Reviews

Supporting Cast by Kit de Waal

Only show reviews with written explanations

rosaryoleander's review against another edition

5.0

The blurb barely covers this. This is a really interesting book which is just brilliantly well written.

It is a series of short stories that narrates the lives of around 20 people not necessarily at all connected, but each written in a completely distinguishing manner. Each character is fleshed out with their own internal voice coming off the page and de Waal has done a phenomenal job of writing each one differently.

The stories themselves are interesting, some dark, some less so. Some are introspective. Some are a story about another person, from the perspective of the first person narrator. This is just a masterclass in character building.

sweetearlgrey's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

There is something really moving about this. It doesn't try to be grand or pretentious or make things more complex than they need to be. In each of these stories, we get to see only a glimpse of the characters' lives and the subtle emotions of desire, love and loss that they feel. Conceptually it's really well put together as there is a clear overarching theme, something that is rarely achieved in short story collections. The catch is that these stories and characters are so mundane that they are unmemorable. That said, if you're in the right state of mind this is a really grounded and beautifully written little book.

wendoxford's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Backstory snippets, exposure, fragments, reminders, talking heads, filling in the gaps were some of the thoughts I had about this cluster of anecdotal stories. Having relatively recently read My Name is Leon & The Trick to Time, I spotted the characters and loved seeing them out of a story's context. I am unsure how this would read as a standalone but suspect its idiosyncrasies and beautiful writing would easily engage a virgin audience.

Supporting Cast served as a fine title for these characters who had minor or walk-on parts in other narratives, now clothed in limelight for their hasty seconds of fame. I found it a great concept and enjoyed finding these quirky, sometimes desperate, sometimes robust were (of course) more than merely also-rans