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POST 9:1 1 FICTION PAUL AUSTER Man in the Dark
(Faber and Faber) om.
In addressing the increasingly threadbare myths that America tells itself about 9/11 and the ensuing war, Auster has shed the dazzling hyper-reflexive post-modern narrative trickery he’s known for like an empty skin, revealing something tender and personal. Man in the Dark may be surprisingly low-key, but it’s also stunningly effective.
Our narrator is August Brill, 72 years old and living in a house in mourning. He grieves for his wife, his daughter mourns the end of her marriage and all three are still reeling from the brutal murder of granddaughter Katya’s boyfriend, in Iraq, in circumstances revealed with slow, mounting horror.
It’s a straightforward narrative, but it’s still Auster, and other stories still pulse beneath the surface. Brill tells himself other people’s tales of love, loss, and war, collated from his memories and from the films that he and Katya watch, and writes a novel about a man called Owen Brick who wakes up one day in an America where 9/11 and the Iraq invasion hadn’t happened.
Compassionately, without judgement, Auster gradually brings us to realise that all this story-telling is at once diversion and an essential part of the grieving process. Brill faces up to his bereavement, and his infidelities; Katya begins to deal with the guilt she feels about her boyfriend’s death. The shadow of Iraq hovers over the book and the complicity of the average citizen is not dismissed, but by dropping the pyrotechnics, Auster finds small, glowing, lovely grains of hope in humanity. (Kirstin lnnes)
NOVEL
JOSEPH SMITH The Wolf
(Jonathan Cape)
0
‘OK. you're a wolf, it's winter. you're hungry and desperate and hunting for food. Now go away and write something.‘ You can picture the creative writing class and the half-baked stuff you might get handed in. can't you? Welcome to The Wolf. a debut novella which is pointless and irritating to the point of fury. Starting off as a kind of pseudo— realism, The Wolf is mildly engaging for a few pages. which is about as long as this
THE WoLF I
idea stands up on the page. Thereafter it's a mix of unrelenting tedium and unsettlingly amateurish anthropomorphism. After a while things take on a fantasy hue as wolfy encounters a fox and they appear to read
each other‘s minds (handy. what with the lack of dialogue). Smith is clearly aiming for a modern fable here but falls woefully short. and his attempts at delving into the lupine condition are frankly laughable. (Doug Johnstone)
COMING OF AGE TALE RICHARD BLANDFORD Flying Saucer Rock & Roll
(Jonathan Cape)
CO.
For men of a certain age. Richard Blandford's second novel will strike a (power) chord. The plot details Chris Hurry‘s final years at school where the bands you
align yourself with can make or destroy your social status. Chris discovers heavy metal and a whole new world opens up to him, going on to form a band with a similarly disaffected group of adolescents. While rock‘n'roll soundtracks the story. this is more an examination of peer pressure and the law of the playground than music. The weight of social constructs and the hierarchy of 'cool' mean friends are trampled in a search for acceptance. Blandford captures the awkwardness of youth with a deft realism. acknowledging the inherent cruelty that can come into play. The stOry does peter out as the characters leave the comfort of school but this still is a witty and sometimes poignant coming-of-age tale. (Henry Northmore)
Comics
DEMONIC SUPEBHERO MIKE MIGNOLA & JOHN BYRNE Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
(Dark Horse) oooo
HEIIBOY
Cinema-goers flummoxed by the lack of backstory in the new Hellboy film should take the chance to go back to the supernatural hero's origins. with this timely re-release of a four-part comic first published in 1993. Without spOIIing
the plot. it involves a trans-dimensional encounter on a remote Scottish island towards the end of WWII. The story unfolds in flashback with Hellboy. already established as a member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Curious about his own unique beginnings.
Those re-reading Seed of Destruction will see how Mike Mignola has developed as a storyteller since 1993. His Chiaroscuro illustrative style has become even more stripped back than on these pages. while his narrative grasp (initially assisted by John Byrne) has become far grander. And the book's dedication to Jack Kirby and HP Lovecraft tells us where all the style and substance came from. (Miles Fielder)
OEUVRE GUIDE STEPHEN WEINER, MIKE MIGNOLA & VARIOUS Hellboy: The Companion
(Dark Horse) ooo
HEIIBOY
TH! COMPANION
In the 15 years since the very first Hellboy story was published the supernatural strip has spawned an ever- growing franchise: eight graphic novels and short story collections. various spin-off titles. prose novels. animated films and two Hollywood blockbusters. This handy sourcebook brings the resultant large. confusing and confounding Hellboy mythology together, and sorts the official comics version from the unofficial ancillary stuff. Using information painstakingly gleaned from the comics (right down to incidental panels) and conversations with Hellboy‘s creator Mike Mignola. the book includes a timeline (so you can find out what
BOOKS
Lou Mocarl Football: My Life The former Celtic and West Ham manager tells of a controversial and tragic life in and out of the game. Bantam.
Gllos Smith We Need to Talk About Kevin Keegan Subtitled 'A Bumper Book of Football Writing', this compilation of newspaper columns features everything from the use of underpants during goal celebrations to football-related Choice of wedding venues. Penguin. James Montague When Friday Comes This one is subtitled “Football in the War Zone' and looks at passion for the game in the Middle East. Mainstream.
Ed Gllnort The London Football Companion More subtitle stuff: ‘A Site by Site Celebration of the Capital’s Favourite Sport' includes a kebab shop Gazza frequented and the location of a traffic jam that convinced Abramovich to put his money into Chelsea rather than Tottenham. Bloomsbury. Chuck Korr 1. Marvin Close More Than Just a Game The true story of Robben Island prisoners organised regular kickabouts played to FIFA rules while their apartheid captors looked on. Collins.
3 5 FOOTBALL i
Hellboy was up to on. say. May 1959). character profiles. a literary appraisal. and even references to unpublished material such as the as-yet undeveloped graphic novel. Dark and Terrible. Despite the wealth of information, however. Hellboy's universe remains a mysterious one. The more you learn the less you know. which is as it should be in the pulp horror-fantasy genre. (Miles Fielder)
21 Aug—4 Sep 2008 THE LIST 17