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Ripley Bogle
I am twenty-one years old, my name is Ripley Bogle and my occupations are starving, freezing, and weeping hysterically. So announces the eponymous narrator of this alternately hilarious and horrifying novel by the Irish writer Robert McLiam Wilson, author of Eureka Street. Ripley Bogle is a Cambridge dropout from Northern Ireland who's fallen down on his luck. Having alienated everyone he knows--seemingly including the entire population of Cambridge--he disrupts an old girlfriend's wedding, attacks his landlord, and finds himself unceremoniously chucked out onto the street. The narrative follows this handsome vagrant for four chilly June days while he wanders London, ranting and reminiscing in heady stream-of-consciousness prose.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Robert McLiam Wilson
11 books143 followersRobert 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 author, with Donovan Wylie, of The Dispossessed (1992), a non-fiction book about poverty.
In 2003, Robert McLiam Wilson was named by Granta magazine as one of 20 'Best of Young British Novelists', despite the fact that he has not published new work in English since 1996.
----from British Council site
In 2003, Robert McLiam Wilson was named by Granta magazine as one of 20 'Best of Young British Novelists', despite the fact that he has not published new work in English since 1996.
----from British Council site
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 17, 2012
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 life starts happening to you and you conformed as Ripley Bogle never would.
I'd like to re-read it now but I don't want to read pretension where I once read originality so I'll leave it as one of the most beautiful books I've ever read and remember it fondly in my dreams...
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 life starts happening to you and you conformed as Ripley Bogle never would.
I'd like to re-read it now but I don't want to read pretension where I once read originality so I'll leave it as one of the most beautiful books I've ever read and remember it fondly in my dreams...
May 16, 2026
The story of a Northern Irish man named Ripley Bogle who is homeless on the streets of London and telling his tale of childhood, family, relationships, etc. The book is spread over four days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), but none of this really matters given that he narrates his life sporadically between cigarettes, wandering London, and finding somewhere to sleep. The book jumps from the present to the past as he lays out his formative years in Northern Ireland, his dysfunctional family, and later, due to his obvious intelligence, his attendance at Cambridge university.
It started well enough, with a lot of Irish blarney and self-deprecation. I am, however, of the firm opinion that trying to make a book funny fundamentally reduces the overall impact of its themes and content. Occasionally, I found the narration a little too pleased with itself, too concerned with being humourous and clever. It reminded me a little of Barney’s Version by Mordacai Richler, but less convoluted. Ripley himself gradually concedes that he is an entirely unreliable narrator, but this, to me, was blatantly evident in the style of the piece from the start, especially when he constantly wants you to find him funny. I think he managed to get one solitary laugh out of me before I began to lose interest in what was ultimately a rather self-indulgent style.
Chuckle. But that was as good as it got. It should also be noted that Wilson was only twenty-four when he wrote this (based on his own experience of being homeless) and I’m not sure just how much a person that young really knows about anything. There are times when he comes across as a condescending know-it-all, and without the requisite comedy to lessen the blow of his general smugness, this starts to grate slightly. He’s a little too cynical to take seriously, and a little too juvenile to find profound. That being said, the quality of writing for a twenty-four-year-old is still very impressive. And this was his first book too. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy parts of it but fundamentally it always felt a little trivial.
By the end, I found the book easy enough to read, sprinkled with wit and vibrancy, but equally that it only sporadically gained my interest. If you like this genre or style, then I’d say it’s very good, but I tend to find these books lose their impetus when the author tries to go on too many tangents for the sake of a laugh. You always get the impression with young writers (Irish in particular for obvious reasons) that they’re desperately trying to mimic Joyce in tone or manner -- a man wandering the streets of a city reminiscing about his existence etc. I’m not against it, I just think you need to have more material to hang on the overall piece. If you read this as a teen/twenty something, you’ll probably find it utterly memsersing and original (I probably would have). But if you read it beyond the age of thirty, you’ll probably find it a tad pretentious and predictable, even forgettable. Not bad, a book I mostly liked, but nothing too strenuous.
It started well enough, with a lot of Irish blarney and self-deprecation. I am, however, of the firm opinion that trying to make a book funny fundamentally reduces the overall impact of its themes and content. Occasionally, I found the narration a little too pleased with itself, too concerned with being humourous and clever. It reminded me a little of Barney’s Version by Mordacai Richler, but less convoluted. Ripley himself gradually concedes that he is an entirely unreliable narrator, but this, to me, was blatantly evident in the style of the piece from the start, especially when he constantly wants you to find him funny. I think he managed to get one solitary laugh out of me before I began to lose interest in what was ultimately a rather self-indulgent style.
I hadn’t eaten for five days and I grew so fucking desperate that I picked a half-eaten hamburger out of a litter bin, cleaned the grit off and wolfed it down with relish (the enjoyment kind not the condiment kind.)
Chuckle. But that was as good as it got. It should also be noted that Wilson was only twenty-four when he wrote this (based on his own experience of being homeless) and I’m not sure just how much a person that young really knows about anything. There are times when he comes across as a condescending know-it-all, and without the requisite comedy to lessen the blow of his general smugness, this starts to grate slightly. He’s a little too cynical to take seriously, and a little too juvenile to find profound. That being said, the quality of writing for a twenty-four-year-old is still very impressive. And this was his first book too. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy parts of it but fundamentally it always felt a little trivial.
By the end, I found the book easy enough to read, sprinkled with wit and vibrancy, but equally that it only sporadically gained my interest. If you like this genre or style, then I’d say it’s very good, but I tend to find these books lose their impetus when the author tries to go on too many tangents for the sake of a laugh. You always get the impression with young writers (Irish in particular for obvious reasons) that they’re desperately trying to mimic Joyce in tone or manner -- a man wandering the streets of a city reminiscing about his existence etc. I’m not against it, I just think you need to have more material to hang on the overall piece. If you read this as a teen/twenty something, you’ll probably find it utterly memsersing and original (I probably would have). But if you read it beyond the age of thirty, you’ll probably find it a tad pretentious and predictable, even forgettable. Not bad, a book I mostly liked, but nothing too strenuous.
June 1, 2022
Ωδή στους υπέροχους καταραμένους του Μπέλφαστ
Ο Ρίπλεϊ Μπογκλ, ένας πιτσιρικάς αλητάκος, κάνει αναδρομή στην άθλια ζωή του και στοχάζεται πάνω στις σύγχρονες αξίες της ζωής, εν πολλοίς κενού περιεχομένου αν βρεθείς στην λάθος πλευρά της ιστορίας.
Ματαιοδοξία και αυτοπαρωδια
Μαθητής φαινόμενο, καπατσος στη ζωή, εξωτικός Ιρλανδός,ομορφόπαιδο με τεράστιο γκελ στα κορίτσια, φαντάζεται τον εαυτό του σαν ισότιμο μέλος της Βρετανικής αριστοκρατίας .
Από μικρός στους δρόμους κ στις βόμβες καθολικών και προτεσταντών έχει , ωστόσο, συνειδητοποιήσει πλήρως ότι η ζωή δεν απαρτίζεται από ανεφελες λεωφόρους.
Τουναντίον! Πρέπει να τη ζει στιγμή στιγμή.
Κάθε τσιγάρο, κάθε ποτό, κάθε κορίτσι,
κάθε φίλος που μπορεί να βρεθεί στο παγκάκι του είναι τα πολυτιμότερα όπλα για την επιβίωση
Ο Ρίπλεϊ Μπογκλ, ένας πιτσιρικάς αλητάκος, κάνει αναδρομή στην άθλια ζωή του και στοχάζεται πάνω στις σύγχρονες αξίες της ζωής, εν πολλοίς κενού περιεχομένου αν βρεθείς στην λάθος πλευρά της ιστορίας.
Ματαιοδοξία και αυτοπαρωδια
Μαθητής φαινόμενο, καπατσος στη ζωή, εξωτικός Ιρλανδός,ομορφόπαιδο με τεράστιο γκελ στα κορίτσια, φαντάζεται τον εαυτό του σαν ισότιμο μέλος της Βρετανικής αριστοκρατίας .
Από μικρός στους δρόμους κ στις βόμβες καθολικών και προτεσταντών έχει , ωστόσο, συνειδητοποιήσει πλήρως ότι η ζωή δεν απαρτίζεται από ανεφελες λεωφόρους.
Τουναντίον! Πρέπει να τη ζει στιγμή στιγμή.
Κάθε τσιγάρο, κάθε ποτό, κάθε κορίτσι,
κάθε φίλος που μπορεί να βρεθεί στο παγκάκι του είναι τα πολυτιμότερα όπλα για την επιβίωση
March 31, 2023
Ripley Bogle se presenta ante nosotros: en mi país, sería un linyera, un croto; una persona que vive en la calle, sin proyecto ni perspectivas; podría decirse que es un homeless o su creativa adaptación castiza, un "sin techo", término probablemente insuficiente.
Nos cuenta que proviene de Belfast, capital de Irlanda del Norte, y que criado en ese ambiente de deficientes mentales, y en medio de los tiros cruzados entre IRA y las fuerzas británicas, no tuvo una crianza de privilegios.
Pese a ello, destaca permanentemente su buen aspecto, un poco estragado por la vida en la calle, y la inteligencia de la que hace gala, y que, insinúa, en algún momento le permitió formar parte de la élite Oxbridge. (No me acuerdo si era Oxford o Cambridge).
Pero como bien dice él mismo: ¿Se le puede creer a un irlandés; que hacen de la verdad una opción de creatividad? (Para escándalo de los rigurosos ingleses).
Ripley (como el de Créase o no) nos lleva por las calles y plazas de Londres a lo largo de una semana, sin dejar de hablar; y tal vez, si lo acompañamos sin juzgarlo y en silencio, en algún momento podamos diferenciar lo verdadero de lo fabulado; y tal vez secretos ocultados por pudor o dolor.
Una muy buena obra.
Nos cuenta que proviene de Belfast, capital de Irlanda del Norte, y que criado en ese ambiente de deficientes mentales, y en medio de los tiros cruzados entre IRA y las fuerzas británicas, no tuvo una crianza de privilegios.
Pese a ello, destaca permanentemente su buen aspecto, un poco estragado por la vida en la calle, y la inteligencia de la que hace gala, y que, insinúa, en algún momento le permitió formar parte de la élite Oxbridge. (No me acuerdo si era Oxford o Cambridge).
Pero como bien dice él mismo: ¿Se le puede creer a un irlandés; que hacen de la verdad una opción de creatividad? (Para escándalo de los rigurosos ingleses).
Ripley (como el de Créase o no) nos lleva por las calles y plazas de Londres a lo largo de una semana, sin dejar de hablar; y tal vez, si lo acompañamos sin juzgarlo y en silencio, en algún momento podamos diferenciar lo verdadero de lo fabulado; y tal vez secretos ocultados por pudor o dolor.
Una muy buena obra.
July 21, 2019
Knjiga na koju sam zakasnila pa bar jedno 10ak godina možda i malo jače.
Mlađa ja bi uživala i cenila ovo delo više, starija ja je morala da uloži svu nadljudsku snagu da je završi.
Knjiga nije loša , kvalitet je neujednačen ali neosporan, slikovita, živopisna , zanimljiv glavni junak, šarmantan u svojoj nepouzdanosti.
Al šta da se radi.
Mlađa ja bi uživala i cenila ovo delo više, starija ja je morala da uloži svu nadljudsku snagu da je završi.
Knjiga nije loša , kvalitet je neujednačen ali neosporan, slikovita, živopisna , zanimljiv glavni junak, šarmantan u svojoj nepouzdanosti.
Al šta da se radi.
October 9, 2007
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 if I would like it now that I'm old.
February 2, 2012
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.
November 30, 2019
I have read this book once before and the only thing I could really remember about it was the truth about the abortion scene as I think it really sickened me at the time. It had the same effect on the second read.
It was a bit different reading it the second time round, however, because you know the narrator is unreliable and actively lying to the reader so it is hard to believe anything you are being told.
I don't buy the character's 'woe is me' act and I think he had a great opportunity in life (Cambridge) that he through away and he is basically homeless out of choice when he doesn't need to be.
Not a book for me. I had no sympathy for Ripley. Great name though.
It was a bit different reading it the second time round, however, because you know the narrator is unreliable and actively lying to the reader so it is hard to believe anything you are being told.
I don't buy the character's 'woe is me' act and I think he had a great opportunity in life (Cambridge) that he through away and he is basically homeless out of choice when he doesn't need to be.
Not a book for me. I had no sympathy for Ripley. Great name though.
January 20, 2020
This was a tougher read (for me) than I've chosen to take on in a while. The prose, while delightful at times and unique, made it hard for me to focus. I also spent more time looking up works than i have in a while, which didn't end up bothering me like i thought it would.
All in all, I enjoyed the book, and am glad to have read it. it's a great example of an unreliable narrator, though you understand (but don't forgive) him doing it. Additionally, i'm not someone who knew a lot about the troubles before this read, and i understand the state of things more so having read it.
All in all, I enjoyed the book, and am glad to have read it. it's a great example of an unreliable narrator, though you understand (but don't forgive) him doing it. Additionally, i'm not someone who knew a lot about the troubles before this read, and i understand the state of things more so having read it.
March 13, 2024
3,5/5
i have mixed feelings about this novel.
The arrogant, unreliable, witty and very “real” narrator and sluggish story (or lack thereof) would be things which i usually would enjoy but my feelings were closer to indifference concerning the narrator for most of the book and the story which shone through in the very beginning got very quickly dull and repetitive for about the first 220 pages of the book for some odd reason. But then, out of the blue, the last 100 pages got me way more engaged and
really brought the whole story and book up as a whole and even succeeded to more or less salvage the flimsy parts i had gone through. The biggest achievement id say are the gasp-inducing twists added at the end which really highlighted the themes of the books and its messages. One thing that never faltered though through this book was the writing which i could still enjoy even in the moments when ennui momentarily seized me.
Overall, i had certain high expectations which i’m sad to say haven’t totally been satiated but it was still a worthy read and i’m looking forward to reading more by the author in the future!
i have mixed feelings about this novel.
The arrogant, unreliable, witty and very “real” narrator and sluggish story (or lack thereof) would be things which i usually would enjoy but my feelings were closer to indifference concerning the narrator for most of the book and the story which shone through in the very beginning got very quickly dull and repetitive for about the first 220 pages of the book for some odd reason. But then, out of the blue, the last 100 pages got me way more engaged and
really brought the whole story and book up as a whole and even succeeded to more or less salvage the flimsy parts i had gone through. The biggest achievement id say are the gasp-inducing twists added at the end which really highlighted the themes of the books and its messages. One thing that never faltered though through this book was the writing which i could still enjoy even in the moments when ennui momentarily seized me.
Overall, i had certain high expectations which i’m sad to say haven’t totally been satiated but it was still a worthy read and i’m looking forward to reading more by the author in the future!
January 20, 2025
I fell in love with Ripley Bogle.
The way Ripley talks, smokes, stumbles and smiles... This book is a flabbergasting piece of cowardice and cleverness, the monologue of a homeless fella, an outcast by birth, braving the nights of London, the hunger and the decades : he keeps walking not to die.
The way Ripley talks, smokes, stumbles and smiles... This book is a flabbergasting piece of cowardice and cleverness, the monologue of a homeless fella, an outcast by birth, braving the nights of London, the hunger and the decades : he keeps walking not to die.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2021
"Pensate ad ammazzare qualcuno. Via, uno qualunque. Un povero cristo. Chiunque. Pensate di ammazzarlo. Datevi del tempo. Pensateci. Pensate alla sua vita, a sua mamma, a suo papà. Pensate ai suoi figli. Pensate alle scopate che ha fatto, ai seni che ha baciato, alle cosce che ha sgualcito e a quel genere di cose. Pensate ai suoi mal di denti, alla sua costipazione, al suo ventre pieno di birra. Pensate ai libri che non ha letto, alla gente che non ha mai incontrato e ai posti che non ha mai visto. Pensate alla sua vanità e alla sua ignoranza, alla sua clemenza e alla sua tenerezza. Pensatelo quando compra giacche così volgari da fare male e scarpe fuori moda. Le sue brutte barzellette e i suoi imbarazzi. Pensate alle sue chiacchiere da bambino e ai suoi denti, al thermos e ai sandwitch, alle sue istantanee, ai conti in rosso, ai mobili alla calligrafia, alla testa pelata, ai cibi favoriti, alle sigarette, alla squadra di calcio, alle calze sporche, alla faccia e agli anni. Pensate a lui. Pensate alla sua vita. Pensate ad ammazzarlo. Pensateci. Che valore ha tutto questo? A chi serve? Addio Belfast."
"[…] Denaro, potere e ancora denaro. Aristocrazia. Cos’è? Niente. Né empiricamente, né come nozione né in altro modo. Cosa rende aristocratico un aristocratico? Anni fa un antenato prese a bastonate alcuni sfortunati contadini, gli rubò porci e galline. O un leccaculo pederasta venne fatto cavaliere per aver spalato la merda dei cavalli del re. Tutto ha inizio con il commercio e il servilismo. Non c’è, né c’è mai stata una cosa di nome “nobiltà”. Figli di ladri e cambusieri. Anche i re sono lo stesso."
"[…] Denaro, potere e ancora denaro. Aristocrazia. Cos’è? Niente. Né empiricamente, né come nozione né in altro modo. Cosa rende aristocratico un aristocratico? Anni fa un antenato prese a bastonate alcuni sfortunati contadini, gli rubò porci e galline. O un leccaculo pederasta venne fatto cavaliere per aver spalato la merda dei cavalli del re. Tutto ha inizio con il commercio e il servilismo. Non c’è, né c’è mai stata una cosa di nome “nobiltà”. Figli di ladri e cambusieri. Anche i re sono lo stesso."
June 9, 2019
Una scrittura che non avevo mai avuto modo d'incontrare, Wilson non ci va tanto per il sottile, diretto, ironico, amaro. "Se ci pensate sono quasi senza colpe: vittima delle circostanze, dell'epoca e della nazione. Colpa dell'Irlanda, non mia. Dico solo che molti vizi hanno il nome sbagliato. Peccati e crimini che totalizziamo sono raramente promossi nel vigore delle intenzioni. Non compiamo misfatti in quanto tali:facciamo errori. Errori orrendi, mortali, dalle conseguenze e implicazioni enormi, ma comunque è soprattutto errori. È questa la mia difesa, per quel che vale. Davvero nessuno, se può evitarlo, vuole essere un bastardo. "
March 17, 2018
Happy St Patrick’s Day! This is one of my favorite books of all time. I read Ripley Bogle a long time ago and I have never forgotten it. It’s so good. Original, sensitive and brutal all in one. Robert McLiam Wilson has written a poetic and harrowing ode to the outcast in society. Ripley Bogle is a powerful protagonist and an indelible creation. Every scene in this book is strikingly visual. This novel should be filmed. Sláinte!
June 15, 2018
I have to admit, I had to put a little more effort to get through this book. Even if the over all story was good. I feel it could have been re-edited to make it flow more.
However, having said that, I didn't realize that this was a first novel written by him. In my mind I was comparing it to Eureka Street.
This will not keep me from reading his other books. My overall opinion, Robert is a fine writer.
However, having said that, I didn't realize that this was a first novel written by him. In my mind I was comparing it to Eureka Street.
This will not keep me from reading his other books. My overall opinion, Robert is a fine writer.
November 22, 2023
This book is described as "a series of imaginative ruminations on life and commentary on modern society" which in other words, could also be described as "one arrogant prick's ramblings on how much he hates everyone". I liked Eureka Street when I read it ~20yrs ago and had always meant to read this too. I thought I might get a gritty "life on the streets" kind of story. Disappointed.
March 27, 2021
Brilliantly funny and shocking in places. An unusual main character, a London tramp, hailing from Belfast. Tales of days and nights on the streets of London interspersed with the backstory and how he came to this terrible existence at such a young age.
October 13, 2022
"The sins and crimes we all tote up are rarely promoted with the full vigor of intention. We don't commit misdemeanours as such - we make mistakes. [...] Really no one wants to be a bastard if they can help it"
November 25, 2021
Absolutely adore this book.
March 25, 2022
My teenager-self was so madly in love with Ripley Boogle AND, 6 years later I'm not sure I've fully recovered from this book.
July 1, 2022
I would read this man's grocery lists.
Did Not Finish
February 28, 2023Nope, not for me. The sort of affected twaddle of university angst, faux-foppishness, and clever profanity, quote-dropping to appear educated and enlightened.
May 24, 2024
Christ. An assault of a book.
Very dark. Very funny.
Very dark. Very funny.
February 26, 2025
Amaro....
April 8, 2020
Ennuyeux par ses exagérations qui ne séduisent pas.d
January 6, 2017
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 being a good tramp you need a long list of requirements that are all but easy to gain. In no regular job you may apply for the experience qualification will ever be that important and fundamental.
Sure, this is a period in which streets, pavements, benches and embankments of our towns are getting full of aspiring junior and even senior tramp officers. This spontaneous and unexpected wave of tramp applications is the gift of munificent subprime crisis boosted up by exciting new economy ventures.
But these people who are reluctantly going to explore the joys of a starry blanket in wintertime have to be warned: it's still a long and winding road from homeless to tramp. And not everybody gets corrupted as
in a.d. 1989 London, poor highly educated Ripley Bogle wasn't.
Too young for having the necessary tramp experience, too sensitive, too respectably dressed, too melancholic and accurate in reminiscing his unfortunate past, Ripley was wandering around the half hyperactive / half sleepy metropolis wondering about his juvenile love and making a breakfast and a lunch out of a coffee and a couple of Benson & Hedges.
Nowadays the down and outs in a town like London are probably changed quite a lot. More competition. Less chivalry. Different cigarettes. And a cup of coffee a day is not that affordable anymore. But still, a character like Ripley Bogle may find his own quiet road and warmed up bench dreaming to be a new Orwell or a new Dickens, perhaps being hired as a guide for an East End vagrancy by Jack London himself.
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 being a good tramp you need a long list of requirements that are all but easy to gain. In no regular job you may apply for the experience qualification will ever be that important and fundamental.
Sure, this is a period in which streets, pavements, benches and embankments of our towns are getting full of aspiring junior and even senior tramp officers. This spontaneous and unexpected wave of tramp applications is the gift of munificent subprime crisis boosted up by exciting new economy ventures.
But these people who are reluctantly going to explore the joys of a starry blanket in wintertime have to be warned: it's still a long and winding road from homeless to tramp. And not everybody gets corrupted as
in a.d. 1989 London, poor highly educated Ripley Bogle wasn't.
Too young for having the necessary tramp experience, too sensitive, too respectably dressed, too melancholic and accurate in reminiscing his unfortunate past, Ripley was wandering around the half hyperactive / half sleepy metropolis wondering about his juvenile love and making a breakfast and a lunch out of a coffee and a couple of Benson & Hedges.
Nowadays the down and outs in a town like London are probably changed quite a lot. More competition. Less chivalry. Different cigarettes. And a cup of coffee a day is not that affordable anymore. But still, a character like Ripley Bogle may find his own quiet road and warmed up bench dreaming to be a new Orwell or a new Dickens, perhaps being hired as a guide for an East End vagrancy by Jack London himself.
November 16, 2015
Some books you can ease into and immerse yourself in. Other books are more of an effort; give themselves up only grudgingly after commitment has been exhibited.
This book was grudging and intermittent in its flow but rewarding for the effort as the complex and multi faceted character of Ripley Bogle emerged gradually and carefully. The main protagonist and narrator speaks of his life from the streets of Northern Ireland in the 70’s and the developing violence of the Troubles, his turbulent family life and his subsequent struggles with homelessness.
Ripley is an unreliable narrator – as he himself admits during the course of the book – and both a sympathetic and unsympathetic character by turn.
Some passages in this tale are poetic and sweepingly romantic – others brutal and crude. They all believably add up to the same character though. Ripley is a brilliant individual and through the prompting of his friend Maurice and despite the descent into drink he wins himself a scholarship to Cambridge where his life seems to take a different turn away from the province and his convoluted relationship with Deirdre.
Cambridge life is agreeable for a while despite his longing for the unattainable Laura but Ripley is thrown out following a series of familiar self destructive acts. The standpoint of the story is Ripley shuffling through London as an established homeless resident of the city taking us by turn through current and past events.
His relationship with Perry, aged Polish and homeless is touching and well observed and the truths revealed in the final quarter of the book about events concerning Ripley, Maurice, Deirdre & Laura are shockingly and convincingly related.
A characterful and engrossing book that merited the effort to pick up the rhythm of Ripley’s discourse.
This book was grudging and intermittent in its flow but rewarding for the effort as the complex and multi faceted character of Ripley Bogle emerged gradually and carefully. The main protagonist and narrator speaks of his life from the streets of Northern Ireland in the 70’s and the developing violence of the Troubles, his turbulent family life and his subsequent struggles with homelessness.
Ripley is an unreliable narrator – as he himself admits during the course of the book – and both a sympathetic and unsympathetic character by turn.
Some passages in this tale are poetic and sweepingly romantic – others brutal and crude. They all believably add up to the same character though. Ripley is a brilliant individual and through the prompting of his friend Maurice and despite the descent into drink he wins himself a scholarship to Cambridge where his life seems to take a different turn away from the province and his convoluted relationship with Deirdre.
Cambridge life is agreeable for a while despite his longing for the unattainable Laura but Ripley is thrown out following a series of familiar self destructive acts. The standpoint of the story is Ripley shuffling through London as an established homeless resident of the city taking us by turn through current and past events.
His relationship with Perry, aged Polish and homeless is touching and well observed and the truths revealed in the final quarter of the book about events concerning Ripley, Maurice, Deirdre & Laura are shockingly and convincingly related.
A characterful and engrossing book that merited the effort to pick up the rhythm of Ripley’s discourse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2016
Like most other people here, I read this book because I loved "Eureka Street" by the same author, but was disappointed by this earlier work. The novel has an interesting setup, with a young, attractive homeless guy as the main character. His actual call to tell the story of his life is interrupted by reports of his daily struggles; so the reader gets to find out key elements of Ripley's biography very slowly, for the sake of dramatic tension.
Ripley's very eloquent, dissecting and often pompous language distinguishes him as fearsomely sharp and highly educated. His idiosyncratic monologue also quickly singles him out as an unreliable narrator. I kept up my suspicions about his tales of Belfast and the girl he never tainted, and the Cambridge girl who broke his heart. Those story lines stayed decidedly dubious. However, the story about his best friend back home was quite convincing, so I had no idea that that is a red herring, too. But, finally, when his stories begin to unravel, I wasn't too surprised.
This is a very well-told book, even though the bulky language can wear you down at times. Ripley is a remarkable, if disagreeable character. The writer's choice to set him up as first person narrator admirably gave this novel an innovative twist.
It just wasn't as near-perfect as "Eureka Street". Its wordiness steals the show and masks the actual story.
Ripley's very eloquent, dissecting and often pompous language distinguishes him as fearsomely sharp and highly educated. His idiosyncratic monologue also quickly singles him out as an unreliable narrator. I kept up my suspicions about his tales of Belfast and the girl he never tainted, and the Cambridge girl who broke his heart. Those story lines stayed decidedly dubious. However, the story about his best friend back home was quite convincing, so I had no idea that that is a red herring, too. But, finally, when his stories begin to unravel, I wasn't too surprised.
This is a very well-told book, even though the bulky language can wear you down at times. Ripley is a remarkable, if disagreeable character. The writer's choice to set him up as first person narrator admirably gave this novel an innovative twist.
It just wasn't as near-perfect as "Eureka Street". Its wordiness steals the show and masks the actual story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2013
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 perfettamente con la personalità molto complicata del protagonista.
Quando lessi questo romanzo, un po' di anni fa, uscivo di casa con i capelli lunghi e l'andatura da eroe dei bassifondi nonostante avessi i capelli corti.
E ricordo come ieri quando, finito di leggere l'ultima pagina, ebbi la sensazione di aver perso un amico.
Black Bart
http://www.pescepirata.it
http://www.pescepirata.it/aspiranti_s...
Una scrittura quella di Wilson ricercata, a volte difficile ma che si sposa perfettamente con la personalità molto complicata del protagonista.
Quando lessi questo romanzo, un po' di anni fa, uscivo di casa con i capelli lunghi e l'andatura da eroe dei bassifondi nonostante avessi i capelli corti.
E ricordo come ieri quando, finito di leggere l'ultima pagina, ebbi la sensazione di aver perso un amico.
Black Bart
http://www.pescepirata.it
http://www.pescepirata.it/aspiranti_s...
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