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A review by eec_reading
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse
4.0
Have finished reading ‘Billy Liar’ (1959) by Keith Waterhouse. Chose from David Bowie’s Top 100 Books List. This is a day in the life of Billy - 19 years old and working as a clerk at a funeral home in a dull Yorkshire town, he’s juggling three girlfriends, a vivid internal fantasy life, and desperate aspirations for more - while compulsively lying to everyone.
After my 11 weeks with the 1200 pages of Les Miserables - a quick few days with these 191 pages was a romp.
I liked:
Imagining a 13 or 14 year old David Jones reading this when it was new and identifying with Billy’s rich creative fantasy life and desperate aspiration for more than the post-war middle class dullness that the older generation was happy with.
The way it reminded me if the energy and impotence of being a late-teenager, on the verge of greater agency but not quite there yet.
The way it reminded me of the Time Before Smart Phones - boredom, chance meetings, missed meet ups.
And - just the loveliness of the object - a 1963 library book.
After my 11 weeks with the 1200 pages of Les Miserables - a quick few days with these 191 pages was a romp.
I liked:
Imagining a 13 or 14 year old David Jones reading this when it was new and identifying with Billy’s rich creative fantasy life and desperate aspiration for more than the post-war middle class dullness that the older generation was happy with.
The way it reminded me if the energy and impotence of being a late-teenager, on the verge of greater agency but not quite there yet.
The way it reminded me of the Time Before Smart Phones - boredom, chance meetings, missed meet ups.
And - just the loveliness of the object - a 1963 library book.