A Chancer

by Kelman, No Illustration (Illustrator)

Cover worn, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Genres: Fiction, Scotland, Novels, 20th Century

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I went straight down to the greyhounds at Shawfield after reading this and saw half of the characters from the book

[abclaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can almost see the tenements and the dilapidated landscape coming out from the pages of this book. Reminded me alot of Loachs two scottish films, Sweet Sixteen and My Name is Joe. Really flawed characters that you can identify with stuck in the mundane.

[Tony Mcmanus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tammas opened a pack of cigarettes. He lighted one then thought about betting for ages. He walked to the pub, had lots of cigarettes and thinking on the way. In the pub he said
Fuck off
His pal said
Naw, fuck you
His pals dad had died/someone was getting married/ a man had landed on the moon.
Tammas had a think. And lighted a few cigarettes. Then he went to bet somewhere and won or probably lost. And he had some fags.
It was all good. Apart from anyone reading the book. In which case a 1-10 shot had lost.

[S. Duffy Using StoryGraph instead: steve_duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've yet to read a living writer as good as Kelman. Captures life with brutal honesty and ease.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

easy review, this. I love James Kelman but this book was deliberately tedious, which I can sometimes tolerate but not easily when the plot is all about gambling.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A realistic style novel about Tamas, a twenty year old who is a loner and gambler. He is not sure what he wants in life. He is from a working class family and lives in Glasgow. He has worked in factories but doesn’t like working indoors. He is unable to hold a job for long. He has a very supporting sister in Margaret. Tamas lives with his sister and her husband. Tamas is mainly at the pub where he mixes with a couple of friends he has known for years, or at some gambling venue, be it horse or dog racing, pool or cards. He goes out with one young woman, then falls for a woman with a baby.

It is a dull, bleak read, but by the end of the novel I had a fair amount of empathy for Tamas. A memorable read.

This book was first published in 1985. This novel is the first to be written by James Kelman, but it was published after ‘The Busconductor Hines’ (1984).

[Gregoire Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great expose of Glasgow life. A realistic affair compared to the stylised adventures of a trainspotting , but in my opinion adds to an authenticity in that it's more true to life (nothing against trainspotting, it's great in it's own right)

[John Somers · Rating 2 out of 5]

8/20