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Last Orders by Graham Swift
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George
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Nov 30, 2022 06:13PM
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An engaging character based novel about some ordinary, flawed people in England who knew Jack Dodds. Jack was a butcher who died from cancer. His friends, Ray Johnson, Lenny Tate, Vic Tucker and Vince Dodds decide to travel to the coast at Margate to scatter Jack’s ashes into the sea. Each character tells their stories as internal monologues and through their conversations. Jack, Lenny, Vic and Ray all served in the army during World War Two. They all wished for careers other than what they ended up doing and have troubled relationships with women.
Along with descriptions of the journey to Margate, we learn about each of the men, Amy Dodds, Jack’s wife, and Mandy Dodds, Jack’s foster daughter.
All the characters have interesting stories to relate about their lives.
I read this book 22 years ago and at that time I was not as taken with the novel as I was this time. These days I have a greater appreciation of novels about flawed characters and old people, (being old myself, helps!)
I appreciated the writing and would like to read more fby Swift. This was my first exposure. But I can't say that it completely drew me in. It was great at what it was doing. I just don't think I was in the right frame of mind for it.
About 15% into the book and am struggling to keep track of the numerous characters, their connections to one another, and their dialect. Confusing with the narrator changing in each short chapter. Will keep slogging along.
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down who the four men taking the trip were and their links to the two main women in the book. By the end of the book I had become very familiar to each character. Ray Johnson, lucky at gambling. His world changes with his daughter going to Australia. Ray was in the war with Jack Dodds, Lenny Tate and Vic Tucker, the funeral director.
Amy Dodds, the widow of Jack, has always visited her mentally disabled daughter, June.
Mandy Dodds, left her original family at 15 and ended up as a foster child of the Dodds.
Vince, another foster child of the Dodds, is quite a character, becoming a good, astute businessman.
Mary, I hope you enjoy the novel.
It took me some work to keep everyone straight also.
Yes, I did an online search to learn the names and backgrounds of all the characters. And as you wrote, by the end of the novel I was quite comfortable with the changes in narration — even having the narrators switch between the current and past years (sometimes in the same paragraph). I just had to read the novel slowly, without outside distraction. It’s not a favorite, but am glad I kept reading and finished the novel today.
I have had people here on GR tell me that Last Orders is not his best. I was encouraged to explore other titles by Swift.
