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Last Orders
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This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
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Last Orders follows a group of four men from working-class Bermondsey, South London -- three elderly, and one the adopted son of their deceased friend -- on a driving trip from London to Margate. The men are on a mission to scatter the ashes of their friend Jack Dodds, a butcher who has left "last orders" that his ashes be flung from Margate pier (left). They are "Lucky" Ray Johnson, an insurance salesman, gambler and friend of Jack's since they met in Egypt in WWII; fruit and vegetable vendor Lenny Tate, also a veteran of the North African campaign; and funeral director Vic Tucker. Driving the car is Vince Dodds, adopted by Jack and his wife Amy in 1945 when Vince's own home and family were flattened by a V-1 buzz-bomb. The characters in Last Orders tell the story collaboratively, in alternating chapters, some of which are very brief (particularly memorable is the two word chapter entitled "Vince": "Old buggers."). Some chapters focus on a particular character, while others are named after villages or landmarks along the road to Margate. Most of the action takes place in flashback, as each man looks back at incidents from his own life, or in his relationship with the others. Themes of love, loss and impermanence are explored in simple, unpretentious vignettes, and an unexpected plot development near the end of the book gives the story additional moral dimension. I loved this book. On one level, it tells the story of a particular generation of English men, and on another it speaks expansively about the periodic sense of loss and groundlessness with which everyone struggles, conveying a clear message about the transient, and thus precious, nature of existence. The most memorable passage in the book comes near the end: "He said, 'Jack boy, it's all down to wastage. ... You got to keep a constant eye on wastage, constant. What you've got to understand is the nature of the goods. Which is perishable." You can read an interview with Graham Swift in Salon magazine here and another in the Guardian here. Swift's other novels include The Light of Day. |
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Released 6 yrs ago (4/23/2006 UTC) at Bookcrossing Convention 2006 in Toronto, Ontario Canada WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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