A review by vicki_jarrett
The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy

3.0

I think AL Kennedy is one of the best and most interesting writers working today and generally hugely enjoy her work. However, this wasn’t one of my favourites. I found it really hard to get into, to get a grip of who was talking, when and where, and what was going on with them. By the time I felt more confident of these things, I wasn’t at all convinced I wanted to be there with them. The story concerns the work of mediums and talks a lot about people ‘reading’ each other and the use of codes and double meanings to communicate, to lie effectively. I honestly found this stuff, the predictability of human pain and need and the helpless vulnerability we all conceal, while very perceptive and honest, profoundly depressing, like strip-mining all the magic and mystery from human intimacy and laying it out and labelling it. It made me sad. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the main protagonist’s tortuous relationship is with a man called ‘Art’. The book itself is a kind of a confidence trick in a way and it’s stuffed with double meanings and codes. Even the ending, despite the fact that it moved me to tears, felt like it could possibly be fake, which left an odd taste in the mouth. I’m still giving the book three stars because Kennedy’s writing is, as always, a joy in itself, clever, funny and touching and I will always want to read her work. If you’re interested in Kennedy’s work, maybe this isn’t the best one to start with though.