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Pulp have done a good job of putting together a collection of new work from contributors to the their website, and it's nice to see the thing in hard copy. Most of the stuff here is very good, and some approaches great. There’s a loose Islington theme can probably be ignored by most folk (the aubergine-munching Blairites of ‘It's Grim up North (London)' and a handful of Patsy Adams seems to be pretty near the truth). On that basis there’s a recurring theme of new vs. old Britain, London, values, roles etc, etc which probably did a good job of bringing the thing together but manages not to get in the way. The introduction explains it all, but for most visitors, Islington’s not exactly Soho or Brixton, is it? Actually, maybe it is, I wouldn‘t know. These are short pieces from mainly new or unknown contributors, mercifully lacking the kind of metropolitan navel gazing you might expect. Snapshots of a life in a different world like Mohammed Chowdery’s wonderful ’Golden Stories’ or Peggy Adams’ ‘The Island’ are simple pieces of truthful writing, and say something worthwhile about the human condition, which for me is a what it‘s all about. There’s a lot of humour and pathos and feeling in these stories. You don’t have to be Raymond Carver to do that, and you can be a lot closer stylistically and miss the mark by a mile. There’s a huge amount of humour and sadness and real feeling in these stories. A total of 22 pieces over 150 odd pages makes it difficult to sum up the whole anthology, but they range from Eula Harrison’s short poems to Nigel Nicholson’s extract from a longer piece and cover a lot of ground in terms of subject matter. Terrorists, new immigrants, the dispossessed, the repossessed and a few others narrate at different points, and there’s a lively feel to the collection which makes it easy to dip in and out as you like. You could describe this as a coffee table book, if you were the type. And it works very well. It’s a while since I’ve enjoyed a collection so much, although I’ve got to admit I tend to stick to what I know, and most of that isn’t what you’d call current. Everyone involved in bringing this together should be justifiably pleased with the results. James Sanderson’s ‘Do Me a Favour’ is the stand out piece of the anthology. It’s such a powerful and honest evocation of youth and it reads like a prelude to a much longer work. I hope it is, because it’s also the closest to the raw punch of Pulp itself. He writes with a lot of energy and the kind of unapologetic, direct style which might well appeal to readers of this website. Albert Finney or Phil Daniels wouldn‘t look out of place in here, and that‘s good enough for me. Everyone wants to be a writer these days, and it’s not an easy thing to do, not by a mile. You only have to look at the crap published year in year out to realise that. So the fact that this is such an entertaining and enlightening read is a credit to everyone involved. Hopefully Pulp will continue in the same vain, because it’s been worth it. A great little collection. Reproduced with permission
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| DOWN THE ANGEL AND UP THE HOLLOWAY ed. Lane Ashfeldt (Pulp Net 2007) Reviewed by Stuart Blackwood |
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