One Sunday morning in Glasgow, shoplifting ex-con Sammy awakens in an alley, wearing another man's shoes and trying to remember his two-day drinkin...
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Apr 11, 2008
cal
rated it: 
This book haunts me. It was one of the better during that strange time when we were suddenly inundated with contemporary Scottish literature. Suddenly all these Soctsmen were doing book signings and wooing our American girls with their incoherent brogue. What a strange literary movement that was. Somebody got drunk on some single malt and decided that one, I think.
Sammy goes on a roaring binge and when he wakes up, he discovers he's been beaten badly. On top of it, he's blind. We go More...
Sammy goes on a roaring binge and when he wakes up, he discovers he's been beaten badly. On top of it, he's blind. We go More...
Jan 09, 2011
Allan
rated it: 
"Nay point in hoping for the best," says Glasgow, Scotland's bold and blinded Sammy early on in How Late It Was, How Late. It's hard-won advice, and given with the highest of intentions.
Don't be daunted by the accent. Don't be put off because the entire book takes place inside the mind of a solitary drinking man whose eyesight has been beaten right out of his head—while in police custody.
And where is that formerly loyal girlfriend? Has she scampered, finally, or More...
Don't be daunted by the accent. Don't be put off because the entire book takes place inside the mind of a solitary drinking man whose eyesight has been beaten right out of his head—while in police custody.
And where is that formerly loyal girlfriend? Has she scampered, finally, or More...
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Jun 08, 2008
Aidan
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This book is good for those who liked the stream of consciousness style of 'Ulysses' and 'Trainspotting'. Whereas Joyce's characters were mostly lower middle class the main character in this is a Glaswegian ex-prisoner whos thought processes on life in and out of prison we are privy to. There are no allusions to art, academia or philosophy but through allusions to cheesey country and western songs and various radio programmes the character listens to contributes to the authentic feel of the sett
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Jun 07, 2008
Sun
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Jan 11, 2012
Tony
rated it:
HOW LATE IT WAS, HOW LATE. (1994; U.S. Ed. 1995). James Kelman. ****.
I had not heard of either this author or this novel before a firend recommended it to me. Turns out that it was the winner of the Booker Prize in 1994, but never managed to become a notable seller on the book market. There are obvious reasons for this. The novel is written in what is, presumably, lower-class Scottish dialect. At first, I was turned off by it, but eventually it began to flow without my minding it s More...
I had not heard of either this author or this novel before a firend recommended it to me. Turns out that it was the winner of the Booker Prize in 1994, but never managed to become a notable seller on the book market. There are obvious reasons for this. The novel is written in what is, presumably, lower-class Scottish dialect. At first, I was turned off by it, but eventually it began to flow without my minding it s More...
Jan 05, 2011
Andy
rated it: 
Arghh, I've mixed feelings about this book. I started it a fair while ago flying back to the UK and it's really not an airplane book. I put it aside for a while, read a bunch of other books and then tried finishing it before the year ended. No such luck.
Sammy (as the blurb says) has had a bad week. That much is true. A lost drunken weekend, possible mugging, definite assult and sudden blindness. We meander through a short period of his life in a repetitive stream of consciousne More...
Sammy (as the blurb says) has had a bad week. That much is true. A lost drunken weekend, possible mugging, definite assult and sudden blindness. We meander through a short period of his life in a repetitive stream of consciousne More...
Sep 03, 2010
Cams
rated it:
I just read this novel for the second time and enjoyed it a lot. The first Kelman book I read was A Dissafection, back when I was on my year abroad in Odessa in 1995. Upon my return I got How Late it Was, How Late and liked it a little better.
The novel is written in the Glasgow dialect, which is very close to the Ayrshire dialect that I grew up with. It's partly the poetry of that language that really appeals to me. Having studied linguistics and socio-linguistics probably makes the More...
The novel is written in the Glasgow dialect, which is very close to the Ayrshire dialect that I grew up with. It's partly the poetry of that language that really appeals to me. Having studied linguistics and socio-linguistics probably makes the More...
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Aug 19, 2009
Becky
rated it: 
How Late it Was, How Late is the story of a man in Glasgow who's story begins after a massive lost weekend. We're never really sure if it's drink related actual loss, or if Samuels is craftier than he seems and hiding the truth from us. It's a difficult one to rate, as while I really enjoyed reading it, the narrative is so wandering and muddled that it's difficult to get truly gripped. But at this same time, this scrappy style is the real delight of the novel - it's a bit of a mystery to me t
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Nov 02, 2011
Kerri
rated it:
How Late It Was, How Late is a stream of consciousness novel from the perspective of Sammy, a small-time criminal from Glasgow, Scotland. Sammy wakes up on the street after a weekend drinking binge, much of which he’s blacked out, and ends up getting further into trouble by antagonizing two undercover cops, who then beat him senseless. After waking up in jail, Sammy finds he’s gone blind. From that point, it all goes downhill for him.
Since losing his sight, Sammy is forced to make so More...
Since losing his sight, Sammy is forced to make so More...
Jul 04, 2011
Jogle
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Written in the Glaswegian vernacular, this Booker Prize winning novel follows Sammy in a stream of consciousness first person narration of his chaotic life. Following an alcoholic binge “lost weekend” culminating in a beating, Sammy is left blind. Stumbling around in the shell of his life he tries to piece together the events that led up to his condition, and how to cope with the future in his own way. At times hopeless, sometimes indomitable, he accepts the disability like a man habituated to m
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Jun 03, 2009
Curtis
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How Late It Was, How Late is a fun novel to read. Written entirely in stream-of-consciousness Glaswegian, Kelman's novel has a flair that honours the flavour of Glasgow in its realistic portrayal of a man, Sammy, who is embroiled in bad luck. The story follows Sammy's journey after a blackout two-day drinking binge, the events of which are never made completely clear. It begins in medias res, as Sammy starts a fight with police officers ('sodjers') only to be beaten badly and wake up without his
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Nov 03, 2009
Marieke
rated it:
Wham! You’re blind. Just like that; you wake up and realise that suddenly you’re totally blind. And you’re in jail, and you’ve suffered a pretty bad beating. Maybe your ribs are cracked, you can hardly breathe.
You’re craving a smoke, missing your girlfriend, and thinking about where to get your next drink. When the cops throw you out onto the pavement, you don’t know how you’re going to get home.
This is Sammy’s world. He paces the streets of Glasgow with a homemade w More...
You’re craving a smoke, missing your girlfriend, and thinking about where to get your next drink. When the cops throw you out onto the pavement, you don’t know how you’re going to get home.
This is Sammy’s world. He paces the streets of Glasgow with a homemade w More...
Dec 06, 2008
Scott
rated it:
Allright Booker Prize. We're done. You have proven, time and time again, that either you have terrible tastes or I am a total philistine. How late it was is the newest entry into your proud history of Texan timewasters.
Here's what's cool about the book. Scottish working class guy picks a fight with the cops, gets beatdown, goes blind. The parts where he gets out of jail in his hometown and has to find his way back to his apartment is awesome. The part where he deals with governm More...
Here's what's cool about the book. Scottish working class guy picks a fight with the cops, gets beatdown, goes blind. The parts where he gets out of jail in his hometown and has to find his way back to his apartment is awesome. The part where he deals with governm More...
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Oct 24, 2008
Jen
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I think this is the worst book I've ever read to completion. First of all, it's a stream of conciousness novel written in working-class Scottish dialect. Secondly, there was no ultimate payoff for my having to struggle through the frustrating narrative style. I want those hours of my life back!
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Mar 01, 2008
Amy
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This is the most intense book I have ever read, but painfully long and sometimes very boring. I didn't care though. It followed the life of a man just turned blind. My experience reading the book paralleled this man's life. Brilliant!
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Jun 07, 2010
Ross
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This book caught my attention because it won the Booker Prize, is written in Scottish brogue and sounded like an Irvine Welsh novel. In actuality, it's more like Ulysses, where the entire novel is the protanist's stream of conciousness (I skipped ahead to confirm this). The protagnist, by the way, who is struck blind within the first few pages. It is like reading a play-by-play of someone who is wandering around their house in the dark--and drunk. I made it about 50 pages in before I could n
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Jan 20, 2012
Sunflower
rated it:
Hmmm...stream of consciousness, written by a Scot in working-class Glaswegian vernacular, and a book that would be half as long if he had left out all the f***s. Reminds me of "Metamorphosis", only twice as frustrating, and at times really quite funny.
My second attempt at this one, it's a fecking challenge to get into when the language gets in the way, although by the end I reckon I could just about manage in the streets of Glasgow, if I could get the accent right.
Sammy, the More...
My second attempt at this one, it's a fecking challenge to get into when the language gets in the way, although by the end I reckon I could just about manage in the streets of Glasgow, if I could get the accent right.
Sammy, the More...
Nov 28, 2011
Athena
rated it:
Ohh boy. This was a hard one for me. I've never been into the stream-of-consciousness narration style, and this was that in a working class Scottish accent:
He pushed ahead. The wind felt familiar. It was a Scottish wind. Scottish winds fuck ye. They do in yer ears. Then there was the poor auld fucking flappers man yer feet, they were fucking swimming even his wrists, for some reason they were sore. Fucking bracelets man these dirty bampot bastards, desperate; nay fucking need. More...
He pushed ahead. The wind felt familiar. It was a Scottish wind. Scottish winds fuck ye. They do in yer ears. Then there was the poor auld fucking flappers man yer feet, they were fucking swimming even his wrists, for some reason they were sore. Fucking bracelets man these dirty bampot bastards, desperate; nay fucking need. More...
Feb 23, 2011
Moses
rated it:
The language in this one is something else all together. I tend to have no issues with foreign dialects. As long as I understand what the f**k is being said. But in the beginning of this book I was a bit worried. Every sentence contained the word fuck, or some other absolutely uncensored speech. We tend to be a bit reserved, as Africans living in Africa, when it comes to this kind of language. But interestingly the book was so easy to read. It is a spellbinding story, at times extremely sensitiv
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Sep 22, 2008
Ann
rated it:
So a few years ago, after I read a blue streak through God of Small Things, Midnight’s Children, Amsterdam, Remains of the Day, Possession, The Blind Assassin – they are all amazing – I decided that I would read every past Booker Prize winner (apparently I am unhappy unless doing something that can eventually crossed off a list.) And although we’ve had some good times – I mean, wow, I would never have thought The English Patient worth reading – my current stance is, Booker Prize, can we talk? L
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Sep 08, 2008
Simon A.
rated it:
I liked this book, but stopped just short of loving it. Despite the fact that the story is a rather savage, violent one, the pace is a bit slow, dreamy and repetitive. For example, it takes the main character, Sammy, about twenty pages to make it from the bus to his apartment. Then, later, it takes ten pages for him to have a tediously circular conversation with a lawyer that pretty much ends right where it began.
Also, not much ever gets resolved or revealed. I kept hoping that More...
Also, not much ever gets resolved or revealed. I kept hoping that More...
Apr 06, 2010
Hayden
rated it:
Kelman won the Booker Prize on a 5-4 vote for this novel. The four dissenting judges were so incensed they went public with a minority report -- the only time in Booker history this happened. They hated it as much as the other judges and I loved it. So I guess you can say for sure it is not for everyone. Reading this novel is a lot like watching a train wreck -- or rather two trains colliding. Both majestic and horrifying, it is almost impossible to set aside (I read it in two big gulps about a
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Sep 09, 2010
Derek
rated it:
The book resonated with me as i spent my 20's in Glasgow in 80's-90's. The book at times is dark and brutal - but accurately reflects the life of a sub-class in post heavy-industry Glasgow. Despite the cover notes - i did not find the book uplifting. The protagnist frustrates me to the end. I guess the point is that he (and his like) are capable of so much more... yet 'the machine' conspires against him.
Feb 02, 2008
Joshy
rated it:
Quite a slog getting into it, but worth the effort ultimately. Working-class Scottish colloquialisms are the meat (not the spice) of this book, but the repetitive nature of the main character's thoughts makes them feel organic, as does the prolific use of profanity. I found myself thinking "if you took just one word -- fucking -- out of this book, you'd shorten it by 25 or 30 pages. But you wouldn't feel like you're actually inside the character's head. I've never read a book that felt more
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Nov 10, 2010
Louis
rated it:
Have you ever met a Glaswegian who wasn't complaining? "The weather's shite, sob sob, the sodjers beat me, boo hoo, the gers lost again, wah wah, I've gone blind." I was 35 pages in and I flicked to the back to check how many pages there are because, seriously, how long can you write stream-of-consciousness Scottish dialect about a guy who's gone blind? 380 pages, apparently. But nah it picks up, you get to love the guy, he's adorable.
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Feb 12, 2012
Chris
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When I started reading this book I thought the author was just trying to be Irvine Welsh, so it took me a little while to get into it. Sammy grew on me though and the stream of consciousness was really well done. The character's emotional swings and paranoia were fantastically crafted. If I was being picky about it I would say that there needed to be either more Scots dialect or none at all, the middle ground didn't quite work for me. Wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but that didn't detract too
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Oct 09, 2011
samadhi44
rated it:
Despite--or maybe because of--the Scottish dialect and stream-of-consciousness style, this tale draws completely you into a hardscrabble and gloomy world. The narrator is both protagonist and antagonist, who struggles so against his own interests that he becomes sympathetic. After ten or so pages the dialect makes sense (save for the occasional turn of slang, like "wean," that took me longer to get). The book is so narrowly focused on the narrator and his woes that descriptions of t
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Feb 02, 2009
Kathleen
rated it:
Booker Winner 1994. The lyrical, repetitive Scottish way of telling the story made the read slow. Since he's become blind and is trying to get help which is not forthcoming, the profanity and bleakness of the scene especially difficult to read at times. Enjoyed his latest, Kieron Smith, Boy far more.
Jan 24, 2009
Philipp
rated it:
Kelman is one of the most important prose and narrative stylists of the last 50 years and is maybe the biggest innovator in stream of conscious narrative since Joyce. Highly recommend. Another good one to start with is his short story collection "Busted Scotch."
