Lanark: A Life in Four Books

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66 points·lermontov··10 comments

No idea why this is on hn, but it's a great book, if you enjoy reading definitely find time for this one

What a mind bend. I picked it up as a foreigner in Glasgow when I found out I was living downstairs from one of AG's friends and also muse / basis for a character in the book. Found myself regularly lost, re-reading large sections of it with different contexts / interpretations each time. Have held onto it the last 16 years and lent it to many. Not too many have finished it!

Because of "poor thing" which he wrote, set in Glasgow.

I remember seeing him in the late 80s (puff) at a poetry reading (puff puff) in Balham (puff) where he consumed (puff puff puff) a ventolin inhaler (puff) the entire night. Based on my SOs reasoning (she is also asthmatic) he must have been totally wired, jittery as all hell. It doesn't just stimulate the lung lining.

No idea either. Alasdair Gray is definitely a great writer. Is it a Hogmanay thing?

> Alasdair Gray is definitely a great writer.

Was, unfortunately. He died in 2019.

Hey, kindly explain why does it not belong here? I'm new.

Such a fantastic book. One of the most interesting novels I've ever read, from a structural point of view, not to mention it's extremely entertaining. I've got a signed first edition which I'm pretty proud of.

With Poor Things being made into a movie, maybe this book will get the attention it deserves.

Seems very interesting. Skimming the synopsis, it reminds me a bit of Dhalgren by Samuel Delaney, which is one of my favorite books.

Fwiw I recently read Dhalgren and the Amazon algorithm started recommending Lanark

Poor Things is in cinemas now with Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo.

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