Deadkidsongs
(Toby Litt)
This
is perhaps one of the most enthralling and disturbing books I have
read in recent years. And I almost put the book back on the shelf.
The cover proclaims that Toby Litt is 'One of the foremost young lions
of British hip-lit'. We have the Guardian to thank for that sick-bag
inducing quote, but thankfully the stuff written by Litt himself flies
in the face of the Cool Brittania target.
The
novel focusses on four young boys (Gang, not 'the' Gang, just Gang)
in the 1970s, mid-Cold War, waiting and planning what to do if the
Russkies invade.
This
is a surprising piece, which a mixture of narrative styles, from simple
third-person perspective, to direct first-person, to diary entries
of some of the main protagonists, and minutes of the meetings of Gang.
The real skill in the writing comes in being able to differentiate
the various 'voices'. You get to know the characters to the extent
that you know who is recounting what's happening just by the style
of the writing. And the various tales being told are done with an
earnest almost matter-of-factness, that lends weight to the ability
of the story to draw you in (think Richard Ford's Sportswriter, but
with kids and more rampant imaginations).
Towards
the end things do take a slightly more disturbing turn, the back cover
warns us that two of the boys die, and the cover, with the blood-dripping
Spitfire model, hints more than winkingly at a bit of violence, but
even so it does turn into one of those books that you can't put down
if only to find out what horrible thing is going to happen next.
The
book even works to the extent that you suspend your disbelief as one
of the boys talks to you after dying, and as Litt describes one of
the boys feeding newts through a mangle you just wonder if he's actually
drawing on some personal research.
I
just wish they'd called it 'Superb' instead of 'British hip-lit'.
Resumos Relacionados
- Originals
- The Outsiders
- The Thief Lord
- Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within
- Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within
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