Unpleasant but addictive story
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It may be a rambling story with not a lot happening, using the classic structure seen in fiction over the last decade of two intertwined story lines but this book's achievement is not in action story telling. Instead what keeps you reading to the end is the depicting of the mindset and thoughts of the one armed main character, his loss of his arm being due to earlier drug abuse days back in Liverpool as vividly recalled and the practical impact of losing a limb as he tries to rebuild his life in Wales all done in the first voice, with the parallel tale told in the third person of the two scousers on his trail who ultimately fail to make contact, all handled in black humour and very similar of the two incompetent hitmen protagonists of the Guy Ritchie movie, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".
Griffiths' covering of life in the lower reaches of society especially the interaction and impact of drugs and criminal culture is very well done and despite other reviewers picking up on the correctness of certain words, having spent 3 years in Liverpool I soon found myself falling into the scouse patois as I read.
Despite its unpleasant storyline, a strangely addictive read.
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A great introduction to Griffiths' work
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'Stump' is a surprisingly gentle novel, despite the harshness of two of the book's characters, and the hardships endured by its narrator. The story unfolds cleverly: each chapter written from Stump's POV is followed by a chapter written in the third person, consisting mainly of dialogue, and concerning two rather unpleasant yet clueless scousers sent on a mission to track down Stump. The narrator himself is a one-armed ex-alcoholic scouser intent on rebuilding his life in the 'softer' surroundings of a small Welsh town. He is both inspired and challenged by the simplicity of his new life and the rural environment in which he has escaped to, and Griffiths tells his story without great apology or pity. There are some scathing attacks on the 12 step programme but recognition also on the narrator's behalf of his own shortcomings and past f*ck-ups, and how they will change his life forever. The plot concludes amusingly but plausibly, and the writing throughout is wonderfully suited to the characters it portrays. This was the first book I've read by Niall Griffiths, and I will be seeking out more in the near future. A very enjoyable read.
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Comic ramble with great conclusion
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It's a ramble but if you make it, with the characters, to the end, its a fantastic climax. And the characters are so well-drawn; the guy escaping the horrors of addiction by learning how to be ordinary - tending his garden, shopping, keeping the fox from his rabbit, and those two young rogues in shellsuits whose idiosyncracies and pure naivete warm you to them eventually. Stump says so much about the itinerant lifestlyes so many live today, and being a native Liverpudlian who has spent a few years in Welsh seaside towns I think it's really well observed. And funny, so blackly funny. Especially that tremendous, improbable, oddly life-affirming, conclusion.
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AIMLESS, NOT ARMLESS
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This novel is a classic example of how to shortchange readers by failing to deliver on the storyline promised by the blurb and set up in the opening chapters. Nothing develops beyond the establishment of the one-armed man and the scouse hardmen. Nothing very much happens at all, in fact.
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Armless Fun
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The main character 'stump' is a bit of bore, always waffling on about boring stuff like the loss of his arm and birds (the feathered type). I think the book would have read better if 50% of his rambling had been edited out. (I would have awarded 5 stars if this had been done). The book is saved though by 2 colorful characters Darren and Alastair. Both of them are typical shellsuit scalls - funny, corrupt and violent.
The story is about stump leading a dreary life in west Wales away from Liverpool and his drunken drug fuelled days. He wants to lead a normal quiet life but a gangster from Liverpool wants revenge and sends two of his boys Daz & Ali on a mission to seek and destroy.
The dialogue is very cleverly written and is almost perfect except that scousers don't say words like chipper (woolly word) they say chippy. This book will have you laughing out loud. The only downside is it gets a bit tiresome in parts but is still worth a read.
If you like reading about scousers, crime, violence and humor then read 'Outlaws' and 'Clubland' by Kevin Sampson.
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