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The Busconductor Hines
Living in a no-bedroomed tenement flat, coping with the cold and boredom of busconducting and the bloody-mindedness of Head Office, knowing that emigrating to Australia is only an impossible dream, Robert Hines finds life to be ‘a very perplexing kettle of coconuts’. The compensations are a wife and child, and a gloriously anarchic imagination. The Busconductor Hines is a brilliantly executed, uncompromising slice of the Glasgow scene, a portrait of working-class life which is unheroic but humane.
237 pages
First published January 1, 1984
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1152 people want to read
About the author
James Kelman
80 books270 followersKelman says:
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 19, 2010
Gaun tae have tae gi this yin the auld heave ho an I didnae even get tae page 100 neither. Ye wantae know whut this shitpile is like? Et's like tae drive us fuckin cracked, is whut it's like. Et's jest the common nor garden shite that gaes on in this radge bastard's brain whit's a fuckin loser bus conductor in fuckin Glasgae back in the eighties, an the microscopic detail ae all the fuckin shite that happens in his miserable life like we's all gaggin tae read sich shite, an there's nae story, naebody does nae one slightly interestin fuckin thing, nae fights, okay a wee bit shaggin but ah tells ye ah've got mair erotic charge from yon average underwear advert, these bastards jest smoke endless ae them rollups an moan on about they desperate lives, enough tae make ye want to jump oot a fuckin windae so tis. Jest so youse don't think I'm spinnin some yarn here, I did this wee scan for yis tae prove ma point, see if ah'm tellin the absolute God's bollock honest truth :
A long queue had formed at the stop. The new driver was gazing into the display window of a nearby jeweller's shop. Their bus was late. When it finally arrived a great many folk got off but all of the queue climbed aboard. Hines waited until the other driver and conductor had stepped down, opening his case and preparing his ticket-machine. The driver was muttering. Fucking murder out there so it
is ... His forehead glistened with sweat. While Hines adjusted the strap of his cashbag the new driver settled
onto his seat in the cabin, and arranged his rearview mirror. The doors were still open. A few latecomers came rushing up and jumped on. Hines looked at them.
Eh can you fix that mirror for me . . .?
What?
The new driver was pointing to the wing mirror just outside the doors. Hines leaned to fix it for him.
A wee bit more to the left.
Hines adjusted it and returned inside immediately, and stood with his back to the cabin. At least 10 people were standing along the aisle. He gazed at them; then climbed to the top deck and found some seats to be empty. Back down the stairs he said: 5 only inside now and the rest of yous up the stair.
Ah mean, fair play an all, could you be readin 240 pages ae that shite in the few measly hours a free time ye get in yer workin week? Ah'm no genius here, an all, but ah'm guessin that the answer might well be an uncompromisin negative on that score.
A long queue had formed at the stop. The new driver was gazing into the display window of a nearby jeweller's shop. Their bus was late. When it finally arrived a great many folk got off but all of the queue climbed aboard. Hines waited until the other driver and conductor had stepped down, opening his case and preparing his ticket-machine. The driver was muttering. Fucking murder out there so it
is ... His forehead glistened with sweat. While Hines adjusted the strap of his cashbag the new driver settled
onto his seat in the cabin, and arranged his rearview mirror. The doors were still open. A few latecomers came rushing up and jumped on. Hines looked at them.
Eh can you fix that mirror for me . . .?
What?
The new driver was pointing to the wing mirror just outside the doors. Hines leaned to fix it for him.
A wee bit more to the left.
Hines adjusted it and returned inside immediately, and stood with his back to the cabin. At least 10 people were standing along the aisle. He gazed at them; then climbed to the top deck and found some seats to be empty. Back down the stairs he said: 5 only inside now and the rest of yous up the stair.
Ah mean, fair play an all, could you be readin 240 pages ae that shite in the few measly hours a free time ye get in yer workin week? Ah'm no genius here, an all, but ah'm guessin that the answer might well be an uncompromisin negative on that score.
June 27, 2019
A well written, depressingly realistic, memorable, sometimes humorous, character driven read about a few months in the life of a Glasgow bus conductor, Robert Hines, aged 38. He has been married to Sandra for five years. They have a four year old son, Paul and Sandra works part time. They live in a no bedroomed tenement flat. They live frugally on limited resources with entertainment limited to going to the pub and meeting friends, reading, watching television and caring for their son. Hines doesn't like his job and goes on report for work misdemeanours and arriving late for work.
This is not an easy read as the dialogue between Hines and his work associates is sometimes difficult to fully understand. The realistic conversations of Glaswegians speaking to Glaswegians is such that the people speaking are not speaking in a clearly expressive way. Hines is a poor communicator, rarely speaking about what really is on his mind.
I found the book an interesting account of the life of a man in love with his wife and son but struggling to find work that he is satisfied with and doing nothing to change things. Hines can't be bothered to do minimal apartment repairs that he is capable of doing, study to be a bus driver or look for another job.
Here is a random passage to give you an idea of Kelman's writing style:
"The way he had been in the library he really could be coming down with flu, those first throes - the rapid movements in temperature and him not wearing the proper winter clothes too always the same be it summer winter spring or fucking Autumn the things always that the possibility of at long last the system reneging and no wonder, no fucking wonder. The door. What happens now. In." (Page 142, Everyman Fiction Edition)
This novel is nearly as good and memorable as Kelman's Booker Prize winning, 'How Late it was, how late.'
This is not an easy read as the dialogue between Hines and his work associates is sometimes difficult to fully understand. The realistic conversations of Glaswegians speaking to Glaswegians is such that the people speaking are not speaking in a clearly expressive way. Hines is a poor communicator, rarely speaking about what really is on his mind.
I found the book an interesting account of the life of a man in love with his wife and son but struggling to find work that he is satisfied with and doing nothing to change things. Hines can't be bothered to do minimal apartment repairs that he is capable of doing, study to be a bus driver or look for another job.
Here is a random passage to give you an idea of Kelman's writing style:
"The way he had been in the library he really could be coming down with flu, those first throes - the rapid movements in temperature and him not wearing the proper winter clothes too always the same be it summer winter spring or fucking Autumn the things always that the possibility of at long last the system reneging and no wonder, no fucking wonder. The door. What happens now. In." (Page 142, Everyman Fiction Edition)
This novel is nearly as good and memorable as Kelman's Booker Prize winning, 'How Late it was, how late.'
October 4, 2008
It's just brilliant on all counts. Superbly written, of course. Levels. levels of the book and of the mind of the Busconductor Hines, the inside life which isn't, because it is outside all the time, but it feels in, Very funny, very touching, a grandeur to this bit of life as fleeting as rubbish blowing on a wet windy darkness. Warm and grand that a 'busconductor', a uniform, a timetabled part of some machine is worth it as a man, weak and dreaming, confused and clear, shabby and idealistic, not fitting the system but unable to be out, worth it, of as great and less a value as any fictional hero.; time, the centre of it all, time too much and not enough and both at once so talking without talking, thinking without thinking: "Of its own accord comes everything". And Truth, his constant small lies and untruths where they do not matter because the world itself is made of them and Hines prefers the cold darkness of some less comforting Truth. Yet, too, from his young son and wife comes a laughter of joy which he cannot access, he is more likely to cry or laugh the cynical laugh, the batering, sarcastic, ironic laugh. And all such a pleasure to read.
March 5, 2011
It is possible that even if you combine all of Henry Miller's works they still would not outnumber the times the words "fuck," "fucking," and "cunt" are used in this novel which is not even a sex book. In fact, it has only one extended sex scene,, very tastefully done, no kinkiness whatsoever, the normal sex a couple do after five years of marriage living in a tenement flat without any bedroom with a young son who could wake up at any time while they're humping.
So why, asks you, this plethora of seeming obscenities? They're not. They're just part of the normal vocafuckingbulary of bus drivers and bus conductors in Glasgow (the largest city in Scotland). Yes, they love "fuck," "fucking," "cunt" and "shite" (shit) so much that they even insert them in the middle of words for fuck's sake.
The couple who had sex, as I mentioned earlier, were Hines and his wife Sandra. If you're paying attention, you'd know by now that they have a young son (around 4 years old if I correctly recall). The title of the book would tell you that Hines is a busconductor (I don't know why, in Glasgow, this is one word--maybe because like Hines, the bus conductor never becomes anything else, say a bus driver, so the word becomes symbolic, the bus tied up with its conductor and vice verza, so: busconductor). The family lives in a dump, as Sandra describes their place, and she wants to live elsewhere. But they have no money to buy a new house somewhere else. Miserable it is, having very little money. But sometimes they're happy, sometimes they make each other laugh and they hug each other. Hh, all ya fenian bastards ye, read it. Ya gonny like it too, like that one by the other Scot, A.L. Kennedy's "Looking for the Possible Dance," naw shite.
So why, asks you, this plethora of seeming obscenities? They're not. They're just part of the normal vocafuckingbulary of bus drivers and bus conductors in Glasgow (the largest city in Scotland). Yes, they love "fuck," "fucking," "cunt" and "shite" (shit) so much that they even insert them in the middle of words for fuck's sake.
The couple who had sex, as I mentioned earlier, were Hines and his wife Sandra. If you're paying attention, you'd know by now that they have a young son (around 4 years old if I correctly recall). The title of the book would tell you that Hines is a busconductor (I don't know why, in Glasgow, this is one word--maybe because like Hines, the bus conductor never becomes anything else, say a bus driver, so the word becomes symbolic, the bus tied up with its conductor and vice verza, so: busconductor). The family lives in a dump, as Sandra describes their place, and she wants to live elsewhere. But they have no money to buy a new house somewhere else. Miserable it is, having very little money. But sometimes they're happy, sometimes they make each other laugh and they hug each other. Hh, all ya fenian bastards ye, read it. Ya gonny like it too, like that one by the other Scot, A.L. Kennedy's "Looking for the Possible Dance," naw shite.
December 23, 2020
According to the former head judge of the Booker Prize, English writer and historian Richard Cobb, this was one of the two worst books ever submitted to the competition. "There was even one novel written entirely in Glaswegian!" Cobb stated.
This is Scottish writer James Kelman's first published novel. It relates the interior monologue of a Glaswegian bus conductor called Robert. That's it.
This is one of my favourite books because Kelman is a master of giving a voice to ordinary people and ordinary situations. There is an amazing honesty and humour to everything he writes and no-one is better at catching the rhythms and cadences of our everyday thoughts and conversations than Kelman. If it wasn't for Kelman writing about ordinary Scottish people in their own language, we wouldn't have had "Trainspotting" or "Shuggie Bain." This may not be written in perfect Queen's English and may include more than a few sweary words, but that does not stop it from being a masterpiece
This is Scottish writer James Kelman's first published novel. It relates the interior monologue of a Glaswegian bus conductor called Robert. That's it.
This is one of my favourite books because Kelman is a master of giving a voice to ordinary people and ordinary situations. There is an amazing honesty and humour to everything he writes and no-one is better at catching the rhythms and cadences of our everyday thoughts and conversations than Kelman. If it wasn't for Kelman writing about ordinary Scottish people in their own language, we wouldn't have had "Trainspotting" or "Shuggie Bain." This may not be written in perfect Queen's English and may include more than a few sweary words, but that does not stop it from being a masterpiece
September 16, 2016
Hmmm it looks like I’m not a James Kelman fan. I didn’t like How Late it was , How Late too much and The Busconductor Hines didn’t really impress me either.
It’s a book that’s supposed to portray a real working class person , with his trials and tribulations but it ends up just focusing on mind numbingly dull repetitive events , such as going down to the pub and screwing up his job constantly.
I didn’t love but I didn’t hate it either.
It’s a book that’s supposed to portray a real working class person , with his trials and tribulations but it ends up just focusing on mind numbingly dull repetitive events , such as going down to the pub and screwing up his job constantly.
I didn’t love but I didn’t hate it either.
April 2, 2020
Incredibly moving and humorous, James Kelman’s first published novel The Busconductor Hines is a raw and searingly honest reading experience. Follow Robert Hines, our busconductor and social philosopher, in a passionate, exploratory novel of working-class oppression and reflection.
November 15, 2020
This was the first published novel by James Kelman, published in 1984 and it is definitely of its time. It is written in a deliberately difficult, almost James Joyce type way with the normal rules of syntax and grammar completely ignored. This is all right in small doses but in this novel it continues for chapter after chapter and becomes tiresome and loses its effect. The novel is about a bus conductor's daily life in Glasgow and is full of bleak realism and constant hardship. The main character struggles with his wife and young child in a grim tenement flat and also with the bosses at the bus garage. There are one or two inspired moments and memorable lines. My favourite on page 121 is 'Life is simply too bad to be true at times and there's a f****ing end to it'. The mood is similarly grim throughout but the enlightened moments are few compared to the amount of angular and difficult prose.
October 2, 2015
Superbly realistic slice of Glaswegian life. Rab Hines works on the buses, his wife and bairn are the darlings of his eye, but he is stuck in a dead end, with his best hope of getting a new place to live are if his block of flats is condemned. Too much of a chancer to toe the line at work, his dream of becoming a bus driver can never crystallise into a definite ambition. The twin faults of insolence and indolence are his downfall. My own reaction to this book makes me uncomfortable: I was willing him to do something positive to make the wife who loves him in spite of herself proud, which makes me sound like a part of the Thatcherite "get-on-your-bike" capitalism that reinforced the 1980s. And my irritation at the lack of speech marks and "proper" punctuation only marks me out as a Grammar Nazi.
October 2, 2020
Fantastic book - I read it many years ago and have never forgotten it. It is the opposite of high concept and yet I simply could put it down. The pressure against the character is in the detail and the descriptions. I remember I stayed up half the night just to take one chapter more all the time...
December 18, 2024
This is probably a harsh review - but there was more often than I’d hoped instances where this didn’t do anything for me. It is clearly a good book - original plot and focus, some strong characters, and evocative life story - but I didn’t think it was a great book.
There’s a strong working class perspective and Hines struggles to balance his daily responsibility to a demeaning and mundane job with his parenting obligations and aspirations against grander plans to live overseas with the more realistic aims of his wife Sandra to simply live better, in a nicer area and the possibility of holidays.
The book read as though written in different stages. Different main chapters read differently with less mindless and incoherent ramblings in the latter stages, that read much better as a story. These ramblings were hard to read, not just from their Glaswegian roots but just the rubbish that was being spouted.
I could have done with a bit more at the end, it became open and interesting, but then kind of ended. I’m not sure if I’ve missed the point or not but this contributed to this 3* rating.
There’s a strong working class perspective and Hines struggles to balance his daily responsibility to a demeaning and mundane job with his parenting obligations and aspirations against grander plans to live overseas with the more realistic aims of his wife Sandra to simply live better, in a nicer area and the possibility of holidays.
The book read as though written in different stages. Different main chapters read differently with less mindless and incoherent ramblings in the latter stages, that read much better as a story. These ramblings were hard to read, not just from their Glaswegian roots but just the rubbish that was being spouted.
I could have done with a bit more at the end, it became open and interesting, but then kind of ended. I’m not sure if I’ve missed the point or not but this contributed to this 3* rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2015
I absolutely loved this book. No quotation marks, no question marks, lots of thoughts that just trail off, weird syntax, Glaswegian: I felt immediately immersed in the world of the Busconductor Hines. Kelman makes Hines so funny and endearing and human, I ripped through this one to see how it turned out, and couldn't have been more pleased that nothing much changed. It's all very real, and the dialogue has a fantastic bittersweet music to it, mixing abrupt, very simple statements with strange baroque digressions.
Like I said, I loved it. But you have to have a sense of humor about profanity, and also understand that a certain cuss word has a completely different connotation to Scots than it does to American. Don't read it if it'll wad your knickers.
Like I said, I loved it. But you have to have a sense of humor about profanity, and also understand that a certain cuss word has a completely different connotation to Scots than it does to American. Don't read it if it'll wad your knickers.
June 28, 2015
As realism goes, this book is spot on. Kelman's portrayal of Glasgow in the 1980's is accurate. The book is written in 5 chapters, each detailing the unsatisfactory life of Hines who is caught up in a job he feels desperately unhappy in, a struggling marriage and early signs of depression. Whilst Kelman's use of realism sucks the reader into 'place' the novel itself is frustrating in the sense that their is no real plot and nothing really exciting happens. I struggled to finish the book and was disappointed at the end. I can however, commend the author on his realist technique.
January 3, 2012
Puzzling. Kelman makes such a loud argument for the intelligence and intellectual validity of the characters in his milieu, but provides so little evidence for it.
December 28, 2017
In Kelman’s debut novel about a disenchanted Busconductor, a book that was apparently at least 10 years in the making, we can see the foundations of his experimental Glaswegian stream-of-consciousness style. We follow the humdrum, day-to-day existence of a Glasgow busconductor, Robert (or Rab) Hines, as he struggles to provide for his wife and young son, working in a position that’s becoming redundant. The character of Hines is expertly, beautifully drawn, as are the supporting cast - a varying class of Scots. It’s also got all of the classic Kelman themes, motifs and preoccupations that run throughout his oeuvre: working-class life, dialect and vernacular, Scottishness, politics, inequality, identity, masculinity, alcoholism, existential dread, the self, as well as some deliciously inventive swearing. Playful, heartfelt, peculiar and real.
Read this as part of research for my BA English dissertation, which was titled: “The words filling yer head”: Working-class masculinity and the Glaswegian stream-of-consciousness in the novels of James Kelman
Read this as part of research for my BA English dissertation, which was titled: “The words filling yer head”: Working-class masculinity and the Glaswegian stream-of-consciousness in the novels of James Kelman
July 9, 2017
It's been a pretty hectic year. Not a good one for making progress through the list. It's actually well over two months since I finished the Busconductor Hines, but I've not really had the headspace to think about a review. And as a result, I've pretty much forgotten most of it. Hines is a bit of a chancer, with the conductor's union being pretty much the only thing that stands between him and disaster. He's regularly drunk, regularly late, and a pretty terrible father to boot. But in his own head, he's a Prince among Men, being cruelly held back by a society that fails to appreciate his talents.
It's an extremely human, occasionally funny, book, but not one that left me with a lasting impression.
It's an extremely human, occasionally funny, book, but not one that left me with a lasting impression.
April 26, 2023
DNF - gave up half way through as soon as my train arrived home where I had loads of other books waiting.
I feel like this storyline would work well as a short story?! It’s too long, too dull, too much hard work to get into the rhythm of the sentences.
There are some sweet parts, there is affection and humour among the grime. I needed a bit more plot perhaps.
Don’t let this put you off - give it a go. Kelman is very good at capturing local working class voices, if that’s what you are in the mood for.
I feel like this storyline would work well as a short story?! It’s too long, too dull, too much hard work to get into the rhythm of the sentences.
There are some sweet parts, there is affection and humour among the grime. I needed a bit more plot perhaps.
Don’t let this put you off - give it a go. Kelman is very good at capturing local working class voices, if that’s what you are in the mood for.
July 15, 2021
The story of a feckless but likeable bus conductor, with a penchant for philosophical musings. A genuine insight into working-class life. Remarkably accurate and free from sentimentality.
March 1, 2024
Kelman is a real writer even if I wish he would use speech marks, ye cunt ye.
Read
April 19, 2024DNF (20%)
January 12, 2013
Kelman's characters are always frustrated with something. Whether it be Patrick Doyle's disaffection with the teaching profession or Kieron Smith's escapist dreams from a drab childhood, they're always angry and looking for a way out. But these frustrations make them real and ultimately relatable characters.
Here we have Robert 'Rab' Hines, the bitter bus conductor, who's just looking to better what he's got. Whether it be promotion to bus driver, a better living scenario within the tenement schemes of Glasgow or complete escape to Australia, Hines just wants something.
However, due to his own personal limitations and laziness he's only able to express his frustrations with himself. Kelman executes this with a superb stream of consciousness narrative, which echoes Beckett and Joyce.
The only times Hines actually achieves something is, ironically, through his laziness. After refusing to meet a head office 'line' he unwittingly creates a revolt against the bus system he so vehemently despises. Throughout the book, this is his only achievement.
While the book starts off slowly and Kelman's disregard of punctuation can make the book a challenge, it is definitely a challenge worth taking.
Here we have Robert 'Rab' Hines, the bitter bus conductor, who's just looking to better what he's got. Whether it be promotion to bus driver, a better living scenario within the tenement schemes of Glasgow or complete escape to Australia, Hines just wants something.
However, due to his own personal limitations and laziness he's only able to express his frustrations with himself. Kelman executes this with a superb stream of consciousness narrative, which echoes Beckett and Joyce.
The only times Hines actually achieves something is, ironically, through his laziness. After refusing to meet a head office 'line' he unwittingly creates a revolt against the bus system he so vehemently despises. Throughout the book, this is his only achievement.
While the book starts off slowly and Kelman's disregard of punctuation can make the book a challenge, it is definitely a challenge worth taking.
August 6, 2009
Against my better judgment, I finished this awful excuse for contemporary fiction. Kelman does not come off funny, rather he comes off abrasive and boring. He feels the need to show the reader an 'authentic working man' experience. So the unwilling reader is dragged along through Hines workday, all the irrelevant and crass conversation intact. It's a painful experience.
It would almost be forgivable, except it doesn't end there. Kelman takes you through EVERYTHING the character experiences. Hines washing his feet, what should be a minute detail, goes on for pages and pages. Are you kidding?
Then there are Kelman's cryptic messages scattered throughout. They must only make sense to the author, because they just left me confused and annoyed. Oh and the English slang is very thick, so brush up on it if your a yankee like myself.
The story of the struggling bus conductor is sound, but somehow he messes it up. I tried to like it, but every time I got close he pushed me away. If Kelman's the bus conductor on any more novels, I think I'll walk.
It would almost be forgivable, except it doesn't end there. Kelman takes you through EVERYTHING the character experiences. Hines washing his feet, what should be a minute detail, goes on for pages and pages. Are you kidding?
Then there are Kelman's cryptic messages scattered throughout. They must only make sense to the author, because they just left me confused and annoyed. Oh and the English slang is very thick, so brush up on it if your a yankee like myself.
The story of the struggling bus conductor is sound, but somehow he messes it up. I tried to like it, but every time I got close he pushed me away. If Kelman's the bus conductor on any more novels, I think I'll walk.
November 23, 2015
a bit disjointed probably not well received if you need a plot driven story this won't work for you. if you enjoy intricate descriptions of inner musings and examples of the complexities of relationships this is a gold mine.
"It seemed as though there was nothing to say. That that which could be said must have been said already. She was in bed and facing the wall, her breathing inaudible but eyes maybe open, attentive - waiting for him to move, even for the match being struck perhaps that a further 10 minutes till the light went out and he in beside her. They had looked at each other. What could be sadder than that. Nothing could be sadder than that. It is terrible. othing has ever een more terrible. In 10 minutes she would be asleep."
I love this part, the emotions that go unspoken between lovers. I like Kelman and I am so far the only person I have spoken with.
"It seemed as though there was nothing to say. That that which could be said must have been said already. She was in bed and facing the wall, her breathing inaudible but eyes maybe open, attentive - waiting for him to move, even for the match being struck perhaps that a further 10 minutes till the light went out and he in beside her. They had looked at each other. What could be sadder than that. Nothing could be sadder than that. It is terrible. othing has ever een more terrible. In 10 minutes she would be asleep."
I love this part, the emotions that go unspoken between lovers. I like Kelman and I am so far the only person I have spoken with.
January 31, 2016
This is an excellently written book. It has a fast pace and quickly locks the reader into the story. Kelman is a Scottish author and does write using Scottish vernacular, so some words may become confusing and unintelligible, but it does not effect the understanding or appreciation of his work. Kelman will anger and frustrate you with the never-ending mistakes his main character continually commits, but this is the mirror he holds to his fellow Scots. It is a mirror that everyone should look into and compare their life. Do not expect a Hollywood ending, just the truth, as best as it can be presented in a peice of literature.
July 16, 2016
I really disliked this book, not because of the content, which I was relatively dispassionate towards, but because of the form this content was presented in. The author may have been trying to artistically express something or other through his lack of dialogue markers, but sometimes, especially when the point of it is not apparent, I feel that the ease of the reader should come first. It took me twice as long to read as it usually does for books of this length, and there wasn't enough deeper content to justify this kind of slow, belaboured reading.
January 9, 2016
Boy what a book. I continually thought whether you would need to come from Glasgow to appreciate the humour but being from there I got it big time. Albeit it is a poignant and sad story alongside the humour.
Another character who reason would say doesn't have much going for him other than his wife and wean.
His fight against the system is a joy.
Another character who reason would say doesn't have much going for him other than his wife and wean.
His fight against the system is a joy.
February 26, 2012
Rab Hines hates his job as a busconductor, but he loves his wife and child and dreams of going to live in Australia.
The book switches from his homelife to his worklife, his ambitions to get out of the one bedroom tennement flat and into a house, and the hope of training to be a busdriver.
The book switches from his homelife to his worklife, his ambitions to get out of the one bedroom tennement flat and into a house, and the hope of training to be a busdriver.
June 20, 2012
Dark. Dour. Scottish literature at its best. Lots of Scots dialect which if you don't know it will be tricky. Beautifully told. Pulled into the characters' lives completely. A writer worth reading.
January 13, 2013
I read a third of this and had to give up. I had no insight into Hines's wife, couldn't get a handle on his colleagues, who seemed to be interchangeable, and there didn't appear to be anything driving the story - there was no reason to it, or outcome I was keen to discover.
November 2, 2025
James Kelman makes me laugh, then breaks my heart every time. His work is absolutely beautiful; painful and euphoric.
Don't be put off by the language! I am not from Glasgow, but once you get into the rhythms and flow of the words it is poetry.
Don't be put off by the language! I am not from Glasgow, but once you get into the rhythms and flow of the words it is poetry.
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