The Seymour Tapes
1 journaler for this copy...
Another Tim Lott book another genre (comedy thriller current affairs spoof), he definitely doesn't stick to one kind of book, per his contemporaries Elton, Parsons, Hornby et al.
(29/09) *includes spoilers*
Tim Lott is one of my favourite writers, although this doesn’t quite tick all the boxes. I think he’s tried to be a bit too clever with the form, which can happen to the best of authors. Having read all of Lott’s books chronologically, I can see how he’s developing a strong recurring theme of male mental ‘disorder’ and disenfranchisation, kicking against the pricks of society, gender, family pressures & expectations. However, this gets a bit darker than before, a passable psychological thriller, although a bit clunky on the central idea of surveillance and lack of privacy.
As with ‘Rumours of a Hurricane’ (well all his books really!), it doesn’t paint a very positive picture of post-feminist man, in this case [medical] Dr Alex Seymour is manipulated by the enigmatic Sherry Thomas, and as it transpires his wife as well, labelled as a soft-touch by his warring teenage children and undermined professionally.
Last, but not least, I did like the way he weaved fact and fiction, if never entirely convincingly…I think in the end TL the chronicler of the Seymour Tapes is compromised and manipulated himself, mirroring the fate of his fictional cause celebre, although leaving with some credit, rather than brutally killed and flayed!!
(29/09) *includes spoilers*
Tim Lott is one of my favourite writers, although this doesn’t quite tick all the boxes. I think he’s tried to be a bit too clever with the form, which can happen to the best of authors. Having read all of Lott’s books chronologically, I can see how he’s developing a strong recurring theme of male mental ‘disorder’ and disenfranchisation, kicking against the pricks of society, gender, family pressures & expectations. However, this gets a bit darker than before, a passable psychological thriller, although a bit clunky on the central idea of surveillance and lack of privacy.
As with ‘Rumours of a Hurricane’ (well all his books really!), it doesn’t paint a very positive picture of post-feminist man, in this case [medical] Dr Alex Seymour is manipulated by the enigmatic Sherry Thomas, and as it transpires his wife as well, labelled as a soft-touch by his warring teenage children and undermined professionally.
Last, but not least, I did like the way he weaved fact and fiction, if never entirely convincingly…I think in the end TL the chronicler of the Seymour Tapes is compromised and manipulated himself, mirroring the fate of his fictional cause celebre, although leaving with some credit, rather than brutally killed and flayed!!
