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3.0 out of 5 stars
i thoroughly enjoyed this, Jan 28 2004
By A Customer
This is one of the most interesting books I have read in a while. I was attracted to it as the author Willy Russell comes from the north of England, as I do and I was curious to see some modern, comic literature from the area. The North is known to have it's own particular sense of humour you see and this book certainly came closer to helping me define it.i found that the story did take a bit of getting into to begin with and that the main character in the story wasn't that sympathetic a hero initially. You soon learn however, that his somewhat bitterly superior attitude is a result of a string of life changing and down right unlucky events. Indeed, this boy's luck is so bad that, once you have over come the distress you find yourself feeling for the characters concerned, it becomes unavoidably funny in the blackest of possible ways. I wouldn't let myself put the book down once i had begun until i felt i was leaving Raymond, the main character at a reasonably happy point!! that is one of the best qualities of the book - ALL the characters involved are not only very very well done but also amusing and sometimes horrifically realistic. Even the more unpleasant characters such as the headmaster are subtly and satiricly written and, unfortunatley but delightfully, instantly recognisable. The book is written in the style of memories and digressions, a style which i think can become tiresome and irrelevant when handled by other authors. Russell's characters and the ironic sense of humour he instills in Raymond ensure that this is in no way the case here. I did find fault with two aspects of the book but one actually clears itself up by the end. I found Raymond a little hard to digest at first and his writing a little irritating. However, by the end, he himself has realised that heis style has improved and his 'lyrics' which grated on me at the beginning are recognised as being 'pedestrain' by Raymond himself. I found that exceedingly clever and confirmed Raymond as one of my favourite ever literary characters. It also adds to the extreme realsim and faux-autobiographical nature of the book. My final fault was with the twist at the end. I didn't dislike it as such but felt perhaps that maybe it wasn't necessary or could have been handled differently. Read the book and see if you understand what I mean. This is one of the funniest and best written books i have ever read - i have never actually seen anything like it and I do recommend it. It is also the kind of book you could return to and read again. I defy you to read the part about the 'Kexborough Cowboy' without at least smiling to yourself.
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