-
Indelible Ink: Stuart David’s ‘Nalda Said’
Novels by rock and pop musicians are a mixed bag. For every success such as ‘And the Ass Saw the Angel (Nick Cave) or ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive’ (Steve Earle) there’s an unreadable, if admirable, attempt like ‘Tarantula’ (Bob Dylan), or something ludicrous such as ‘The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace’ […]
Alistair Braidwood
April 2, 2012
-
Indelible Ink: John Burnside’s ‘The Devil’s Footprints’
John Burnside recently won the T.S. Eliot prize and the Forward prize for his amazing poetry collection ‘Black Cat Bone’. In 1988 his debut book of poetry ‘The Hoop’ won The Scottish Arts Council Book Award. In between he has published eight novels and 13 collections of poetry nearly all of which won awards of […]
Alistair Braidwood
March 5, 2012
-
Indelible Ink: Toni Davidson’s ‘Scar Culture’
Over the months I’ve written about some difficult and disturbing books. Duncan McLean’s ‘Bunker Man’ immediately springs to mind, but perhaps Toni Davidson’s 1999 debut novel ‘Scar Culture’ unsettles more than any other Scottish novel I have read. It’s never as salacious as McLean’s novel often becomes, but like ‘Bunker Man’ it deals with abuse; […]
Alistair Braidwood
February 6, 2012
-
Indelible Ink: Rodge Glass’ ‘No Fireworks’
When these columns started in November 2009 I suggested that there was a noticeable change happening in Scottish writing, and attempted to answer why. Here’s a short excerpt to give you a flavour: ‘You can argue the reasons for this new confidence in Scottish writing, when it began, or even if it exists at all, […]
Alistair Braidwood
January 2, 2012
-
Indelible Ink: Agnes Owens’ ‘Bad Attitudes’
There are a few Scottish novelists I would recommend to any aspiring writers who are looking for inspiration in terms of style and technique. These include A.L Kennedy, James Kelman, Alan Warner and Ali Smith. But top of that list would be Agnes Owens. If you want an example of how to tell stories simply […]
Alistair Braidwood
December 5, 2011
-
Indelible Ink: Alice Thompson’s ‘The Existential Detective’
In today’s cultural climate a novel called ‘The Existential Detective’ could be said to have a double handicap in reaching a readership before it begins. Those who are set against the genre of crime fiction will see the word ‘detective’ and decide it’s not for them, similarly the term ‘existential’ puts many people in fear […]
Alistair Braidwood
November 7, 2011
-
Indelible Ink: A.L. Kennedy’s ‘Paradise’
There is a lot of alcohol in Scottish fiction, as there is in Scottish fact. Often this becomes an easy stereotype used to denote not only nationality but also social status. There is a belief that alcohol abuse is one of the boxes to tick in the ‘urban, gritty, working class’ novel, but this doesn’t […]
Alistair Braidwood
October 4, 2011
-
Indelible Ink: Alan Spence’s ‘Way To Go’
Alan Spence is one of those writers who seems to stand apart from other contemporary Scottish writers. I’ve been thinking about why this might be, and I think it is a matter of style. If you think of the adjectives that are most often applied to modern Scottish fiction they will include; grim, gritty, urban, […]
Alistair Braidwood
September 5, 2011
-
Indelible Ink: Alexander Trocchi’s ‘Young Adam’
There are times when a piece of art comes along and nothing is ever the same again. Such arrivals fulfill three functions; they come to represent their time, they change what will follow, and, often brutally, they kill what had preceded them. Or at least appear to at the time. Think of the impact Joyce’s […]
Alistair Braidwood
August 1, 2011