A gang of London twentysomethings are facing up to the disappointments of adulthood. The hat maker can't sell her hats, the dot.com whizz kid's gone bust, the TV personality's continually stopped in the street, mistaken for someone else. As for the poet? It's all too embarrassing. Meanwhile, London's pigeons are at war. They're not sure what they're fighting about. It could be politics or personality or territory or religion. Whatever. But it's definitely got something to do with the appearance of a bloke called Murray...THE LONDON PIGEON WARS is a hilarious satire-cum-thriller about ambition and failure, materialism and morality, mirrors as windows - and pigeons with a taste for blood.
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About the Author
Patrick Neate's two previous novels are MUSUNGU JIM AND THE GREAT CHIEF TULOKO and TWELVE BAR BLUES. Patrick Neate lives in London, W6.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
For the many devoted fans of Twelve Bar Blues (myself included), Patrick Neate’s new novel is likely to be something of a shock. Where Twelve Bar Blues was a broad-brushed mural, The London Pigeon Wars is an esoteric miniature with the devil in the detail; where Twelve Bar Blues gave broad themes a personal twist, The London Pigeon Wars highlights apparently petty concerns as the height of modern angst; and where Twelve Bar Blues was a triumph of careful plotting, The London Pigeon Wars is less stream than flood of consciousness.
From the opening chapter (narrated by a pigeon, in ‘pigeon’), this takes quite some getting used to. But hang in there because it is worth the ride. Ultimately, what you make of this book will depend on two things. First, you need to decide what you think of Murray, the ephemeral central character who is so indistinct as to barely exist (a description that becomes ever more poignant as the plot unfolds). Do you know someone like him? Do you buy into him? Does he live for you? Does he die for you? Second, you have to trust the author. Is Neate in control of what he’s doing? Or is the book in control of him? It’s often hard to tell. But even that question only leads you back to further fascinating queries of intent. In the end, all my doubts only seemed to lead me to a point where I found the author smiling back at me; a disconcerting but compelling experience.
Frankly, I will be unsurprised if this book leaves some readers totally cold. But I will also be unsurprised if in a decade’s time it is heralded as a bizarre masterpiece of our times. Ultimately I tend towards the latter opinion and I urge you to read it if only to make up your own mind.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is the third fiction offering from feted young(ish) London author Patrick Neate, previous winner of the Whitbread. But readers hoping for more of the same sub-Saharan spiked jollity or jazz-inflected lyricism of his first two novels may be temporarily disappointed. I say temporarily because, while the subject matter (internecine strife between newly-sentient flying rats in the sky above London, linked Escher-like to the lives of a sprinkling of the capital's more unusual suspects down below) is a real departure, the quality of his writing is arguably even more mature here. Neate has always excelled at the juggling act between fine farce and haunting seriousness - but in LPW he displays a writerly ambition that will keep him on many people's must-read lists for generations to come. From the linguistic effrontery of his pidgin / pigeon English to the sharp characterisation, via his obvious distaste for London and many of its cartoonish inhabitants, this is a vivid, biting, hilarious, scary, moving, touching, inventive, puzzling, and ultimately involving read. And how often can you say that?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was passed on to me by a friend. I read quite a lot but had never heard of this guy before. Now I’ve read the book this seems quite amazing since he is a very talented novelist. What I loved about this book is its imagination and intricacy. The pigeons are such a bizarre creation and sometimes quite difficult to follow but always so funny and so clever. That he manages to tie them in so plausibly (if surreally) into the rest of the action is quite amazing. I loved the way the whole story comes together in the last fifty pages. I’m still not entirely sure who Murray really was but I’d certainly like to meet him!
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Possible the worst book I have read
I read this for my workplace book club and hated it. Gave up about a quarter of the way through - and I never do that. Shoddy writing. Lots of clichés. Read more
Published 23 days ago by David Pottruff
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmmm...blows hot and cold.
This is an intriguing book. I loved Twelve Bar Blues and thought that this would be a winner too. It's the story of a group of friends and the story of pigeons going to war (I... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2006 by MrShev
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mad but magic
I suspect methods allegorical but who cares? This tale of a bunch of brokendown 'twirtysomethings' in the throes of all sorts of crises personal and public is a triumph of... Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2005
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly off the thread
Excellent piece of writing to put on your 'need to read' list.
A story about pigeon evolution, and a being of many faces and all races called Mishap. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2005
4.0 out of 5 stars
As always - Mr Neate Delivers ...
There are few words I could use to describe this latest novel from the brilliant, innovative and quirky writer Patrick Neate. Simply - this book is brilliant. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2005 by froggy76
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Behavior is driven by fear of farce."
Karen Miller, ten years out of college, is working for the city of London Transit Committee when she is assigned to become the "pigeon czar. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2004 by Mary Whipple
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dunno what they are, but here they come again...
This is the 3rd fiction offering from feted young London author Patrick Neate. However, readers expecting to find more of the same sub-Saharan sardonic jollity or jazzy lyricism of... Read more
Published on 10 July 2003
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not a bad take on contemporary London
This book isn't a bad stab at what it means to be thirtysomething in London today. Disillusion and fatigue with an over-familiar social circle are well portrayed. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2003 by R. A. Langham
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and page turning take on contemporary London
After two books where Neate has gone for far flung themes, he now turns his attention closer to home: this third novel is based around seven friends, all around thirty, living and... Read more
Published on 29 April 2003 by R. S. Stanier
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