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12th out of 13 books
—
10 voters
Ripley Bogle
A Cambridge dropout turned penniless drifter, the unforgettable Ripley Bogle takes us through the underbelly of London and into the surreal world of a vagabond. But Bogle is not your average bum. With a razor-sharp intellect, prodigious powers of perception, and better-than-average appearance ("Most movie stars would give their false back teeth for the kind of lived-in loo...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
February 29th 2000
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1989)
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From formal education to homelessness...Ripley Bogle, the character and the book itself is a somewhat more cynical and juvenile version of Eureka Street: A Novel of Ireland Like No Other by the same author. I first read this while smoking lots of hashish and drinking cheap white wine in Belfast with bunch of punk artists living on the dole, while we all ignored Tony Blair's visit to the region and slept on dirty rugs, so I'm probably not going to give this a fair literary shake down. I do wonder...more
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Leggendo questo romanzo diventerai il migliore amico di Ripley, lo accompagnerai nella sua lenta ed inesorabile discesa verso i bassifondi. Gli starai vicino mentre nelle notti da homless, in una Londra freddissima e senza pietà, ti racconterà come è diventato quello che è, cosa gli è successo nel corso dei suoi primi 22 anni. Genio e ribelle sconfitto dal mondo forse per troppa intelligenza e troppo anticonformismo.
Una scrittura quella di Wilson ricercata, a volte difficile ma che si sposa perf...more
Una scrittura quella di Wilson ricercata, a volte difficile ma che si sposa perf...more
Primera novela del inconformista Robert McLiam Wilson, que sin duda se caracteriza en el ambiente literario por sus ganas de provocar, a mí ésta no me ha gustado tanto como su magnífica 'Eureka Street' y, de hecho, en su conjunto no es que me haya gustado demasiado.
El carisma de su protagonista nadie lo niega; el tono dickensiano de su narración es claramente discernible, más allá del hecho de que el propio Ripley rinda tributo al gran autor; la poética de la narrativa se asoma con frecuencia en...more
El carisma de su protagonista nadie lo niega; el tono dickensiano de su narración es claramente discernible, más allá del hecho de que el propio Ripley rinda tributo al gran autor; la poética de la narrativa se asoma con frecuencia en...more
One of my favourite books of all time. I bought it in Euston station in 1988, penniless after just arriving in London from provincial Ireland. Maybe his crazy snobbery and pathetic poetic self-delusion mirrored my own at that time but I have never forgotten reading this book.
As a character, you know he is ridiculous but McLiam Wilson made him a part of every person who'd left University (or in my case, Art College) in the '80s - convinced you were going to go out and change the world. And then l...more
As a character, you know he is ridiculous but McLiam Wilson made him a part of every person who'd left University (or in my case, Art College) in the '80s - convinced you were going to go out and change the world. And then l...more
This novel has a powerful protagonist whose narrative is not entirely dependable, but it is gripping and unusual. This novel should be filmed. Russell Brand should have the lead. Every page is strikingly visual.
According to the third chapter of the pop pamphlet "Word gets around" written and sung by Kelly Jones, there is "More Life in a Tramps Vest". This is an interesting point of view. This is a gross approximation. I suppose that Mr Jones was just trying to find a nice title and instead of exposing his theory he carved a refrain.
A tramp's life is certainly something that most of us never wrote in a resume. Indeed, as the Northern Irish atypical tramp Ripley Bogle sets straight in this book, for bein...more
A tramp's life is certainly something that most of us never wrote in a resume. Indeed, as the Northern Irish atypical tramp Ripley Bogle sets straight in this book, for bein...more
Lyrical dialogue, narcissistic flair and endless personification. A down-and-out intellectual snob. Excellent descriptions of homeless cause, hunger, cold, loss, regret, and stubbornness. Last chapter -- as so often is the case? Seems a bit tacked on, but can be argued to fit the novel well. A bit too much main character narration and internal dialogue for some tastes, I'd wager. I really liked it -- not as much as some other books I've given four stars to, but it makes the grade.
In this, one of my favourite books, Ripley Bogle, unreliable narrator, treats us, grandiloquently, to the story of his 1970s upbringing in Belfast and his all-too-short time at Cambridge, while tramping the streets and park benches of 1980s London. How much should you believe? I don't know. Just enjoy his wit, shining through the street-grime.
Fast paced and with an acute literary style, the book is let down a bit in the second half with a slow-down in the story and a bit of a loss of direction. Still worth a read and a strong debut novel.
Wilson has created a character as indelible as Ignatious P. Reilly or John Self, and also written a poetic and harrowing ode to the outcast in society. A masterwork, but not for the faint of heart.
It just got better after the childbirth....one potato....two potato..... One of my fav fictional characters.
I have to admit I've liked it much more than Eureka Street.
At least that's the impression I've preserved.
At least that's the impression I've preserved.
Add me to the list of Eureka Street fans who found it really difficult to get through this one.
Dec 27, 2008
Pipgargery
added it
Ripley Bogle (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Robert Mcliam Wilson (2000)
Finiti
so far, so good.
Started off slow, but way better then expected!
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I loved this book, but have loaned it to some who couldn't even get through it so it must be love it or ya hate it. Extraordinary ammounts of bad language, but an ending I won't soon forget.
Because I loved Eureka Street so much I wanted to like it, tried to like it... and failed.
Point of view of a guy who is homeless. An intellectual ride in a little weird way.
This was a bit less readable than Eureka Street, but still very well done.
Dispicably wonderful book narrated by an intellectual homeless man
couldn't make it past 30 pages!
Jun 16, 2013
Cliona Hammond
added it
Jun 05, 2013
Michael
marked it as to-read
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Robert McLiam Wilson was born in Belfast on 24 February 1966 and studied English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He is the author of the novels Ripley Bogle (1989), winner of the Hughes Prize,a Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Irish Book Award and the Betty Trask Prize; Manfred's Pain (1992); and Eureka Street (1996), winner of the Belfast Arts Award for Literature. He is also the auth...more
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