Alasdair Gray
1981
Around 560 pages
Alasdair Gray may be one of the sexiest names I have ever heard, but that does not mean that I will automatically love your novel, sir. This was a rough one, and I see why this book isn't well known.
The novel is comprised of four books, arranged in the order of three, one, two, four. There is also an epilogue before the end, because this novel is kooky, goddamn it! Lanark is the name chosen by a young man who wakes up in a train carriage with no memory of who he is. The entire novel is basically a fever dream, set in a strange world that is a little bit like Scotland.
Well, I never really enjoy the trippy ones, so I knew this would be a slog. A standard issue postmodernism work, complete with a wacky structure and the characters meeting the author in the text. Not my cup of tea.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Written in over 30 years. Don't give up on your novel!
Anthony Burgess called Gray "the best Scottish novelist since Walter Scott."
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