printer friendly version (pdf)

know.’ But in each of these normal, damagedlives, we are shown something extraordinary:a dogged belief in some kind of hope or beautythat flies in the face of all reason and is, as aresult, both transfiguring and heart-rending.Reality, Realityby Jackie KayPicador, 2012This is a book about memories, love, sex andthe power of the imagination to see us throughthe most difficult times. The women of Reality,Reality are mesmerizing, whether in love or insolitude. Grace and Rose, glowing with pride,are the first to marry on Shetland; Hadassah,named for the Morning Star, burns as brightly.Margaret, alone in her care home, places herhope in a cherry red cardigan; Elina Makropulos,whose voice is the toast of generations, is desperateto be allowed to grow old. Stef cooks formade-up judges on the TV show in her head.Pat diets for one hundred and forty-three daysto find her ‘Mini-me’. Dionne longs for a child;Mrs Vadnie Marlene Sevlon for her husband.And Elizabeth Ellen carries her new baby intoa future she didn’t know could be hers. JackieKay’s newest and most luminous of collectionsis full of compassion, generosity, sorrow andjoy. In fifteen extraordinary stories, she celebratesthe richness and power of dream-lifeto inspire, to repair, and to make real.The Same Life Twiceby Frank KuppnerCarcanet, 2012Comic, cosmic: for Kuppner the terms areinseparable. In the three plaited sections ofThe Same Life Twice, Frank Kuppner asks theessential, answerless questions about humanexistence: What are we doing here? Is it reallyhere? And why here? ‘Fortunately,’ he writes,‘it is nearly always possible to take notes, evenif these habitually contradict each other.’ Hereare Kuppner’s fieldnotes from life in an unfathomableuniverse. A sardonic Virgil showingus a directionless Infinity, Kuppner guides usthrough a reality in which we are just ‘onemore of the ignorant infinite dots / rather thanthe vast central vortex we must feel ourselvesto be’.Deadman’s Pedalby Alan WarnerJonathan Cape, 2012It is the early 1970s in the Highlands of Scotlandand for 16-year-old Simon Crimmons there’sreally not much to do. He can hang aroundwith his pals or his first-ever girlfriend, Nikki,he can dream about a first motorbike to gethim out of the Port and among the hills, but intruth he’s going nowhere. The only local dramaand romance is provided by the rural railway,and Simon ends up working on the trains bychance, thrown into a community of jadedolder men. But that summer he is introducedto a world far more glamorous and strange.He meets the louche, bohemian Alex, and hisdark, gorgeous sister, Varie: all that remainsof ‘the doomed family’ of the great house atBroken Moan, where their father, AndrewBultitude, is Commander of the Pass. WhenSimon falls in love with the otherworldly Variehe is suddenly given a freedom and mobilitythat is both thrilling and vertiginous. WithThe Deadman’s Pedal, Alan Warner returns tothe landscapes of Morvern Callar and his earlynovels: a world where the real and the surreal,grim trade unionists and the crazed aristocracy,live under the shadows of the same greatmountains, along the same railway line. Ademented comedy, a wild romantic fling – TheDeadman’s Pedal is another thrillingly imaginedadventure by one of our finest novelists.Small Worldby Richard PriceCarcanet, 2012From the ‘small world’ of modern family life,evoked with humour and an acute ear for itsintricate dynamics, Richard Price’s Small Worldtravels into the catastrophe of sudden, devastatingillness. Price’s poems explore how theworld must be relearned – by the patient, bythe poet. How far is it true that ‘Only translationsremain / of what we were’? A love letter,a record, Small World is an unforgettable testimonyto love and courage.Definite Articlesby Tom LeonardWord Power Books, 2013Tom Leonard’s Definite Articles covers fortyyears of essays, articles, reviews, and journalentries. The material is political, literary, topicaland personal, and includes in its scope: The‘news’ and what it never says – language andpower – Roger Quin, homeless poet – poetryand its place or otherwise in school – CharlesReznikoff, modern american master – CarlosWilliams versus class diction in Britain – thepublic library and what democracy means –Robert Browning – R D Laing remembered– John Clare – What does ‘culture’ mean? –Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya – On the Mass Bombingwww.thebottleimp.org.ukThe Bottle Imp is the ezine of the Scottish Writing Exhibition www.scottishwriting.org.ukand is published by the Association for Scottish Literary Studies www.asls.org.uk 2