Going Under

by Ray French

Can one desperate man — who hatches a most unlikely plan to bury himself alive in a coffin in his garden and declare that he won’t come back up until everyone’s job has been saved — take on a multi-national corporation?

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 23, 2007

Reviews

[Sasha]

A unique plot with descriptive writing about the thoughts and emotions of the main character who experiences conflicts with himself throughout the book. Provides an endearing insight into the Welsh culture as well as the lives of working class people, and contains ethical issues related to large corporations.

[Karen]

I loved the beginning of this book, it was laugh out loud funny and such a great promise of a tale. I have to say the middle languished a bit and the end was a bit of a disappointment, if not realistic. It reminded me of movies such as Brassed Off, The Full Monty, Pride and Save the Cinema. I can imagine it being a really good movie.

[Denise F]

Made me laugh....

[Lex Thiel]

I stopped reading after 40 pages. The idea of the book seemed rather interesting. But its pace was too slow for my taste.

[Lev]

f*ck Labour

[Adrian Williams]

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I’d say it inspired me to write my own book!

[Jayne Charles]

A good, quick read with plenty of contemporary humour and an uncluttered narrative not to mention several little known facts about Iceland. I read it at a time when its central theme of redundancy had recently affected my own family, and it was not hard to empathise with the characters. Given an infinite amount of time it would probably have turned me into a raving Marxist.

The synopsis on the back tells how the main character buries himself alive in a coffin in his back garden as a protest when the factory where he works is relocated to India. I was fascinated to know how the author would sustain interest in a story whose viewpoint was located six foot underground. But sustain it he did, introducing a wealth of brilliantly drawn characters and thought provoking issues. I then wondered whether the story would have a fairytale style ending, or whether gritty realism would prevail. Around two hundred pages in, the reader is offered a glimpse of the probable conclusion, like the first glimmering of the sea on the horizon after a long drive. But like all good books there are twists and turns along the way, and I was eventually impressed by the way the story was rounded off in a realistic yet hopeful way.

There were elements of the plot, mainly to do with practicability, that I struggled with. Like how on earth the coffin didn't get full up with mud, water and worms considering there was an access shaft. Or start to decompose for that matter. Or the way he was able to overhear the neighbours' private activities from underground (not what you're thinking....guess again..... yes, right second time). And if it could be believed, it was most definitely a case of too much information! But all in all a really good entertaining read.

[Adam Stone]

In Going Under Aidan Walsh a widower in his mid fifties is about to made redundant by his employers and he decides that he is literally going to take it lying down, but not in the way most people would expect him to do.

Instead he decides to take the rather drastic measure of burying himself in a coffin and not come out until he had got his job back and the company had ended their plans to close the factory.

This was considered to be a foolproof plan as what sort of employer would be able to carry on with this sort of thing happening to their employees?

That is the basis of this rather amusing and touching book by Ray French. It is also isn't the end of the remarkable turn of affairs in this book as it moves in a completely different direction after a while.

It was the premise of the book that caught my eye when doing a random search in the library and I urge people to give this book a go as it is a real worthwhile read about the lengths some people will go to protect their livelihood, and also the importance of true friends.

It is also quite apt at the moment with the amount of people out there losing their jobs but I wouldn’t recommend doing what the main character in this book did though, but I would say that this a feel good book that will make you smile as you read it.

[Heidi]

A lovely feel-good story of one common man taking on the might of a large corporation in a rather unusual way! Very funny and heart-warming, without being too mushy.

[Andrew]

A good mixture of humour, pathos and thought-provoking bits.

[Lovesreading06]

I liked this book. It was quite weird to see what people would do to save jobs.

[Purpledogstar]

Great read and very funny, too.