The protagonist, Sammy, is a thirty-eight year old ex-convict, who as the novel begins wakes up on the street in Glasgow following a weekend-long drinking binge. He picks a fight with some cops and ends up in jail, where he discovers he's gone blind. The rest of the novel is a kind of odyssey, during which Sammy -- unable to see -- tries to make his way back to his girlfriend's apartment, then tries to figure out what's become of her. This is kind of a weird read, not for the judgmental or faint of heart. (N.B. those who are put off or offended by extremely coarse language will want to avoid this book.) I read this book as part of my Booker Prize reading project. Kelman (left) won the Booker for How Late it Was, How Late in 1994.

I'm offering this up as an international Bookray as part of the Best of a Million BookRay/Ring Challenge suggested by Scout-Finch (great idea for generating some new rings/rays!). I'll post names here as people express interest.

Rules of this bookray:
1. This is an international bookray -- please be willing to ship anywhere.
2. Please journal the book when you receive it, and again when you mail it out -- that way, everyone will know the book's approximate location.
3. If you don't think you'll be able to read this book within 6 weeks of receipt, please send it on to the next person in the ray, or let me know ahead of time and I'll move your name down the list. Thanks!

Participants:
1. martinburo - Jena, Thueringen, Germany - rec'd May 17, 04; mailed June 9, 04.
2. jenvince - Sherman Oaks, California, USA - rec'd June 16, 04; mailed June 23, 04.
3. florafloraflora - Washington, DC, USA - rec'd June 26, 04; mailed August 11, 04.
4. Ebumu - Ithaca, New York, USA - rec'd August 19, 04; mailed September 14, 04.
5. Rrrcaron - Lancaster, New Hampshire, USA - rec'd September 21, 04; mailed November 29, 04.
6. ruggergirl - New York City, USA - not heard from after November 2004.

I'm mailing this to martinburo on April 14, 2004. I hope it doesn't take too long to reach you! The picture at left is of the Fraser River (with many log booms), as seen from my street in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

Hi goatgrrl, I received the book yesterday. I am looking forward to it.

To me, the story was a bit over the top. On the hand I felt as if Kelman was mocking my own life, but the main character was just too paranoiac, too volatile, too stupid. I did like the whistling past the graveyard humor. And I hope it has this rebounding effect that I associate with shiatsu. (I'm not sure how to explain that idea properly. The idea is that if you try to make a problem worse rather than better, you get a better handle on what is really wrong.)

This book arrived yesterday. Perfect timing, as I had *just* finished a book, so I can dive right into this one.

Well, I've been putting this one off a bit, as it wasn't grabbing me. Still isn't (just not in the mood for this type of story right now). Would like to read this one day, though.
I have florafloraflora's address, and will be mailing tomorrow.

This has just arrived. Thanks, everybody. I will read and journal ASAP.

My apologies to everyone who is waiting for this book. It's very good, just for some reason it's taking me a long time to read. I'm going on vacation for two weeks and I plan to finish it then. I won't be that far from Ithaca, so I'll try to get ebumu's address and mail it from my vacation destination when I finish.

I'm finished reading this. I'll admit that I approached the book with some trepidation, given the incredibly bleak-looking subject--my husband read the back cover and kept asking me, "So how's your depressing book going?"--but to my surprise it wasn't painful to read at all. This is a very good tour of the inside of someone's head. I still have a few questions, but overall I'm glad I read this.

I have ebumu's address and I'm vacationing in the next state over from her, so I'll be mailing this out probably tomorrow.

UPDATE: Mailed out on August 12th.

Oh lovely, a Booker prize-winner in the mail from florafloraflora, whose screenname makes me recall the fragrance of lilacs. Thank you, florafloraflora and goatgrrl. It'll be second on my reading list after Aman. I'm afraid it'll get a little tangled up in the start of classes (no, no. I've taken enough classes to last me a lifetime, believe me... I'm teaching them now). I'll get to it soon, though--at this time of year I really need to escape into alternate realities. I can tell from this very journal entry that I'm already a bit giddy!

Alternate realities indeed! So this is what it's like to be a down-on-your-luck ex-con struck blind and without many allies. It never occurred to me that I wanted to know, but I had a fun time with the book. I was a bit mystified by the ending. Did anything happen?? I guess it's just kind of a random excerpt of a life, or else I missed some subtle resolution. I've never read another book quite like this one.

I have Rrrcaron's address and will be sending this on tomorrow or the next day. Hope she enjoys it. (Mailed Sept. 14, media mail)

Received this in the mail yesterday. I plan on starting it soon.
Ruth

Sending this book on to ruggergirl tomorrow. Got behind in my rings, and never had the chance to read this one, but I'm sure I'll find another copy later. Sorry I held this too long, and I hope you guys enjoy the book!
Ruth

PM'd Rrrcaron and ruggergirl to get an update on the status of this book. Rrcaron mailed the book to ruggergirl on November 29th, so unfortunately the book may have been lost in the mail :^(.

Since this ring appears to be well and truly stalled, and since there were a number of readers still hoping to read the book (which is now affiliated with a huge Booker Prize bookring circle organized by tantan), tuff517 was kind enough to donate a new copy to keep the ring alive. The names of remaining readers on this ring have been moved to tuff517's bookring (and deleted from the list above). Please PM tuff517 if you have any questions -- thanks!