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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw
Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.170.200.175
| | Posted on Sunday, September 07, 2008 - 11:54 am: | |
Overdue, but as promised is my review of Zed's latest, and first full length book.
I read this after a slightly disappointing 'Thieving Fear' (here come the missiles...!) so I was in a garrolous and demanding mood for this baby, and I am pleased to say I did enjoy it.
Zed is an unpretentious writer, and I hope I am not assuming too much to say you know what you are going to get with one of his books (not so his short fiction though...Where he seems to show a wholly different side to his writing which would be interesting to see if he could maintain over a full length book) Rain Dogs is full of typical Zed...wronged man with a temper, scumbag estate family...Pissing rain (topical!) and bleaker than a black hole.
It ain't cheerful stuff, nor is it great literature,but it is a rollicking, entertaining rough ride through Zed-world and kept me page turning until the end to find out what happens.
Sometimes you need to think, sometimes you need a page turner and this little number did the trick for me.
Nice one Zed, it's your best one yet.
Now, I would be interested to see some of your short story sensibilities extended into a longer format....
Forgive me if I assume too much...but you always write about yourself or aspects of yourselves in your stories don't you?
I do that too, it's so hard to break away from I find. We always sing the same song with a few new words.
gcw |
Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc
Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.242.126
| | Posted on Sunday, September 07, 2008 - 01:46 pm: | |
Cheers for that, GCW.
And yes, I do always write about aspects of myself. Pete Tennant, in his great review of Dirty Prayers, accused me of examining the place of the modern male (and machismo) in today's society - and he was right, despite me not being aware of it until then.
Rain Dogs was my attempt at writing a page-turner - a cinematic rollercoaster ride. It even has a (semi) happy ending. Hopefully I at least partly succeeded in my aims.
The bleakness of my short tales might be difficult to sustain (and deal with) at novel length. |
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