A review by islamaunder21
How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

 This book definitely reminded me of the Play Waiting For Godot/ ‘The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and I wouldn’t be surprised if the author was inspired by absurdist/existentialist literature from the earlier 20th century. It definitely represented some important concepts, including police brutality and corruption, poverty, rehabilitation, the way bureaucracy fails those in need, the welfare state, male mental health, disability, the prison system etc. Some moments were quite funny. But for the most part I was slightly bored and slightly confused. I understand the constant repetitive thoughts had their purpose and felt very stream of consciousness and realistic but honestly I do feel like this book could have been cut to at least half the size and wouldn’t have lost anything. There was some sexism and one insensitive and unsavoury comment about certain forms of disability. I was unsure whether the author was aware of the problematic nature of these ideas but chose to express them through the main character to depict him in an imperfect light, or whether these were the authors’ prejudiced ideas coming through. I’m hoping the former!