Rumours of a Hurricane
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The death of homeless man Charlie Buck is unremarkable to everyone except the few passers-by who witness his drunken--and apparently voluntary--fall beneath a speeding lorry. No loved ones or friends attend his last breaths in hospital--his possessions amount to a National Insurance card, a digital watch and a newspaper obituary for a dead composer. But Charlie was a person. He had a wife and a son, his own set of dreams and personal demons, a biography no more and no less studded with dramas, defeats and victories than anyone else’s.
This is the mission of Rumours of a Hurricane, Tim Lott’s second novel: to chart the life of a single man, revealing it to be remarkable in its ordinariness and epic within its narrow confines. The backdrop to Charlie’s tragic saga is the relentlessly changing Britain of the 1980s, a nation twisted by greed and discontent. History weaves gracefully in and out of the tale, its hero riding high as he buys his own council flat and invests in the stock market; laid low as the great storms and the recession hit his home and his business. But Lott’s grasp of the recent past is by no means his most impressive talent--what dazzles on every page is his powerful grasp of the human soul and his ability to turn harsh truths into some truly fascinating fiction. Like Lott’s first novel White City Blue, this is an uncompromising book, one whose messages we ignore at our peril. --Matthew Baylis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
A landmark novel ... a subtle, vivid and compassionate exploration of the effets of social change on the southern working class ... a mature tragedy (Daily Mail )
The first great British novel of the 21st Century (Tony Parsons )
The first great British novel of the 21st Century (Tony Parsons )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a beautifully written account of very ordinary people, going through their lives in the midst of what was always known in my house as 'The Thatcher Terror'. I'd never read any of Tim Lott's novels before, and I was genuinely surprised at the skill and sensitivity with which he painted his characters. Journalists aren't exactly known for their subtlety and sensitivity...
It's a terribly moving, but also terribly angry story, which only served to remind me of just how destructive and turbulent a time the 80s really were for hundreds of thousands of people in this country. Thatcher's presence - and Lott's own politics - are felt, albeit subtly, throughout the novel, without detracting from the plot in any noticeable way. I haven't enjoyed a novel this much for a very long time, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Oh, and don't be put off (as I almost was) by the fact that the cover carries a glowing recommendation from that scourge of society Tony Parsons. You'll regret it if you do.
It's a terribly moving, but also terribly angry story, which only served to remind me of just how destructive and turbulent a time the 80s really were for hundreds of thousands of people in this country. Thatcher's presence - and Lott's own politics - are felt, albeit subtly, throughout the novel, without detracting from the plot in any noticeable way. I haven't enjoyed a novel this much for a very long time, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Oh, and don't be put off (as I almost was) by the fact that the cover carries a glowing recommendation from that scourge of society Tony Parsons. You'll regret it if you do.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title and book cover don't do justice to what is inside. Nor do some of Tim Lott's previous books - especially White City Blue which was very readable but nothing special.
Rumours of a Hurricane on the other hand, really deserves those over-used phrases 'painfuly funny' or 'bitter sweet'
There are moments of real pathos. The hero is both so likeable and yet so awful - it's beautifully balanced. He reminds me a little of Homer Simpson. Heroic in his selfishness and ignorence. It perfectly sums up the Eighties.
Rumours of a Hurricane on the other hand, really deserves those over-used phrases 'painfuly funny' or 'bitter sweet'
There are moments of real pathos. The hero is both so likeable and yet so awful - it's beautifully balanced. He reminds me a little of Homer Simpson. Heroic in his selfishness and ignorence. It perfectly sums up the Eighties.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book engages immediately. I read it within twenty-fours hours as 'can't put-it-down' read. Being a young working mother in the nineteen eighties I was proably too busy to remember the era from a sociological point of view, but Tim brought it all back with amazing accuracy. Yes - we had a Goblin Teasmade! It was not just the anecdotal references that caught the imagination. His verdict on the boom-and-bust of the times was very accurately portrayed. I was so sorry to say goodbye to the characters. I have also enjoyed White City Blues in the past. Tim Lott is one of our best modern writers and there not a boring minute in Rumours of a Hurricane. Brilliant. Read it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Spot the welding joins
This novel follows the life and times of one Charlie Buck, a print compositor and Union man, like his father before him, who is about to have his existence unravelled by the... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Mrs Thatcher years
This book was difficult to read initially, as it was a bit heavy handed reminding you of the era it was written in - Thatcher years - by using loads of lists, like tv programmes,... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by Mrs. F. D. A. Norris
Harrowing
Tim Lott is often grouped with Tony Parsons and (occasionally) Jonathan Coe as a purveyor of something called 'new lad lit'. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2008 by Wakefield, 2011
Best novel I've read for ages
This is an excellent novel, with an interesting, believable storyline and exceptionally well observed characters. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2003
Need Lotta Lott!
Both this and Lott's White City Blue are absolutely superb. In a different life I could have read both in one sitting: bitter, funny, sarcastic, black, melancholy and... Read more
Published on 6 May 2003
Deja-vu but I didn't realise it at the time...
Although I thouroughly enjoyed this book, it wasn't until the other day I realised the film adaptation had already been made.... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2002 by DJ Bez
Amazing
Completely unexpected after the [excellent] White City Blue, but all the better for being different. Read more
Published on 25 April 2002
Keeping it real.
Rumours of a Hurricane is a brave and compassionate book. We enter the world of Charlie and Maureen Buck, unusual "heroes", deep into middle age as Margaret Thatcher is... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2002 by Me
Powerful account of how the 80s swept away one man's life
Nobody loved "The Scent of Dried Roses" and "White City Blue" more than me, so I was eager to read "Rumours of a Hurricane". Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2002
A brilliant evocation of the whirlwind of Thatcherism
Tim Lott brings to life the upheavals of politics in the Thatcher era through the shattering personal changes to the lives of a single London family. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2002 by tim.richards@virgin.net
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