Belonging

by Ron Butlin

Butlin, Ron

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

With a reputation as an international prize-winning novelist, Ron Butlin has also been Edinburgh's Poet-Laureate.
Before becoming a writer he was a lyricist with a pop band, a footman attending embassy receptions and weekend house parties, a barnacle-scraper on the Thames and a male model.
He has published almost twenty books including novels, short stories, and poetry as well a novel and an illustrated book of verse for children.
His work has been widely translated and twice been awarded a Best Foreign Novel prize. His most recent novel, Ghost Moon, was nominated for the highly prestigious international IMPAC Award 2016. Ron has 3 new books coming out in 2017. See his Goodreads blog for details.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some people have no trouble recognizing when they're in a bad relationship and the necessity of ending it sooner, rather than later. Others are prone to becoming mired in codependency, or are unable to take too deep or honest a look under the hood of their emotions, and wind up stuck with the wrong person for much too long. This fourth work of fiction by a well-regarded Scottish writer is a character study of one such man. Scottish handyman Jack teeters on the brink of turning thirty with little direction to his life. His brightest time was as a child, when he showed great promise as a pianist -- but that talent never grew to the level required to pursue it at a higher level, and has drifted ever since.

The book opens with Jack and his girlfriend Anna living as caretakers of an apartment complex near a Swiss ski resort. He got swept up by her energetic enthusiasm, and now they while away the days poking around empty apartments and living a rather claustrophobic existence. Anna is a devotee of psychoanalysis, and it becomes clear relatively quickly that she's probably incapable of sustaining any kind of healthy long term relationship. Jack gets frustrated and annoyed by some of her behavior, but never enough to consider ending their relationship. Then, the accidental death of someone on the property proves to be the catalyst for their deciding to quit and head back to Scotland. Or rather, Anna's deciding... On the way back, Jack realizes he can't continue the ways things are and takes a decisive but cowardly way out. However, he quickly develops a relationship with another woman whose emotional stability is somewhat at question. They then wind up in a kind of tiny, loose commune in the Spanish countryside. Although the reader knows from the get go that this relationship can have no good ending, the same realization takes while to settle upon Jack.

The story does a nice job of juxtaposing the two sections and showing how one can fall into a kind of comfortable oppressive existence whether it's drinking champagne among snow-encrusted penthouses, or smoking pot while sweating amid the stifling Spanish heat. Jack's not a bad person, he just lacks enough of a strong sense of self to figure out his own plan and make it happen, and lacks the judgement to recognize that he keeps getting involved with the same kind of woman. The writing is fairly plain and straightforwardly descriptive, and the themes aren't particularly fresh, but nonetheless, it's quite readable. That said, I can't really imagine who I would recommend this book to, since I'm not sure anyone I know is really interested in reading about the somewhat miserable people at the center of this book.

[Val Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ron Butlin is an author who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on January 1, 1949. He had various jobs, including a lyricist with a pop band, a barnacle scraper on Thames barges in London, England, a footman attending embassies and country houses, and a male model before he turned his talents to writing.

His most recent novel Belonging centres around 29 year old Jack. He is unsure of what he wants from life. He and his girlfriend, Anna are living as caretakers of an apartment complex at a Swiss ski resort.

Jack got swept up by Anna’s enthusiasm so they spend their days checking empty apartments. They live a rather claustrophobic existence. Anna is a keen on psychoanalysis, and she’s probably incapable of sustaining a long term love. Jack gets annoyed by her behavior but he never considers ending their relationship.

One night, during a snowstorm, a man slips and dies from his injuries. The only person who saw witnessed the death is the man’s lover, the same woman Therese. This accidental death of a man in an apartment on the complex proves to be the catalyst for Jack and Anna deciding to head back to their native Scotland. On the way back, Jack realizes he cannot continue and so he takes a cowardly way out.

He quickly develops a relationship with Therese, a woman who is emotionally unstable. When he thinks back, Jack remembers his first sight of Therèse as the moment things started to go wrong. Jack and Therese end up in a kind of tiny, loose commune in the Spanish countryside. Jack realises that this relationship can have no good ending. Jack is not a bad person, but he lacks a strong sense of self so he cannot work out his own plan and make it work. He also lacks the judgement to recognize that he keeps getting involved with the same kind of woman.

The writing is straightforward and descriptive and the book is readable. However, not everybody will be really interested in reading about the somewhat miserable people at the centre of the story but I found it gripping and it held my interest to the end.

[Sarey C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some patches of believable story crafting in a distinctly mediocre book