- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (6 Jun 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224052934
- ISBN-13: 978-0224052931
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.8 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 358,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Living Nowhere
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Product Description
Book Description
'Living Nowhere amply confirms his reputation as one of our finest prosestylists' Guardian
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Evoking the turned-on, tuned-out seventies, with LSD the vehicle to reinvention, "Living Nowhere" is a story of friendship and loss, about trying to make a pure connection with the earth through a miasma of contamination.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was born in Corby of German/Dutch parentage and spent the first 18 years of my life in what was a huge iron and steel complex with housing in the very heart of a rural Midlands backwater. The contrasts between Corby and its environment could not have been starker and, whilst never quite capturing the uniqueness of this juxtapositioning, John Burnside does go a long way in bringing to life the tensions within a community drawn together from disparate geographies in the hope of improving their lot in life.
Whilst aspects of Corby scenesetting can appear contrived (The overusage of street and pub names to no real purpose), nobody who ever did a shift in The Works could argue with Burnside's evocation of its brooding presence over the town. Emerging from the noise, steam and smoke of a night shift in the tube side (As I did as a schoolboy during summer holidays) to a bright, summer's dawn is the type of bitter/sweet memories Burnside captures beautifully. Equally his portrayal of the generation of men who fed the ovens and furnaces etc. is true to the hard, tough often brutal reputation the town earned.
However I was unconvinced by the portrayal of the 2 main characters, especially the use of a Latvian strand to counteract the overwhelming Scottishness of the town. Good old fashioned sectarianism was the greater divide in Corby - left relatively untapped in the book. Indeed a shift allocation let alone the job was decided more often than not by whether the candidate was a Celtic or Rangers supporter. Worse as the book moved beyond Corby, the allegorical style of the letters to a dead friend resulted in the pace and punch of the early scenes being lost.
Burnside can and, for the most part does, write powerfully about a community and way of life which was all too violent, alien and short lived even for its own inhabitants. I am not alone in mourning the passing of The Works and the impact it had on Corby's menfolk. It was a tough town and Burnside conveys through his characters the emptiness left by its passing. I would defy anyone of my generation and background not to be moved and disturbed by Living Nowhere and, if nothing else, the rest of Northamptonshire should read the book to better understand what was in its midst and is no more. A bleak tale with an all too true bleak ending. A tale for all to learn from...
Whilst aspects of Corby scenesetting can appear contrived (The overusage of street and pub names to no real purpose), nobody who ever did a shift in The Works could argue with Burnside's evocation of its brooding presence over the town. Emerging from the noise, steam and smoke of a night shift in the tube side (As I did as a schoolboy during summer holidays) to a bright, summer's dawn is the type of bitter/sweet memories Burnside captures beautifully. Equally his portrayal of the generation of men who fed the ovens and furnaces etc. is true to the hard, tough often brutal reputation the town earned.
However I was unconvinced by the portrayal of the 2 main characters, especially the use of a Latvian strand to counteract the overwhelming Scottishness of the town. Good old fashioned sectarianism was the greater divide in Corby - left relatively untapped in the book. Indeed a shift allocation let alone the job was decided more often than not by whether the candidate was a Celtic or Rangers supporter. Worse as the book moved beyond Corby, the allegorical style of the letters to a dead friend resulted in the pace and punch of the early scenes being lost.
Burnside can and, for the most part does, write powerfully about a community and way of life which was all too violent, alien and short lived even for its own inhabitants. I am not alone in mourning the passing of The Works and the impact it had on Corby's menfolk. It was a tough town and Burnside conveys through his characters the emptiness left by its passing. I would defy anyone of my generation and background not to be moved and disturbed by Living Nowhere and, if nothing else, the rest of Northamptonshire should read the book to better understand what was in its midst and is no more. A bleak tale with an all too true bleak ending. A tale for all to learn from...
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had to read this book after having lived in Corby for 20 years. The descriptions of the town and the way the people of Corby lived were incredibly accurate, it was very easy to visualise the characters (some more likeable than others). I particularly warmed to Tommy as he seemed so much like the steelmen of the town, hardened by life and the environment they lived. I would like to know how the author researched his material to gain such an accurate picture. AN EXCELLENT BOOK
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Burnside's range and eloquence as a poet is impressive, as evidenced inhis numerous volumes published by Cape and the prestigious awards theyseem to have attracted.
However his prose, both the novels and shorter fiction, seem to be muchnarrower in scope.
The plot of 'Living Nowhere', pivoting around a drunken murder, hascertainly had an airing in both 'The Mercy Boys' and in 'Burning Elvis'.Likewise the sense of social dyspraxia and shiftlessness of the novel'smajor proponents underpins 'The Locust Room' and 'The Dumb House'.
Consequently what you get is a beguiling read but with an aftertaste ofdeja vu.
This was never going to be a cheery novel - the cultural dominance ofheavy industry in the town of Corby (!)- but it's most appreciativeaudience will probably be those new to Burnside's fiction.
Come on Jonny, give us a laugh...
However his prose, both the novels and shorter fiction, seem to be muchnarrower in scope.
The plot of 'Living Nowhere', pivoting around a drunken murder, hascertainly had an airing in both 'The Mercy Boys' and in 'Burning Elvis'.Likewise the sense of social dyspraxia and shiftlessness of the novel'smajor proponents underpins 'The Locust Room' and 'The Dumb House'.
Consequently what you get is a beguiling read but with an aftertaste ofdeja vu.
This was never going to be a cheery novel - the cultural dominance ofheavy industry in the town of Corby (!)- but it's most appreciativeaudience will probably be those new to Burnside's fiction.
Come on Jonny, give us a laugh...
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