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A review by kriswasp
Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray
2.0
I so desperately wanted to like this book. Upon picking it up I was convinced that I was going to love it. Maybe that was the problem. I’ll summarise my thoughts below:
- it is very, very dry. There are moments of humour, but it felt like eating sand on a cracker with a sandpaper tongue.
- I appreciate the two characters and the way that the story moves, like life, with them just wondering what’s going on and rolling with it, even though it seems like everyone else actually understands. Because that’s how I felt reading it.
- very, very reminiscent of my least favourite parts of 1984 by George Orwell. It was as though all the parts of that book that I didn’t like and found boring were expanded upon, stretched out and then continued.
- I preferred Thaw’s story to Lanark’s, and as a fan of Gaiman, specifically Neverwhere, that shouldn’t happen. I should have preferred Lanark’s tale.
- did it need the ‘epilogue’ scene? I hated it. At first I had a wry smile, then I just felt literally - as that is the scene - like I’m trapped in a room with a man who refuses to talk about anything but himself and his world philosophy. I saw a reviewer on here claim that it was like ‘onanism’ and I wholeheartedly agree and cannot think of a better description. It was a bit nauseating.
- I can understand completely how some people would think this their favourite book. I get it, honestly I do. And it is exactly what I expected, just presented in a way that I didn’t, unfortunately.
I’ll conclude by saying that the 2 star rating is because of how I felt reading it. Not on the quality of the book, which sounds strange I know. It’s clearly a good book, and Gray is clearly intelligent, even if he forces us to recognise it by sitting us down and pointing out exactly how well read he is. I didn’t enjoy this book the way I should have done and ultimately it is not a bad book, it is just not for me. It may be for you. If you liked 1984 and want a Scottish version of Dante then this might be the exact book for you.
- it is very, very dry. There are moments of humour, but it felt like eating sand on a cracker with a sandpaper tongue.
- I appreciate the two characters and the way that the story moves, like life, with them just wondering what’s going on and rolling with it, even though it seems like everyone else actually understands. Because that’s how I felt reading it.
- very, very reminiscent of my least favourite parts of 1984 by George Orwell. It was as though all the parts of that book that I didn’t like and found boring were expanded upon, stretched out and then continued.
- I preferred Thaw’s story to Lanark’s, and as a fan of Gaiman, specifically Neverwhere, that shouldn’t happen. I should have preferred Lanark’s tale.
- did it need the ‘epilogue’ scene? I hated it. At first I had a wry smile, then I just felt literally - as that is the scene - like I’m trapped in a room with a man who refuses to talk about anything but himself and his world philosophy. I saw a reviewer on here claim that it was like ‘onanism’ and I wholeheartedly agree and cannot think of a better description. It was a bit nauseating.
- I can understand completely how some people would think this their favourite book. I get it, honestly I do. And it is exactly what I expected, just presented in a way that I didn’t, unfortunately.
I’ll conclude by saying that the 2 star rating is because of how I felt reading it. Not on the quality of the book, which sounds strange I know. It’s clearly a good book, and Gray is clearly intelligent, even if he forces us to recognise it by sitting us down and pointing out exactly how well read he is. I didn’t enjoy this book the way I should have done and ultimately it is not a bad book, it is just not for me. It may be for you. If you liked 1984 and want a Scottish version of Dante then this might be the exact book for you.