If you are what you read, right now, I am

A hardbound monkey with a typewriter. ~ Bookish Girl is reading Vikram Chandra's Red Earth And Pouring Rain.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

I/ I'm smiling next to you/ In silent lucidity.

A SPOT OF BOTHER
MARK HADDON

Self-assured and unexpected as hell, it's the follow-up to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

It's the story of sweet old George Hall, trying to go mad politely. While his wife carries on with a neighbour. His daughter tries to settle for a suitable man. His son loves, and loses. And his grandson watches video.

The characters are drawn perfectly, with more restraint and humanity than I've seen in a really long time. The descriptions are lush; the choice of words, unselfconscious. It's such a well-finished piece of writing, it immediately calls to mind McEwan.

It's a book that sticks out for its non-literariness. It's not Literary Award Bait. Not a metaphor for poverty in the Third World. Not manically overwritten ot overtold. It's a story about a man and his family - and it describes, narrates, and entertains, at that level alone.

Just with a degree of polish and certainty that few have attempted before.

Click here for excerpts from the book. My favourite lines remain Katie's description of the opposite sex:

They took up so much space. That was the problem with men. It wasn’t just the leg-sprawl and the clumping down stairs. It was the constant demand for attention. Sit in a room with another woman and you could think. Men had that little flashing light on top of their heads. Hello. It’s me. I’m still here.

For the publishers' websites on the book, click here, and here. Though I suggest heading for the nearest bookstore instead. It's well worth it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haddon is great. This book sounds so diffedrent from Curious incident, must check it out. Thanks for the review, keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

You're kinda cute to be such a book worm!!!

Sangeeta said...

Hope you like it, Haddon Fan. Thanks for dropping by. And Anonymous, thanks. I think.

 
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.