“5-6 1‘5.".‘ ""4... y. '. x
Beware. The santl in the hourglass is runningout. l’or puryeyorsot eryptie. demonstratiy e. Supposetlly pttnehy. But aetually pointless. Short sentenees.
Julie Burehill or ‘.lttlie Bttehkill tl’rrt'tueljt'etor‘Verhal l‘ert‘otist‘ (Steyen Berkollt or ‘l'y ll littehi ('l'ony 'l‘y ler ) or ‘( )ne ot the eley etest women ot all time‘ t l’eter Yor kt hla/etl irtto tlte eomplaeent metlta worltl itt W7» y ia the Vii}. ; w ttli gleelttl laeerations. ltngtttstie aerohaties and a perteetly yogutsh Sottr Sixteen pose. she w as ptttik itt print.
:\la.s. this tiery meteor was somewhattlestinetl to hunt ottt iii the soeial-elimhingatmosphere ol l.ontlon haekety. When she lett tlte Nil/f. aerimotttonsly . tn w”. the last—paeetl ptose w as .tlt eatly heatling tor tlte road to nowhere. ll has takert a long tinte to get there. httt with IHI/‘IIIHII. tet Iirst noyel tl'ilth hook t. puhlishetl on o .luly . a natlit‘ol inelleetttality has heett reaehetl.
It is not tltat .lttlie littt'ehtll eatt tto longer w rite well. Slte eatt ltt the June issue olft/ 3“. lot" example. she pennetl one til tlte ltttest .ttttl ltt .‘ty est polenties Hit the Rttslttlle ;tll.ttI yet w r'itten. She holloeketl tlte w ttttpy l.ahour l’at'ty . seot‘netl the letllt tus tanaties and tore apart tlte ahsttt tl notion that t'egt'essiy e higott‘y in some waytleseryes legislatiy e proteetion. .-\ntl tltat is why she tleseryes to he tlamnetl. l he most highly pattl iottrnalist untlet‘ 4H itt Britain t Uilll H l lot’ her liar/«Ht .Stt/it/ttr ) eolumn alotte t is still eapahle ot tlelinttty e ht tlltattee \ et she has sttnantleretl talettt on a ‘yttppie honlsshook'.
Sontew het e along the w a\ hitterness antl ey ItlL‘lSHt et‘ept in. to eontpete with the passion antl intelligenee. lhey tusetl ittto
REVIEWS
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AChildhood in Scotlandt lll tsaatt
\llllet1(attttttttj.tlef__"‘1
‘(httsttan\ltllettloestto‘i‘t.'.:n:t~ heahotttwtttetast'sltotw'ltx l’ortet tttltet eteettittetttit u: t.1t a;
\\ ltotloes‘ llt. \llt'.'e\'.l ‘l‘t ts'
hook is a laf‘o'at oi tttettiot.
toteetl iron: the stoneot 'lt. l‘
x e'. tlt. Jailerttewttilg eottttatlteisfltts llet 'tts'. setttettte
t'\\hettlw.tsalt'1l. ttl 'lt.-.'ltosts
wetemotetealtottte'.tt.:ttihe people 'Itstlte ktntlol .‘ome Httttltly lt \llll.‘I tnow It‘lt\\e‘le' lll\ll\lte'\\tt.tltit'\ \lolly Keane-a: l lttlll\l1.\l..t‘\. \\esle\ Sheieelswltai ltet ttttgetitpsant
a real wttter would risk
she writes It
\l\‘\‘elli‘\'\*ll\.l uphttttgtttgtnata' tttiesteti..:s‘leot a l5.tttlt|.ttteestatetn'ltt far
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L‘\|leilll\ .l\ l’lt‘tl\l
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l hese .11.‘ "t;
I-‘ g, ___ e 58'l‘he List 14 Ziluly WSW
DAMAG
BACK LIST
I. . 'o I \~:' I :‘lew'cfléf . . Stewartl{ennesseysparswith ' London‘s '\'erhal Terrorist‘. .lulie Burehill and talks about
her new 'yuppie honk-hook’ .-\mhition.
slopptness; w ell—ey olyetl teehniques
replaeingmeaningassnipesantl gripes spat trom opaque passages \ agnely ahottt eultttt'e. mayhe ahottt polities. perhaps to tlowith art. httt almost inyat'tahly inyolying herown petty hohhyltot'ses. intlttlgent w hints. personal lrtentls and toes. atttl past allatrs. \‘y’hett it eotttes to snttehingeonlitlenees la Burehill ean ttlll~lllylLlS.lllLlLlS. l or tnstanee, strainetl sneers at ex—huhhy 'l'ony l’arsons. punetuate l lltetttrl‘ttllollttyy—ttpttttheRttshtlie .tt‘ttele. llte interesting play ltll itlea tltat w e ot tlte l ighties generation ate. eultttt ally speaking the otlspring ol \lt'l :tt‘en antl 'l'hatehet' .tt't it .ttetl lll an t tl‘setlt‘e mist til sell-t'elet'enee l Lttttl the tiltl "lattttltttt ts lit‘itain~ tlelttston ). llte same pieee
also ey ittees. rather tronieally . her
t. .29, « liltllltlltt‘tll liar the ttttttgltttg
l.‘.llxl .leltz'ltt .tt[‘ttlettt3e .tntl
ll at taint: prt._ltttt:'attti
".ttztwte‘ttt; liars lt uku'a’lsoott’in
\. t . tatityeatt .ttttlgtaee
wltt l: tetttoyes it in heyotttl the
e tttlt‘. t .nltttte wltteltl a l’ot’tet
s't gess Kytottgly.lhelteye
pp ileaiotlte \e-z‘. \otket.where t
1.it~-' lltetttttlttstltat
'n tet- :. ‘l‘ltl‘llealh‘lt ttt Seotlantl l
ti"l\ .' i\‘ ll\ L'UlllllS
\ellowtoltttt
SHORT STORIES i
FUllSCOFBl tetll ltl'tlllillll.\l‘elthL'll l l’.
(i!\ e n Ie'ee‘lll goyetttment
I‘l stir
ht 'ltt‘tltlet‘ttlei‘tlsHIE the ilestt‘ahtltty
:ltslt. ptthltslttttg a
'I s’. illyl.llkll t:
wokofshot:srotteswttltttslatt ~i..t.o1.i.\:.ttt;\ot.t“ttl.tt\. lottntl .‘xairt‘ueh.ttotil.otl§etwtek eatt ottl‘f'u tuttioty totiltefoteesot
.tyii‘ lloweyttl tattltatt'sttseol
..slt'.-.e‘i1teteh‘ .lllyl'itl\llk‘klilll
git- .es \\11llell oy er the last Fltaitltl
refined and inspired turn of phrase with gents like ‘marrietl alier a joke in two yyortlsl
It is indeed this unparagonetl ahility to he eloquent. sueeinet antl yiper-tonguetl that makes .‘tnz/irtton at all reatlahle. 'l‘he narratiye. tor all it matters. eoneerns Susan Street. the amhitious. liheratetl woman of today performing six tasks tor newspaper proprietor 'l‘ohias l’ope. in return tor the editorship. 'l'hese 'tasks' earrietl out in gratttitously separate and exotie loeations (South Atriea. South Ameriea. ete) inyoly'e Sttsan in mueh honking. hlowing. satlti-masoehism ete. l’ortunately she is heayily into SM. 'l‘he hook‘s
flux ties mots earr'ies it only
momentarily. llte text is yapttl; there is no suhstantial haektlrop tor eyents ( ie torts olsex) to exist against. so the eyents themselyes heeorne unreal. uneonyitieing. uninteresting.
this is disappointing. When l was 13. I was in loye with Julie Burehill. She trashetl eyerything worth trashing whieh. at that age. was eyerything (this w as het'ore anarehy heeatne a tlesigner t'ashion ). It‘s satl to see her writing trash herselt. 'l‘he sineerity antl motiyation hehintl this nonsensieal non-hook lor whieh she reeeiyetl £ l 75.llllllatlyanee. is at hest. I suggested. tluhious'.’
‘Vy'ell. I think it‘s an intelligent hloekhttster. A hloekhuster writer‘s ayerage age is 48 (she is 20). lo them a hlowjoh is really tleeatlent. like the tall ol the Roman limpire or sorttthirtg. 'l'heir' hooks are yery eoy.
romantie antl awlul. \line is satirieal.
light. with ‘a lot otgootl tokes. and none ol the llah. like art anorexie hloekhnster' (a mere 3h} pages). l'his eonstant eontpar'ing rings ottt like an exeuse; arty hook eottltl show tip ‘hloekhusters‘. She goes on to praise the ‘many passages olsheer
years is tto gttat arttee they 'te any gootl. lint lot‘tttnately this is ttot tlte ease ol atty oltl tlrt tss hetttg spt tint: on tlte market heeattse it is tashionahly ethrtte. littleetl. some stories insttly the tleset tption ol l-r‘etl l 't'ttuhatt as ‘one ol our greatest short story writers. ttuotetl iii an otherwise tlispensahle intt'otluetion hy (it aertte Roher‘ts.
1 here ate twenty stot tes here t ltenee 'l inll Seore' t or tginally ptthltsltetl hetween ll).“_‘illlkl l‘tSI. \lany rttake tttral lile tltett setting. antl explore tlteemottonaleorttplextties sttr'rottntltng the srttall—seale kll amas to he lottntl ttt sueh eommuntttes. l'rttnhart‘seharaetetisation tsshat'p Lttttl yy L‘ll-LlL‘llIlL‘LllL'kl ltttt he also inelutlesltistorieal talesantlothers with ttr’han haektlrops. But the eoutttrysttle is w here he is most at ltortte. pat‘ttenlar ly ttt \lttrles like ‘lhe l)y ittg Stallion atttl ‘l lepltattts. Hair its and ( )ltl \len‘ w lttelt tleset'y e a w ttlet reatlet’shtp than tlte ptthltsltet 's tntlatetl pt tee w ill eneottt'age. t ls.\ l)a\ ltlsttlll
t‘eminis
l t I
t l l
2“}; .. _ » ' tpolemie in there‘. The odd sentenee was all I eattght. ()f more lasting impression are seenes like the one where l’ope organises two hlaek hrothers to think ehampagne ottt ol. Street‘s yagina while she stands on
her head . . . I mean. why ehampagne’.’ It‘s so hourgeois'.’
‘lih . . . ()h. inst another day in the lite ot the lontlon media world . . .‘
‘Well. the hook really does rel'leet something ahottt l.ontlon metlia life; the erttelness and sharpness. that‘s there. 'l'he serewing aheatl'.’ *- the maiority in l.ontlon just now is with these powertul leshians operating. ()uite a numher ol apparently straight girls entl up gtying them a tumhle. lt's ttot a moral worltl sol don‘t think women ean illlUI‘Ll to aet morally ttt it. Women should th) what they hay e to do and get into positions ol' power they inst SliUtllLllla do anything they don‘t want to.‘
llttrehill writes lor six ot' the top mags in Britain hesitles her .IIut/on Stun/try eolttmn. l'o write a good hook you neetl time. .-tm/)rtrmr leels as ll ll was tlr tppetl ottt tlnt'tttg tea-hteaks. l lte sontee ntatetial is the author's work enytronment with ehat aeters splieetl lrom eolleagues. ehttms antl enemies to the extent that murmurs ot lawsuits ean he heard. Burehill tloes not laek imagination. She is simply not employing it here. l'or my tnoney. this hook is a hy—protluet ola hlase ltle. the \Hllllk‘“ tipshot ot someone rayishetl hy the exeesses ol stteeess. Yet Burehill in the llesh is eharming and witty. to a tlisarming extent. and there‘s art exeitirtg yihraney ahottt her. Alas. the ttoy‘el is not inlusetl with this sttlll.
Sorry Julie. 1 eoultl loy‘e yott. htttl neetl something more than sex . .. (Stewart l lennessey)
.‘Im/irrrorz by Julie Burt/till [incl/(fly Head 17.3.95.
HISTORY ' .
ForKingand ConsciencezJohn Graham otCIaverhouse. \tsottmt t ittttaee \lagttnsl tttklatet antl ( 'ltttsttatt
l leslsetlt l \\ eltlettleltl .tlttl \te‘rtlstttt. LINN
lfiluttly (layers or Honnte l)ttntlee. w ltielt is it to he .’ ltl pat ts ol
South—l ,ast Seotlantl. the romantie ltet'o ol tottstngsongs is t'ememhetetl as an Iron ltstetl tttttttleret. ttttltsettttttttately ottlettttgpogtonts ot tttttoeetti. ptottst oyettatttets. ltt those tlays. as the eo authors
eotty tnetttgly eotttetttl. lie was a pattl soltltet \\ltt‘eitllletltltll ltls ltll‘ IN the letter . tltltgent ttt tollow ittg ortlet's atttl regulations. l)eaths there were. httt tewet than is eommonly sttt'mtsetl; ( it'aham was a tttart ol integrity lie was a hattl rttart httt not a tlespot. .llltl ttt tltett tttyesttgatton ol the tltow ntngs ot the two \latgarets iii the Solway iii th5 (it'aham‘s ltttklatet antl llesketlt ate eltltltlettl .ttlytte'.tle\ lIt
('happattattltltek
ltts tletettee. lltett is is a totttttletl htogr'aphy . ttot a w ltttewash. w ith a