Mark Haddon. (Author focus)

For my third author focus, I have chosen Mark Haddon, author of, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: the all-time classic, multi-million selling book, translated into untold languages and made into a West End play, but his first book is not all that he's good for, he's not just a one-trick pony.

     I first read, The Dog in the Night-time, some years ago now and then, when some of his other books came my way, I felt the need to delve deeper, explore a little more and I'd encourage you to do the same, because, A Spot of Bother is both funny, scary and sad all at the same time, and his exploration into family life, how they interact, clash, fight, envy, love, is spelled out in his third novel, The Red House, which again, is well worth a read.

     Then, his latest book, the collection of short stories that is, A Pier Falls, (not my normal fodder), was quirky, inviting, strange and damned right weird, but still had a certain something about it.

      Haddon has a very unusual writing style, which at first may seem strange, for there is a distinct lack of commas, semi-colons and other punctuation, but his characters, his settings, his prose, soon encapsulates you, pushing you through the stories, and I think it is his grasp of the mundane, the quirks of human beings, the simple every day, that make his books so readable, so down to earth and memorable.

     If you want a more in-depth review on the horrors of, A Spot of Bother, see my 25/04/17 post, family life in, The Red House can be found at 05/12/16 and if you've got the energy for more, The Pier Falls was reviewed on 30/08/16, so whatever you do, don't just leave it at, The Dog in the Night-time, a book that I will have to reread before giving you fine folk an honest an up to date review.

Enjoy.

A Spot of Bother, book review. (Mark Haddon)

Like Alice Sebold's, The Lovely Bones, this book has a stand out chapter, (chapter 60), in which our main character, George Hall - 57 and recently retired - decides to remove the lesion on the side of his body, with a pair of scissors. (Hence the cover art) When this fails, he decides to chisel it off instead, before succumbing to blood loss and passing out in his cellar.

The bloody trail he leaves and subsequent fright he causes his family on discovery, is both weirdly humorous and damned right shocking, but this chapter alone, underlines why the author is so revered.

Just to clarify, this book is not from the horror section.

Like Mark Haddon's other books, A Spot of Bother, is a story about normal people, going around doing normal things, but with a twist.

So, George Hall has retired, but life isn't all rosy. His wife is having an affair with his ex- business partner, his daughter is getting married, again, and to a man the family don't really approve of, his son, Jamie, is having commitment issues with his boyfriend, and George, well George is going steadily mad.

I like the way Haddon interjects life into seemingly inanimate material; creating depth and intrigue from the mundane. His writing reminds me of Ian McEwan, but with more humour.

There's a clever mix of human emotion here, from the families' pain and anguish, on discovering George's mutilation, through their love and anger - George finds out about the affair - to happiness and forgiveness, their coming together for the daughter's marriage, it's got the lot, and then some.

I liken this book to a good English movie! You know the sort, something with a few well-known actors in and a good solid story, but where nothing really happens. It would have Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith in it, Keeley Hawes would play the daughter, and you'd love their characters so much you'd watch it all the way to the end and then smile about it.

A good four star book this one; buy it, read it, share it.

The Pier Falls, book review. (Mark Haddon)

Like a lot of you bibliophiles out there, I first heard of Mark Haddon when he wrote his hugely acclaimed Dog in the Night time novel, and very good it is too. He's subsequently written two more novels and now this, his first collection of short stories. 
This book was a present from a woman at work and I'm glad she bought it for me, because I rarely read short stories (even though I write them!), so it might have passed me by if I'd been left to my own devises. 
I read this book in no particular order, which was probably the wrong thing to do, (I imagine the author and publisher spent many an hour deliberating over what should go where), but so be it.  
The Pier Falls is the first story in the book and it is excellent. It has a great sense of prose, and puts the reader right there, in the middle of a collapsing pier. It is also quite horrific in the way a disaster like that would be, so a good start.
The Gun, this is about two teenagers who take a gun from one of their brother's bedrooms, and fire it in the local wood, was interesting, but that's about it.
There's an expedition to the Amazon, which I quite liked, a story about a seriously obese man, which was okay, a failed expedition to Mars, which was one of the high points in the book, being almost as good as the title story, but then it falls a bit flat.
The one that really got my goat was the weirdly titled, 'Wodwo'.
This and the rather lacklustre 'Breathe' were the low points in the book, the point where I began to wonder, what the hell! I wondered (and still do) whether Wodwo was supposed to be supernatural, or real? Did it have a hidden meaning? (because if it did, I didn't get it). I'm still at a complete loss as to how a man can be shot at point blank range with a shotgun, get up and come back the following year!!!! It was just soooooo strange. (To add insult to injury, it was also the longest story in the book). Arrrgggg!!!
Without Wodwo, Breathe and Bunny, I would have offered this book four stars, but with Wodwo sitting there, right in the middle of the book, spoiling it all (in my opinion), it only gets three. 
Stupidly, I don't read as many short stories as I should, so credit to Mark Haddon and his team for getting these out there. 
I await his next novel with much anticipation. 

The Red House, book review. (Mark Haddon)

Interesting.
There are hundreds of reviews for this little book and they all seem to compare it with Mark Haddon's previous and very successful novel, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' but as far as I can see, the similarities end with the Author's name.
This book is a snapshot, a voyeuristic look at an estranged brother and sister, who come together with their respective families for a weeks holiday.
Set near the border town of Hereford, the remote setting gives the reader a sense of isolation and we learn quickly, that all is not well.
There's divorce, infidelity, teen angst, and an eight year old that'll make you laugh.
Angela and Richard have lost their mother and the holiday is a way of Richard trying to reconcile their differences, but things don't quite go to plan.
Richard's step daughter finds out that someone she's bullying at school has tried to commit suicide, whilst Angela's son thinks he might fancy her. Angela secretly comfort eats in the middle of the night, whilst her husband tries to sever ties with his mistress. Richard's second wife has doubts about their relationship as Angela's daughter kisses Richard's step daughter, thinking she might be a lesbian, and whilst this is all going on, her eight year old brother, is making you laugh.
This is good writing, making what could have been a rather monotonous week in the country, into a rather entertaining yarn, so why only three and a half stars?
Because essentially, the book doesn't go anywhere. It starts on a train one Friday afternoon and ends a week later. All the characters interact in their own special way, and then at the end, without much ado, they go their separate ways.