North of England Home Service

No - What's it about Tara?

It's hard to explain briefly - sort of like Phoenix Nights meets Samuel Beckett. Ray, a comedian down on his luck, and Jackie, a former boxer, are both in their sixties and living back in the north-east, where Ray was born. They met many years before when Jackie was a minder to Ray. The book switches between their present-day struggle to make a living and their intertwined pasts. They are very different characters but the friendship between them is very touching. The style of writing is quite unusual - social realism crossed with something more philosophical. Thanks for replying to my thread Vicky, and I recommend this book to anyone who likes a thought-provoking read. [%sig%]

I really recommend Gordon Burn's factual books Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son about the Yorkshire Ripper and Happy Like Murderers They're both amazing for the depth of the research, not just into the events but the time and place that they take place. I think Burn actually goes and lives in the place he's writing about and kind of stews himself in it. I've half read 'Fullalove' by Burn and his fiction style is very similar, a precise setting of place and time. I never thought I'd be recommending books about murderers. Ah well. I reckon you'd really like both of those books, Tara. Well, not like, but you know what I mean. [%sig%]

Thanks Mark, Gordon Burn is a major discovery for me - the placing of real people into fiction, and imaginative non-fiction writing is something I'm fascinated by (I don't know why). He has a unique angle on it and I found 'North of England' inspiring. I'm hoping to read 'Alma Cogan' next. I generally find books about murderers exploitative but I've heard that Burn writes very perceptively about them. Not sure if I'm ready for 'Happy Like Murderers' quite yet! The Wests' case was so utterly appalling and the few details I gleaned at the time haunted me for ages. But I guess we have to try and understand these events to stop them happening again ...