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Independent on Sunday on Barcelona Plates
'A cracking read .. dense with smart ideas, sour observations and loony rants'
Review
'a darkly comic picture of the world where justice is random and violence is an ordered and mild-mannered affair.' -- The Telegraph '14 bleak funny pitiless tales ... This is life looked at through the wrong end of a telescope, the vision of Nathaniel West in Miss Lonelyhearts, and to my mind just as good ... Inside every fat git there's a poet trying to get out. Well, he's out.' -- Observer on Barcelona Plates 'Sayle is a funny man, and these tales of pensioners-turned-hitmen, mysterious white Fiat Unos, and inveterate hypochondriacs defy you not to smile at the incremental absurdity of ordinary life.' -- The Sunday Times on Barcelona Plates 'A cracking read .. dense with smart ideas, sour observations and loony rants' -- Independent on Sunday on Barcelona Plates "Barcelona Plates will put a smile on your face and a chill down your spine" -- Time Out on Barcelona Plates Alexei Sayle's manner on the page is the same as it is on screen and stage: arch, dessicated and menacing ... 'The Last Woman Killed in the War' is a thrilling and sensitive meditation on history, race and identity; confirming Sayle as a brilliant chronicler of big stories set in small worlds." -- The Times 'This book is a complete revelation to me ... It's punchy and real and you feel the real weight of a personality behind it. It's terribly funny, full of characters who come out of reality rather than out of other fiction, and I completely agree with those who say that the final story, 'The Last Woman Killed in the War' is a masterpiece. The end of it is one of the most extraordinary pieces of writing I can remember. Brilliant tragedy and brilliant comedy delivered in one stunning sentence. It reminded me of the awesome ending to Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. More importantly, though, it reminded me most of nothing I'd ever read before.' -- Douglas Adams 'These stories are eventful, high-energy, unpredictable, implausible yarns, full of swearing, cars, guns and knives, alcohol, violence and mad people. And they're also very funny.' -- Independent 'There is not a single disappointment among the 14 tales here each manages to twist and turn its way through just enough pages, never outstaying its welcome and, more often than not, turning up a stonker of a surprise as a pay-off. In a criminally neglected genre, Alexei Sayle has just turned out to be one of the masters.' -- Big Issue
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...Monsiuer Sayle being the only example thereof apart from Stephen Fry I can think of. He's especially valuable when you consider the likes of Ben (shudder) Elton and David (ugh!) Baddiel clogging up the genre...
I've read and enjoyed all his stuff but I think this one might be bestest. It's worth it for "The Mau Mau Hat" alone; a beautifully observed character study with a terrible, lonely undertow. It's about ageing, and inevitably, death, yet crams in a motherlode of salty one-liners as well. The other highlight is "The Only Man Stalin Was Afraid Of", which uses a jaunty, almost simplistic style (something Sayle happens to be very good at - light but knowing, and never patronising) to rip apart the absolutely disgusting individual Uncle Joe really was, with none of the slightly histrionic moralising of Martin Amis' otherwise excellent "Koba The Dread".
My only beef is that the construction - the grammar and so forth - is often shoddy. Believe me, I'm the last person to give a s**t about split infinitives and the like normally, but it's noticeable in Sayle's stuff more often than not, and this is a shame when you consider how otherwise talented he is. The impression given is of someone who thinks for months, maybe years, about the content of his stories, but when it comes to writing them, takes a couple of afternoons at most.
Suggested targets for your next collection/novel, Alexei: Ben Elton, Ricky Gervais, Ariel Sharon, and a story about the BNP might be good as well. Cheers!
I've read and enjoyed all his stuff but I think this one might be bestest. It's worth it for "The Mau Mau Hat" alone; a beautifully observed character study with a terrible, lonely undertow. It's about ageing, and inevitably, death, yet crams in a motherlode of salty one-liners as well. The other highlight is "The Only Man Stalin Was Afraid Of", which uses a jaunty, almost simplistic style (something Sayle happens to be very good at - light but knowing, and never patronising) to rip apart the absolutely disgusting individual Uncle Joe really was, with none of the slightly histrionic moralising of Martin Amis' otherwise excellent "Koba The Dread".
My only beef is that the construction - the grammar and so forth - is often shoddy. Believe me, I'm the last person to give a s**t about split infinitives and the like normally, but it's noticeable in Sayle's stuff more often than not, and this is a shame when you consider how otherwise talented he is. The impression given is of someone who thinks for months, maybe years, about the content of his stories, but when it comes to writing them, takes a couple of afternoons at most.
Suggested targets for your next collection/novel, Alexei: Ben Elton, Ricky Gervais, Ariel Sharon, and a story about the BNP might be good as well. Cheers!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After 'Barcelona Plates' I was left feeling that Sayle was in serious danger of being a very credible writer of short stories. In the 'Dog Catcher' he, in my view, cements his reputation.
It is often the case that celebrities who turn to writing trade too much on their fame and not enough on their writing talent. Alexei Sayle, however, has produced a work of such quality that it stands alone from his talents as a comedian and script writer. He still teases his readers; he still launches into scything polemics against despots and people in 'the media'. Yet every story in this collection is carefully crafted & thoroughly researched. None of these stories is dashed off in an afternoon, yet each has a freshness which is more than tinged with danger. Some are downright sinister (the title story, for example) and others are wicked parodies (Clive Hole).
My advice. Read Barcelona Plates first - the stories here, while still dark, are more 'jaunty'. Then brace yourself for 'The Dog Catcher'. Not only will you be shocked and gripped by the characters and the plots, you will be impressed by the way Alexei Sayle has developed into a short story writer of considerable standing. Bring on the next volume!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know it's a cliché, but as soon as I picked up this book, I just could not put it down. In some ways the story telling is reminiscent of Dahl's Tales of the unexpected, in that the stories are dark, comic, and frequently surprising. They're also extremely well written - certain phrases leap off the page at you making (at least me anyway) you wonder why you haven't read any of his stuff before. All of the short stories in this volume are inventive and funny, though the last one (Hillary Wheat) meanders a bit without the characteristic surprise at the end. "Descending" and "Cicely" are simply masterpieces. Two thumbs up!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
a fantastic read!
i'm not someone who reads alot, infact it takes alot to make me read a book from start to finish. i had this book on my shelf for i think 3yrs and never read it, then one day i... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2010 by E. Fewster
Filth
This wasn't a witty funny collection. It's just filth. I stopped reading the first story after the different sordid sexual acts the woman was taking on. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by Chris Morse
The best short story collection I have read in a long while!
Wow what a fantastic collection of short stories! My boyfriend lent me this book to read and I'm so glad that I did! Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2009 by Laura Ginn
Great Book
Most of these short stories were fab. A couple were abit less enjoyable. Love the way Alexi writes, as soon as I'd finshed this book I wanted to read it again as there is so much... Read more
Published on 9 May 2007 by Scooby Doo
Brilliant
Being Dutch and living in Amsterdam, I had no idea Alexei Sayle had two volumes of short stories out. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2003 by Eef
Thought provoking and clever.
Alexei Sayle is a comic genius with a twisted darkside to his humor. I read this book in a couple of days because I just had to see what the next story delivered. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2002 by T West
Story buffet
It's brilliantly written, better than Dahl, and with a way of sidling up on unexpected phrases that fit perfectly that previously only Douglas Adams had mastered. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2002 by Simon Rockman
Disappointing after Barcelona Plates
Only 2 of the 9 stories barely passed muster for me (Barcelona Plates and The Only Man Stalin Was Afraid of). The others fizzled out in anti-climaxes or non-sequiturs. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2002 by richard@tudor15.freeserve.co.uk
An excellent humorous observation of modern life - a must!
Not much can beat Alexei Sayle reading his own short stories. This CD is packed with humorous observations of life today from the angle that only Alexei Sayle can provide. Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2001
As enjoyable as Barcelona Plates
Another brilliant collection of short stories. Buy it now - you won't be disappointed.
Published on 30 Sep 2001
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