Lanark - Alisdair Gray

'I’m sort of impressed by it but I don’t think I really enjoyed it.' Spot on how I felt, funnily enough! It's certainly unique but very unremitting! My dad's a big fan and has a lot of his stuff.

Indeed - couldn't put it down. It's very dark but I felt that the bleakness of the whole thing was superceded by the surfeit of imagination. It keeps leaping off in ridiculous directions but holds a thread that binds it together.

I nearly couldn't make myself pick it up... Knowing that a lot of it was based on Gray's own experiences made it even more disturbing to me. I feel like a weight's been lifted now I've finished it off!

I started to read it last year, but gave up halfway through...however I was aiming to try again this summer, although the prospect is quite daunting. However there is a collection of short stories by Alisdair Gray: "The White Dog and other short stories"..I might be wrong about the title..anyway I read those and very much enjoyed them, even if I found them a little twisted. Anyway he's kind of a family friend (my dad knows him) *blush* so I'm trying to read more of his work. Doesn't he have a new novel out? I'm not sure.