Publication
W. W. Norton (1995), Edition: New Ed, 374 pages
Original publication date
1994
Collections
Genres
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 1994)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 1996)
Description
Winner of the Booker Prize. "A work of marvelous vibrance and richness of character." "New York Times" Book Review
User reviews
LibraryThing member alexdaw
You're gony have to read this book. There's nay doubt about it, nay doubt.
Of course, if you're easily offended by strong language aye, then it's probably no for you.
For a potty mouth like me it was aye a bit of a shock like.
Of course I was completely sucked in by the Scottish accent. It was hard
We are introduced to Sammy as he wakes up from a really bad hangover.....slumped in the corner of a pavement somewhere, wearing someone else's sneakers. He is the perfect anti-hero. I spent most of the book wishing he'd have a bath and a shave. Simple things aye but they really got on me nerves. Does anything happen?...well yes, in a way....You're on the edge of your seat most of the time waiting for it to happen. If you want to witness character development on a grandiose scale then this is the book for you. I felt I knew every inch of Sammy by the end. As readers, we're living and breathing his stream of consciousness, which is exhausting but I was up for the challenge.
Philosophers have argued about what constitutes reality since time immemorial. "What's reality?" they debate amongst themselves..."Is it me or is it you?...Is it this chair or is it this glass of wine?" Obviously some poor wretch is making the bed and cleaning the bath while they pontificate and excruciate over the wretched question. There was a bit of me that wondered while reading this novel..."Is it all in Sammy's head?" Which led me to the next philosophical thought...."How much of our life happens in our head?" Now you're probably thinking - "She's getting all philosophical like that Alex Daw." Aye - mebbe. But it's a fact isn't it? You cannay get away from the voice in your head. You try and avoid it like but it's always there - lurking....waiting to catch you. Commenting on your cleaning of the bath - ooh, it's not like your mam used to do it. Urging you to get on with that reading for Uni so you don't get behind like. Helping you tackle your life - or not, as may be the case.
Some would argue that this scumbag of a character is not worth knowing. But who are we to judge? If you got thumped by a scumbag like Sammy, you'd want to know what provoked him wouldn't you? Well, I would. But then I'm different. I've got that voice in my head. Have you? What does your voice say? Does it endlessly repeat itself ? Does it have a cute accent? Does it love you very much? Does it love anyone else? What makes it change its pitch? Does it keep you together?
Well I didn't get a medal but I did finish this book. As you would expect from an anti-hero, Sammy exits stage left at the end of the novel still wearing those wretched toe-pinching sneakers. And I was gunning for him too. Now that's a sign of a good book isn't it? - that even if it's a bloody struggle, you want to get to the end...to see what happens like.
I'd best get to scrubbing that bath, now...like....mebbe...aye.
Of course, if you're easily offended by strong language aye, then it's probably no for you.
For a potty mouth like me it was aye a bit of a shock like.
Of course I was completely sucked in by the Scottish accent. It was hard
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going though. I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to end. With a hundred pages left I was telling anyone that was willing to listen that I deserved a bloody medal for finishing it. I read bits out aloud to the family so they knew what I was dealing with. Well, it just about made Bel's boyfriend fall off his chair in shock at a girl's mother speaking like that. The hubby pronounced it poetry aye. I suspect it's a bloke's book by and large and I'd welcome a discussion with blokes about it.We are introduced to Sammy as he wakes up from a really bad hangover.....slumped in the corner of a pavement somewhere, wearing someone else's sneakers. He is the perfect anti-hero. I spent most of the book wishing he'd have a bath and a shave. Simple things aye but they really got on me nerves. Does anything happen?...well yes, in a way....You're on the edge of your seat most of the time waiting for it to happen. If you want to witness character development on a grandiose scale then this is the book for you. I felt I knew every inch of Sammy by the end. As readers, we're living and breathing his stream of consciousness, which is exhausting but I was up for the challenge.
Philosophers have argued about what constitutes reality since time immemorial. "What's reality?" they debate amongst themselves..."Is it me or is it you?...Is it this chair or is it this glass of wine?" Obviously some poor wretch is making the bed and cleaning the bath while they pontificate and excruciate over the wretched question. There was a bit of me that wondered while reading this novel..."Is it all in Sammy's head?" Which led me to the next philosophical thought...."How much of our life happens in our head?" Now you're probably thinking - "She's getting all philosophical like that Alex Daw." Aye - mebbe. But it's a fact isn't it? You cannay get away from the voice in your head. You try and avoid it like but it's always there - lurking....waiting to catch you. Commenting on your cleaning of the bath - ooh, it's not like your mam used to do it. Urging you to get on with that reading for Uni so you don't get behind like. Helping you tackle your life - or not, as may be the case.
Some would argue that this scumbag of a character is not worth knowing. But who are we to judge? If you got thumped by a scumbag like Sammy, you'd want to know what provoked him wouldn't you? Well, I would. But then I'm different. I've got that voice in my head. Have you? What does your voice say? Does it endlessly repeat itself ? Does it have a cute accent? Does it love you very much? Does it love anyone else? What makes it change its pitch? Does it keep you together?
Well I didn't get a medal but I did finish this book. As you would expect from an anti-hero, Sammy exits stage left at the end of the novel still wearing those wretched toe-pinching sneakers. And I was gunning for him too. Now that's a sign of a good book isn't it? - that even if it's a bloody struggle, you want to get to the end...to see what happens like.
I'd best get to scrubbing that bath, now...like....mebbe...aye.
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LibraryThing member -Eva-
After a two-day drinking binge, Sammy wakes up to realize he has lost his good shoes, part of his memory, his girlfriend, and, after getting into a scrap with the police, his eyesight. It's not a riveting plotline, admittedly, but Kelman creates magic with his main character, a shifty ex-con who is
Obviously, besides the descriptions of Sammy's very checkered past and present, a huge part of the novel deals with the claustrophobia sudden blindness would cause. There's a scene where Sammy, lost in thought, misses a turn on his way home and realizes he had no idea where he is. He senses that someone is following him, but can't be sure if there is really someone there, and who that someone might be, or if it's a "a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain," to borrow a line from Mr. Shakespeare. Even if Sammy is holding it together on the outside, he relays perfectly the utter panic you'd feel were you in the same situation. For the record, James Kelman isn't blind, although he could have fooled me, so well does he describe it.
It isn't always a very pleasant read and if you have a problem with foul language, you may have a slight issue with Sammy's Glaswegian working-class vernacular. If you need another reason to read it, one of the Booker Prize judges stormed off the judges' panel in protest when it won and, as much as I'm for not judging people for their taste in literature, I suspect that particular judge is an eedjit who shouldn't be allowed to have any public opinion about literature ever again. Not recommended for everyone, but for those who are character-readers and would like a view into someone else's mind, this is quite spectacular.
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terrified of authority and fatalistic to a fault. Sammy's ponderings and ramblings are nothing short of mesmerizing - it's like Kelman somehow poured the character's mind straight onto paper. Sammy completely draws you in with his stream-of-consciousness descriptions of getting used to his new-found disability and how he manages himself (or fails to) in a Kafkaesque red-tape society - you can't help but to be sympathetic to his fate, although he is in no way an agreeable character (albeit sometimes unintentionally funny).Obviously, besides the descriptions of Sammy's very checkered past and present, a huge part of the novel deals with the claustrophobia sudden blindness would cause. There's a scene where Sammy, lost in thought, misses a turn on his way home and realizes he had no idea where he is. He senses that someone is following him, but can't be sure if there is really someone there, and who that someone might be, or if it's a "a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain," to borrow a line from Mr. Shakespeare. Even if Sammy is holding it together on the outside, he relays perfectly the utter panic you'd feel were you in the same situation. For the record, James Kelman isn't blind, although he could have fooled me, so well does he describe it.
It isn't always a very pleasant read and if you have a problem with foul language, you may have a slight issue with Sammy's Glaswegian working-class vernacular. If you need another reason to read it, one of the Booker Prize judges stormed off the judges' panel in protest when it won and, as much as I'm for not judging people for their taste in literature, I suspect that particular judge is an eedjit who shouldn't be allowed to have any public opinion about literature ever again. Not recommended for everyone, but for those who are character-readers and would like a view into someone else's mind, this is quite spectacular.
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LibraryThing member AlisonY
On to an old Booker prizewinner now, way back from 1994. This is possibly one of my favourite titles for a book for a long time. You just know it's going to be a great read.
How Late It Was, How Late is written in thick working-class Glaswegian vernacular, narrated by the protagonist Sammy in a
The book opens with Sammy waking up in someone else's too-small trainers after a two day bender. He doesn't know where he is, he doesn't know where his good shoes have gone to, and he's completely lost a day. Things get steadily worse, setting off a bizarre chain of events that we walk through with him for the rest of the novel.
To the outside world Sammy is a no-good drinker and troublemaker who's been in and out of prison a couple of times and isn't to be trusted. As readers, though, despite his nonsense we quickly fall for him as a brilliant anti-hero, a loveable rogue with a good heart who wants to change his lot but who just can't help himself. This time he's really landed in it, but Sammy being Sammy he just batters on, trying to find his way to the end of the rainbow.
Full of black comedy, this is a funny, brilliant and authentic novel. Given the vernacular, the prose is heavy on the swearing from start to finish so it may not be to everyone's taste. Without it, though, Sammy simply would not ring true as a character, and I had to laugh on many an occasion at his swearing creativity.
5 stars - naw, but I'm no jokin ye man, ye couldnay read this to the end and no end up lovin it. Nay point being fucking daft, now - ye get me?
How Late It Was, How Late is written in thick working-class Glaswegian vernacular, narrated by the protagonist Sammy in a
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stream of consciousness style. One page in and I thought I was going to hate it. The combination of keeping up with Sammy's inner dialogue and staying tuned in to the slang required close reading to begin with, but after a while you get used to it, with the local patter developing him into the most fantastically vivid character.The book opens with Sammy waking up in someone else's too-small trainers after a two day bender. He doesn't know where he is, he doesn't know where his good shoes have gone to, and he's completely lost a day. Things get steadily worse, setting off a bizarre chain of events that we walk through with him for the rest of the novel.
To the outside world Sammy is a no-good drinker and troublemaker who's been in and out of prison a couple of times and isn't to be trusted. As readers, though, despite his nonsense we quickly fall for him as a brilliant anti-hero, a loveable rogue with a good heart who wants to change his lot but who just can't help himself. This time he's really landed in it, but Sammy being Sammy he just batters on, trying to find his way to the end of the rainbow.
Full of black comedy, this is a funny, brilliant and authentic novel. Given the vernacular, the prose is heavy on the swearing from start to finish so it may not be to everyone's taste. Without it, though, Sammy simply would not ring true as a character, and I had to laugh on many an occasion at his swearing creativity.
5 stars - naw, but I'm no jokin ye man, ye couldnay read this to the end and no end up lovin it. Nay point being fucking daft, now - ye get me?
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LibraryThing member giovannigf
This is an excellent novel (don’t take it from me – it won the Booker Prize) about a low-life drunk and the indignities he suffers trying to get welfare. That it’s written in an accent would usually get on my nerves fast, but Kelman is simply too good. Here’s how it starts: “Ye wake in a
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corner and stay there hoping yer body will disappear, the thoughts smothering ye; these thoughts; but ye want to remember and face up to things, just something keeps ye from doing it, why can ye no do it; the words filling yer head: then the other words; there’s something wrong; there’s something far far wrong; ye’re no a good man, ye’re just no a good man.” But this isn’t a book about alcoholism, it’s about being poor in Scotland. Try not to hear Groundskeeper Willie when you read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member lriley
Sammy the ex-con after a drinking binge gets into a fight with some soldiers and wakes up blind in a police cell. The police deciding to wash their hands of the ne'er do well just dump him out on the streets of Glasgow to find his way home on his own. At the same moment waiting in his apartment is
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a note from his girlfriend who has just left him. A crash course in learning how to cope with his new condition he is now confronted with all kinds of obstacles. A proud man he has difficulty admitting that he needs help from anyone or anything and so we watch him as he tries to navigate between the walls of his apartment and the streets of his city--see him as he futilely takes on the bureaucracy of the state. Not an easy read in the sense that the reader himself has to cope with the characters angry and thick Scottish dialect and foul-mouthed exasperation but it is a book that I liked a lot and highly recommend. Show Less
LibraryThing member samfsmith
I gave this book about a hundred pages before giving up on it. It’s written entirely in dialect - Scottish. The odd thing is that it is third person, not first person, so the unseen, unnamed narrator is talking in dialect.
There are also no chapter breaks. That’s not enough by itself to make me
So I gave up on it. It just wasn’t worth the effort, and this is a Booker prize winner. Life’s too short…
There are also no chapter breaks. That’s not enough by itself to make me
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give up on a book, but it is aggravating.So I gave up on it. It just wasn’t worth the effort, and this is a Booker prize winner. Life’s too short…
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This was read by me only because it won the 1994 Booker prize. I have now read every such winner since 1992 and there are only 12 Booker winners I have not read. I hope this is the worst of the ones I have not read. It is a stream of consciousness novel told in the first person by Sammy, a
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38-year-old ex-convict who gets, while drunk, in a fight with police and is blinded. What he is able to do while blinded seems pretty non-credible but the most annoying thing about the novel is the totally obsessive overuse of the Anglo-Saxon word for copulate. There is absolutely no sense in the excess appearance of the word and if it was excised fromk the book I would guess the book would be 50 pages shorter. And of course that use adds nothing to the narrative and constantly repulses the reader. If it were not for that defect the story is a bit interesting though not at all believable. Sammy constantly changes his mind and his decisions make no sense at all. We never do find out what became of Helen, his girlfriend, and his son, Peter, gives him money at the end of the book and apparently Sammy is going to go to England. A frustrating and revolting and most irritating book, which is easily one of tthe worst Booker winners I have ever read. It apparently intends to duplicate Glagow gutterish speech, but what reason there is for spelling "your" as "yer" escaped me, since I at least pronounce yer and your the same. Apparently the author just wanted the book to be a bit harder to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member LovingLit
I have a thing for the Vintage publisher series of books- nice graphic design cover, red spines all lined up nicely together on my shelf. Plus, I am slowly working through old Booker Prize winners, so this 1994 book fit the bill on a few counts. But when I started reading it, I was disappointed to
We start (and end) with Sammy who is down and out. He wakes up with little memory of an alcohol-fueled weekend and spots some police officers who he decides to pick a fight with. So begins the story that is a week in the life of what sounds like a typical geezer from Glasgow. Only, very early on in this week or so of his life, Sammy goes blind. From this, let's face it, catastrophic event we get to see how Sammy copes with the fear and emotional turmoil that sets in with the realisation that he cannot, and may not ever see again. Because this revelation of his 'softer side' is written by his jumpy thoughts and many many swear words, it is so distinctive. I cant think of a time I have read such in-depth heart-felt commentary from such un-eloquent character. His thoughts jump from place to place, affectionately and angrily using the 'C' word to refer to all and sundry, revealing through repetition and just the volume of his head chatter his fears and feelings, his loves and his memories. He is alone. No one is offering help and he wouldn't take it if it were because of distrust of the establishment and his hatred of the monied upper classes. He manages OK, he always has and always will. It all adds up to a very deep book masquerading as the rantings of a down-trodden no-hoper.
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see that from the get-go it is written not only in colloquial Glaswegian (no speech marks or even full-stops sometimes), but also in a stream of consciousness style. YIKES I thought. But after a few pages these styles grew on me. I mean really grew. So much so in fact that I feel now that this story could not have been told in nearly such an effective way without them.We start (and end) with Sammy who is down and out. He wakes up with little memory of an alcohol-fueled weekend and spots some police officers who he decides to pick a fight with. So begins the story that is a week in the life of what sounds like a typical geezer from Glasgow. Only, very early on in this week or so of his life, Sammy goes blind. From this, let's face it, catastrophic event we get to see how Sammy copes with the fear and emotional turmoil that sets in with the realisation that he cannot, and may not ever see again. Because this revelation of his 'softer side' is written by his jumpy thoughts and many many swear words, it is so distinctive. I cant think of a time I have read such in-depth heart-felt commentary from such un-eloquent character. His thoughts jump from place to place, affectionately and angrily using the 'C' word to refer to all and sundry, revealing through repetition and just the volume of his head chatter his fears and feelings, his loves and his memories. He is alone. No one is offering help and he wouldn't take it if it were because of distrust of the establishment and his hatred of the monied upper classes. He manages OK, he always has and always will. It all adds up to a very deep book masquerading as the rantings of a down-trodden no-hoper.
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LibraryThing member amerynth
James Kelman's novel "How Late It Was, How Late" won the Booker Prize, but I'm not really sure why. The stream-of-consciousness story goes on and on but there is no real payoff in the end and lots of loose ends that never get tied up.
The story is told in stream-of-consciousness style, following our
The novel is written in Glasgow vernacular, but the language didn't come across to me when reading it. (As opposed to Trainspotting, which was just so good at putting Scottish voices in my head.)
I wasn't impressed with the story itself or the language.
The story is told in stream-of-consciousness style, following our
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narrator Sammy who goes on a two-day drinking binge, inexplicably wakes up and picks a fight with police, who beat him and cause him to go blind. The novel is written in Glasgow vernacular, but the language didn't come across to me when reading it. (As opposed to Trainspotting, which was just so good at putting Scottish voices in my head.)
I wasn't impressed with the story itself or the language.
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LibraryThing member Kristelh
Why I read this book. This is one of the 1001 Books you must read before you die and the BOTM for Reading 1001 over on GR. I was able to obtain a copy from ILL.
This is a story of a few days in the life of an ex-convict, alcoholic man. On a bender over the weekend, Sammy wakes up, gets beat up by
Sammy is newly blind, he is without any help that he can trust until his son shows up towards the end. And at that point, Sammy takes on role of father and tells his son a story that downplays the troubles. Sammy's goal has now become to escape,to get away from the system, law enforcement, etc. He wants this so bad that he leaves a shelter, his belongings, and takes what little money he can get his hands off and "...then the door slammed shut and that was him, out of sight."
This is a story of a few days in the life of an ex-convict, alcoholic man. On a bender over the weekend, Sammy wakes up, gets beat up by
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law enforcement, realizes he is blind and is under suspicion by the legal authorities because of a possible contact with a man of interest to the law enforcement. The story is stream of consciousness told in Glaswegian dialect with excessive amounts of vulgarities. Sammy is newly blind, he is without any help that he can trust until his son shows up towards the end. And at that point, Sammy takes on role of father and tells his son a story that downplays the troubles. Sammy's goal has now become to escape,to get away from the system, law enforcement, etc. He wants this so bad that he leaves a shelter, his belongings, and takes what little money he can get his hands off and "...then the door slammed shut and that was him, out of sight."
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LibraryThing member lschiff
A compelling, raw narrative that I often had to read in small chunks given how brutal it felt. Kelman's technical prowess is impressive and I found myself thinking just as much about his form, style, and his writing strategies as I did the story itself. Worth reading just for that, I would say.
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0433393971 / 9780433393979
Physical description
374 p.; 5.08 inches
Pages
374