Downriver (Or, The Vessels of Wrath), Iain Sinclair
Publisher:Random House
1991
443 pages
Description: The winner of England's Encore Award and James Tait Black Memorial Prize gives us a kaleidoscopic look at London's past, present, and future. The Thames may still flow through the heart of London, but life along its shores has changed dramatically. In Downriver, Iain Sinclair traces the ruins of Margaret Thatchers reign through the lens of a fictional film crew hired to make a documentary about what remains of old-time life. Historical motifs are interwoven with futuristic scenarios in this tumultuous tour of a city and a culture. Iain Sinclair is an astonishingly original and entertaining writer. The Washington Post (copied from Goodreads)
Review: The Washington Post lies, unless entertaining is a typo for mind-numbingly boring.
This book meanders through twelve short stories which are connected by the Thames, a bunch of common characters, and something to do with some postcards. I'm really not sure why it was written in that format. It doesn't add anything to the narrative.
The characters aren't really fleshed out, the descriptions are bland, the book swaps between a first and third person povs for no obvious reason, and I found the author's writing style very distancing.
According to the author's Wikipedia page, this book actually forms the middle of a trilogy, which might have helped the issue of characterization. It also claims it "envisages the UK under the rule of the Widow, a grotesque version of Margaret Thatcher as viewed by her harshest critics, who supposedly establishes a one party state in a fifth term." That actually sounds kind of interesting, pity it didn't make a noticeable appearance.
1991
443 pages
Description: The winner of England's Encore Award and James Tait Black Memorial Prize gives us a kaleidoscopic look at London's past, present, and future. The Thames may still flow through the heart of London, but life along its shores has changed dramatically. In Downriver, Iain Sinclair traces the ruins of Margaret Thatchers reign through the lens of a fictional film crew hired to make a documentary about what remains of old-time life. Historical motifs are interwoven with futuristic scenarios in this tumultuous tour of a city and a culture. Iain Sinclair is an astonishingly original and entertaining writer. The Washington Post (copied from Goodreads)
Review: The Washington Post lies, unless entertaining is a typo for mind-numbingly boring.
This book meanders through twelve short stories which are connected by the Thames, a bunch of common characters, and something to do with some postcards. I'm really not sure why it was written in that format. It doesn't add anything to the narrative.
The characters aren't really fleshed out, the descriptions are bland, the book swaps between a first and third person povs for no obvious reason, and I found the author's writing style very distancing.
According to the author's Wikipedia page, this book actually forms the middle of a trilogy, which might have helped the issue of characterization. It also claims it "envisages the UK under the rule of the Widow, a grotesque version of Margaret Thatcher as viewed by her harshest critics, who supposedly establishes a one party state in a fifth term." That actually sounds kind of interesting, pity it didn't make a noticeable appearance.