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list.co.uk/books Reviews | BOOKS
FICTION MARILYNNE ROBINSON Lila (Virago) ●●●●●
Lila is the third of Marilynne Robinson’s novels to be set in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa. It tells the story of the ageing Reverend John Ames and his much younger wife, Lila, who readers first met in Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead. Lila’s mysterious past marks her out as an outsider in the restrained, ordered town and her story is told in two interwoven strands. One
charts her present life in Gilead, the other alternates with memories of her rough, difficult past. Rescued as a toddler by feisty drifter Doll, Lila’s past is that of hand-to-mouth survival, enduring the Great Depression but losing everyone she loves through violence and deprivation. Her burgeoning relationship with Ames is brilliantly depicted as two lonely, damaged people finding comfort in one another.
Widely regarded as one of the best contemporary American authors, there was a 24-year gap between Robinson’s first novel – the Pulitzer-nominated Housekeeping (1980) – and her second, Gilead. And like her other fictions, there’s much meditation on the meaning of existence in Lila. She questions Ames’ faith in God’s kindness, while he grows conflicted about not being able to fully answer her queries. But they find the possibility of hope and grace in their shared understanding of the essential loneliness of our human condition.
Lila is a deeply affecting exploration of existence and love, and has the strength and originality to be enjoyed as a standalone work. It’s a remarkable achievement, and one that is likely to leave readers wanting more. (Kylie Grant) ■ Marilynne Robinson speaks on Sun 16 Nov at Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, in a special Edinburgh International Book Festival event.
SATIRE CHUCK PALAHNIUK Beautiful You (Jonathan Cape) ●●●●●
AUTOBIOGRAPHY KEVIN BRIDGES We Need to Talk About . . . Kevin Bridges (Michael Joseph) ●●●●●
LEGAL DRAMA DAWOOD ALI MCCALLUM The Final Charge (Sandstone Press) ●●●●● BIOGRAPHY JESSE FINK The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC (Black & White) ●●●●●
The transgressive fiction author of Fight Club brings us the story of Penny Harrigan, a frumpy law intern seduced by C Linus Maxwell. He’s straight out of the Fifty Shades mould, and Penny is wined, dined and pleasured as the guinea pig to test-run Maxwell’s sex toys. As these ‘Beautiful You’ products become a craze, women start to die. In one painfully relevant scene, an actress is forcibly exposed on stage, expiring from ‘pleasure’. Palahniuk depicts feminism’s
commodification in just one sentence: ‘We’ve got to protect our right to shop’. But any attempt at incisive satire is lost in a ridiculous narrative and playground humour. Palahniuk calls Beautiful You an ‘erotic thriller’ but it’s neither of those things.
While he’s certainly skilled at exposing humanity’s darkness, he’s so busy pushing boundaries that Beautiful You lacks the punch, humour and, most importantly, the heart of novels such as Invisible Monsters. If you want a satire exploring consumerism, sex and a spectator society, his early novels do it better. (Ever Dundas)
While it’s virtually taken for granted that an arena comic will pen an autobiography sooner rather than later, Kevin Bridges appreciates that he’s ridiculously young to be reminiscing about his life. Now 27, more than a third of this book passes with him still at primary school. Beyond mild flirtation with a gambling problem, petty criminality and disclosing that he was an introverted cry-baby for much of his pre-teens, there’s no scandal in his memoir and little of note that isn’t already in the public domain. A portrait of the artist as a driven and focused young man ultimately emerges. Initial suspicion that he’s retrospectively re-imagined a straightforward narrative – his transformation from anti-social loner to school clown, betting everything on comedy – are dispelled with clear- eyed scrutiny of the talent, failings and desire that made him a success.
Like the autobiography of his early inspiration, Frank Skinner, Bridges also delivers compelling insights into the comedian’s mindset and what’s required to make it. (Jay Richardson)
In his fourth novel, human rights expert Dawood Ali McCallum turns his attention to British doctor Tom Miles, arrested for a war crime alleged to have been committed in 1954 during Kenya’s battle for independence. Centred around defence lawyer Leo Kane and hyper-ambitious prosecutor Paul Muya, the power struggle between the two is fascinating. McCallum has a firm grasp of his subject matter, but early on the narrative flow is broken with disruptive reportage and there is little engagement with many of the huge cast of characters. Even the side story that gives the novel its name (revolving around a road race called the Charge) feels like a necessary distraction for plot progression. Things improve markedly in the
second half, as the case reaches its conclusion. Revelation after revelation easily hold the reader’s attention as the story of what happened to Miles in 1954 and the reasons for his prosecution over 50 years later emerge through engaging courtroom scenes. (Kevin Scott)
From 1974 to 1980, AC/DC were sly, funny and feral. But when frontman and self-described author of ‘toilet poetry’ Bon Scott died, and was replaced by the diligent but charisma- impaired Brian Johnson, the band began the slow process of rigidification into the corporate merch-beast that it is today.
Jesse Fink’s decision to focus on the Young brothers – former producer and rock-business guru George, bandleader and rhythm guitarist Malcolm, and showboating lead guitarist Angus – skilfully illuminates the dour, defensive blokeism that has ensured the band’s longevity but drastically limited their scope.
He’s good on the music too, pointing out the seeds of AC/DC’s music in older Australian rock, and provocatively arguing that their finest work is not Back in Black but 1978’s Powerage. With Malcolm Young’s recent retirement due to chronic dementia, it’s fitting that this once-great outfit should be the subject of one of the few genuinely good books about a hard rock band. (Alex Johnston)
16 Oct–13 Nov 2014 THE LIST 51