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A review by zefrog
No Laughing Matter by Angus Wilson
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This ambitious family saga is not an easy read. Covering 60 years of the lives of a group of disparate siblings, sion of an impoverished upper-class family, the narrative is divided in six "books" of unequal length, each gathering seemingly random scenes of the lives of the characters, with a background of historical events. There doesn't appear to be an ending as such, not even an open one. The story simply stops at some point, as if Wilson suddenly got bored.
The book shares many similarities with [b:Life After Life|15790842|Life After Life (Todd Family, #1)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358173808l/15790842._SY75_.jpg|21443207] and [b:A God in Ruins|3722183|A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451442002l/3722183._SY75_.jpg|42652219], which I didn't particularly like either, although, of course it precedes both by several decades.
Beyond the often stilted and convoluted sentences, and the many typos (in my first edition, in any case) that make comprehension even more difficult, Wilson insists on jumping from one character to the next without giving many clues as to who is he writing about. At times it is easy enough to guess, at other times it isn't until quite far on, which adds another unneeded layer of complexity to the narrative. Sometimes Wilson also randomly includes fragments of theatre scripts that relate to the main story or extracts of diaries. But this is done apparently without particular order or meaning.
In theory, the premise of the novel is interesting and so are the characters and what they get up to, but ultimately it is difficult to relate to the book and, while some of it is amusing and there are glimpses of something really good, most of it is too opaque to really engage the reader.
This is supposed to be the portrait of a country in flux, manhandled by history, but by the end, even though the circumstances are different, little of substance seems to have changed for the characters.
The book shares many similarities with [b:Life After Life|15790842|Life After Life (Todd Family, #1)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358173808l/15790842._SY75_.jpg|21443207] and [b:A God in Ruins|3722183|A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451442002l/3722183._SY75_.jpg|42652219], which I didn't particularly like either, although, of course it precedes both by several decades.
Beyond the often stilted and convoluted sentences, and the many typos (in my first edition, in any case) that make comprehension even more difficult, Wilson insists on jumping from one character to the next without giving many clues as to who is he writing about. At times it is easy enough to guess, at other times it isn't until quite far on, which adds another unneeded layer of complexity to the narrative. Sometimes Wilson also randomly includes fragments of theatre scripts that relate to the main story or extracts of diaries. But this is done apparently without particular order or meaning.
In theory, the premise of the novel is interesting and so are the characters and what they get up to, but ultimately it is difficult to relate to the book and, while some of it is amusing and there are glimpses of something really good, most of it is too opaque to really engage the reader.
This is supposed to be the portrait of a country in flux, manhandled by history, but by the end, even though the circumstances are different, little of substance seems to have changed for the characters.