GB 84 - David Peace

GB84 (Amazon Link)

Finished a while ago, but only just gotten around to writing about the thing....

It's David Peace writing about the Miner's Strike of 1984. But just because he's doing a book on political fiction, don't think he hasn't managed to make it as dark, grim, nasty and vicious as his previous work. He seamlessly manages to integrate the real events and characters of the time (Thatcher, Scargill et al) with his own creations. It's a dark novel about the worst of Union disputes and the worst of Government excesses as Thatcher decided she was going to crush the Union and the miners completely.

Peace writes in the same style as Elroy. Very crisp, taut dialogue, frequent jump cuts to other characters, multiple, complicated plotlines. Occasionally this can lead to a sense whilst reading that the author is just deliberately messing the reader about, putting style before substance and clever cut dialogue before the plot. But in GB84 it's rare.

What does come across is the sense of despair and misery felt by the miners and their families. A realistic, quality portrayal of the darkest of times.

And glutton for punishment that I am, it's straight from GB84 to Peace's next novel The Damned United.