I actually sort of pounced on this book, a moment of excitment in a recent book haul. The very striking, to my eyes, both of them, certainly helped, the cover illusration, catching my eye.a quick perusal of the fly leaf sealed the deal, with its appealing mix of real world historical drama and undoubted tragedy, also mentioning a series of interesting real world cameos, or walk on parts for people who have reached such iconic heights they might as well be fictional.) A very obvious echo of Susan Hill themes, restless revenants and actual events made for a heady sounding mix and boy was it all that and more. Crowning this swarthy concoction was the idea it was all based on real events. And having grown up and spent my whole life in Belfast I know how strange real life can be. In the capable hands of writer A.J. West we really go for a walk on the wild side. It was a mean old city then where people could wear their prejudices lighly on their sleeves with a degree of casuality in fact that boggles the mind. And in actual terms its still only moving away from such uncomfortable terrotory in painfully small increments. But then that is life, is it not? Per4haps there is still something of this air about the province and perhaps it is that invisible wedge which draws film makers and arty types from all over the world. To oogle at the spectrum of unfettered hubris that passes for art and history.
A J West is a survivor. A survivor of a stay in the Big Brother House. The "celebrity" version which seems even crueller than the non celebrity version as it activilely gives permisssion to dislike certain types of people greedy for fame. or at the very least bristling resentfully at their short term in the spotlght. Any Warhol got it slightly wrong when he said in the future everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes, its more a case of everyone would believe they had been famous for fifteen minutes. As I said, its a cruel spectacle. One of his memorable moments came when his partner proposed to him on television at a time when many people were unaware of the possibility of same sex marriages. Hope it worked out for him. He has written a very compelling book. Its laced with the contradictory nature of real life and through some no doubt intensive research he suceeds in convincing he got into the hearts and souls of the people he has written about. I wonder if he used a medium to achieve this?
This is a fantastic if at times grotestque yarn that feels very auntentic. As a Belfast Boy born and bred it was almost comforting to see familiar locations used in a way that leant the book a real sense of place and time.
