Go West by David Quantick

The first thing that struck me about this story is the writing itself, you can clearly hear David Quantick's voice narrating the tale to you as you read; which is no bad thing.  In fact I found it strangely soothing.  I have read other books by "names" and wondered where their voice was, so much so you start to wonder if the novel itself was ghost written - this one very clearly isn't.

The second thing you realise is that this is a genuinely funny book and should not be read in a public place - sniggering in the office gets you very peculiar looks and you will find you can't help but snigger.  The third thing is that you have no clue what the heck is going on here and you just have to throw yourself on the mercy of the author and go with it.  The confusion doesn't matter so much though, it's some glaring errors and inconsistencies that bother you - sadly frequent enough that they lost Mr Quantick 1 Star on this review (I couldn't bring myself to rate this a 3 Star read as much as it deserves to be for the many mistakes as it is just too darn good). 

There is a large nostalgic element to this book.  Not just the discussion of antiques and practises of fakery which loom quite large early on - this information is necessary for the book to work, well kind of.  The nostalgia comes in based on the John Peel sections and, make no mistake, John Peel is a recurring theme throughout the book and the late great Tommy Vance even gets a mention so I was a happy bunny.  Less happy with Charlie Bread's dismissal of Peter Pan but you can't have everything.

I would discuss the plot but I am still not entirely sure how we got to the denouement.  We do though and although feeling kind of rushed to get there (was the deadline looming?) it does tie everything up and make you go "Oh, so that's what was going on!".  There is a lot of joy in getting there and a nice tour of the country from Reading to Exeter with disparate locations inbetween.  When I say disparate, I actually mean random - almost as if navigatory aides do not exist.

Charlie Bread himself is a great character, he knows his limitations and proves to be a fairly reliable narrator.  We only know the other people he interacts with through the prism of his voice but somehow they still live and breathe on the page - even the peculiar Three For One Inn men.

If plot inconsistencies bother you then this book will drive you batty.  If you can overlook them to find the joy in the writing and the peculiar situations facing Bread then you will love it.  It really is going to be a "marmite book" as there isn't much room for fence sitting with this one.  I'm definitely a love it side of the fence.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.