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[books 2011] Will Self
Oct. 13th, 2011 10:47 am57. The Book of Dave by Will Self
Was this month's Bibliogoths selection. I've been thinking I should try reading something by Will Self for years, so this was a handy opportunity.
It's a novel in two strands - one in the present day, focusing on a demented London cabbie called Dave, and in a far post-apocalyptic future where the society is based on the Book of Dave.
I *hated* the first two chapters. To the point where I wasn't going to bother. I wasn't so much put off by the difficult future language (though in retrospect, trying to read it on the bus was a big mistake), but because Dave is such a repellent character, and, as a result, the future society is really repellent as well. It also had the quintessntially British "everything is crap" bent which I really hate - the cabbie & his chavvy mates are complete jerks, but so are all the aspirational and middle class characters - but it turns out to be a send-up of that too.
But I decided to give it a bit more of a go, and it got really interesting. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, because all the characters are completely repellent (intentionally), but the structure is intricate and clever. I still don't think it's as clever as Self probably does - satire on religion is an easy target, after all. I did, however, appreciate it - there's really a lot going on, to the point that at the end I ended up thinking "hang on, is the future society all in Dave's head?".
Anyway, it generated a lot of discussion at the group; those who got past hating the first part of the book ended up finding it a rewarding read too.
It's a hard read - not just the Mockney future-language, but the whole thing is very dense, and it replaced my non-fiction reading for last week. I will, however, at some point read more of Self's stuff.
Those of you who read my Facebook will know that Amazon tried to sell me a French-language version. I now wonder how the translators dealt with the issue of the colloquial language (not just in the future parts). I can't work up to paying for a copy but will see if I can get the library to track one down for me.
Was this month's Bibliogoths selection. I've been thinking I should try reading something by Will Self for years, so this was a handy opportunity.
It's a novel in two strands - one in the present day, focusing on a demented London cabbie called Dave, and in a far post-apocalyptic future where the society is based on the Book of Dave.
I *hated* the first two chapters. To the point where I wasn't going to bother. I wasn't so much put off by the difficult future language (though in retrospect, trying to read it on the bus was a big mistake), but because Dave is such a repellent character, and, as a result, the future society is really repellent as well. It also had the quintessntially British "everything is crap" bent which I really hate - the cabbie & his chavvy mates are complete jerks, but so are all the aspirational and middle class characters - but it turns out to be a send-up of that too.
But I decided to give it a bit more of a go, and it got really interesting. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, because all the characters are completely repellent (intentionally), but the structure is intricate and clever. I still don't think it's as clever as Self probably does - satire on religion is an easy target, after all. I did, however, appreciate it - there's really a lot going on, to the point that at the end I ended up thinking "hang on, is the future society all in Dave's head?".
Anyway, it generated a lot of discussion at the group; those who got past hating the first part of the book ended up finding it a rewarding read too.
It's a hard read - not just the Mockney future-language, but the whole thing is very dense, and it replaced my non-fiction reading for last week. I will, however, at some point read more of Self's stuff.
Those of you who read my Facebook will know that Amazon tried to sell me a French-language version. I now wonder how the translators dealt with the issue of the colloquial language (not just in the future parts). I can't work up to paying for a copy but will see if I can get the library to track one down for me.
