Day
by A.L. Kennedy
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Read in June, 2008
A tiny WWII Lanc tailgunner volunteers as an extra in some postwar prison camp documentary, and then returns to his job at a used book store. That's the basic plot, but there's so much nasty in between. The constant shifting back and forth of the wounded narrative never lets you go. Plus, "you" are him -- the second-person voice kicks in frequently enough to make you wonder (when you're finished) whether you have...more
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The Economist print edition review
"Were it not for the author's photo on the jacket, few would guess that this war story was written by a woman. The details of RAF bombing missions over Germany are scrupulous. More impressive still, A.L. Kennedy has a keen feel for the jousting indirection of male banter. She skilfully depicts the discontinuity between the bursting emotions of men's interior life and the choked, inarticulate bleating that expresses them—or fails to. Day was publi...more
"Were it not for the author's photo on the jacket, few would guess that this war story was written by a woman. The details of RAF bombing missions over Germany are scrupulous. More impressive still, A.L. Kennedy has a keen feel for the jousting indirection of male banter. She skilfully depicts the discontinuity between the bursting emotions of men's interior life and the choked, inarticulate bleating that expresses them—or fails to. Day was publi...more
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Read in August, 2008
This book is a stunner.
I found Day randomly at a bookstore on an island in the North Sea, of all places. I had never heard of the writer or of this novel, which came out in '07.
Somehow, the author has found a way to channel the mind of a WWII British tail gunner into a book that, if one hadn't known otherwise, might have actually been written by an RAF survivor. Though the story is a collage of narratives and time frames (internal dialogue, 2nd person during the war, 3rd person after th...more
I found Day randomly at a bookstore on an island in the North Sea, of all places. I had never heard of the writer or of this novel, which came out in '07.
Somehow, the author has found a way to channel the mind of a WWII British tail gunner into a book that, if one hadn't known otherwise, might have actually been written by an RAF survivor. Though the story is a collage of narratives and time frames (internal dialogue, 2nd person during the war, 3rd person after th...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is a hard book to get engaged with, partly because of the gloominess of the main character. Ironic, since the book uses the second person to force the reader into the heart of the story and the character's mind and emotions. There are certainly some throw away aspects of the book, like the characters of "the Good German" and even Alfie's nemesis, Vasyl, whose threat of violence comes to nothing but a lurking presence somewhere in Britian. But Alfie's suffering and almost claust...more
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Normally I love Kennedy's novels--she's a beautiful writer--but I just couldn't get into this one. I'm not really sure why--the protagonist was really sympathetic, a WWII vet who spent time in a POW camp, and after the war ends up working as an extra in a movie about a POW camp . . . maybe it was the way every chapter flashed back and forth in time, and it seemed like things were missing and didn't quite fit together, and the love interest wasn't really characterized in any way (which may have b...more
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I bought the book in hardcover with high hopes based on all that I'd read of Kennedy. I didn't get past page 70, and not because I didn't think the story was interesting. It was the dips into second-person present that stymied me. I studied a few of these sudden switches but could find (perhaps through my own fault) no rhyme or reason. Each successive dip took me out of the story, and I guess I didn't feel in sure hands as a reader. So I stopped. I'll get back to Kennedy, though. I'll have to. S...more
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Read in January, 2008
I tried....I really, really tried. It always pains me to give up on a book but I just could not get into this, no matter how hard I tried...and if it has to be such a struggle then it is definitely not worth reading. I wanted to like this because I read so many good things about it but I did not like the writing or the way the story was being told. Maybe it's just me but I found it to be nothing more than a confusing jumble and I never knew where I was. It's sad but time to move on.
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Read in April, 2008
An ambitious book: the antiheroic story of Alfred Day, tail gunner on a Lancaster bomber in World War II, told in shattered bits of narrative—the bombing missions, the woman he meets in London on leave, his postwar job in a used bookstore, and most important, his return to a P.O.W. camp, this time as an extra in a movie about the war. Kennedy depends on ellipsis to achieve her effects: Day's time as a genuine prisoner in the camp is only briefly described.
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Read in January, 2008
"A shy ex-soldier accepts a role as an extra in a POW film and finds himself sifting through agonizing memories" (review in More magazine)
The review says this is a "hugely gifted Scottish author who reamins far below the radar" To my taste, I understand why. Very post modern with time and setting shifts occuring without warning. The title character never develops a personality. I skipped to the end and he's just as blah and depressing as at the start.
The review says this is a "hugely gifted Scottish author who reamins far below the radar" To my taste, I understand why. Very post modern with time and setting shifts occuring without warning. The title character never develops a personality. I skipped to the end and he's just as blah and depressing as at the start.
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this is the best book i've read this year. it's about an air force gunner in world war ii, covering his experiences during the war and afterwards as he tries to adjust back to civilian life. the plot description doesn't sound like anything special, but it really is a wonderfully written and moving book. i kind of want to read it again, already. read a proper review here.
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Read in March, 2008
I get so excited to read her, and then I remember that it is always difficult. But in a really good way. A former POW doesn't know who or what he is outside of a war, so he takes a part as a POW extra in a documentary? God, fucking heartbreaking. But also incredible.
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What I learned from this book . . . I learned that war is hell. It's pretty--I had trouble getting into it, but once I was in I was hooked. Her descriptions of being on a bombing raid over Germany are harrowing.
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Brilliantly written, moving story about a young RAF pilot both before, during, and after the war.
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