Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre
Jul. 23rd, 2007 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcI picked up Vernon God Little from an Amazon.ca clearance bin a few years back. This weekend, facing 3 days "at the beach" in the cold and rain, seemed as good a time as any to give it a go.
DBC Pierre is the nom de plume of Australian-born Peter Warren Finlay. DBC stands for "dirty but clean", a veiled reference to past substance abuse issue. However Pierre is only nominally Australian: his parents were British and he grew up in Mexico City. His incidental birth in Oz would prove fortuitous: in 2003 Vernon God Little was short-listed for--and won--the Man Booker Prize for literature. One must be a citizen of the UK, Ireland or a Commonwealth country to be eligible.
Vernon is the sole survivor of a school massacre committed by one of his two good friends. As such he becomes the focus of speculation towards a conspiracy. I'll leave the plot description there. :)
The book? Well, it's one of those "local dialect" things that can be, when done well (think: Roddy Doyle) gripping and a joy to read. I didn't find it as such. The plot is interesting, but I found myself skimming a lot. But the ending was interesting...now there's an understatement.
Looking at who else made the 2003 short-list, however, inclines me to add this to the list of Undeserving Booker Winners™. Monica Ali's Brick Lane was a far better book.
Save your money and time.
DBC Pierre is the nom de plume of Australian-born Peter Warren Finlay. DBC stands for "dirty but clean", a veiled reference to past substance abuse issue. However Pierre is only nominally Australian: his parents were British and he grew up in Mexico City. His incidental birth in Oz would prove fortuitous: in 2003 Vernon God Little was short-listed for--and won--the Man Booker Prize for literature. One must be a citizen of the UK, Ireland or a Commonwealth country to be eligible.
Vernon is the sole survivor of a school massacre committed by one of his two good friends. As such he becomes the focus of speculation towards a conspiracy. I'll leave the plot description there. :)
The book? Well, it's one of those "local dialect" things that can be, when done well (think: Roddy Doyle) gripping and a joy to read. I didn't find it as such. The plot is interesting, but I found myself skimming a lot. But the ending was interesting...now there's an understatement.
Looking at who else made the 2003 short-list, however, inclines me to add this to the list of Undeserving Booker Winners™. Monica Ali's Brick Lane was a far better book.
Save your money and time.
