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zefrog's review
3.0
Three short novella are gathered in this book. They appear to have little in common, other perhaps than an element of experimentation in the way they are written.
The first story, which gives its title to the whole volume, is a collection of paragraphs, each a short window into a random element or episode of the life of the protagonist, a sort of shambolic David Attenborough. The effect is circular, rather hazy and unfocused, like the character imperfectly presented to the reader.
Then we are presented with a short black comedy, sacrilegious in its premise but rather more panegyrical in its tone. Written in the year of the Silver Jubilee, the story describes the Queen's last days after she is infected with rabies by one of her corgies.
The last story, based, it transpires on true events, is a rambling exploration of the justice system as well as a criminal mind and its actions, on the day of the man's trial.
Coincidentally, Geoffrey Cox, the now Attorney General currently in the news as the government refused to publish his advice on Brexit, is one of the characters in this last story.
Throughout the language is very rich and the writing most enjoyable but, mostly because of the form of the narrations, I found I remained very detached from the characters and therefore didn't really care about them or what I was reading. It is also unclear to me what point the author is trying to put across or make with those stories.
The first story, which gives its title to the whole volume, is a collection of paragraphs, each a short window into a random element or episode of the life of the protagonist, a sort of shambolic David Attenborough. The effect is circular, rather hazy and unfocused, like the character imperfectly presented to the reader.
Then we are presented with a short black comedy, sacrilegious in its premise but rather more panegyrical in its tone. Written in the year of the Silver Jubilee, the story describes the Queen's last days after she is infected with rabies by one of her corgies.
The last story, based, it transpires on true events, is a rambling exploration of the justice system as well as a criminal mind and its actions, on the day of the man's trial.
Coincidentally, Geoffrey Cox, the now Attorney General currently in the news as the government refused to publish his advice on Brexit, is one of the characters in this last story.
Throughout the language is very rich and the writing most enjoyable but, mostly because of the form of the narrations, I found I remained very detached from the characters and therefore didn't really care about them or what I was reading. It is also unclear to me what point the author is trying to put across or make with those stories.
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