Ilkley Baptist

Mark Haddon's book was a gift to me by one of the loal vicars; thanks Paul! It's been a great read.

It tells the story of a wedding and the build up to it from the point of view of four participants: the bride, her father, her mother, and her brother. Her father, George, is the main character and as the wedding approaches, the stresses in his life lead to some very odd behaviour and a serious disengagement from reality - a mental breakdown.

In some ways it reminded me of Tom Sharpe's great comic novels of a generation ago. George is an anti-hero not unlike Henry Wilt, with a very individual approach to the world. But the humour of Haddon is of a different sort, much gentler, much more intimate. We are taken inside the heads of his charaters, and this is what makes the book compelling.

And it is compelling. I had to pick up my car in Skipton yesterday; it had been serviced. So I took the book on the bus, read it as I walked the half mile to the dealers, then sat in the car in the car park finishing the last few pages.

It's also notable for something deeply unpleasant George does to himself with a pair of scissors. I'm not usually sqeamish, but this so affected me that my fingers became almost too weak the hold the book and continue reading!

Highly recommended. Heart warming and wry, with, incidentally, a few well aimed cracks at fundie Christianity.