|
|
Executive Times |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2007 Book Reviews |
|||
|
|
Paula
Spencer by Roddy Doyle |
|||
|
Rating: |
*** |
|||
|
|
(Recommended) |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Click on
title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Addictive Roddy Doyle reprises one of his vivid
characters Paula
Spencer in this new novel. Whether a reader is familiar with this
character or not, Paula
Spencer stands alone as a crisp presentation of working-class life in She’s on her way home from
work. The Dart has just left Connolly. She has brochures in her bag. Dell,
Gateway, Intel. She went into Peat’s on The weather’s been desperate.
Summer, my arse. It’s cold. She’ll need a coat
before the computer. The old one gave up on her this afternoon. The sleeve
fell off when she was putting it on. No ripping or anything, it just came
away with her arm. The material was worn like paper at her shoulder. No
stitching that could have put it back on. She’s always hated sewing. Shaking fingers. She threw it out, into the
wheelie. And she didn’t mind too much. She’ll save for a new one. She knows
she will. D’you think it
grows on fuckin’ trees? That was what Charlo used to say. And she did it once—she looked up
into a big tree, in St Anne’s Park. When Jack was a little lad in his buggy,
and Leanne was with her too. One of those big fat trees, a chestnut or
something—she’s not good on trees. —Any money up there, love? —No, said Leanne. —Ah well.Your
daddy must be right, so. The bitterness was natural.
But she should never have dished it out to the kids. More guilt. She didn’t
do it often. But she did it. She’s human, she’s only fuckin’ human. They’re moving again. Out
of Clontarf station. Over the bridge. She used to
clean one of those houses. How long will it be before Leanne is searching the
trees for money? She’ll face it. She will—no running away. —D’you
like the White Stripes, Jack? she asks. Jack
looks at her. He has that
expression—what’s she on about now? She loves that look. He’s had it since he
was six or seven. It hasn’t really changed as he’s got older. He looks at her. Except in one big way.
There’s less fear in the look now. He knows she isn’t drunk. He looks at her. —They’re airight, he says. His music is none of her
business. She rarely breaks the rules. —That sounds lovely. Who is
it? She asked it once, last
year. —Eminem,
he said. She stayed at his bedroom
door and listened as Eminem told his mother to bend
over and take it like a slut—OKAY, MA? She leaned against the door and smiled
in at Jack, like a complete eejit. She watched him
squirming. Caught and angry. She was sure the Eminem
fella had good reasons for his anger. But she wondered
about Jack, why he was listening to that stuff about killing your mother.
Not that he wasn’t entitled to. But anyway, she copped on. She closed the
door and went downstairs. All mothers feel guilt. She
heard some woman on the telly say that. She saw her
on that afternoon show on RTE. The woman was smiling. She had glasses on top
of her head. She’d written a book about being a mother. For fuck sake. A month later, she watched Eminem’s film with Jack. 8 Mile, the video. She had to sit there and keep her mouth shut.
And watch. The angry young man, the alco ma. Slim
Shady is Jack Spencer. And Paula was Kim Basinger.
She wondered if he was putting her through it, making her watch what she’d
done to him. It ended. —What
did you think? —Good, he said. —Rough, she said. —Yeah. —He’s
a good actor. —Yeah. —What did you think of his mother? —She was in the first Batman film. —Was
she? —Yeah. When she was younger. That was all. And that was grand. He
rewound it and brought it straight back to the video shop. She’s stayed well away from his music
since. The
consequences of Paula’s drinking are revealed in Paula Spencer.
While she is now sober, alcohol and her addiction continues to dominate
personal interactions, especially with the children who grew up while she was
drunk. Doyle allows empathy for Paula to develop on these pages, and the
novel shines with wit and wisdom. Steve Hopkins,
April 25, 2007 |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
Go to Executive Times
Archives |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the May 2007
issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Paula
Spencer.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
