The Voids

O'Connor's prose, descriptive, vivid and delicate, whilst the themes explored in "The Voids" and the overall atmosphere are absolutely to my liking. An engrossing debut novel; will be looking forward to reading more from this author.

The Voids starts in the grim tower block that gives this books its name- condemned housing where all hope appears lost.

The book soon moves us through the whirlwind life of somebody whose sense of reality and security is rapidly falling away from him. Drugs, family breakdown and trauma all circle around our narrator's life and threaten to pull him under.

Although this subject matter appears to be well-trodden ground, with echoes of novels like Trainspotting, this book is made exceptional by its quality of writing, and the tenderness that beats just beneath the surface, even in its darkest set-pieces.

As the book comes to its close, the language of this deceptively short book just soars- the final ten pages of this book left me almost euphoric, and rank among some of the tightest and smartest endings that I've read in a very long time, where its generous prose just sings and demands to be soaked in.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Scribe UK in exchange for an honest review.

Ryan O'Connor's superb debut treads familiar territory within Scottish fiction, such as Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting and Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain, it is lyrical and poetic, humorous and heartbreaking, unnerving and disorientating. A condemned Glaswegian high rise, a land grab by the council and developers, slowly empties of its residents, including the Birdman who shared his flat with pigeons and numerous immigrant families. The last man left is the occasionally named Jack McCann, a committed alcoholic, an ex-journalist from The Examiner, a free Glasgow weekly, becoming ever more lonely. He is breaking into the 'voids', the vacated derelict flats, that will never be lived in again, feeling the wind whistling through them at night, each void with its own musical composition, rearranging in the building the possessions left behind as a tribute to the ghosts, to those who had once lived there.

In a narrative that goes back and forth in time, we are immersed in the vivid fragmentary memories, perhaps mirages, drink and drug fuelled hallucinations and epiphanies, vignettes of life and family, and relationships with women always destined to end as, with Lilian and Mia, with Jack convinced that happiness is never meant to be his lot in life. He believes in the possibility that he will be reconnected with his head and who he is through his consumption of drink, the darkness, emptiness, the void inside him, as he interacts with and is drawn to the many other human wrecks living in the margins of society, amidst whom he finds friendship and solace. As he stumbles through one surreal event after another in life, I cannot forget the chaos and mayhem that arises in a Chinese restaurant and his encounters with the Afghan, can he survive to shape a different future or will he slip through the cracks as so many do in our contemporary world?

The author provides a vibrant picture of Glasgow and those who occupy the spaces at the edges of local communities and the pressures they endure, the mental fragilities, giving us a insightful social and political commentary. This was an intoxicating reading experience, a work of art, riveting and mesmerising, philosophical and imaginative, interrupted states of consciousness, a world of brutality and violence, yet tempered by the kindness and kinship to be found amongst those with nothing. Simply brilliant, and highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Ryan O'Connor entered the Scottish literary scene largely without fanfare, but I expect his will become a household name before too long. His debut novel, 'The Voids', was first published earlier this year and the momentum seems to be picking up now, following the release of paperback and audiobook versions.

In fact, this is a book which lends itself to ownership in multiple formats. I used the ebook to highlight passages I enjoyed but also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Robin Laing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Laing's delivery of O'Connor's words is something special to behold.

Our nameless protagonist is pathos personified as he takes us on his journey. The peripheral characters in 'The Voids' could have entire books written about each of them. Personally, I think we need more Mondo! Themes in the book are universal, but the dark humour, coupled with an innate humanity and generosity of spirit, feels specifically, recognisably, Glaswegian.

'The Voids' is a masterclass in what good writing looks like. What if feels like. O'Connor's choice of words, and turns of phrase, are exquisite. He has a dazzling future ahead of him and I am 100% here for it.