July's Gutter Shout-Outs!
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
Recommended by Gael Welstead
There has been plenty of praise for this book (including a Nobel Prize in literature for Tokarczuk shortly after it's release) but in case I can tip anyone over the edge of doubt to read it I have to vouch for it with my little voice.
The richness of character building in this book as well as the innate otherworldly-ness telling of a remote Polish mountain settlement and its idiosyncratic inhabitants feed into a realistic yet fantastical story of a female protagonist you can only grow to love. With all her quirks and pragmatism, you never really feel confident thinking that she has either cracked life or life has cracked her. I couldn't put this down. I would read it again instantly but I might have to wait for the stars to align for that...
Close To Home, by Michael Magee
Recommended by Kris Haddow
I grabbed this novel in Belfast recently, drawn by a Times strapline on a poster that said 'it's Shuggie Bain in Belfast'. It's a phenomenal debut by Michael Magee, with one of the most authentic working class voices I've read in years.
Sean is in his early 20s, from a Republican working-class family in west Belfast. He's recently graduated with an English Literature degree in Liverpool, and now he's back in Northern Ireland navigating life after uni at a time when opportunity isn't exactly rife. He has family strife, love and friendships are tough, and the ever-present spectre of money struggles hang over him.
It's an immersive read—I devoured the hardback in one long sitting on the buses and ferry back to Glasgow. I've not experienced a leading male character that's so genuine, flawed, and still likeable in a long time.
Highly recommend you read it now before it wins all the awards.
Polaris, by Marcas Mac an Tuairneir
Recommended by Alasdair Mackinnon
Mac an Tuairneir's Polaris was surely one of the most significant contributions to Scottish and UK poetry in 2022. A sizeable corpus of brand new work of the highest quality, it included over ninety poems, embracing a diversity of form. Thematically, it was clearly inspired by a multitude of narratives, which spanned the length and breadth of the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, taking us from our geological origins in Laurentia and Gondwana, through to the post-Covid world of today. The poetry throughout was accomplished, in both Gaelic and English and was well deserving of the Saltire Society's Poetry Book of the Year award. Indeed, having been researched and written in Scotland, by a longtime Scottish resident, and doing much needed work to place Scottish history, politics and literature within a wider, more diverse and inclusive cultural continuum, I couldn't help but feel it was the clear winner, denied the honour by a work which didn't fulfill the eligibility criteria. This notwithstanding, I am certain that this collection will go on to have a lasting legacy, marking a watershed in Scottish and UK publishing, by including translations into English and almost all of the indigenous languages of our island chain. This was a book to up-end paradigms, challenge the status quo and pose pertinent questions before readers, as we participate in society at large. Having already garnered significant critical attention, and a Scottish Gaelic Award this year, I am certain that this volume will revolutionise how Gaelic poetry is taught and understood in schools and universities, demanding for the Gaelic language a seat at the table - locally, nationally and internationally.
Squeaky Clean, by Callum McSorley
Recommended by Marion McDougall
A fantastic, can't-put-down read. Dark but comedic Glasgow crime thriller in which DIs Alison (Ali) McCoist & Davey wash out the gangsters. Excellent first from Callum McSorley!