Lanark
A Life in Four Books

Heaven and hell… Tunnels and corridors… Labyrinths and hospital wards… “In my travels, as I walked through many regions and countries, it was my chance to happen into that famous continent of Universe. A very large and spacious continent it is; it lieth between the heavens. It is a place well watered......more

Some novels are like the Cheshire Cat, the only thing left of them is their smile. Can't remember much about this big, crazy book but I do remember it was big, and crazy, and about Glasgow, and not-Glasgow, which was called Unthank. I thought it was brilliant, but I can't tell you why now. Everythin......more

This novel is a mix of dystopia with fantasy elements and bildungsroman. We start in the future where we come across a dysfunctional group of pseudo-cognoscenti hanging out in a local cinema-cum-coffee shop called The Elite. In this section of the book, Lanark, our hero, lives a rather purposeless l......more

Lanark is an autobiography, a surreal depiction of hell, a literary and metafictional reflection, and a discourse on political systems. These elements amalgamate into a troubled and opaque whole, lacking any real pretence of cohesion; an entirely unique work, about as complex, original and ambitious......more

A difficult one to review because there are parts that I loved and parts that I did not. The book opens with Part Three, a magical realism narrative about a young man named Lanark who lives in Unthank and encounters people who seem vague, ethereal and remote, often grotesque and surreal, occasionall......more