A Disaffection by James Kelman

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars

A Disaffection takes place in the week in the life of Patrick Doyle, a young school teacher who is not only dissatisfied with his job, but also his life. The main character drinks too much, is preoccupied with a married colleague, and is disconnected from his working class family. One might say Doyle is experiencing a premature midlife crisis or a nervous breakdown of sorts. The book is set in Glasgow, Scotland, in the midst of an economic downturn.

This isn't an easy read, due to the Glaswegian dialect, lack of punctuation, and the frequent obscenities. It is also written in stream-of-consciousness. Despite all of these elements that I typically loathe, I actually enjoyed this one.

[Amanda]

This was a 2 star for me. I thought Kelman's "Kieran Smith, Boy" was stronger overall as it seemed to have a more novel premise while still evoking the drudgery of working-class Glasgow.

Other than this dialect, this feels like a book that has been written a 1000 times (and probably 100 times just on this list). I'm over reading books about sad nihilistic men obsessed with women who don't want them, without interesting qualities of their own.