasures, the shame of disappointing Christ and the Virgin, and the fear of hell. It contains an authentic description of moral experience for most Christians from about 400 AD until very recently, and will be heart-wrenchingly familiar to any who were Catholics before the Second Vatican Council. The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ...