Kieron Smith, boy
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: James Kelman List Price: £18.99 Our Price: £16.14 You Save: £2.85 (15%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 to 13 days  |
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 | Product Details: Hardcover 432 pages Release Date: 24 April 2008 Publisher: Hamish Hamilton ISBN: 0241142415 Rating:   Sales Rank: 362872 | | Look for similar books by subject:
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| | Customer Reviews: The Life And Opinions o' Smiddy (05 June 2010)It's not often I agree with the blurb on a books dust jacket, but after reading James Kelmans "Kieron Smith, Boy" I feel that I can enthusiastically endorse the claims made that he is "the greatest British novelist of our times". The hero of the book is one Kieron Smith, younger son of a family who live in the Glasgow (presumably) of the 1950's. It charts his experiences, conflicts and thoughts as related by him, from the age when he is in the middle years of primary school to his early years at secondary. This is an extraordinary performance on Kelmans behalf; the reader is thrust into the scuffed shoes of Kieron and will find it difficult to take them off, at least voluntarily. The book is utterly absorbing, and as someone who was once a boy himself, though an east coaster rather than a west coaster, and who grew up a few decades later, I found myself constantly back in my own past as well as transfixed by Kierons story. The re-creation of the young boys mentality that Kelman has put into writing is an awesome artistic achievement. The book is at times melancholy, such as when Kierons granda is enduring his last hospital bound illness, but can often be hilarious such as when Kierons ruminates on religion, principally the differences between "Papes and Proddies", a running theme in his mind, and realistically so given the location of his childhood. The account of life in inner city Glasgow before moving to an out of town scheme, at school, in the tenement flat, at his gran and grandas, his conflicts with his older brother and parents, and those within Kierons head never once struck this reader as anything less than completely real. Non-Glaswegian readers will be grateful to Kierons mammy, whose constant needling of Kierons pronunciation and nagging in the cause of "proper" English are reflected in Kierons narrative voice. Even swear words are asterisked out, at least until Kieron is away to secondary school. A short review cant do justice to such a substantial, compulsively and compelling work of fiction. I had thought that Roddy Doyles Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha was the last word in fiction from the point of view of a child, but Kelman has excelled beyond even that high standard in this marvellous novel. Well recommended. What's the point? (05 November 2009)Why would I want to know every single banal thought of an unremarkable and uninteresting child with an unremarkable and uninteresting life? Maybe this childhood is just too remote (geographically, socially and temporally) from mine to identify with it, but even the child's own "voice" did nothing to me. It contrasts well with J.M. Coetzee's Boyhood and Youth, where a removed and abstract style, in comparison to the allegedly "involving" style of Kieron Smith, touched me far more deeply. No disrespect to James Kelman, however, very impressive to be able to carry this through, and all in all a worthwhile read. Who knows, maybe you'll identify with the boy. Novel of the year (31 August 2008)This is a hugely moving book that tightly grips itself around your heart and mind like a beanstalk animated upwards at a rate of knots. Its vivid period setting gives great texture to the narrative, but the truth of being a boy between the ages of 7 and 12 is what it's all about. It's a marvellous sustained piece of writing and a beautiful work of art. Nothing else to be said. a rich inner life (13 August 2008)I meant to wait till the paperback was out. Then I read the first paragraph and knew I had to read on. So I bought the hardback and read avidly. The book occupied train journeys, evenings when I should have been doing something else, and days of a seaside holiday. This isn't a novel about plot but about the way life changes - and the way children are changed by life. But from that first paragraph I cared about Kieron as an individual human being and I wanted to follow him - so I did. He seemed real in his perceptions, the physical and sensory details of his experiences, and the speech patterns and rhythms which bring his thoughts to life. In an early essay, James Kelman argued that most of English literature denies the working class - especially working-class Glaswegians - a rich inner life. Kieron's inner life is undoubtedly rich and, as a reader, I mourned every small opportunity that was closed to him. The novel is in no way political but the sense that children like Kieron are as fully human as other children - and as deserving of opportunities - forces a political response that says a good deal about our society today. | |
