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Posted by Melanie [Blogger] at 28/06/2012 11:08:28
Irvine Welsh's latest novel is a prequel to his first (Trainspotting) and introduces us to a group of young working class men coming of age in Edinburgh at the dawn of Thatcherism. We find Mark Renton studying at Aberdeen University, seemingly divided between his new student life and his old friends from 'the schemes' – docile Spud Murphy, Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson and the monstrous Frank Begbie. Personal tragedies and political failures create a perfect storm and when Renton and friends start dabbling in heroin they find out just how hard it is to say no....
The quality of Welsh's writing in this book blew me away and I found myself wondering which authors had influenced him. A bit of internet research revealed the answer – surprisingly – to be Jane Austen.
Granted, there's a huge difference in subject matter – one author writes about heroin addicts living in 'schemes' (housing estates) in twentieth century Edinburgh, the other concerns herself with young ladies of marriageable age in Regency England but what both authors share is an acute observation of social interaction and discourse, a talent for characterisation and a wry sense of humour. Just as Austen depicts a certain type of society in the seventeenth century, with a keen eye and dry wit, so Welsh brings those same talents to bear for a somewhat different type of society in the twentieth.
Posted by Melanie [Blogger] at 27/06/2012 14:23:51
It is no exaggeration to say that the Internet – still in its infancy – has been revolutionary in it's impact on society. What's easy to forget is that it is not the first revolution in Information Communication Technology – radio, cinema and TV were also hailed as 'the next big thing', offering previously unthought-of opportunities for expression, communication and...
Posted by MK [Blogger] at 15/06/2012 11:49:52
This book is just brilliant. Barnaby Johnson, a Church of Ireland minister is the “perfectly good man”. It is set in a small parish in West Cornwall and when we first meet Barnaby he was unwittingly present at the assisted suicide of Lenny, a young parishioner paralysed in a rugby accident. From that moment on I could not put it down and couldn’t turn the pages fast...
Posted by MK [Blogger] at 13/06/2012 20:00:22
It’s been a long time since a ghost story has caught my attention but Susan Hill’s novel did. It is a tragic and genuinely scary ghost story which has just recently been made into a film.
The central character is a young London solicitor who has been sent to a small village to settle the affairs of a recently deceased client Alice Drablow. The client’s house just happens...
Posted by at 07/06/2012 11:58:39
This book is a sequel to the ‘The Seige’ by Helen Dunmore which describes the horrors of living in Leningrad during WW2. I didn’t read ‘The Seige’ but this novel can stand alone and is worth reading.
The book continues the story of Anna and Andre in post-war Stalinist Leningrad, nine years after the siege. Both of them survived the war but in the telling...
Posted by Margaret [Blogger] at 01/06/2012 15:08:56
The Men and the Girls – Joanna Trollope
One of the first Joanna Trollope books I read and I have to say my favourite.
A story of relationships between older men and young women.
Julia Hunter and Kate Bain appear on the surface to have found true happiness with men old enough to be their father. Likewise James and Hugh who have been lifelong...
