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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Highly Mature and Accomplished Debut, 18 Oct 2002
`Homage to a Firing Squad’ is an exciting, and, dare I say it, important novel, not merely for the high level of maturity, competence and basic story-telling skill exhibited by its author (of a kind rarely seen in contemporary young novelists, especially in their debut novel), but also - and perhaps just as significantly - for the type of novel Tariq Goddard has actually chosen to write. In a market saturated by books publishers think we want to read, or even worse, what they suppose we ought to be reading – which these days rarely extends beyond what is dictated by the ephemeral whims and fads of an impatient contemporary pop culture – one writer (and credit must go to his publisher too) has seemingly had the courage to stand up and write the novel he actually wanted to write. One can look on `Homage' as presiding in that unfashionable genre of the historical novel, but to see it as simply being that would be to unfairly categorise it (and to the guardians of popular culture, a failure to categorise is sometimes equivalent to an act of mortal sin), as well as simplify what it is that actually makes this writer and his book so special. Namely, an exceptional insight into the diverse and contradictory, and, more often than we like to admit, absurd motivations which drive relationships between people, and which essentially and ultimately drive society. Goddard uses the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War as a mere vehicle for his darkly funny yet sympathetic take on the carnival of pain, uncertainty and wonder which characterises our lives. Four idiosyncratic, yet extremely likeable, first-time assassins are on a journey to kill the ageing politician, Don Rojo, who blissfully unaware of the plot against his life, is wracked by his own existential crisis. Complicating matters further, three of the would-be killers are in love with the Don’s beautiful yet feisty and independent daughter, Lucille. Along the way, we are introduced to a host of other expertly portrayed central protagonists providing unexpected twists and depths to a heady brew of fierce pitched battles, devious political intrigue and chaotic and conflicting romantic interests, culminating in a stunning and memorable climax. What is particularly notable about Goddard’s style is his ability not to allow a hint of his author’s voice to interfere with or colour our appreciation of his acutely objective, but nevertheless highly astute and perspicacious, insights into his characters. Unlike the wonderful Czech novelist Milan Kundera, whose characters more often than not exist as mere extensions of their creator’s authorial voice, or other great writers in the continental tradition (Hesse, Camus, Sartre), whose characters seemingly act as free agents but are nevertheless vehicles for their authors’ philosophical obsessions, Goddard never lets us forget that the people in his novel are first and foremost exactly that, people. Even with the worst of his characters (and there are some very nasty ones), a great compassion is evident in their authors relationship with them, making each and every one of them that bit more compelling and identifiable. In this way, `Homage' has perhaps just as much in common with the work of an F. Scott Fitzgerald or John Steinbeck as with the European tradition of modern fiction to which it has already been compared. It is this awareness of and refreshing respect for great literary traditions and the promise of an uncompromising and independent voice in an artistic medium crying out for the emergence of just such a thing which make Tariq Goddard such an exciting author and fully justifies the lavish praise critics have heaped on his first novel.
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