David Peace (1) (1967–)

Cracking read, particularly if you're interested in football, particularly if you remember Brian Clough. All pseudo-stream of consciousness, which I think Peace pulls off reasonably well. It doesn't really convince as a "stream of consciousness", however if it did it would probably be unreadable. It does succeed at giving the illusion of a stream of consciousness while remaining readable. More than that, I found the structure of the book really interesting, interlocking the stories of Clough's time at Hartlepools and Derby, with his time at Leeds.

My one reservation is that if you didn't know this was a real person, I'm not sure the book would be so interesting or engaging. By the same token, it did make me really desperate to find out more about Brian Clough. One reason that it might not work as a pure work of fiction is that Clough was so much larger than life, it would be difficult to invent him convincingly. Peace definitely manages to bring a plausible version to life, which is a huge achievement. Fascinating.
… (lisätietoja)

It takes a pretty special effort to write such a turgid, bloated, repetitive and boring book about a subject that should be of great interest to a sports fan such as myself.

Peace's novel is based on the career of Bill Shankly, the soccer manager who dragged Liverpool from the doldrums of the Second Division to being the power in the game that it is today. Shankly was ambitious, dedicated, determined and a great judge of talent. His attitude is best summed up by his famous quote: 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'

There are great moments in this book, such as when Shankly first hears the Liverpool anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone. Some excellent writing too: Bill knew the time of the greatest victory was also the time of the greatest danger.These hours when the seeds were sown, these days when the seeds were planted. The seeds of complacency, the seeds of idleness. Watered with song, drowned with wine. The seeds of defeat. In showers of praise. But these brief moments are drowned in a sea of mundane writing at almost John and Betty level: Bill went to the drawer. Bill opened the drawer. Bill took out the tablecloth. Bill closed the drawer. This precedes about a page and a half describing Bill setting the table. Not only that; Peace recounts this identical scene several times at different points. At one stage, Peace spends about ten pages describing Bill mowing the lawn. Peace describes vast numbers of Liverpool matches following exactly the same bland formulaic prose, always terminated by the unnecessary tautology "Away from home. Away from Anfield" or "At home. At Anfield". There is so much of this bland repetition that it completely crowds out the inherent interest in a story of ambition, achievement, triumph and the bittersweet aftermath of retirement after a glittering career. There is more than 730 pages in this book, and Peace could easily have told this story in half that length. It's massively contemptuous of readers, their time and their patience.

I can only conclude that Peace must be an Everton supporter, to have written such an appalling book about a Liverpool legend such as Shankly.… (lisätietoja)

Tokio ha sido gravemente dañada por los bombardeos aliados, la población se muere de hambre mientras los vencedores, déspotas y brutales, ocupan el territorio. En medio del calor y del caos, el inspector de policía japonés Minami se dirige sin mucha convicción a la escena del crímen.
Una mujer joven aparece estrangulada en un parque de la ciudad y Minami intuye que es cuestión de tiempo que más mujeres aparezcan muertas. Adicto a los calmantes y sumido en las redes del señor del crimen local, Minami se esfuerza por averiguar el origen de estos crímenes complejos y escalofriantes, cada vez más convencido de que su propio pasado y sus más oscuros secretos están ligados a los del asesino.… (lisätietoja)

David Peace cierra con 1983 la tetralogía Red Riding Quartet. El mundo de David Peace es realmente terrible, en él no parece haber futuro ni escapatoria, y los escasos gestos nobles que ahí pueden aflorar son de hombres destinados a la soledad y a la desgracia. Con una brillante y sórdida exposición de los hechos, Peace nos traslada adelante y atrás en el tiempo, entre 1983 y los acontecimientos narrados en 1974, 1977 y 1980, y nos ofrece las respuestas a los interrogantes de estas novelas en una trama envuelta en un clima de desasosiego y soledad. Monólogos interiores, escritura entrecortada y diálogos sombríos reproducen los crímenes del Destripador de Yorkshire en un paisaje atormentado y sin futuro.… (lisätietoja)