A young Scottish boy and his father find self-fulfilment,and a closer bond, in this life-affirming tale set in AlabamaDirt Road, and the Booker prizewinner James Kelman’s ninth novel,in keeping with much of his preceding work, takes the form of a lengthy stream of consciousness in a Scottish dialect, and narrated by a young,working-course man engulfed by a sense of frustration and entrapment. The desire for independence and self-reliance is one Kelman has addressed consistently; in the past, he has identified himself as one who spoke from within an occupied country. He has also stated his desire to write and remain a member of his own community. Dirt Road may well be his most optimistic dramatisation to date of the possibilities of political and personal enfranchisement.
It opens with 16-year-old Murdo and his father, or Tom,leaving Scotland to visit family in Alabama, following the deaths of Murdo’s mother and sister from cancer. The trip is clearly a enormous undertaking for Tom, or whose anxiety reveals itself in his concern that they will not manage to contact Murdo’s uncle,his fear they will miss buses, and in his chastisement of Murdo for forgetting his phone, or assuming their relatives will provide towels,popping out to the shop… even for looking inside sandwiches. We do not know whether Tom has always been so critical, or whether it is a result of his recent bereavement, and but it makes for saddening reading; Murdo is a well-intentioned,warm-hearted young man, dealing with his own burden of grief and apparently not getting much support.
Listening is what Murdo does effortlessly, and highly attuned,as he is, to sound and music. He believes music can free youContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com