The Ossians

by Doug Johnstone

A rollicking and hugely enjoyable contemporary novel describing the outrageous mid-winter tour around Scotland of a group of musicians called 'The Ossians'. The band's driving force is twenty-four-year-old lead singer, Connor - intelligent but self-destructive, pretentious but charismatic, gloriously opinionated and with an extraordinary ability to get beaten up. The band is on the verge of signing a major record deal before setting off on a two-week tour of the cities and hinterland of Scotland, a tour expected to culminate triumphantly in a defining Glasgow gig. On their travels there is a seagull massacre, hapless drug deals, a mysterious stalker, a radioactive beach, a bomb-testing range, an epileptic fit, a town full of riotous Russian submariners, deadly snowstorms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings. The Ossians is both hilariously readable and satirically astute, a story of rock'n'roll obsession as well as a search for identity and a sense of community, written with delicious insight, pace and brio.

Genres: Fiction, Music

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His fourth novel, Hit & Run, was published by Faber and Faber in 2012. His previous novel, Smokeheads, was published in March 2011, also by Faber. Before that he published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning (2006) and The Ossians (2008), which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre. Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He loves drinking malt whisky and playing football, not necessarily at the same time.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read quite a few books by this author now and I have to admit I have become a huge fan of his work. The Ossians is one of the authors earlier books and actually felt quite different to his others.

As far as I’m aware all of this authors novels come under the crime/thriller genre and whilst there are drugs, guns and a bit of crime going on throughout this particular one, this felt more like a tale of one man’s road to self destruction and hitting rock bottom.

The story is told from the point of view of Connor, who with his twin sister Kate, are part of the band, The Ossians. I think for the group so far, even though not at the dizzy heights of stardom, they have pretty much lived the highlife of partying, fuelled with drugs and alcohol, and are making the most of the fame that they do have. The tour that they are going on is hopefully going to help them hit the big time but with a lead singer who seems to be spiralling out of control, their chances seem to be getting slimmer after each show.

Connor is a bit of an idiot, a selfish one at that, the drugs and alcohol are taking its toll not just on him, but the band as well as his relationship with Hannah who plays in the band. Through Connor, we can see just how much damage drink and drugs can do to someone and how reliant they soon become on them. Though he is a selfish idiot, there is still something of a likeable rogue to him that I think will draw readers and have a bit more empathy for him.

Through the bands tour, the readers are also taken on a tour of Bonnie Scotland. Readers will certainly come away from this novel knowing a lot more about the country as well as parts of it. Think of it as an enjoyable way to learn a bit of history. The author is certainly descriptive of the surrounding areas and you can easily visualise each place the band stops at.

I could very much empathise with Kate and Hannah as they watched someone they love spiral out of control. Though it felt like Connor was on the road to self destruction it is also very much a tale of self discovery as well. I certainly think there is a message in there somewhere and I very much enjoyed Martin’s role in it, Connors ‘guardian angel’.

The Ossians is a dark journey into a world of drink and drugs. I think it is one that can be enjoyed from young adults upwards. Yet another compelling read by one of my favourite Scottish authors.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re thinking of taking a tour of Scotland you can either flick through a travel brochure and gawp at all the picturesque places there are (and there are) or you could treat yourself to a copy of Doug Johnstone’s The Ossians. The difference? The travel brochure will present you with the skin of Scotland (photoshopped to within an inch of its life) but beauty, as the old adage goes, is only skin deep. If you want to get to the heart of Scotland read The Ossians. There you'll also find the kidneys, its sickly liver, the spleen, the intestines and the arsehole. Several arseholes in fact. One of the arseholes is the book's antihero, Connor Alexander, “an egocentric, introspective, self-absorbed, narrow-minded bigot” (his words), the founder and lead singer of The Ossians, “a shit, narrow-minded indie band, with pretentions of intelligence”—again Connor’s words, not mine, but you’ll get no argument from me on either count.

I, for my part, liked the book a lot. It was literary, intelligent and appealed to my sense of humour. It may not be his best novel—“the recently published Smokeheads is a real step forward in terms of style and voice” according to Dear Scotland—but just as its flawed protagonist is hard to dislike I also found myself willing to be more forgiving of his creator than maybe he deserved. The only way you’ll know is to find yourself a copy and make your own mind up.

You can read my full review on my blog here.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ossians are a 'rock' indie band from Scotland. They have a local following in Edinburgh where the four members live.
Their manager and lead singer organise a tour of Scotland which should result in a record deal.
Connor is an alcoholic drug addict and owes serious money to his dealer. Things go seriously tits up.
Another great read from a new favourite author.

[Ray Smillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Doug Johnstone only relatively recently discovered him so I have been checking out all his work. This is just interesting. You can see the development of his writing style which is okay here, in only his second novel and how much I know he has improved over the years since this was published. Cannot truly recommend it.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book telling the story of a fictional Scottish indie rock band - the Ossians - and the trials of the lead singer Connor Alexander as they tour Scotland in winter in preparation for their big break when a record company agent comes to assess them at their concert in Glasgow. Set in the first decade of this century it is set in contemporary Scotland of that time. Well worth reading.

[Andy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug Johnstone's second novel is indeed write what you know; the national tour of fictional Scottish indie band; The Ossians.
Doug has taken his experiences of his own band; Fence Collective regulars Northern Alliance, and embellished them with carousing Russian sailors, stalker-esque fans, drug dealers and the standard full-of-shit lead singer.
My personal favourite piece in the book is his loving description of Cafe Drummond and the, happiness personified, bar supervisor Rachel. Unnamed obviously!

[Bob Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual reading material but I liked the idea and it turned out to be a really good story. I enjoyed the travelling round Scotland and the descriptions of all the towns and places. The story itself was a drug fuelled odyssey by an indie pop group with loads of booze and bad language but it hng together with Connor the main character ranting and raving his way around Scotland. A good read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brutally honest view of Scotland, awful weather, grim towns full of drunken, boorish morons. Sadly the over sentimental ending let's this book down, the anti hero deserves a far nastier ending. The standard of writing is variable but settles down in the middle of the book - not as good as Hit & Run but far less dire than Smokeheads.

[Bridget Weller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get this man an editor! The first two chapters of this book suck. Really suck. After that, it is actually quite good, so persevering was worthwhile.

[Mad · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall an enjoyable read, funny and entertaining. I was dissapointed at the neat ending after what was a very messed up story...........real life would not have ended so 'nicely'!

[Amy Venema]

It was an alright book. The saying, never trust a book by its cover is completely true for this book. It was not what I expected at all.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, life on road (on a very low budget tour of Scotland! Ha!)