They are in The Deep south of America to catch up with Uncle John and Auntie Maureen who reside in rural Alabama. Tom and Murdo arrived there by bus after a mix up that saw them stopping off in Allentown, Mississippi.
We see everything from Murdo's point of view. It is as if we are in his head, living his confusion and self-doubt with him. He is a gentle soul, not academically gifted but he has a talent for playing the accordion and in Allentown he experiences the Zydeco playing of Queen Monzee-ay and is enchanted:
What a sound! That was special. That was so special. And the girl scrubbed it along facing the old lady who nodded her head on that two-three beat rhythm, glancing around at the folk watching, smiling a little but only in the music ... This lady kept on looking, seeing the people watching, keeping her eye on them. Murdo liked that. This was her playing, she was playing. She had her way and there she was.
James Kelman's text is like a stream of consciousness and Murdo's voice has a distinctly Scottish twang but it is never inaccessible. I don't think the word "you" is ever used. Instead, it's always "ye" to suggest a working class Scottish accent.
Murdo simply has to get to Lafayette in Louisiana to meet up with Queen Monzee-ay again. He also fancies her granddaughter Sarah who seems rather sweet on Murdo too. There is a festival and Murdo needs to play with the Zydeco legend.
In some ways this is a "coming of age" novel from a writer who does something more uplifting with his writing than just angry bleating about the plight of the downtrodden. There is affection and understanding here and celebration too.
It was one of those books where you reach the last page and you feel kind of sorry that it's over. But maybe it would not be the same for you. After all, one person's meat is another's poison.
After I closed the book, I did a bit of googling and discovered that back in 2018 a film heavily based on the novel had been created called "Dirt Road To Lafayette". It is available on Amazon Prime so I watched it tonight.
It was a nice film but of course it totally failed to do what the writing had done - putting me inside Murdo's head as though wrapped in his uncertainties and his sense of loss. Not only had his mother died of cancer but he had lost his sister Eilidh as well. The trip to The Deep South became a kind of healing with the prospect of better tomorrows and joy.
ALL WE HAVE IS THE STORY - Selected Interviews 1973-2022 James Kelman.
ReplyDeletePublished by Kairos PM Press. Oakland, California.
The second interview (1974) in this paperback edition was written by me.
Jim was working as a bus driver and writing stories in his spare time.
In 1974 Jim was 27 years old and married with two small daughters.
We never met again. Glasgow is a big city but doesn't feel like that to me.
The 350 pages cover the original thinking of a writer who went his own way.
A man who switched off his inner censor in the words of Ted Hughes, a man
who expresses his anger over the way the political system treats the poor.
His Booker Prize Winning novel How Late It Was, How Late was vilified by some
English reviewers. Certain English bookshops refused to stock it.
Alan Massie, Scotland's other major novelist, died in February at his home
in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. He was 87. Alan admired Kelman's work.
Any reader curious to see Selkirk can go there on YouTube.
SELKIRK 4K. A BEAUTIFUL TOWN WALK ON A RAINY DAY.
Dreamy Destinations.
Alan Massie obituary The Guardian online. 4 February 2026.
DeleteMassie and Kelman were worlds apart.
A son of the Empire, born in Singapore in 1938, Massie went to posh
Glenalmond school in rural Perthshire, and Trinity College, Cambridge.
He was a romantic Tory and a lone opponent of Scottish devolution.
Massie wrote novels about pagan Rome much admired by Gore Vidal.
Unlike Vidal, Massie was unfashionably Christian and church going.
Kelman is defiantly atheist and Marxist, loathing middle class culture.
His short stories & novels are unlike anything else you'll ever read.
You are a dark horse Mr H. I looked for you via Google and found references to other Jack Haggertys. There must be a factory that churns them out. I looked in five charity shops today - hoping to find other novels by James Kelman but it looks as if I will have to visit Waterstones - that is if I can remember the numbers for the padlock on my wallet.
DeleteKairos PM Press did not try to contact me. Not that I mind.
DeleteI was working for the defunct Clydebank Press when I interviewed Kelman.
My profile of him is pedestrian and I winced to read it again. I was 23.
James Campbell writes about me in Just Go Down To The Road,
his memoir of his life in Glasgow before he met James Baldwin.
James didn't check his facts. He said I had never been abroad.
I was in Paris age 15 and in Paris & Barcelona age 19 and in Ireland
three times before James and I were friends. He worked for the TLS.
This sounds like a story I would really like . I'll check to see if it's in the library.
ReplyDeleteIt was right for me Red but I am not promising that it will be right for you. I hope so though.
DeleteSounds like a good novel. I love zydeco music -- so fun and high energy!
ReplyDeleteThe sound of that music comes out well in the film version Debra.
DeleteToo often films are unable to give the same connection, because what you see is the producer/director's vision of how things were. When you read the book, your mind creates its own vision. I'll try to find a copy of the book for myself.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Elsie. It is good to cherish the versions we create in our own heads when reading.
DeleteZydeco? Monzee-ay? Words I have never come across before.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a review that makes me want to read the novel and see the film.
You're welcome.
DeleteIt sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteSome novels can be a chore but for me this one was a delight.
DeleteNever heard of that author. I shall look for him.
ReplyDeleteMe too
DeleteI hope you find him. He might be in hiding.
DeleteA solid book review.
ReplyDeleteSo soild you can beat it vwith a hammer.
DeleteInteresting, I read How Late it Was2 a while back.
ReplyDeleteBooks vs film/tv is also interesting. For me, the following TV/movie lived up to or exceeded the book
Blade runner (exceeds)
The English Patient - different
The Remains of the Day
The Raj Quartet (exceeds)
Shawshank
The are certainly very different experiences. Did you enjoy "How Late It Was" 2?
DeleteJust checked my review and yes I did enjoy it.
DeleteI haven't dipped my toe into fiction for a while - I enjoy history and mythology too much. I know there are fiction books that cover this stuff but I've always been nervous to try it.
ReplyDelete