Obligators to the Ravishing Quagmire,
Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray is awesome. The novel is a work of art that I almost feel unworthy to comment upon. After finishing, I really just want to start over, I want to make connections, analyse and understand.
The novel, consisting of four books that are not ordered numerically, follows two characters that are ambiguously one and the same, Lanark and Duncan Thaw. The novel opens with Book Three where we meet Lanark, a man in his twenties in the city of Unthank, a futuristic urban hell. As an outsider who s
pends his days longing for sunlight in an ever-darkening world, he is somehow awkwardly integrated into a trendy crowd who visit the same coffee shop. In a world where people disappear and contract outlandish but symbolic diseases, Lanark develops ‘dragonhide’ and enters the institute.
Books One and Two begin in pre-war Glasgow and follow Duncan Thaw as he grows up. These books document his schooling, his evacuation from the city during the war and his student life as he eventually becomes an artist. There are many parallels between Thaw and Lanark.
The main theme of the book is the supposed ongoing need to love, yet failure to do so. The protagonist seems incapable of offering or accepting love or forming any sort of relationship with people, and the inability to ‘connect’. The character’s mystique and independency often begs the question of why he needs to love and perhaps proposes the possibility of a happier life without such complications in light of his artistic passions.
I am drawn to the opening stages of Book Three where Lanark remains outside, away from the main group in The Elite, the coffee shop, where he watches for glimpses of sunlight. It’s almost as if Lanark knows there’s something greater in life than just being another member of the group of people pandering to their figurehead, Sludden. I compare this to my attraction to outdoor beauties and pleasures whilst living in a world of hermits.
There are many threads to this life but Lanark: A Life in Four Books really needs begin to grasp the scale of this achievement. For this is not just a story, it’s a social statement, it’s a study of literature and importantly, it’s analysis of self.
The novel, consisting of four books that are not ordered numerically, follows two characters that are ambiguously one and the same, Lanark and Duncan Thaw. The novel opens with Book Three where we meet Lanark, a man in his twenties in the city of Unthank, a futuristic urban hell. As an outsider who s
pends his days longing for sunlight in an ever-darkening world, he is somehow awkwardly integrated into a trendy crowd who visit the same coffee shop. In a world where people disappear and contract outlandish but symbolic diseases, Lanark develops ‘dragonhide’ and enters the institute.Books One and Two begin in pre-war Glasgow and follow Duncan Thaw as he grows up. These books document his schooling, his evacuation from the city during the war and his student life as he eventually becomes an artist. There are many parallels between Thaw and Lanark.
The main theme of the book is the supposed ongoing need to love, yet failure to do so. The protagonist seems incapable of offering or accepting love or forming any sort of relationship with people, and the inability to ‘connect’. The character’s mystique and independency often begs the question of why he needs to love and perhaps proposes the possibility of a happier life without such complications in light of his artistic passions.
I am drawn to the opening stages of Book Three where Lanark remains outside, away from the main group in The Elite, the coffee shop, where he watches for glimpses of sunlight. It’s almost as if Lanark knows there’s something greater in life than just being another member of the group of people pandering to their figurehead, Sludden. I compare this to my attraction to outdoor beauties and pleasures whilst living in a world of hermits.
There are many threads to this life but Lanark: A Life in Four Books really needs begin to grasp the scale of this achievement. For this is not just a story, it’s a social statement, it’s a study of literature and importantly, it’s analysis of self.
posted by Leif at 1:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home