Reviews

Lanark: A Life In Four Books by Alasdair Gray

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kriswasp's review against another edition

2.0

I so desperately wanted to like this book. Upon picking it up I was convinced that I was going to love it. Maybe that was the problem. I’ll summarise my thoughts below:

- it is very, very dry. There are moments of humour, but it felt like eating sand on a cracker with a sandpaper tongue.

- I appreciate the two characters and the way that the story moves, like life, with them just wondering what’s going on and rolling with it, even though it seems like everyone else actually understands. Because that’s how I felt reading it.

- very, very reminiscent of my least favourite parts of 1984 by George Orwell. It was as though all the parts of that book that I didn’t like and found boring were expanded upon, stretched out and then continued.

- I preferred Thaw’s story to Lanark’s, and as a fan of Gaiman, specifically Neverwhere, that shouldn’t happen. I should have preferred Lanark’s tale.

- did it need the ‘epilogue’ scene? I hated it. At first I had a wry smile, then I just felt literally - as that is the scene - like I’m trapped in a room with a man who refuses to talk about anything but himself and his world philosophy. I saw a reviewer on here claim that it was like ‘onanism’ and I wholeheartedly agree and cannot think of a better description. It was a bit nauseating.

- I can understand completely how some people would think this their favourite book. I get it, honestly I do. And it is exactly what I expected, just presented in a way that I didn’t, unfortunately.

I’ll conclude by saying that the 2 star rating is because of how I felt reading it. Not on the quality of the book, which sounds strange I know. It’s clearly a good book, and Gray is clearly intelligent, even if he forces us to recognise it by sitting us down and pointing out exactly how well read he is. I didn’t enjoy this book the way I should have done and ultimately it is not a bad book, it is just not for me. It may be for you. If you liked 1984 and want a Scottish version of Dante then this might be the exact book for you.

windhover's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is really good but not one I would recommend to everyone. The protagonist can be pretty nasty at times and foolish at other times. The novel is split into two clear sections: one that is fantastic and strongly allegorical; the other, a realistic story of the development of a young artist, like Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. The two link up fairly well, but there is still a distinct shift in the feel at the transitions between the two.

Here's a quote I liked: "A good life means fighting to be human under growing difficulties. A lot of young folk know this and fight very hard, but after a few years life gets easier for them and they think they've become completely human when they've only stopped trying."

sarah_dietrich's review against another edition

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5.0

Wonderful. Kafka-esque, described by the author as "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Glaswegian". Metafiction, with a story-within-a-story.

duncanvb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Gripped me and lost me at various points - best when it's spiralling into madness, less good when it's local-government-Kafka. Loved the meta stuff, despite my better instincts.

twdrake's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

thomasgoddard's review against another edition

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4.0

I know, I know. I said I wouldn't do it this year, give half stars, but this one really stumped me.

He weaves in his political feelings about bodies governing, from far and on high, the lives of the people they are meant to be helping. (He wanted an independent Scotland)

He uses his own upbringing to give a heavy authentic weight to the character. (Similar upbringing to my own)

There’s elements of fantasy and oppressive impoverished reality. (A strong juxtaposition)

This isn’t a book you read once. It is a book to read again and again. It's a book that I wish I had written. Same as Gormenghast. Same as The White Hotel. Same as a lot of these similarly eccentric novels that don’t seem to see the light of commissioning editor’s desk lamps these days. (I can only think that Susanna Clarke is a wild exception)

I think there’s this element of decadence to the older novels that is lacking these days. Even Clarke is a sort of cleansed reduction of the heady and vital work that used to get shipped to bookshops. Smaller publishers are doing great work, but the last ten years has been a bit of a lacklustre decade for vibrant fiction. At least, for my tastes... It's the same in cinema too. Television has gotten better, but the rest has really taken a nose dive.

Maybe I’m just getting old.

Or maybe I just miss the books that were a little filthy and crude and full of themselves. Books with characters you can dislike.

I’m in a funny mood. Wild hyperbole abounds. There are, of course, a wealth of great works being produced. I just wish that more of them were a bit more smutty and raw. Leave in the blood. Be unpleasant! Any suggestions for truly contemporary work that has the same vitality as this one, please send me a note. Many thanks.

Lanark is a trip into strange worlds. A look at a childhood that still has a familiar flavour enough to remind me of my own, despite being a few decades out. It is a wonderful book, strangely plotted out to entice and mystify.

Rating: (4.5)