I gather that the author of Divorcing Jack, and Cycle of Violence came to understand the conflicts and contradictions of Northern Ireland by way of the newspaper business. Conventional Wisdom says "write what you know," and Colin Bateman is a full-time permanent wiseass.
Pick up one of Bateman's novels to get a feel for modern Ireland. It ain't all thatch-roofed cottages, Celtic crosses and daring vigilantes. There's also intrigue, action and a lot of shagging to be done. Neville Thompson covers Dublin, and Colin Bateman puts his own swing on Ulster. (That "Ulster" is a name for Northern Ireland, as opposed to the republic of Ireland, is only one of the many fine things that readers will soon understand.) Think, "a punk rockin', Irish, Elmore Leonard." He skips all the boring parts and delivers some damned quirky dialogue.
And here's a kudo: Bateman still has both his own kneecaps. That's a tribute to his writing skill: he offers a balanced outlook on the region's violent political passions, and slanders all parties by clever fictitious names.
Of his books to date, I’ve read two. Here’s a couple of comments on each:
OK, the legend: Divorcing Jack languished in a drawer until his wife blew off the dust. Dressed up like a nun, she held Bateman at gunpoint until he posted the manuscript to a publisher. The novel became a hit, and for good reason: good characters, action, humor, insight, and more twists than Chuck Berry ever dreamed possible. The main character is a young reporter who has trouble with the wife, trouble with the bottle, trouble with paramilitaries of every stripe... Written with a reporter's skill at observation, there is not a dull page. It's superbly entertaining. In 1998, the popular media paid Divorcing Jack its highest complement imagined for a novel. They made it into a movie.
Oh, yeah, it won some weird Brit award for Best First Book, too.
Four and a half stars out ot five.
Bateman followed up with Cycle of Violence, which was also written for fun n' games on evenings when he was too short of money to hit the local boozer. The main character is a different Belfast reporter who drinks too much, listens to different old records, and gets his lad involved with a different dangerous woman. The humor and insight picks right up from Divorcing Jack, too. What makes Cycle stand out is the location. The setting has been moved to a rural town, down near the border. The format is unusual as well. There's not a goal or plot that the action pursues: the chapters in this book are individual episodes of madcap things that the reporter gets himself involved in. Sure, they're linked up, and there's a vague long-term plan of digging up the dirt on the three scumbags who have made his girlfriend into such a headcase. The novel is still more like real-life: where one chapter begins has little relation to what he had been planning on doing at the end of the previous one. It's a fine read, this short novel, and was made into a flick too.
One note: Bateman populates his newsroom with an editor named Martin O'Hagan, who is not presented in the best of lights. There was a real journalist of that name, also at work in The North when Bateman was on the staff of the Co. Down Spectator. Bit of an unfortunate colleague to be taking a cheap swipe at... in 2001, the real-life Martin O'Hagan became the first journalist to be killed for daring to write about the brutality that Bateman makes light of. Kinda creepy to read, after.
Four stars, says I.
A few more downsides, in fairness: some gags are sitcomesque. Moreso in Cycle of Violence, I noted. The cycle of the title, for instance, is a bicycle. (Ha. Ha. Hmm, yes. How amusing.) Also in the minus column: Bateman is may be a master at the twist of fate, but does not deliver a significant, unforgettable moral. Lit profs will avert lift their snooty noses with distaste and spend their money on a new black turtleneck.
(But then again, there was only one Brian Moore. Not really fair to judge all authors by Moore's standard...)
On the whole? Mick gives this quirky Ulster messer one thumb up, because the other hand is busy buying a third book to read. For attitude alone, Colin Bateman is highly recommended.
- Added to the DFA Guide, February 2004.
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