Book review - "The Thrill of it all" by Joseph O'Connor

[Rocker]

I don't read many novels, but I do read a lot of books - books on canals, railways, guitars, guns, how things work books and biographies. Recently I caught a snippet of an interview on the radio. Joseph O'Connor was talking about his latest novel The Thrill of it all. The book seemed interesting. My wife got it for me a few days later. I am very glad she did.

The book cover is fascinating – a closeup of the pickups of a Fender Stratocaster, with the 'strings' slightly proud of the surface. But any book needs a bit more than an interesting cover.....

Essentially the story is about The Ships, a rock band that had played and broken up around twenty five years earlier. The Ships consisted of an Irish born, Luton based teenager, Robert James Goulding (Robbie) with Francis Xavier Mulvey (Fran), Sarah-Therese Sherlock (Trez) and her twin brother John (Sean). Robbie and Fran played guitar and vocals, Trez the cello and vocals and Sean drums. The band played what is termed New Wave punk rock – playing all original self penned material.

I know little of the writings of Joseph O'Connor. He structured the story from Robbie's viewpoint with 'interview transcripts', and the opinions and memories of the other band members included. If you did not know that you were reading a novel, you would think the book was about a real band. That says a lot.

Robbie's family live in Luton. Although close to London, Luton people [Robbie's father Jimmy for one] seem to consider London almost as a different country. Different as in thinking that London is a bad place to be in whereas Luton is fine. Perhaps people from all small towns or villages think the same about nearby big cities.....

All of us suffer from what Robbie calls 'ghosts' from the past. Sometimes known as demons, these are memories of things we said or did not say, things we did or did not do, opportunities taken or missed etc. Robbie had a number of these demons and the story revolves around how he dealt with them, or not as was so often the case. In this aspect, the novel reminded me of that wonderful work by Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited. In Waughs' book, Charles Ryder, in his capacity of an Army officer, disillusioned while waiting for the order to go into action, spent some time on training manoeuvers billeted on the estate of Brideshead. The storyline in Brideshead Revisited is that several years before, Ryder had spent a lot of time at Brideshead as he knew that dysfunctional family well and how this experience coloured his outlook on life. This is not to suggest that The Thrill of it all is a clone of Brideshead Revisited – it is not, but at times there are some similarities in both stories.

At its heart, The Thrill of it all is a love story. Not the usual boy/girl love story but the story of the love fellow musicians have for each other and for music and the love a musician has for his instrument. Sex, a staple activitiy of the rock and roll lifestyle, is implied in the story but not described.

I enjoyed reading the book. It appeals to me both as a music lover and a musician. As someone who, in the dim and distant past, played guitar in pubs and clubs, I know and understand the buzz that playing 'live' gives and the feel and sound of loud power chords. The first moment you play a note and it sustains, seemingly for ever, is one you will never forget. I played in what are now called 'cover bands' so I missed out on the thrills of performing original material in public. The book describes the audience singing back to the band, something we all do at gigs. It must be an amazing feeling to be up there on stage when that happens. Joseph O'Connor described that sensation very well in The Thrill of it all. His description is so accurate that he must have experienced it for himself at some time in his life. I liked the way he name checked several real top drawer acts when the band 'played' on their bills. Brilliantly clever that he mentioned his sister Sinead a few times in the text.....

As I said I enjoyed reading the book. And, as a music lover, I think you might too. For what it is worth, the book comes with the Rocker recommendation

[Fran]

I'll be on the lookout for that Rocker - I'd be a bit of a fan of Joe O'Connor. Now you should go get Roddy Doyles book, "play that thing". Great fictional account from early jazz mixed with an on-the-run.



Fran