Fight Club
This short novel was the source for the brilliant, if controversial, 1999 film.
B+, Books, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
B+, Books, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
15:18, November 10th 2008
The Damned Utd
Quite, quite awesome fictional retelling of Brian Clough’s 44 days in charge of Leeds United.
Peace writes the entire story as if coming from Clough’s own mouth or subconscious. In one half of the narrative it’s the ‘present day’ and Clough is trying, and failing, to get to grips with the Leeds United job and the other tells the back story of Clough’s managerial career at Hartlepool, Derby County and Brighton.
It’s a fascinating insight into a brilliant and deeply flawed man. A man driven by all sorts of demons, including a desperate desire to prove himself and to best those he respected and those he hated. There was no-one he hated more than Don Revie and his Damned Utd of the title. A great football team that won by playing game in as cynical a fashion as possible. It was his burning desire to best Revie and doing so by turning his cynical machine into a pure football dream that got him to take the job in the first place. Only for him to ruin it by alienating the first team and the board as only he could.
It is quite simply the best football book I’ve ever read. If you have any love for the game you owe it to yourself to read it.
A, Books, Fiction, Football, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
A, Books, Fiction, Football, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
20:12, February 28th 2008
Love and Other Near Death Experiences
Late-night Jazz DJ Rob Garland narrowly avoids being killed in an accident and starts to question every trivial decision in life. After unburdening himself on his show he’s contacted by various characters with similar experiences. Prompted by his fiancee he embarks on a ‘quest’ to come to terms with the experience.
The book is occasionally rather funny, but is seriously let down by an obvious and laboured plot.
My verdict? This book cost me the princely sum of £1. About right I reckon.
Books, C, Fiction, Humour, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
Books, C, Fiction, Humour, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
13:56, January 8th 2008
Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About
Millington’s debut novel is inspired by some of the crazy and hilarious stories about his relationship with his long-term German girlfriend (and mother of his children) as detailed here.
The novel takes these anecdotes and fits them into a loosely plotted story of dodgy dealings and shifty politics within the university that employs his lead character, Pel.
Loosely plotted is generous. It basically amounts to a serious of very funny sketches that kind of hang together but not really.
Then again any book that features Laser tag, Triads, burial grounds and Library and IT in-jokes is hard to dislike entirely.
It really is frequently laugh out loud funny but then again if you’ve been following Millington since he used to write letters into Amiga Power, like I have, this will come as no surprise.
Hopefully one day he’ll get a hang of the telling a complete story thing and he’ll have something that I can praise to the hilt.
B-, Books, Fiction, Humour, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
B-, Books, Fiction, Humour, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
21:48, August 2nd 2007
Breakfast At Tiffanys
Capote’s novella is famously the basis of a much sanitised hollywood film version. In this, the original work, it’s pretty blatant that Holly is a hooker of sorts and she’s portrayed as even more of a creature of impulse and criminal tendencies that she is in the film.
I got the impression that Holly was something almost feral yet so glamorous that the narrator loved her from a distance in his way but never really understood her.
Not my usual kind of thing but it’s a pretty good read and is definitely worth seeking out if you’ve only ever seen the film version of these particular characters.
B, Books, Mainstream Fiction, Novella, Rated, Short Stories
B, Books, Mainstream Fiction, Novella, Rated, Short Stories
20:52, April 10th 2007
Espedair Street
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read this book. I think I first read it about 1988, 1989 back when I was borrowing five books a week from Sinclairtown library.
I loved it then and I retain enormous affection for it now. However the book has dated rather badly and definitely is a work of it’s time.
The book follows a week in the life of a man called Daniel Weir, once the songwriter and bass player of wildly successful band, now semi-retired and living a pointless if comfortable life.
The book follows his drunken adventures with his working class friends and his reluctant meetings with music business colleagues as he looks back over his life to try and make sense of where and who he is. It’s Banks at his most straightforward and nicely different for that.
Recommended for anyone who ever wanted to be in a band who can deal with the fact that the book’s now a period piece.
B, Books, Mainstream Fiction, Music, Rated
B, Books, Mainstream Fiction, Music, Rated
10:18, December 3rd 2006
Miss Wyoming
Susan Colgate and John Lodge Johnson, an ex-child star and big time Hollywood film producer, are the lead characters in this book.
Not the most promising start, but Coupland beautifully realises these cliches as real people with all the neuroses, strengths, flaws and past history that you could ever wish for.
Told as usual with his fabulous style, I really enjoy this book, but the plot is pointless and inconsequential and rests on the strength of the characters. If you can’t enjoy the characters then the book will mean nothing to you. I recommend this if you already like Coupland’s work.
B+, Books, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
B+, Books, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
14:31, August 27th 2006
JPod
Supposedly an update of the classic Microserfs for the Google generation this is instead a cynical, heartless mess of a novel.
Centred around a group of workers at a faceless games company in Vancouver, the book riffs off on the personal neuroses and bizarre acts of these people and their families.
As always Coupland?s prose is superbly readable and some of it is very funny, but the story is stupid, the characters are deeply unlikeable and he fills about a third of the book with concrete text or lists of prime numbers, digits of pi, and other pointless lists. It worked when used sparingly and within context in microserfs – in this novel it makes a slight tale seem more of a rip-off.
If you read Microserfs and wanted more or you just love Coupland?s work, then read this book, but be prepared to be disappointed. Otherwise, avoid it.
Books, C+, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
Books, C+, Fiction, Mainstream Fiction, Rated
20:44, July 16th 2006