The Cutting Room

by Louise Welsh | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1841954047 Global Overview for this book
Registered by baileybird of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on 7/27/2005
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22 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by baileybird from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 27, 2005
'Liberated' from charity shop

Journal Entry 2 by baileybird from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Sunday, July 31, 2005
Wow, what an interesting debut novel. I find it amazing that this was written by a woman as she seems (in my opinion) to write extremely well from a male's perspective. The subject matter for this book is a little dark, and there are a few fairly graphic sexual descriptions in it, but don't let that put you off. Underneath it all is a compelling storyline that bubbles away until the unusual conclusion. I really enjoyed this book, and also the literary references which are peppered throughout.


Journal Entry 3 by baileybird at By Mail in A fellow BookCrosser, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, August 2, 2005

Released 18 yrs ago (8/3/2005 UTC) at By Mail in A fellow BookCrosser, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to sunny Scotland to be read by Nell-Lu, enjoy!!!

Journal Entry 4 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, August 4, 2005
Just arrived by post.

Thanks, baileybird, for the RABCK! I'm looking forward to reading this and will get onto it straight away. Also, ta for the postcard. What a lovely package to receive!

Journal Entry 5 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, August 6, 2005
Really interesting - Louise Welsh is definately an author to watch. Thanks, Baileybird.

The narrator, Rilke, is an auctioneer who comes across some disturbing photographs and a collection of rare erotica in the attic of a dead man's house. The bereaved sister wants the entire contents of the attic burnt, but Rilke is drawn into unravelling the mystery he's uncovered. The complexity in the story comes from Rilke's character: he is remarkably familiar with Glasgow's underworld and his own sex life is pretty sordid, consisting as it does of anonymous encounters in grim surroundings. There are hints of some event in his past (a crime? a mistake? a failure to protect someone loved?) that haunts him.

A couple of out-of-character decisions by important minor characters are the only real flaws in this novel, although the graphic descriptions and dark atmosphere mean it won't be to everyone's taste.

I'm going to continue baileybird's Bookray:

Book ray:
sunlightbub, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, UK - arrived 23 August 2005
Tazzell, Laurencekirk, Scotland, UK - arrived 29 September 2005
Lisa-B, Riedstadt, Hessen, Germany - arrived 08 November 2005
Jebbie74, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - arrived 08 December 2005
sarradee, Ovilla, Texas, USA - arrived 22 December 2005
BrookeH, Fort Drum, New York, USA - skipped
miss-gonewest, Perth, Western Australia, Australia - arrived 26 March 2006
Winterson, Brighton, East Sussex, UK - skipped
Bookray complete! miss-gonewest is organising a continuing ray, so please PM her if you want to join

Journal Entry 6 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Monday, August 8, 2005
I'm lending this book to ShuChan to read while I'm getting the bookray organised - she will pass it back sometime next week ready to continue its travels.

Thursday, 18 August 2005
ShuChan has given the book back to me so it's ready to head off to sunlightbub. ShuChan is a real Scottish person (unlike me - I'm English but live in Scotland) and she's offered to provide translations if anyone needs them - there is a lot of Scots English in this book. So, just PM ShuChan if you need some help with the language. Thanks ShuChan!

Journal Entry 7 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, August 19, 2005
This book is all packaged up and ready to continue its journey. I'll take it into the post office tomorrow morning. Enjoy, sunlightbub!

Journal Entry 8 by ShuChan from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, August 20, 2005
Hi. Nell-Lu lent me this before she sent it on the rest of the book ray. Thanks, Baileybird, for liberating it in the first place!

I largely enjoyed it very much. Sometimes, you're sort of sucked into a book every time you open it, and this is one of those. Nell-Lu and I discussed a couple of flaws in the plot where a character or two didn't behave as we thought they would have towards the end. That said, there are many luminous moments in the writing and it's a lot better than my first novel is going to be, with an intriguing plot and a disparate cast of characters.

See Nell-Lu's journal entry for how I've offered to help with the Scots dialect in the conversations and descriptions. You're welcome to PM me. Alternatively, I've put a note in the book with an email address for me.

ShuChan

Journal Entry 9 by Sunnybubble from Wallasey, Merseyside United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Received this early this morning, strange as the postman normally comes at lunchtime,anyway....Nell-Lu included a yummy bar of Green & Blacks which lasted until after dinner tonight ( quite good going I thought!) I love all the post-its on the book, and I'm looking forward to it..I've got 2 rings ahead of this, but will get onto it asap. Thanks to BaileyBird and all for getting it this far xxx

Journal Entry 10 by Sunnybubble from Wallasey, Merseyside United Kingdom on Sunday, September 25, 2005
This will be going back out on Monday...I seem to have been hot by the curse of the bookrings - all arriving at once!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the main character Rilkes was going to be really dislikeable, howver I grew to love him! I never guessed the twist.

It's on it's way back to Sctoland for a spell, to my buddy Tazzell *Waves* Hope you enjoy it too, hun xxx Thanks Nell, Baileybird and all, for sending this one on a trip xxx

Journal Entry 11 by Tazzell from Laurencekirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, September 29, 2005
Arrived today in Sunny Scotland. *Waving madly* back atcha P ;) Thanks for the adorable wee card and for the surprise for the squirlies (they think bookcrossing is even more fun now lol)
Have got 2 ring books to get through before this one but fingers crossed I'll have it away to Germany soon enough. I'm looking forward to some written dialect - must be something to do with the surname Welsh/Welch!!

Journal Entry 12 by Tazzell from Laurencekirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Monday, October 31, 2005
I enjoyed this book, found a couple of characters a bit weak and not enough information was forthcoming about them but the end was a nice twist and it's introduced me to a genre I don't often dip into. Thanks for starting the ring :)
Waiting on address for LisaB and then book will be winging its way off on its next adventure.

Posted off to Lisa-B in Germany yesterday 01/11/05

Journal Entry 13 by Lisa-B on Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Thanks for sharing the book!

Journal Entry 14 by Lisa-B on Friday, November 11, 2005
Unusual and dark. I liked that it was not overloaded with unnecessary details, a bit like 1950s "crime noir" books. Unfortunately the second half of the novel wasn't as good as the first half. The end was unexpected, but came a bit too much as a surprise.
Regarding the Scots English: It wasn't too bad - I had much more trouble with Scots English in Brookmyre's books - and I have no idea if it sounds real or contrived to those whose mother language is English or Scots English.

I'll be mailing The Cutting Room to Jebbie74 today.

Journal Entry 15 by Jebbie74 from Oshawa, Ontario Canada on Thursday, December 8, 2005
Arrrived here safe and sound. I've put all other books aside so I hope to read this one fairly quick. I'm thinking I'll enjoy it!

Journal Entry 16 by Jebbie74 from Oshawa, Ontario Canada on Sunday, December 11, 2005
Wow! I finished this one two days ago, but have had connection issues and wasn't able to post anything.

I don't think I have read a tale quite like this one before, and I have read a lot of thriller/mysteries. I definately found it to be a different plot (atleast for me, anyway) and it delved into an underground that most people know little about.

I enjoyed it very much and have PM'd sarradee for her addy. :)

Journal Entry 17 by Jebbie74 from Oshawa, Ontario Canada on Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Put in the mail for sarradee today :)

Journal Entry 18 by sarradee from Mansfield, Texas USA on Thursday, December 22, 2005
Arrived today, thanks Jebbie! I have to finish the other ring I'm reading and then I'll dive into this one. Looks great!

Journal Entry 19 by sarradee from Mansfield, Texas USA on Sunday, December 25, 2005
Fantastic look into the dark side of life, from the point of view of Rilke an auctioneer, who is asked to clear out a dead man's house in a week. The dead guy has antiques and objects de art that the auction house is fairly slavering over. It will be the sale of the century. One tiny thing, the dead guy has amassed quite a collection of pornography, and not all of it entirely savory. His sister wants it destroyed, and it's up to Rilke to accede to his wishes or lose the collection. There were some out of character actions taken, presumably to advance the storyline. Overall this novel was a tight read. Interestingly enough this is a debut, I'm looking forward to more from this author. I was sucked in from the first couple of pages, and it made wonderful reading on the lengthy car trip to the inlaws.

I've pm'ed BrookeH, but will give her at least a week to reply before trying again because of the holidays.

Update 12/31/05 - I'm pm'ing BrookeH again, because I haven't heard from her. If I don't hear from her within the next week, I'll try the next person on the list.

Update 1/7/06 - Never heard from BrookeH, so I've pm'ed NellLu about skipping her, and asked Miss-gonewest for her address.

Update 1/10/06 - Book will be going in the mail today via surface mail to Miss-gonewest in Australia. Glad to have finally gotten this sorted out!

Journal Entry 20 by miss-gonewest from Perth City, Western Australia Australia on Monday, March 27, 2006
This poor lonely little book was caught yesterday in my mailbox after over two whole months of travelling 'round the world! I noticed it was post marked Jan 10th and while the post office warns it could take that long to travel, I've found it never usually does....I've been proven wrong (or are they right?).

Anyway, I managed to skim through a few pages last night and it seems like its going to be a cracker of a book... it has that gripping, good story feel to it.

I am off to Sydney shortly for a wee holiday so will hopefully take this along for the ride.

Many thanks to Sarradee for sending this to me, and to baileybird for sharing this. I will be back with my thoughts as soon as I am done.

Journal Entry 21 by miss-gonewest from Perth City, Western Australia Australia on Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wow I have finished this already… I guess once I started I just couldn’t stop reading it and that’s always a sign of a good story!

I don’t know what I was expecting, but there were a few thoughts that came to mind… the oddest being that the character of Rilke is described as being sucked in to the seedy underbelly of fetishes & desires… but it seemed to me that he was pretty much there already! I found that he was so shocked at his discovery quite strange given some of his own seedy behaviour and I unfortunately that thought was in the back of my mind through the whole story.

As others have said, I agree that he ended up being a likeable character – but I think Rose was my most favourite! The description of her by the author was so evocative and descriptive, I could really visualise her.

I found the most endearing aspect was the warmth of the characters – from Policeman Andersen to drag queen Les, I thought they were all colourful and sweet.

While the story was quite lurid in parts, it never became offensive or dark and I didn’t find the shock factor to be overused which was a relief. All in all a fabulous debut novel, from an author I’d be keen to read more of.

Interestingly the inside cover suggests that the story has been optioned for film/television rights… I for one would be a viewer!

Thanks so much to all for sharing this book. I’ve PM’d Winterson for her/his details and will get the book moving along very shortly.

3rd April - Have PM'd Winterson twice for details... will keep trying!

6th April - Have PM'd Winterson for the third time for his details... will wait another few days but will revert back to to the ring owner to see what to do next. I am away for easter so this will be mailed to someone either before the holidays, or right after!!!

10th April - no luck with PM's or the ISO shout-out in the forums; have reverted to Nell-lu to see what to do next!

Journal Entry 22 by miss-gonewest from Perth City, Western Australia Australia on Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Seeing as Winterson couldn't be located, this book is going to continue on a new ray! This will be a well travelled little book and it is so exciting to know it will make new friends.

The list of new participants is:

1. AmberC, NT Australia, can post international
2. aava, Finland, Euro post preferred
3. Rhenium3, Prague, CZ, prefer to ship Euro
4. Kiki66, Germany, prefer to ship Euro
5. Book-man-8, Germany, can post international
6. Sterile, UK, post pref unknown
7. StoryChaser, UK, will post anywhere
8. Lpree, USA, will post anywhere
9. Rooshill, USA, US post preferred
10. Icanfly, MI, USA, will post anywhere
11. saidenuj, USA, prefers US/Canada post
12. CheriePie, USA, will post anywhere
13. princess1984, Canada, Canada post only
14. Titihood, Canada, prefers Canada/US post

If anyone has issues with the postal order & where you are shipping to, please let me know!?
Last in line please continue ray, trade, RABCK or wild release.


Journal Entry 23 by miss-gonewest at Bookray in BOOKRAY, Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, April 20, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (4/20/2006 UTC) at Bookray in BOOKRAY, Bookray -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted off to AmberC in the NT today…. As the very kind man at Australia Post informed me, it should take 4 – 6 days as they don’t send mail to the Northern Territory by air from Western Australia, rather they send it by rail. A very interesting fact to learn!

Anwhoo, enjoy the book and thanks for offering to post him overseas when you are done.


Journal Entry 24 by amberC from Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Waiting for me when i got home from holidays this morning. I have a few before it, but will get to it soon.

Journal Entry 25 by amberC from Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Saturday, May 27, 2006
Enjoyed this a lot. It's subject was dark, but it the book didn't wallow in the darkness....i know what i mean,can't explain it well. I liked the twist at the end and didn't find it a total surprise. Rilke is an unusual hero.

posting to aava on Monday.

Journal Entry 26 by aava from Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi / Mellersta Finland Finland on Saturday, July 15, 2006
I´m still doing the "Grand Tour" in Europe, but I heard that this book has arrived. I´ll be back home next week and I promise to read the book asap!

Journal Entry 27 by aava from Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi / Mellersta Finland Finland on Thursday, August 3, 2006
This wa such a great book! I read it during my holiday and it was just perfect. I really liked all those colourful characters(especially Rose). It is a rare chance to read this good a debut novel, so thanks every one for sharing it.There were a few words that I didn´t know but it made the book all the more interesting. What is it in the Scottish that ´s just so exciting???

I´m happy to forward the book next week to Rhenium3. Happy reading!

edit 10.08.2006: mailed the book today.

Journal Entry 28 by Rhenium3 from Skellefteå, Västerbotten Sweden on Friday, August 18, 2006
Just started this book... well, I think Im on chapter 3, and so far me likey! No problem with the Scottish dialect.... I was just in edinburg recently so I feel like I have more of a grasp of what the setting is like (though it is in a different city). I look forward to finishing it, already has me hooked! :)

So, have finished the book and... well, I thought there would be more, mystery to it.. sometimes it was going into too much detail where I wasnt interested, and too little detail where I was... I guess I was a tad disappointed, but it was a good read all the same..so on to the next person! :)

Journal Entry 29 by wingkiki66wing from Gauting, Bayern Germany on Saturday, September 2, 2006
Another truly well travelled book! :-)

thanks for sending it - I didn't know it'll come from Prague so I was quite curious when the postman brought me the parcel today ;-)

Having just another book to read before this one I am sure I will start pretty soon...

Journal Entry 30 by wingkiki66wing from Gauting, Bayern Germany on Thursday, September 28, 2006
That certainly was interesting... I agree with baileybird that amazingly a woman wrote this.. from this very manly point of view... though my husband commented that since Rilke is gay it is more a 'womanly' point of view and so it is not so unusual... :-)
Well.. however I was attracted by this story and wanted (along with Rilke) to know more...

I pm'd Book-man-8 and wait now for his address...

Edit: address has arrived and book is on its way to Bochum (29.9)

Journal Entry 31 by book-man-8 from Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Wednesday, October 4, 2006
I just got it in the mail. Thanks Kiki66 for sending and all the other bookcrossers for sharing!

Journal Entry 32 by book-man-8 from Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Thursday, October 5, 2006
This is quite a surprising and intriguing book! And it's written in a way you cannot stop reading... It seems strange but also very real. Well "painted" characters with some twisted ways of thinking and acting. But I enjoyed it immensly!
If you really liked this one, you should also read: "The Food Chain"
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3719637

Sending it on as soon as I get an address.

Journal Entry 33 by book-man-8 at on Friday, October 6, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (10/7/2006 UTC) at

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

It's now off to "sterile" Enjoy!

Journal Entry 34 by Sterile from Burnley, Lancashire United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Thankyou for the book which arrived safe and well this morning in the UK. It's travels have 'softened' it up and it now has the feel of an old but favourite pair of gloves. The book arrived with alsorts of postcards, postitnotes and even dried Heather inside! These will travel again with the ring as they do seem to be part of the experience now. Will try to read in good time and pass on asap.

Journal Entry 35 by Sterile from Burnley, Lancashire United Kingdom on Sunday, October 15, 2006
I have just finished this book and although I enjoyed the read it wasn't a'10' for me. I will go with the write up on the back cover and say yes it had the discovery, decadence and deviousness, but IMO was not a crime novel! Perhaps I am used to more traditional novels in crime where there is a bit of 'whodunnit' and mystery? At one time during the reading of the book I had a look at the other reviews to see if it was just my thinking, or had I seriously missed the plot and was actually reading Irvine (Welsh). I was lulled into thinking the ending would make up for the slightly wacky story line but unfortunately whilst the ending was a surprise it had all the hallmarks of a short story in a magazine. Pleasurable but did not knock my socks off. Pmed StoryChaser to move the bookring on to the next member.

RELEASE NOTES:

Bookring release to StoryChaser 2nd Class 16th October 2006

Journal Entry 37 by StoryChaser from Waterlooville, Hampshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Arrived safe & sound, thanks Sterile. This book has certaintly travelled; I look forward to starting it as soon as I have finished my current book.

Journal Entry 38 by StoryChaser from Waterlooville, Hampshire United Kingdom on Thursday, October 26, 2006
This is a great book. A dark and interesting story, beautifully written. There were just a couple of bits at the end that I would have liked cleared up better, but apart from that I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to miss-gonewest for continuing this ray; maybe it will just keep going & going....

Posting off to Lpree tomorrow.

Journal Entry 39 by Lpree from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Monday, November 20, 2006
This arrived a week or two ago - sorry I didn't log it in before now!

Anyway, I've already started reading it and will go ahead and PM the next in line so I don't hold it any longer than necessary.

Thanks for sharing it! So far it is an interesting story!

Journal Entry 40 by Lpree from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Thursday, February 1, 2007
I'm very sorry for holding this for so long. I have read it and thought it was a very strange story, but I did enjoy it and was surprised at the ending.

I've already got the address for the next in line and will mail this out in the next couple of days.

Thanks very much for sharing it and sorry again for holding it so long.

Journal Entry 41 by rooshill from Grass Valley, California USA on Saturday, February 10, 2007
Got it! It's waiting in line behind my current ring 'East of Eden' and a double-book ring waiting on my shelf - 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Son of Rosemary' but I've designated a special part of my shelf so I won't forget it's a ring. :) Will get to it ASAP - promise!

Journal Entry 42 by rooshill from Grass Valley, California USA on Monday, February 19, 2007
I liked this overall, but there wasn't the kind of pervading suspense that I like in this kind of story. Maybe it's only paling in comparison because I just finished a couple of Ira Levin book. Good twist near the end and interesting, though not all very solid, characters.

Journal Entry 43 by icanfly from Grand Blanc, Michigan USA on Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Received yesterday--should be able to start it next weekend. Thanks!

Journal Entry 44 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Monday, April 9, 2007
Arrived in the mail today. I should be able to get started on it right away. Thanks!

Journal Entry 45 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Friday, April 13, 2007
Engrossing! After a slow-starting month, I read this book in basically two days. I loved the characters - so varied and off-the-wall, yet somehow believable. There were a couple of loose ends that never got tied up, but that's a small matter IMHO. Will be PMing the next in line right away. Thanks for letting me participate in this book's journey!

Released 16 yrs ago (6/29/2007 UTC) at USPS in to a fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sorry I've had this for so long. Life sometimes gets in the way, ya know? It was mailed out today to CheriePie. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 47 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Tuesday, July 3, 2007
This arrived today. I hope it's okay to hang on to it for a few months... I think so as I noticed others have. But I'm behind on other rings and I'm trying to get books read for 5 live swaps at the BookObsessors meetup in Ohio at the end of this month too. I'm looking forward to checking out this author. Thanks! :)

Journal Entry 48 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Saturday, October 13, 2007
Rilke is a down-on-his-luck auctioneer in Glasgow, Scotland who comes into a estate job that has seriously piqued his interest. In the converted attic of the McKindless residence, hidden among a huge collection of rare and hard-to-find first edition pornography, he finds some extremely disturbing photographs.... Proving that McKindless was more than just a reader, but an actual participant in some very nasty stuff!

I'm glad I found the time to read this. Thank you for allowing me hang on to it longer than usual. I'm not much of a "true crime" reader usually, but the subject matter of this particular book (pornography and other sexual deviations) greatly interested me. ;-) Apparently, this was a first novel from this Scottish author, Louise Welsh, and though I had a slightly difficult time with some of the colloquialisms, it wasn't anything that took away from the story, and I was usually able to figure out what the author was referring to within a page or two max. An exciting read!


I PMed princess1984 for her address a few days ago, but haven't heard back yet. I'll give her about a week and then try again, before moving on to the next person.

UPDATE 19-OCT-2007: Mailed to princess1984 on 10/20/07 via USPS First Class International.

Journal Entry 49 by princess1984 from Arnprior, Ontario Canada on Saturday, November 17, 2007
Just got this in the mail. Have a couple books ahead of it, though will read ASAP.

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