SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The Faithful Tribe
Ruth Dudley Edwards (HarperCoIIins £17.99) * t *
Orangemen, and their ilk, have not had the most positive of images in recent years with many people’s obvious reference point being the ballistic tones of Ian Paisley. Ruth Dudley Edwards sets out, not so much to convert, but to enlighten.
The Faithful Tribe delves very deeply into the world of Loyalism: a world which many presume to know about but in reality have little knowledge of. Dudley Edwards' building of close links with those involved in the groups means that she has gained access where others before may have failed.
Her view of the Orangemen is from both a national and global perspective, providing part
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Orange disorder: The Faithful Tribe
history lesson, part anthropological study on Orangism and its development, continuation and demise around the world. At times, this gives the book an academic flavour — the portion profiling the specific activities of an Orangeman being a necessary, if a somewhat over-long,
section.
In her study of the minutiae of the lives of Orangemen and their families and the political situation they are in, she manages to draw some conclusions about the political solutions to the country’s troubles. It would appear that the overall point, however, was not to argue the toss over politics, but to show a side of a hitherto unexposed 'tribe'. And this, she achieves with fervour. (Mark Robertson)
; methods of treatment and a pair of
' child abuse victims with whom they
come into contact. There is much in
the way of horrific violence and brutal
mind games along the way as the truth
, about Dr Curtis Sad is steadily revealed.
It’s not breezy reading and it may
leave you with a variety of sensations
in your mouth, and you are unlikely to
1 want to go near it again for a lengthy : period of time but Scar Culture and
Toni Davidson cannot be ignored. (Brian Donaldson)
CONTEMPORARY FICTION Dirt Dogs And Diesel
5 Krissy Kays (Penguin £6.99) *
5 However you feel about young
travelling folk in dreadlocks who hang around our commons with dogs secured by bits of string, you’ve got to admit that their itinerant and simple lifestyle should make good material for a novel.
Kays picks up her story with the character of Heidi, a new arrival on the site of the novel’s location, who is harassed by dogs, children and other hippies to the point of despair. She overhears a conversation about a woman who recently died on site whose body has simply been left unburied in the woods and, assisted by a ghostly child who appears fitfully around the area, she searches for the corpse in order to afford it a decent internment.
Kays fails to follow this storyline with any consistency or coherence. Instead we are treated to multiple subjective narratives from the other people around the site, from drug-abusers to vacuous hippy-chicks — even the animals are given dialogue, though it's
: no more lively than that of the
humans. (SC)
LITERARY THRILLER
The Tesseract
Alex Garland (Penguin £6.99) ****
5 For anyone who sprinted, like the
pooch on its cover, for a copy of The Tesseract solely on the evidence of The Beach, a surprise lay ahead.
Set in the rich and not so affluent areas of Manila, the lives of three very different sets of characters are interlinked and interdependent on one another. Whether this idea gave Alex Garland his conceptual title or vice versa is unclear. Gangsters come into conflict after a shipping deal dies in the water; a pair of street urchins exchange the secrets of their dreams for cash; and Rosa sits in wait for her husband’s return, memories of better days taunting her.
The ending may leave you feeling a little deflated that there’s no more to come and there may be too much ’significance' being attached to this simple story by author and critics alike, but it won’t stop you going back to this thrilling gem again and again. (Brian Donaldson)
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE:
Steve Cramer, Thorn Dibdin, Brian Donaldson, Dawn Kofie, Damien Love, Teresa Lowe, Hannah McGiIl, Mark Robertson, Minnie Scott
STAR RATINGS *hth Outstanding 1r * t * Recommended * t it Worth a try * * So-so * Poor
WATERSTONE'S
Waterstone’s Glasgow
BOOKS Authors at
Sauchiehall
Street in July
TUE TONY PARSONS 3 “ Man And Boy” figm The Scottish launch of his first novel ' in over 10 years, join us for a glass of wine to hear Tony discuss his new book. Tickets £2/£1 (redeemable against price of the 170012) WED TIMOTHY MO “ Renegade or HaloZ” ———JUL Three times shortlisted Booker prize 7.00 PM . . . writer, Timothy Mo launches his new novel this evening. Tickets £2/£1 (redeemable against price of the book) TUE ALAN SPENCE 2 O « Way To Go” 7% A bestseller in hardback, join us for ' the official launch of the paperback with a glass of wine and Alan doing readings and signings. Free Event. WED SCOTTISH POET’S NIGHT JUL , 700 pM Waterstones and Canongate
Publishers present four poets whose work will move you wildly from tears to laughter. Join us for what promises to be an exhilirating evening with Brian McCabe,
Dilys Rose, Kevin MacNeil and Janet Pailsey.
Free Event
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FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION 153—157 Sauchiehall Street
0141 332 9105
8-22 Jul 1999 THE U989