tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post9111097322628057700..comments2023-11-05T10:11:31.578+00:00Comments on Just William's Luck: 'you keep on'William Rycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-10358058078348183592011-07-18T07:52:46.131+01:002011-07-18T07:52:46.131+01:00Thanks Stu. Whilst this book is about the death of...Thanks Stu. Whilst this book is about the death of an industry I found that the 30 year gap between Mick's time in the shipyards and the present day events of the novel took away the immediacy of that strand. Far more engaging was the personal story of one man's grief and the process by which he becomes one of the anonymous grizzled faces that anyone who works in a city will be familiar with (and probably got used to ignoring).William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-60205033504031793892011-07-16T20:02:00.804+01:002011-07-16T20:02:00.804+01:00great review will ,I like this a bit when joe ment...great review will ,I like this a bit when joe mentioned it as a friends dad use to own a large shipbuilders in tyneside so been there and thought a book about the decline of a once great industry would be interesting ,not sure thou I ve been read rather to many english books of late drifting towards a reader I was not the reader I am ,oh well nice review all the best stuAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-13345203880990735792011-07-13T07:50:50.536+01:002011-07-13T07:50:50.536+01:00I hadn't thought of Burnside's Glister, th...I hadn't thought of Burnside's Glister, the two books are indeed very different, but I see what you mean about the social and economic fallout. Waterline is uninflected by any kind of myth or menace; its a very modern book, in fact one review I saw hailed it as a strong candidate for 'the definitive novel of our times.' That's some claim, and I don't think I'd go that far, but it has been warmly received by critics over here so if you enjoyed his first then maybe keep this one in mind for the future.William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-19423599222408026292011-07-12T19:25:29.837+01:002011-07-12T19:25:29.837+01:00Thanks for the heads up on the cover -- my take, i...Thanks for the heads up on the cover -- my take, if I had just seen it, would have been that this is a ship-building version of John Burnside's The Glister. And while your review indicates that the narrative streams of the two are different, the surrounding society and economic fallout have a fair bit in common.<br /><br />As much as I liked The Glister (and Raisin's previous novel as well), your assessment leaves me inclined to give this one a miss at this stage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com