Books: 'A kind of púca who calls himself the Spook of Spit'
This week there’s a bio of rapper Tupak Shakur and some great fiction.
Spit, David Brennan, Epoque Press, €15.95
Themes of grief and bewilderment and never getting it right abound in this strange novel, narrated in dual form by a kind of púca who calls himself the Spook of Spit, and young student Danny Mulcahy, the son of the local garda sergeant. In his father’s eyes, Danny is a failure. Actually, he’s a failure in his own eyes, too. He’s a small-time drugs peddler, bringing the drugs home from college and selling them locally, and an apprentice alcoholic, studying literature in college but more interested in imbibing lorryloads of drink with his pals in Spit. The púca is convinced that he was someone important when he was a live human being, although he’s been dead now for centuries and can’t remember exactly who he was, just that he was special. He’s the watching eye of the village, always present to witness unpleasant incidents and regretful scenarios. There are competing affections in Spit for the local beauty, Danny being one of the competitors, his good friend Nesbit being another. A drunken brawl breaks out on the night of the village fair, and since everyone was plastered, nobody remembers precisely what happened. But Nesbit is missing. A dark, often funny, and imaginative fable from the bowels of rural Ireland.
The Benefactors, Wendy Erskine, Sceptre, €18.99
A story about an attack on a working-class girl by three middle-class boys, this is Belfast teacher Wendy Erskine’s first novel although she has previously published short stories, and it displays without doubt what a terrific writer she is. The central theme is far from funny, but Erskine can’t help injecting humour into this story, preventing the ‘meat n’ potatoes’ of the plot from being too bleak or despondent. Misty is 18 years old when she’s assaulted by three moneyed young louts. But there are consequences. And on one side there’s Misty, her taxi driver father and foul-mouthed granny (who’s also a born-again Christian!), while on the other, there are the mothers of these three monsters, determined to ensure they will never suffer under the long arm of the law. It’s a novel about class, of course, and about how money provides the buffer for evading so much of life’s negatives, including the imposition of rightful justice. Told not in straight narrative, but through a combination of voices, each with a unique take, it’s a complex and compassionate novel that identifies Erskine as just as good a novelist as she is a short story writer.
One Summer in Provence , Carol Drinkwater, Corvus, €12.99
Celia and her husband Dominic are an older couple living on a vineyard estate in Provence, not far from Cannes. Celia is planning to throw an ‘end of summer’ party but it’s time-consuming work and with hubby working on projects of his own, they need hired help. Two young men are hired, one of whom hopes that this couple will help him to further his career in music. A guy from Celia’s past (she, like the author, was an actress) has reappeared briefly and Celia ends up inviting him to the party too, although in hindsight that might not be her wisest decision. As secrets are uncovered and tensions mount, there is also the extended drought and abnormally high temperatures to deal with, along with the constant threat of forest fires which would destroy Celia’s and Dominic’s homestead and livelihood. Drinkwater writes beautifully about her own adopted home in the south of France and keeps this semi-autobiographical novel intricately paced and always engaging.
Words for my Comrades, Dean Van Nguyen, White Rabbit, €24.99
In a recent RTÉ interview with the sadly now deceased Seán Rocks, Irish-Vietnamese journalist and music critic Van Nguyen said of his schooldays in Walkinstown: “There were those of us who were really into Kurt Cobain and those of us who were really into Tupac Shakur.” He talks of hearing the first Shakur song to make it big over here in a shopping centre and of immediately buying the single. Rappers are… well… not everyone’s cup of tea regarding musical integrity (or even talent), but Shakur was at the top of this particular pop genre in his short lifetime. Born in New York to parents who were members of the Black Panthers, Shakur was reared on a diet of civil rights and protests against black discrimination. It was inevitable that would be the food and drink of his overtly political and radical music. He survived more than one drive-by shooting, although the fourth incident killed him, and was in trouble with the law for sex offences. This biography, subtitled ‘A Political History of Tupak Shakur’, will probably only appeal to the rapper’s fans, but then again, they are legion, and at the time of writing, Van Nguyen’s book was sold out in Easons. It’s a skilled work, thoroughly researched and a must-read for Shakur fans.
Oddbody, Rose Keating, Canongate, €14.99
Waterford writer Rose Keating was reared in a houseful of books by Stephen King and Anne Rice, so maybe it was inevitable that her debut collection of 10 short stories would be in the horror genre, although she bends the rules a bit. A lot of the horror in these stories is about horror of the human body, which we know is quite a prolific problem: ask anyone who has suffered from anorexia or bulimia. In the title story, the protagonist is haunted by a ghost who insists she should kill herself. In another story, a daughter who cares for her infirm father witnesses his transformation into an earthworm. Yes, the stories are odd and sometimes a bit hard on the stomach, but they’re original and compelling, and don’t be hoping for traditional happy endings.
Footnotes
The An Post Irish Book Awards, on their way in the coming weeks, are the only book awards that are decided by both a professional panel and the reading public. In the meantime, they’re looking for people to vote for their local indie bookshops in the Best Bookshop category. I can think of one or two! Go to www.anpost.com/bookshopoftheyear for more information.