Monday, June 11, 2012

Welsh and Brooks

Just flew down from the Fortress of Solitude to offer this review of Irvine Welsh's Skagboys and Ben Brooks's Grow Up in lieu of something good. They say you should start an idle car at least once every couple of  months just to make sure the engine can still turn over.

Back to the fortress.


3 comments:

finn harvor said...

Good review. Does the Fortress have an elevator?

finn harvor said...

Good review. Does the Fortress have an elevator?

Steph said...

Like your take on Brooks's Grow Up, especially this bit: "It’s easy to dismiss the book as nothing but nihilistic nastiness, and given that the author is only 19, there is the whiff of a literary stunt about it all — especially in its smirkier, more self-aware moments, as when Jasper says he is 'Holden Caulfield, only less reckless, and more attractive.' However empty it may be, Grow Up is an undeniably fun read, thanks to the leanness of its prose and its sense of humour, which is as sharp as it is affected. This is Oscar Wilde with a Tumblr account, or Martin Amis remixed by Skrillex. And unlike Welsh’s long-in-the-tooth junkies, Jasper doesn’t outstay his welcome."

    A very subtle and funny writer - one I've become obsessed with over the past year - in a decidedly Muriel Spark mood. Imagine The Pr...