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1st out of 158 books
—
60 voters
The Tally
by
E.G. Wolverson (Goodreads Author)
A DARK TALE OF DANGER AND DIESEL FOR THE STUDENT LOAN GENERATION...
Welcome to the Student Bubble.
Welcome to a world where the DJs play the same songs in the same order every single night, and the one (and only) hit wonder reigns supreme. Welcome to a world of crude cartoon and misplaced melodrama; a world free of all but the most trifling of consequences, where exaggerated...more
Welcome to the Student Bubble.
Welcome to a world where the DJs play the same songs in the same order every single night, and the one (and only) hit wonder reigns supreme. Welcome to a world of crude cartoon and misplaced melodrama; a world free of all but the most trifling of consequences, where exaggerated...more
Paperback, First, 300 pages
Published
March 7th 2012
by FeedARead
(first published November 9th 2011)
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Anyone who's had the pleasure of studying at a plate-glass (or 'red brick') university in the UK at any point during the past 45 years will have no difficulty in relating to this book. The angst, fallings out, drunken nights in the union bar, dodgy digs, dodgy landlords, upended expectations and unrequited lust - are all there in abundance.
But for the protagonists in The Tally there's an added ingredient - a crazed serial killer on the loose. To top it all the city of Hull (Yorkshire, England) f...more
But for the protagonists in The Tally there's an added ingredient - a crazed serial killer on the loose. To top it all the city of Hull (Yorkshire, England) f...more
Upon purchasing, The Tally, I read it in less than 24 hours; Wolverson's mixture of hilarity and the macabre had me hooked. Set in a grubby student hovel in the centre of Hull, the premise for the piece hardly screams "high brow," but the author's technique of weaving immature (and very very honest) humour into a dark horror setting is surprisingly effective. As the other reviewers have said, hard to categorise, but very effective.
The narrative descends into the protagonist's personal hell, and...more
The narrative descends into the protagonist's personal hell, and...more
I really enjoyed reading this, it is fast paced, written in a way that reflects the emotional and mental fragility of the characters and handles local dialects really well to create really funny moments throughout the book. The storyline itself is very dark, but the real to life characters mean that you can enjoy the comedy while reading their decent into their own personal hell.
The characters in this book are ones that most people who have gone to uni can relate to. I think everyone has either...more
The characters in this book are ones that most people who have gone to uni can relate to. I think everyone has either...more
Anyone who reads my blog (http://danieltessier.blogspot.co.uk) is likely to be familiar with the work of E.G. Wolverson. It was Mr Wolverson who created and ran The History of the Doctor, filling it with hundreds of articles, reviews and works of short fiction. The whole time he was working on that, he was also working on The Tally, his first novel. It's now available to download from Amazon, although anyone looking for some whimsical Doctor Who-like fantasy should look elsewhere (although he ha...more
I knew from the blurb's Chesney Hawkes joke that The Tally was going to bring back memories of my old Uni days, and it definitely did. Little touches like the students playing on Champ Manager and having them moan about cashpoints not doing fivers really sets the scene, and the author really gets the adolescent male mentality - the difference between how the characters think and feel, and how they try to portray themselves to their peers, definitely couldn't be any further apart. This is in effe...more
This is an interesting one, and really quite the surprise. Known just to a small clique of avid Doctor Who fans as a critic, and occasional fan fictioneer, Eddy Wolverson's fist full length work of fiction doesn't cater to the readers of his site, or most readers at all for that matter, but those who'd be more likely to watch Skins or Inbetweeners on E4.
On his website Wolverson calls the Tally `Bloke-lit' fiction, and that's perhaps the best way to describe it. The book's coarse, boorish exterio...more
On his website Wolverson calls the Tally `Bloke-lit' fiction, and that's perhaps the best way to describe it. The book's coarse, boorish exterio...more
I wasnt sure what to expect from this. I followed the authors web site for a couple of years and was sad to see it go so I thought Id check out his book. If anyone else has done this be warned its nothing like Dr. Who. But it is very good especially for a first effort
`The Tally' is about a group of college students. Four of them live together in a big house and one of them is a killer. Theres also a fifth one (a drop-out called Spadge) who visits a lot. Their all really colorful characters and a...more
`The Tally' is about a group of college students. Four of them live together in a big house and one of them is a killer. Theres also a fifth one (a drop-out called Spadge) who visits a lot. Their all really colorful characters and a...more
The Tally by E. G. Wolverson is A Dark Tale Of Danger And Diesel For The Student Loan Generation which I highly recommend. It's about five men at Hull University who are into doing everything that Students do like drinking, taking drugs, clubbing and sleeping with as many women as they possibly can, but one of them is into something MUCH worse...
The Tally combines traditional teen comedy with edgy Psychology and hammer horror. It gets darker and darker as it goes along and builds towards it's fa...more
The Tally combines traditional teen comedy with edgy Psychology and hammer horror. It gets darker and darker as it goes along and builds towards it's fa...more
Being a Hull University graduate, `The Tally' immediately appealed as an interesting read...and I wasn't disappointed.
Having had the pleasure of living with five men in a Hull student house, The Tally, took me straight back to times passed, conjuring up the sights, sounds and smells of student life at a red-brick university.
The Tally begins by introducing you to the four main characters; Tom, Will, Jamal and Gristle, exploring their true to life personalities, which most people will find they ca...more
Having had the pleasure of living with five men in a Hull student house, The Tally, took me straight back to times passed, conjuring up the sights, sounds and smells of student life at a red-brick university.
The Tally begins by introducing you to the four main characters; Tom, Will, Jamal and Gristle, exploring their true to life personalities, which most people will find they ca...more
I expected better of 'E. G.' Wolverson. I've spent over 30 years working at British universities, and in my experience 'student life' bears little resemblance to the disgusting and distasteful antics depicted in his so-called 'novel'. The vast majority of people in higher education are hard-working young people, many of whom go on to become the pillars of society, but what little I read of this filth dwells on the drug-addled, sex-obsessed, layabout few, most of whom have thankfully now been pri...more
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The Tally is a true to life portrayal of student life meets murder mystery, and unlike anything I have read before. The novel is at times puerile, but as already said, it is only trying to be an accurate depiction of student life, and the thought processes of the average male student, something the novel nails brilliantly. The Tally is on occasion laugh out loud funny, but with frequent asides of philosophical inquiry to add depth. The book, like the characters it portrays, has a superficially c...more
Mad, or just bad? Evil, or pure bonkers? These are a few of the questions that EG Wolverson poses in his debut. We have all got lots of little voices in our heads battling for dominance, every day, even the sanest of us, but are they aspects of us, or could some of them be something else? Something external and evil? When do you stop being you? Or is any gap at all just an illusion (like so many other things...?)
`The Tally' is a gripping, no holds barred peek into a fascinating mixture of twiste...more
`The Tally' is a gripping, no holds barred peek into a fascinating mixture of twiste...more
The Tally is a gloves off look at the seedy side of student life with a weird sort of supernatural storyline. You can really see E. G. Wolverson’s love for sci-fi / horror and especially Dr Who in the book because it makes a big deal of having strange things going on in an every day setting. You could say it’s more believable because it’s so raw, full of sex and swearing and students barfing. This book can be hilarious and sad but in a word it’s disturbing. Very, very, disturbing, making you thi...more
I bought The Tally on recommendation and have to admit I was initially unsure what to expect. I avoid horror or "whodunit" novels as I find them predictable and tedious. I usually know who the killer is within the first chapter causing the plot to drag.
I started reading The Tally and found that there was more to the plot then I had expected. Whilst I had identified the correct killer within the first few chapters I still found the novel gripping, funny and as one review put it thought provoking....more
I started reading The Tally and found that there was more to the plot then I had expected. Whilst I had identified the correct killer within the first few chapters I still found the novel gripping, funny and as one review put it thought provoking....more
Violent, perceptive and funny; brutal, subversive and sly; this is a dazzling read from a writer who punches with both hands and winks at the crowd while he's about it. The Tally is an experimental, split-narrative, multi-viewpoint tale of the seedy side of student life as well as an exploration of the warped workings of the psychotic mind. Truth may be stranger than fiction but in the hardened artery of Wolverson's intricate story you'll keep on guessing till the end and you'll think about the...more
This's a really weird book that I probably wouldn't have tried if I hadn't read/heard the author's Who fan fics on his website. I'm very glad I did though because it's very well observed and very funny in harsh way. A bit like he did in Wolfshead, E G Wolverson sets his story in the grubby student world of Hull, but sends it off on all these crazy tangents: Murder! Demons! Post Apocalypse! The Tally is a gripping read that makes you think, laugh and cry, and I'd definitely recommend it to reader...more
I Read this more out of loyalty than anything else - I've enjouyed E. G. Wolverson's wonderful Dr Who site for many years now. The book is much more to my taste than I'd thought: it's an engaging mix of humor and horror and very, very surprising. As many reviewers have said definitely it's not what we expected, but in fairness probably not what anybody would have expected: that's what makes it so very unique.
I bought The Tally on recommendation and was gripped from the outset.
Wolverson successfully evokes the atmosphere of student life up north but avoids cliché through 3D characters that build throughout each chapter.
Laugh-out-loud funny yet thought provoking, The Tally is a real rollercoaster but what a ride!
Wolverson successfully evokes the atmosphere of student life up north but avoids cliché through 3D characters that build throughout each chapter.
Laugh-out-loud funny yet thought provoking, The Tally is a real rollercoaster but what a ride!
'The Tally' is an intriguing and thought provoking novel that scarily reminds us of the dark recesses of our minds and the past experiences and people that serve to form and mould our characters. Wolverson is a writer to be followed with interest and his next novel is eagerly awaited.
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The author's expert use of juxtaposition between the macabre and the mundane; the sleaze and the sublime make for a scintillating and enthralling read. Wolverson's sense of humour and mother-tongue are a perfect combination throughout. A thoroughly entertaining read!
Incredibly dark, yet laugh out loud humour, with extremely well-crafted characters. Having had the pleasure of living in Hull, the local dialect which permeates the dialogue was a particular treat! I would definitely recommend this original read to others.
Very funny in parts, and readers that went to Uni in the early to mid naughties will no doubt find some resonance, but this combines surprisingly well with the darker undercurrent running through the story. Definitely worth a read.
Got a kindle for xmas and was looking for what to get, then saw the video trailer on you tube and thought it looked funny. The best read and £1.77 I've spent in a long time. If you don't buy this book, you'll miss out!
A great book from a guy with a great website. I found the dating a bit confusing - early on it's supposedly set in the late 2010's, but later diary entries set in early 2000's? Other than that though blinding.
Entertaining combination of student drinking culture, surreal mystery and philosophy. The author moves effortlessly between these three elements to create a great read.
Something of a learning curve to start given the accents of the characters, further troubled by the disjointed split narrative E.G. Wolverson takes in telling his story. I wasn't sure whether I should be focusing on the relationship troubles faced by the characters or whether there was some hidden clue that was being peppered in to help the reader guess who the killer was. This lack of focus made The Tally a difficult book to stick with and one that I only ended up finishing because I had nothin...more
Hi. It was dark and kinda clever, but way too rude for me!
Can't believe this is set where I worked!
Jun 04, 2013
Asma Ali
marked it as to-read
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E.G. Wolverson is an author, critic and part-time lawyer. His first novel, The Tally, has become a cult hit amongst British diesel-downing students, while his ambitious monument to the first 48 years of Doctor Who across the media, The History of the Doctor, remains Google's top-ranked website for the search term "Doctor Who reviews".
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