Nicola Barker's novel Darklands is set in the town of Ashford in Kent, where the town's citizens are beset by the apparition of John Scogin, Edward IV’s court jester. Over several days and 840 pages, Scogin prompts each of the main characters to his or her own special madness. One rolls in the muddy seashore; another builds a model cathedral out of matchsticks.
Reviewers agree that plot is not the draw in this book. "[H]undreds of pages pass with little or no dramatic incident," says the Independent. No, you read this book for its language. One character is "easy as a greased nipple (and pretty much as moral)." Another is "Jabba the Hut with a womb, chronic asthma and a council flat."
The Guardian loved "this wonderful contrary sprawl of a novel." The Times was less thrilled with the book, though even that reviewer calls it "inventive, witty and well staged." The Independent was somewhere in between, praising the novel's "fearsome energy."
An American edition of Darkmans hasn't been announced yet, so we won't be able to judge for ourselves for a while yet.--David E
No comments:
Post a Comment