Lanark by Alasdair Gray (1981)

What a strange and inventive book this is. It is hard to classify -- parts of it are realistic and parts of it are surrealistic; it is satirical; it is comic and playful; it has an Epilogue which is four chapters before the end and an Index of Plagarisms; it is certainly post-modern (the author even shows up as a character). It is in some ways two separate books published together, except that one of the books is a satirical and surrealistic reflection of the other. It has four parts, but they are not presented in order; you have book 3, book 1, book 2, and book 4. It is almost impossible to summarize coherently. It is like a combination of a classic coming-of-age story and an alternate universe created by Philip K. Dick, as told by Flann O'Brien. I loved it.

Though not as well known in the United States, in Scotland and England Lanark is considered a classic of Scottish literature. According to Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange), it is "a shattering work of fiction in the modern idiom." The Evening Times of London said, "The nearest I've come to a Scottish version of James Joyce's Ulysses."

My words are inadequate, so this is a short review about a long and important book. I recommend that everyone read it (the book, that is).