Member Since: April 12, 2010
David Hunter
Books
This member has not published any books.Smashwords book reviews by David Hunter
- The Lebanese Troubles
on April 12, 2010
This is a carefully crafted book that surprised me by avoiding much of the subtle 'formula' that afflicts too much of contemporary literary fiction. Elements of that formula are present of course: a rather pathetic central character (Richard) who is a prisoner of events, for instance. But Miles doesn't overdo introspection. In fact it's quite refreshing how little agonising and self-analysis Richard undergoes. He mopes and sulks but in an entirely authentic way. He doesn't often think things through, he just wallows in self-pity. And when he does think about his situation, it's in a very self-centred way - everyone to blame but him. And all the characters, who we see filtered through Richard's rather niaf eye are well drawn and entirely believable. My favourites are the sophisticated Lebanese businessman who runs rings round the hapless westerners and Richard's long-suffering wife, who remains something of a puzzle. Is she in fact as irritating as she comes across at times, or does Richard's filtering eye taint and twist her portrayal? It's a book that starts with hints of wife-swapping and expatriate decadence, then turns into a worm's eye (Richard of course being the worm) view of a country sliding into civil war (and naturally that mirrors Richards own slide into turpitude, but that's part of the literary formula, but done well enough not to be intrusive. Too often such things just reek of the author's cleverness. Not here). And then there's a hint of the spy-thriller, an unexpected twist that caught me slightly by surprise but with a very appropriate resolution, quiet in keeping with the realism of the novel. The fourth part sees almost a complete change of tone, a desert journey where perhaps Richard achieves some sort of epiphany and leads naturally into the end where there are resolutions like those of real lives, no trite wrappings up here. What really makes this book stand out, well above the mass of competent literary character studies, is the Lebanese background, which is simply wonderfully done, from the mountain idylls through the city grime to the decadence of the casinos and the variety of Lebanese characters encountered. A perfect snapshot of what living in Lebanon at the time must have felt like. It's a book to read twice (at least). And one to savour.