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A review by scottiesandbooks
The Second Cut by Louise Welsh
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
“The world changes, the world stays the same”
People have waited 20 years to read more of Rilke the auctioneer and his dark, seedy adventures with Glasgow’s underbelly. Luckily for me I only had 6 months to wait and even that was long enough.
Where The Cutting Room taught us about LGBT history from around the time of Clause 28, The Second Cut shows us how much has changed for queer people in such a short space of time between two books. Ok, yes it’s 20 years or so BUT in the grand scheme of things it’s not that long!
I did miss the seedy, sexy, dangerous side of Rilke from The Cutting Room but as times have changed so has he. He has matured along with Glasgow and is more careful (but alas still manages to get himself into all different kinds of mischief- read to find out).
I loved how current it was and yet, as the above quote suggests, same old same old. As society changes, crime remains. It just gets slightly smarter. I would say that there are more crimey elements to this one than the first, but it didn’t take away from the message the author wanted to portray.
The way Louise Welsh paints a picture of Glasgow will always blow me away. No one writes Glasgow like she does, making some of the dankest, dirtiest streets seem absolutely picturesque! No one writes the people of Glasgow like her either, she just gets it. Every single type of person you would come across, Louise can conjure on the pages.
Again, Les and Rose were formidable characters and it was lovely to see where they are at in their lives now too (exactly where I expected them to be). I absolutely loved when Les and Rilke had a conversation about trans rights and how things have changed from the past. Louise has definitely used her platform, and peoples love of Rilkes story to educate and inform. Where The Cutting Room was brave, the Second Cut is just as much.
I really hope this isn’t the last we hear from Rilke. I need more. Even if I have to wait another twenty years….
People have waited 20 years to read more of Rilke the auctioneer and his dark, seedy adventures with Glasgow’s underbelly. Luckily for me I only had 6 months to wait and even that was long enough.
Where The Cutting Room taught us about LGBT history from around the time of Clause 28, The Second Cut shows us how much has changed for queer people in such a short space of time between two books. Ok, yes it’s 20 years or so BUT in the grand scheme of things it’s not that long!
I did miss the seedy, sexy, dangerous side of Rilke from The Cutting Room but as times have changed so has he. He has matured along with Glasgow and is more careful (but alas still manages to get himself into all different kinds of mischief- read to find out).
I loved how current it was and yet, as the above quote suggests, same old same old. As society changes, crime remains. It just gets slightly smarter. I would say that there are more crimey elements to this one than the first, but it didn’t take away from the message the author wanted to portray.
The way Louise Welsh paints a picture of Glasgow will always blow me away. No one writes Glasgow like she does, making some of the dankest, dirtiest streets seem absolutely picturesque! No one writes the people of Glasgow like her either, she just gets it. Every single type of person you would come across, Louise can conjure on the pages.
Again, Les and Rose were formidable characters and it was lovely to see where they are at in their lives now too (exactly where I expected them to be). I absolutely loved when Les and Rilke had a conversation about trans rights and how things have changed from the past. Louise has definitely used her platform, and peoples love of Rilkes story to educate and inform. Where The Cutting Room was brave, the Second Cut is just as much.
I really hope this isn’t the last we hear from Rilke. I need more. Even if I have to wait another twenty years….