The Maintenance of Headway
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Review
`Deeply bizarre, occasionally menacing and often funny ... It's real life, but not quite realism, and strangely brilliant'
--The Times
`Anyone who has wondered why buses arrive either in gangs or not at all should find the answer in Mill's delightful satire about the least reliable forms of public transport ... This novel should be required reading for those in charge of our chaotic public transport system'
--Daily Mail --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--The Times
`Anyone who has wondered why buses arrive either in gangs or not at all should find the answer in Mill's delightful satire about the least reliable forms of public transport ... This novel should be required reading for those in charge of our chaotic public transport system'
--Daily Mail --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'Once you've read this excellent, funny, intelligent book, it will make you look in a more kindly way on that harried driver as he zooms away into the night' Daily Telegraph 'It's finally happened: Britain's most famous bus-driving novelist has given us a novel about buses. All your questions will be answered: why do you wait for ages only for three to come at once? Who are those men who hang around bus stops muttering into handsets? And why do buses suddenly terminate halfway into your journey? But this is no mere gimmick from a mid-career writer run out of ideas. There is a perfect match between Mills's subject and his peculiar obssessions ... brilliant' Independent 'Uniquely delightful' Metro 'Mill's deadpan humour about the surreal workings of the transport authority has a distinct ring of truth. This novel should be required reading for those in charge of our chaotic public transport system' Daily Mail
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Magnus Mills pretty much sticks to one topic, and THE MAINTENANCE OF HEADWAY is a strong example: groups of low-status working men trying (against the ordinary resistance of everyday life) to get their work done. It doesn't sound all that promising as a subject for fiction, but Mills uses it to show just how weird everyday working life really is. He is not a magical realist in the supernatural sense. He is a magical realist in making familiar routines both spooky and comic. Ever since THE RESTRAINT OF BEASTS (his first novel, 1998) I have read everything Mills writes, and remain amazed. One of a kind.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This a novella rather than a novel (infact it could be described as an extended short story). It's an entertaining read but, as has been pointed out by others, lacks the sinister undertones (and the sense that something rather bad might happen at any moment) that characterise Mills' work. His deadpan, sardonic humour is as strong as ever and I really enjoyed the closing pages! Not his best by any means but do not let this deter you from reading it. I would have preferred to wait another year so that it could be beefed up.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I love Mills' deceptively simple deadpan style of writing, and this book contains some classic off-beat, surreal philosophical dialogue. However, I still found the Maintenance of Headway surprisingly dull, much like waiting for a bus that never turns up. Throughout the book one is left waiting for the mundanity of the bus drivers' lot to change into absurdity, which it never truly does. The Maintenance of Headway neither contains the humour of Restraint of Beasts, nor the foreboding of All Quiet on the Orient Express, nor the absurdity of the Scheme For Full Empoyment. All in all, this book came in well short of expectations.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good read
Beautifully written (a great relief after all the badly-spelled un-punctuated twaddle that's around. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Dr. Bob Matthews
So good!
Now I know Magnus Mills isn't for everyone, much like Marmite. This is a brilliant book and a thoughtful insite into the inner workings of a bus system in a generic city. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Ms. S. J. Fleming
Waiting for a #2
`Deeply bizarre, occasionally menacing and often funny ... It's real life, but not quite realism, and strangely brilliant.'
--The Times
but... Read more
--The Times
but... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. Timothy M. Jokl
Looped journey
This is a quirky short story, cunningly disguised as a novella by its big well spaced out print, many chapters and small pages. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Edward Barry
From a Bus Drivers POV
I am so far only half way through The Maintenance of Headway, and being a Bus Driver, I can relate to this book up to now 100%. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lothian Bus Driver
There is no excuse for being early
A strange book, but compelling.
The unnamed narrator is a bus driver in a city. The city might bear some relation to London, with landmarks such as "the cross", "the... Read more
The unnamed narrator is a bus driver in a city. The city might bear some relation to London, with landmarks such as "the cross", "the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. Harris
The Maintenance of Headway
This novel made me laugh out loud and it takes a lot for me to do that. It was a real tonic and I especially loved the take on the collective psyche of bus passengers! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Meg
The best yet
I am real fan of Magnus Mills' writing. I am fascinated by his style and his ability to capture 'reality' in such an original way. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. John W. Shaw
Magnus Mills' most average novel
I'm a massive fan of his novels, but this was the first one I've found disappointing. Maybe because of it's similarity to The Scheme For Full Employment it feels like the author is... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Tom White
stating the obvious
His first two books were great - I was hooked; since then, I've been disappointed. But even "The Scheme for Full Employment" made some interesting points about how people's... Read more
Published 21 months ago by dave mackness
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