-
It’s Not About Money, It’s Just About Love: The Life and Times of The Blue Nile…
This has been a difficult article for me to write. Not because the book that I am about to review isn’t good. It’s very good. It’s the new biography of The Blue Nile and it’s important to me to get it right. This is because The Blue Nile, or at least their music, play an […]
Alistair Braidwood
December 3, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : James Robertson’s ‘The Fanatic’
There is a book which has arguably influenced modern Scottish literature more than any other, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of. James Hogg’s 1824 ‘The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner’ has come to be many writers’ favourite Scottish novel, but few wear their hearts on the page like James Robertson.
Alistair Braidwood
November 1, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : Alasdair Gray’s ‘Lanark’
How do I begin to sum up Alasdair Gray? Writer of fiction and non-fiction, painter, illustrator, dramatist, poet, cultural and political commentator, and even, as part of the ‘Ballad of the Books’ project, songwriter. Most people would be happy to have mastered one of these things. Alasdair Gray is not most people. And ‘Lanark’ is […]
Alistair Braidwood
October 4, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : Buddha Da
If I was to recommend a Scottish book to you that is based on religion you may rightly have some preconceptions as to what it would be like. It may be a generalisation but Scotland and religion tend to mix like oil and water, or perhaps oil and fire is a better example. Many of […]
Alistair Braidwood
September 6, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : The Wasp Factory
Sometimes a writer comes along who is difficult to categorise, who doesn’t fit easily into any genre. Iain Banks is one such writer. Of course as Iain M. Banks, his other writing title, he is an out and out sci-fi novelist, but even that isn’t as clear cut as it at first appears.
Alistair Braidwood
August 2, 2010
-
Indelible Ink: Special Edition ‘The Year of Open Doors’
‘Novels are full of padding, they’re clearly objectionable’ Paul Reekie ‘Submission’ The above quote is one of my favourites and comes from the 1996 short story collection ‘Children of Albion Rovers’. It is the way I feel about many novels, and neatly sums up why I have such a love for the short story.
Alistair Braidwood
July 30, 2010
-
Indelible Ink : Boyracers
There are many ways to start a novel, but surely one of the most arresting of recent times can be found in Alan Bissett’s ‘Boyracers’, which opens: ‘like rebel angels, bright, restless, sensually attuned to the flux and flow of mortal Falkirk, Belinda our chariot, our spirit guide, the wind rushing up and past her […]
Alistair Braidwood
July 5, 2010
-
Interview with Ray Banks
Before finding success as an author, Fifer Ray Banks worked as a wedding singer, a double-glazing salesman, a croupier, a dole monkey, and a disgruntled temp. He recently spoke with our friends at Byker Books about deep fried Mars bars, John Terry’s libido and more.
Pete Reid
June 18, 2010
-
Interview with Christopher Brookmyre
Christopher Brookmyre is the author of thirteen brilliant novels to date, the latest being ‘Pandaemonium’, an earthly battle between science and the supernatural, philosophy and faith, civilisation and savagery set in the Scottish Highlands. Our friends at Byker Books spoke with Brookmyre about screenplays, swearing and St Mirren:
Pete Reid
June 11, 2010
