Patrick Gale

I found Gale thanks to a recommendation from a friend, and absolutely loved the first book of his I read (Rough Music). I also enjoyed Little Bits of Baby, and The Aerodynamics of Pork, both of which also feature gay characters.

One or two of his are being shelved under gltb in bookshops and libararies simply because he's a gay author, and don't actually feature gay characters, so do watch out. I waded through most of Tree Surgery for Beginners before realising it wasn't a gay book at all....

I read 'The Aerodynamics of Pork' because Fennie raved about it, but was slightly disappointed.

I was irritated by the double story-line, which seemed fairly pointless.

For me, the book promised much and delivered little.

I will read more of his though, because it's easy enough. I know I've got another one somewhere.

Agree aboslutely on 'Pork', the double story line irritated me too, and I didn't think he was very successful in writing about a lesbian woman. She didn't ring 'true' at alll. The other storyline about the young gay man was much better and shows where Gale's skill lies, I think.

I find Gale quite odd - sometimes he's glorious, and then the next book will be drivel. He does seem to go with that routine (one good, one bad) - you just have to know which one is due next before making a reading decision!!

A
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Hehheh...

What annoys me is that the big book stores here in Brum carry his non gay titles on the open shelves, but won't stock his gay books. *fumes*

That's ridiculous!!!! This is the 21st century - words fail me!!!!

Annoyed of Godalming ...

Sigh!

A
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I've just been doing a search on Gale's books and found one that I simply *cannot* remember if I've read or not. I think it must be my age. LOL

It's called 'Facing the Tank' and is set in a town called Barrowcester which sounds very familiar... but the story doesn't quite 'click' for some reason. Eiither he wrote a couple of books set in teh same place, or I'm going quietly senile.

I have to admit I've only read one of his books "Rough Music" and I did like it tremendously. However, if you asked me why I would probably have to flick back through it to remember -- it was some time ago, but I kept it so I loved it enough to do that. I haven't tried his other work because as Anne says I've heard very mixed and inconsistent reactions to his work. Maybe I should try something else.

I really enjoyed Little Bits of Baby, in spite of the weird title.

I've just found another Gale I'd never heard of, in our local Oxfam bookshop. it's called Facts of Life and seems to be a colossal 'family epic' spanning several generations of a family living in a folly. The first couple of generations sound straight but the grandson sounds distinctly gay!

It's on my TBR pile and I probably won't get to it till next year but I'll let you know if it's any good.

Ooookay, I started Facts of Life just before Christmas and think I'll have to add it to Anne's 'drivel' pile.

It's pretty dire.

Basically it's a family epic (of the Cynthia Harrod Eagles variety) set around a 12-sided folly in Norfolk. The first generation are Edward, a German Jew who fled Germany just before the war, and Sally, a working class girl who's studied and become a doctor. They fall in love, marry, move into the folly and have kids, who become the second generation. Third generation includes Sam, a gay man who falls in love with the same man as his sister.

So far, so formulaic. The real trouble is the style. It's written in third omni pov with frequent hops between Edward and Sally, andd the end result is that you never feel as though you're getting to know eitherof them. When Edward does something awful involving his family who were left behind in Germany, I was so distanced that I didn't care.

Add to that a few inconsistencies in the timeline and a feeling that these people do so little work they must be living on thin air, and I'm wholly unconvinced.

Why *does* Gale write some books that are great and others that are pure tosh? Is he really two people?