Nigel Bird's Blog, page 36

One Man's Opinion: MORVEN CALLAR by ALAN WARNER

‘He’d cut His throat with the knife. He’d nearly chopped off His hand with the meat cleaver. He couldn’t object, so I lit a Silk Cut.’
The opening to Morven Callar (US) is very strong. Every action and thought is noted. Each character has a special name. The buzz and the vividness almost creates the illusion that she’s speaking in a different language, like she’s just read A Clockwork Orange and is taking bites from it. Her boyfriend, He/Him/His, has killed himself in their flat and Callar reacts by doing nothing about it. She opens her Christmas presents, smokes a lot of Silk Cut and goes off to work in her local supermarket. There’s a hint that what follows will be something profound. A tale of disconnection and alienation in the age of the rave. Given the powerful reviews, I suspect that the profundity is there, it’s just that I didn’t really grasp it. Perhaps it was a little too cold and raw in places for my taste.
There are wild encounters and travels as Callar takes a journey that seems to be part nihilism and part self-destruct. She’s on the road. She lives a life-and-a-half. Her interactions with the people she meets and her surroundings are interesting and her life is packed full of experiences. What a cracking woman she is.

I found sections really engrossing and beautifully written and I think that the book has many parts that make the book worthwhile taking on. For me, however, I felt that the whole was less than those parts. Then again, I might just be an old man who’s  arrived to the part about twenty years too late. 

One Man's Opinion: THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC by LAWRENCE BLOCK

Last week I sat down to watch the movie A Walk Among The Tombstones with my wife and my dad. My wife didn’t manage to stay long – the level of violence that is suggested is high and so her early departure didn’t surprise me. My dad fell asleep for a while, but that’s got nothing to do with the quality of the film. I managed to stay for the duration and enjoyed my time with Liam Neeson et al. Overall, I’d say that it’s a pretty solid film. Neeson does a great job as Scudder and if you like action and detectives, this should work for you. Above all, I was reminded of how good a book Tombstones is. The Scudder series is really excellent and it wasn’t really a surprise to me that the film didn’t quite do the plotline justice.
During my holiday, I read a Scudder that was new to me called The Night And The Music (US). This one, a little like the film above, is something of a tangent from the main body of novels. It’s a collection of stories about the detective where he retells incidents from his past. They’re told in a fairly gentle style, as if been told over a drink in a bar somewhere after hours. It’s almost conversational and that works very well in terms of grabbing the attention. What you don’t really get is the meaty plot or the tension of a novel. In place of that, however, is a collection of rather playful and almost old-fashioned mysteries.
My own favourite was entitled The Merciful Angel Of Death. Scudder is hired by a nursing home to investigate a mystery visitor who has a knack of being the final companion of many of the dying. What I think this piece illustrates, apart from the high level of writing, is the general dexterity of Lawrence Block’s mind. He finds interesting plotlines in the strangest places. Other pieces involve the collection of counterfeit clothing from around the vendors of New York, a suicide and the murder of an old and very generous bag-lady.

For fans of Scudder, this is a really nice accompanying piece to have. It may not carry quite the weight of the novels, but it adds another dimension to the man. To those who haven’t been there yet, try these on for size. I reckon you’ll really enjoy them and if you do, I’d suggest diving right in with The Sins Of The Fathers (US) (you’ll thank me later, you really will).

One Man's Opinion: EIGHT BLACK HORSES by ED MCBAIN

‘Naomi was lying on the bed with a bullet hole between her eyes. The pillow under her head was very red.’
I enjoyed my first venture into the 87th Precinct a while ago, but felt there were too many voices for my liking.
Eight Black Horses (US) was my second visit. I knew from the opening line (‘The lady was extraordinarily naked’) that I was going to love this one. What made this book so much more of a pleasure was that there was only one main thread to follow, the curious fascination of The Deaf Manwith the detectives of the 87th and especially one Steven Louis Carella.
The book starts with a woman’s body being found dumped in a local park. That is followed by a series of images sent to the department by The Deaf Man. It’s clear the criminal is up to something, it’s just that no one in the force can work out what.
There’s a huge amount to savour here. The angle of the arch-enemy versus the cops works really well because The Deaf Man is such a fantastic creation, mixing a sense of mischief with the mentality of a mastermind and a ruthless cold streak. It’s also a joy to get to know the detectives a little better, especially when their focus is so concentrated. There are some great scenes, many fantastic one-liners and there’s a mass of humour that contributes to the general tone. I also got a buzz from the images included with the text, a simple pleasure on each occasion one appeared.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and may have finally discovered why McBain has such an excellent reputation. I’ve already lined up a couple more 87th Precinct reads and one of them has another run in with The Deaf Man. I’m really looking forward to those. 

One Man's Opinion: CROOKED ROADS by ALEC CIZAK

“Banks was built like a VW Bug set on its rear end.”
A feast of stories here. Crime may be the thing they have in common, but those crimes are presented in diverse forms. There’s some revenge, reactions to infidelity, a little double and some triple-crossing along the way. The inhabitants include deranged characters, alcoholics, drug-crazed delusionists and a few cold-blooded reptiles who never miss a trick. The combinations allow for a subtle social commentary and an acknowledgement that much of what occurs is a directly or indirectly related to disadvantage.
Occasionally there are slivers of hope, but they tend to be hidden within the cluttered minds of those who live within these pages.
There’s plenty to enjoy for the fan of the short story and, if you dig lines like this:
“The Mexican said: ‘What you want?’ He spit on the sidewalk in front of him like a border he dared us to cross.”

then you should definitely give Crooked Roads (US) a try. 

One Man's Opinion: GUNS OF BRIXTON by PAUL D BRAZILL

“He suddenly braked in front of a camping supplies shop advertising its January sale with the slogan NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCOUNT TENTS.”
Guns Of Brixton (US) fizzes along from the start when the gangster Half-Pint Harry has his brains blown out in a London lock-up. Of course, this isn’t good for Harry and it leaves his killer in a difficult position, especially given the Half-Pint’s importance. What follows is a genuine caper where an assorted bunch of characters go about their New Year celebrations in a variety of rather interesting ways. Take Kenny and Big Jim as an example. They’re dressing up as women and heading off to rob a big jewellery shop. The assistant greets them as they enter:
“Morning ladies,” he beamed. Then he saw the Glock and his jaw dropped so much that you could have scraped the carpet fluff from his bottom lip.
This situation encapsulates a lot about the story. We have the cross-dressing thugs, the threat of violence and the hard-boiled humour that runs through the piece like words through a stick of rock.
To me, Brazill unashamedly brings together a broad range of cultural strands that I was bombarded with through the seventies and eighties. The style reflects so many aspects of my TV viewing – the Carry On jokes, Galton and Simpson, the caricatures of the villain and the common, the pub and the cafe, Michael Caine and The Sweeney, the slang and the banter and the pantomime.  These elements come together into the melting pot and form a delicious stew of criminal adventure. None of the style and mood would be of value if it weren’t for the author’s ability to craft a strong story where the adventure and action always hold the attention, the observations are sharp and the characters create small nuclear explosions as they collide with each other.

Guns Of Brixton has a very British flavour to it. I imagine that as it travels across the Atlantic it might make a few waves along the way but for those of you in the US who relish a good tale, this is a book that should be bought and wrestled with.

One Man's Opinion: NON-FICTION by CHUCK PALAHNIUK

The next sequence of reviews is likely to seem a little odd. While I was away in France, I decided to put my kindle away and read only work from the bookshelves of the house we rented. This proved to be a hit-and-miss idea and I rejected a good twenty books from their openings and the rest from dodgy titles and dreadful covers.  Essentially, it means I read a number of books that I wouldn’t normally have chosen. It proved to be a pretty good experience and I’m glad I gave it a try. If nothing else, I realised just how many books I don’t like, something that’s never really occurred to me before. What drew me to my first selection were the author and the amazing cover. Even with these to recommend it, I still entered Chuck Palahniuk’s Non-Fiction(US) with mixed feelings. True stories and journalistic pieces are things I often struggle to focus upon, especially in a magazine or newspaper format. If they’re of particular interest, I’ll usually hang in there, but even then they’re not something I really enjoy.  
The introduction to Non-Fiction is excellent and did a lot to get me in the mood. Among other things, it’s a really interesting look at writers and writing which offers some real insight. Then came the first piece, Testy Festy in the People Together section. I almost gave up at that point. This collection of observations and quotes from a wild sex festival didn’t really work for me. In some ways it felt like a test – get through this and you’ll be OK. To my mind it’s the least interesting piece in the collection and is an odd choice for an opener.
I’m glad I stuck with it in spite of this early experience. What followed were a series of really fascinating and often moving glimpses into closed worlds – castle building, demolition derby teams, screenplay conventions, wrestlers, body-builders, spiritualists and sub-mariners. The style of the pieces is interesting. They might seem to be collections of random facts thrown onto the page, but as the montages are layered and built they come together to offer revealing and moving images. Sometimes there are strings of quotes, at others there is poetic description. The author throws in personal tangents and offers a range of angles of reflection.
These personal asides continue into the section entitled Portraits. I was only aware of a few of the characters in the spotlight, but that didn’t matter. The pieces were intimate glimpses into the subjects’ lives and most of them hit the spot.
The final section rounds things off nicely as it brings to the fore the man who’s taken us on the previous journeys. There’s some overlap in the material, but rather than spoil things this generally brings a sense of rhythm to the collection. There’s also a lot of humour here and a rather touching openness from the author.
By the end, I realised that I’d mostly been gripped by the work as I might have been by a good novel. The world seemed more expansive than it had when I began and I liked the author even more by the end than I did at the start.
I don’t think you need to be a Chuck fan or a Fight Club fanatic to love this, you just have to be interested in people.

For me, with only a couple of exceptions, an unexpected hit.  

One Man's Opinion: BLUE RUIN

I haven't got any plot outlines to describe for Blue Ruin. To offer them might just spoil the huge amounts of pleasure you'll find if you watch. 

This is a terrific film and a really great example of story-telling. It lives in the moment and isn't ever uncluttered by excess baggage or unnecessary histories. Everything is kept simple and yet the quality is maintained at a high level. To my mind, it's a piece that should inspire writers to write better. If that's you and you've not already seen it, give it a go. I reckon you'll get more than an evening's entertainment for your money.

One Man's Opinion: HOW I LEARNED TO SING by MARK ROBINSON

The short version of this review might read:
When I began reading How I Learned To Sing , I decided that I’d mark all the pages I really enjoyed. It wasn’t long before I ran out of post-its.
The longer version says the same in more words:
Mark Robinson has put together something rather wonderful in his collection of new and selected poems. It’s a substantial body of work that is hugely engaging and engendered a wide variety of emotions in this reader.  It’s divided into several sections: The Dunno Eligies, How I Learned To Sing , Esperanto Anyone, from a Balkan Exchange, from Half A Mind, from Gaps Between Hills and from The Horse Burning Park. In this sense, it’s the best of the poet’s work and spans many years of penning.
The sections carry different flavours, but they do share common ground.
The theme I most enjoyed is one I’d call ‘loved and lost’. I don’t mean this in relation to meeting people and moving on, but in terms of the sense that all great moments, big or small, have passed. No matter how delicious the pie, it doesn’t last forever. This is such a great theme here because Robinson’s scope for love is enormous. We get to zoom in on details of everyday life and then back out again to gain perspective. We can find amazing ways of looking at the world through cooking and kitchen disasters. There are journeys through the generations that are intimate and personal on the one hand and universal at another level. There’s even a love of bitterness and frustration, for to feel these things one needs to be alive and that should be celebrated at some level. There’s occasional resignation but, like all else, this is transient and Robinson is able to regroup and find a way to cope or to move forwards with something resembling hope.
My favourite sections are the How I Learned To Sing of the title and those from Half A Mind. I found these sections incredibly moving. Many of them capture moments of family life, written as grandchild, child, partner and round the cycle of parenthood. The work achieves a huge amount in so few words that it made me wonder why I don’t read more poems and has me resolving to make sure I find space for poetry in my world whatever that requires.
A lot of the poems are concentrated and intense, so it was also a treat to be presented with bursts of humour that allowed for the cleansing the palate from time to time.
What I do realise is that I won’t be able to put together the words to do this work justice. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt hugely moved on many occasions.
I’m sure that all who come to read it will take their own versions and interpretations away with them. For me, I felt reassured about my own life somehow, as if the journey through the ups and downs helped me to work something through my system that needed shifting.
Totally engaging, hugely enjoyable and ultimately rather uplifting.
So here’s to you, Mr Robinson. Bravo.

One Man's Opinion: YOU DON'T EXIST by PABLO D'STAIR and CHRIS RHATIGAN

“Some people don’t know how to measure a good day. But Pullman had a clear system – the fewer people he interacted with, the better. His ideal day would be zero interaction with anyone.”
You Don’t Exist (US) brings together two novellas by a couple of very talented individuals. They have common themes and share something in terms of style, which means this is a strong marriage and a successful one.
Both stories concern the finding of money. In the first, Bleed The Ghost Empty, the protagonist stumbles into a load of cash that just happens to be in the car of a murdered individual. In the second, Pessimist, a much larger, life-changing, amount of cash is picked up by Pullman at the baggage collection of the airport (‘more like a bus stop’) in Moline.
You’d think that the finders would be celebrating, all this free money at their fingertips, only that wouldn’t make a very interesting story. Instead, both men feel the weight of paranoia upon them. They begin to question everything. Need to work out all the angles so they can keep themselves safe. They become so entrenched in their need to study all of their actions that even the simple decisions carry a new meaning.
D’Stair’s character is escaping from a broken life. His mind is already pumped full of adrenaline and insecurity as he passes through places that barely seem to exist. When he has to stop to fill his car with fuel, he makes his discovery and begins to unravel as his thoughts go into overdrive. In a very good way, this is typical of the author’s work. He worms his way into the present and finds an anxiety and pointlessness that borders on horror even in the smallest detail.  
Pullman, is a different creature. He is drawn to study his whole life and the prison of work and earning has created for him. The worst part of it all is that he’s become totally institutionalised in the consumer way of being and the prospect of liberation from it seems like a nightmare. This one’s more directly challenging to the reader, I think. It points the finger and asks about values and experiences and purpose all the way through – Pullman is a kind of cracked mirror that you are forced to look into and the reflection isn’t going to let you off the hook easily.
I really enjoyed these stories because they, perversely, made me feel incredibly uneasy and uncomfortable from the start. They plough through the present like razors through flesh and that unflinching attention to the moment is often very disturbing. This is seriously good writing in a form that’s not likely to burst into the mainstream any time soon. Even so, I hope that this review will help it get into a few more hands so that it begins to gather some of the momentum it deserves. Whilst recommending this read, might I also suggest that you don’t tackle it when you’re feeling very alone and that you keep your own personal crutches (smokes, beers, whisky et al) very close to hand.

Another belter from All Due Respect books.  

One Man's Opinion: ANGELS OF THE NORTH by RAY BANKS

‘A soldier between wars was like a chimney in the summer.’

Ever wondered what might have happened if the plane in Lord Of The Flies had crashed on an estate in Gateshead in the middle of the 1980s? I reckon Ray Banks has. But that's possibly another story. 
At the start of Angels Of The North, Joe’s coming home from the army. He takes a cab. The driver is Gav. They happen to live on the same street and get talking, or at least Gav does. Has Joe heard the one about Brian who was done over when he stood up to the drug pedlars in the end house? Wasn’t he brave and isn’t it a shame that nobody helped the guy out? What on earth is the county coming to?
Life on their estate is a mess. The neighbours live under the enormous clouds of poverty, hopelessness and a constant racket from the junky house. It’s a symptom of the collapse of a once thriving industrial district, where community and joint effort have been replaced by inertia and a sense of failure.  Further afield, the broader context is of individuals trying to make good while being prepared to step on anybody to get along and economic success is seen as the only success.
Gav and Joe decide to do something about their hell. They set about taking on the scum at the end of the road and it’s not long before their underground movement turn to violence. As with any movement, however, there are political differences and conflicts that cause breakdown and reformation as some rise and some fall.
There are many conflicts in this book. There is the community against drug culture; there are the machinations at the local taxi firm; there are families where blood ties aren’t enough to provide the glue they need; there are the internal battles of individuals who struggle to find equilibrium; there are fights in the business world; and there are the tussles with the world as people just to try and stay afloat.  
The scope of this novel, though centred upon the three main players, is enormous. The protagonists are like particles in the Hadron Collider who bang into each other with such velocity and power that they create black holes and big bangs all over the place. They suck those around them into unstable orbits that put them at risk in a variety of ways. Among the things I loved about them was the way my levels of sympathy for each never stayed the same. They all have some redeeming features if you loosen the usual parameters a little, they’re all doing their best in extreme conditions and they’re all totally ruthless and misguided in different ways. My loyalties shifted regularly until the author finally played a few trump cards and allowed me to nail my colours to the mast.   
This is a brutal book that speaks about a dark and troubled time that will be ever present as long as there are people on the planet. It doesn’t hold back in any way and, in that sense, if feels totally honest. Ray Banks hasn’t compromised at any point. He’s not ducked out of any of the big issues by diluting his work to suit a conservative audience. He’s not avoided peeling back the layers of humanity to leave a warts-and-all package. There are no contrived plot-twists and the developments feel organic and natural. This honesty serves to make the story all the stronger.
If that weren’t enough, Angels Of The North (US)is written with a terrific style and voice. Best of all for this reader is the quality of the simile and of the amazing descriptive powers on show, for this is another area where I reckon Ray Banks truly excels.
Add to all of that a subtle humour and a great rhythm to the dialogue and you have yourself something rather special.   

Buy this one. Tuck it away on your shelf or your e-reader until you’re ready for a serious read. Get it out whenever you feel you’ve fallen into a rut with your habits or you find you’ve tired of the flimsy, the formulaic or the easy ride.