The Distant Sound of Violence

by Jason Greensides

Do we ever escape the decisions we make when we’re fifteen?Nathan Dawes, the loser from school, an outsider, street philosopher and member of The Grove Runners gang, needs Ryan’s help to get Stephanie to fall for him. When Ryan’s lawnmower is stolen, Nathan sees this as his chance to enlist Ryan in his plan. Although Ryan knows becoming friends with Nathan could lead to trouble, he reluctantly agrees to help.Stephanie wants nothing to do with either of them. Besides, she’s more interested in the one guy in the world she really shouldn’t be.As Nathan continues his pursuit of Stephanie, and Ryan gets mixed up with The Grove Runners, soon events overtake them all, haunting their lives for years to come.Part coming of age, part mystery story, The Distant Sound of Violence is a heartbreaking tale of bad decisions and love gone wrong. It’s about choices that lead to violence, loss and tragedy.

Genres: Mystery

503 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2014

About the author

Jason Greensides has a degree in Video Production and Film Studies and has made several short films, one of which was a competition winner, and two of which have been broadcast on television; but it's writing fiction he always returns to.

He's interested in 'outsider types', those living on the fringes of society. This inspired him to write his first novel, The Distant Sound of Violence.

He's now working on his second novel, another coming-of-age mystery, but on coffee breaks he tweets on the mysteries of writing, life and the cosmos.

Reviews

[Christie Stratos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected great things from this book, and my expectations were met and then blown away. This is not your typical contemporary fiction read - it's much better. You can look forward to literary intelligence, mystery, social critique, and constant ambiance. It's very difficult to predict where the plot and subplots are going, so I found myself on the edge of my seat throughout. There's so much to talk about that I feel the need to use bullet points:

- The author has a way of making you feel very close to characters you can't necessarily relate to. This can cause an uncomfortable feeling at times - sometimes you're glad you can't relate to them because there's something disturbing about them - but that's what comes of good writing. He draws the reader into each character and their particular plight with no tricks, awkwardness, or "author talking". Just subtle and nonchalant use of POV and in-character, natural-feeling thought processes.

- The main narrator is not an unreliable narrator, but he says things about the future in very carefully phrased ways that make you think you know what's going to happen to some degree. That narration leads the reader down the wrong path every time, not because the narrator isn't honest, but because he is careful not to give anything away at all. Every time this happened, I thought, "But didn't he say that..." and I was wrong. It was phrased so as to just tell you what you need to know and nothing more. I came to my own conclusions based on that "future talk", but he didn't actually lead me in the wrong direction. That really kept me on my toes.

- The ending is something you can't guess, and it's really an amazing perspective-changer. I can't say too much on this point, but it really makes the reader look at things from multiple angles of how everything in each person's life could have been completely different if only this one important fact had been known over a decade earlier. This alone makes the whole book a fantastic book club read because of the discussion it spurs.

- The social critique doesn't bludgeon you, it's weaved into the story in many, many ways, some of which are of some enormity and some of which are very specific and pointed. The amount and the angles of social critique in this book are more discussion points that I would love to talk about in a book group.

- The narrator doesn't work to separate the reader from the story, even as he guides you along on the journey. Sometimes he just serves to refocus you, sometimes he zooms in on something in particular, but in all cases it's done smoothly and effortlessly. He always feels like a character, not like the author telling you what to focus on.

- If you're looking for symbolism and metaphors, TDSOV offers that as well. From a figurine to the weather, the author makes sure everything works to bring meaning to the story. Words aren't wasted. If something is mentioned, it's there for a purpose.

I can't say enough about TDSOV or its author, Jason Greensides! I am eagerly awaiting his next release, which will surely be just as brilliant as this one. We've got a lot to look forward to from this author, and he's just getting started.

[K.S. Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in London in the 90's, Ryan has things pretty well, until oddball Nathan Dawes decides he wants him as a mate. Gang culture is around every corner and you have to fight your way out.

Yes, this book a is a little bit good. I can see why everyone is raving about it.

It covers some very heavy topics that inevitably go with gang culture, the constant circle of violence, drugs and revenge. It also looks into the backgrounds of the broken individuals, how they get a high, or even a little escape from the abuse they will have to carry for the rest of their lives.

But this book does not get weighed down in it. It does not go out of its way to glorify these topics, nor does it make villains of them all. It is simply told, mainly from the viewpoints of Ryan and Nathan - you will be hooked.

Ryan and Nathan are fantastic characters (especially oddball Nathan). I think the opening page says it all, as they chat about a stolen lawnmower - as all good friendships start!
Nathan in particular has such an endearing feel about him, you can't help but root for him to get the girl and have every success. I also loved his relationship with Aidy, being the very protective big brother for the random lad.

The first half of the book feels more like a coming of age story, with the characters in a difficult background, and first loves and best friends.
This smoothly builds to be the perfect platform for a mysterious disappearance, which is absolutely heart-wrenching. It was captivating to see how everyone went on from that point, who got on with their lives, and who didn't.
The way it concluded was perfect. It wasn't all about a happy ending, it was simply the beginning of the next part of their lives. I also loved how Greensides makes the point that sometimes, simply having an answer is enough.

Go buy it. Now.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming of age story

I don't often read coming of age stories, but I was glad I decided to pick this one up. An excellent story about how every decision can affect your future and how real friendship doesn't die over time.
I enjoyed the struggles of the main characters and how we witnessed them grow and learn from them. Equally heartbreaking and enlightening, this is a book I would recommend for teens and adults alike.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooking you from the opening pages with its vivid characters and pacy narrative, this is a gripping tale of coming of age in early 90's West London.
The story centers on fifteen year old orphan Ryan, an average kid trying to keep his head down until exams, while at the same time keeping his girlfriend and the conservative-minded aunt he lives with happy. His life is thrown off kilter however, when he is hesitantly drawn into a friendship with Nathan Dawes, a fellow pupil who's oddball mentality, criminal connections and philosophical obsessions have made him a social pariah to anyone but the gang of petty crooks he consorts with.
Narrated by Ryan, with the wisdom of hindsight as he looks back on events spiraling beyond his control, it is easy to see how he becomes so easily pulled into Nathan's circle; he's a vibrant character with a hapless, lost charm that is as compelling to the reader as it is to Ryan. Nathan is in love with Stephanie, a girl far outside of his league, and he believes Ryan's help is the only thing that can help him win her over and attain him the life he dreams of. Nathan's longing is poignantly described and his earnestness and helplessness in this area resolves Ryan to his cause and us along with him.
The specter of predeterminism looms over events as the characters navigate the trials of adolescence and Ryan and Nathan find themselves dealing with a heart-wrenching mystery that will haunt them into a no less turbulent adulthood.
A powerful sense of place and a sharp, nostalgic feel for time pervade the novel and the supporting cast of characters are richly drawn, Stephanie in particular, who might have been a canvas upon which to project Nathan's desires, is depicted with a depth and feeling that makes her at times the most relatable character. Her growth and the development of her relationship with Nathan provides another, moving aspect to an engaging, exciting and thought provoking read that I'd strongly recommend.

[Sunshine Somerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I finish a book and don’t want to do anything for a while except sit and think about it. This is one of those. It’s a beautifully told story that starts in the rough setting of a 1990s, gang-influenced, London high school. About halfway through I thought I knew where this was going, but it took a different turn that made the story much more rich, sad, and contemplative than I was expecting. Then it moves forward to when the characters are adults, and all the consequences built up over the years spill together to create an ending that was entirely satisfying.

Now, from an American perspective, when we read a story with “violence” in the title and the main character foreshadows that the philosophical, unpopular teen does something bad, we sadly are going to assume this ends in a school shooting. I don’t know if that was on the author’s mind or not, but that’s why the OTHER way things go in this story completely surprised me. Nathan becomes someone quite different, someone much more sympathetic and, really, noble…even if he is troubled from start to finish.

I will say that I first read the often-detrimental use of dialect and thought, “Oh, no,” but there’s so little of it that it adds to the tone and flavor of the setting rather than being distracting. Also, I know that flipping from one character’s viewpoint to another can bother some readers, but I found myself just going with it rather than questioning the omnisciency issue. Overall, the writing is pretty mistake-free and well done, and the flow is seamless. Several descriptions are downright creative and lovely.

I really don’t want to spoil too much, so just do yourself a favor and dive right into this one. It’s rough and violent, but it’s also compassionate towards every character. This is one I’m definitely going to thrust upon my friends and family.

[Roya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Distant Sound of Violence by Jason Greenside was a surprising find. It isn’t the type of fiction I usually read, yet it pulled me in from the start. With well-developed characters and an easy-to-read narrative, I found the story gripping. The romance element was sweet, and the story was tragic and gritty. Although the story is not told from the central character’s point of view, he is definitely one of the most interesting characters I’ve read in a long time. Great read overall!

[Joe Compton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Came of Age

The Distant Sound of Violence is a coming of age tale that spans almost 4 decades, and follows 2 boys from essentially the same side of the tracks but with different philosophies as they form an unlikely lifelong friendship.

It is a literary triumph because it doesn't lead you into an unbelievably predictable conclusion instead it twists and turns with an amazing resolve that has you wanting so badly to turn to the next page. Distant Sound's character development is so precise and so authentic, that you have this incredibly vivid portrait of not only the characters themselves but of the world they live in.

I am an Yankee reading this tale set in the United Kingdom and when I was all said and done I felt like I was sitting right there and so easily slipping into the slang and rhythms this story produces.

Greensides' dialogue and pacing paints such a beautiful landscape and compresses a timeline so fluently even jumping ahead does not slow the momentum nor does it seem to lose you as reader but quite the opposite...you grow as the characters grow but also relate and feel to what is happening to these souls. I did get tripped a little when some of the perspectives change but it was so easy to jump in to how the story was unfolding I got right back in.

This is a must read if you were a fan of stories like To Kill A Mockingbird or quick paced, witty batters like from Trainspotting.

[Rocky Rochford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life; Lived, Lost & Left


In April of this year, Jason Greensides came in first place of the Get Down With the Awethors Tag-line wars. As part of his prize, an honest and fair review by me was to follow and now that my schedule has opened fully, here is that review.

I have not walked the streets of London in a long time, a long, long time and yet when immersed in this pages, it feels like I’m back there, back in the streets themselves alongside Ryan, Nathan and the rest of the boys in the gang. For me that was a great touch by Jason Greensides.

This work, an urban narrative is so much more than troubled boys, it’s smart, intellectually written and beautifully paced, I can’t help but wonder just how much the author has in common with Ryan, the friend of Nathan, the one who narrated the life and events of his friend. Whatever you think this book is going to be about, it’s not, it is so much more, so if you haven’t read it yet, read it now!




5 stars

[D.M. Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and intelligent drama with great character development. A Masterpiece! Check out my video review on youtube here:

https://youtu.be/zbltgnWo08Y

[Paul Xylinides · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophic and Marathon-Paced

“… a tale that she
Told of a harsh reproof, or trivial event
That changed some childish day to tragedy”

(William Butler Yeats, “Among School Children”)

When the logic of a narrative remains hidden, the reader must have faith in its ring of truth and allow its compulsions to lead one to what is embedded and finally realized. An explanation soon comes for the opening line — “You can’t change the size of fire.” — in Jason Greensides’s marathon-paced novel The Distant Sound of Violence. Apparently the renderings of explosion and fire in early films could not for technical reasons match the true proportions of the depicted catastrophe. Equally, in life, how can a scream, an inexplicable loss, a singular act of violence of whatever kind do justice to what is actually taking place? Can the horrific sound of even a nuclear explosion give any idea as to the enormity of destruction present and future? Those characters who come into contact with Greensides’s protagonist who refuses to accommodate himself to a child’s unexplained disappearance identify little more than your run-of-the-mill street person as he apparently has become. The can of spray paint that he wields does nothing to cause him to stand out even less the years that he is a familiar figure haunting the City of London’s boroughs. One friend from the past, however, does remember his character and his philosophical turn of mind. He also recalls the conflicts of their early lives and on his return to London finds that Nathan had abandoned his life at a time of its greatest promise of fulfillment.
“You can never change the fundamental aspects of the world, the universe, or existence.”
Nathan is that exceptional individual who chooses to sacrifice himself and even those about him (who perhaps in the Bard’s words must needs “shuffle” for themselves) rather than accept the unacceptable. What he comes to discover is that a unifying apparently obdurate principle underlying existence as he perceives it does not preclude an ongoing variety of expression both for good and for ill. Some flowers will bloom in short time while others may take years to blossom. The poisonous and the beneficial coexist. Further lines from the philosophic musings of William Butler Yeats’s “Among School Children” come to mind:

O chestnut-tree, great-rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?

Somewhere on a distant planet and long ago, this reviewer seems to recall something that was said of Dostoevsky and how, to be successful, a novel requires an overarching philosophy. It is especially in this respect that Greensides’s work merits ultimate recognition. As with the great Russian writer it is not circumstances that govern a character’s destiny but the ideas and views brought to them. Responsibility is all and determinative. In the end, Nathan shows how one’s actions will cause philosophy, against all reason, unexpectedly to blossom.
Also in a similar manner to Dostoevsky, Greensides comfortably populates his novel with characters in all social positions — from the down-and-out to the police, from ordinary workers and run-of-the-mill bad-asses to respectable citizenry all the while delivering up the hard-scrabble streets in the intimate manner that comes from imagination and familiarity.
What the reader immediately acknowledges are the deft and insightful touches, whereby characters appear in diverting, often sensual focus:

“Taylor’s eyes began twinkling in mischief, her tongue plunging into the side of her too-wet mouth. Evidently Taylor was undergoing the ravages of a new thought.”

And,

“She folded her arms and gazed at each of us in turn — those button-like eyes luminous in the bleak London twilight.”

An uncommon knack for bringing characters to life gives entrance straight into the world of the novel, in other words, right where one ought to be:

“Nathan took off his mask and tapped it against his thigh to generate thought.”

And,

“Nathan felt his groin begin to stir — not at her distress, but at the way her beautiful shoulders shook like autumnal leaves in a breeze.”

The fluidity of the lines displays an enviable ease of composition whatever hard work or not may be responsible for it. Rather than feel like a neophyte’s first essay, this novel gives mature promise of more to come of at least equal order, although in the image making strength builds upon strength:

“Nathan dipped into his shirt pocket and pulled out an antique silver locket on a chain. It was oval with a raised, floral design, and he’d had ‘Stephanie’ engraved on the back. It looked impressive, particularly against the gloomy backdrop of the bridge and the damp, rotting leaves in the gutter.”

Effortless brush strokes deliver prose with a refreshing avoidance of the idealistic:

“Nathan’s hair was dripping with moisture and swept over to one side, yet sun-dried and sticking up at the back. The patchy stubble lining his jowls were making him look like some trashy convict. His eyes were haggard and squinty and brown-stained beneath.”

Or show how the ideal is very much in the everyday:

“… the front teeth sloping inward gave her a look of innocence and someone with no concept of the devastating effect they had on the world.”

It is a self-effacing quality that gives heightened utility to the meditative images:

“It was late afternoon, the sky a lush mixture of violet indigo and amber, streaked with wispy light clouds like campfire smoke.”

And,

“Her Afro hair was unkempt, all knotted and matted like clumps of grass on a neglected piece of common land; her thick lips were cracked and parched; her brown skin an unhealthy hue, like a teabag left out too long.”

Aesthetic impression soars with a writer who is intent on getting things just right and, as with any worthwhile lived philosophy, where is the long read when patience continually nourished arrives at the promised raison d’être?

[Lynne Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Distant Sound of Violence Jason Greensides vividly captures the teen angst of 15-year-olds in a London school. Early in the book, Ryan, the primary narrator, tells us that something happened to Nathan, an outsider and gang member. Nathan has an unquenchable, irrational longing for Stephanie, a "good girl" who has secrets and anguish of her own that she dares not confess. The teenagers in this book change their lives in dramatic ways.

The Violence in the title tells us that something bad is going to happen, so the suspense starts ticking even before page one. We don't know what will happen or when, but from the first page danger looms.

Reading the book reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's description of surprise versus suspense. Surprise is when two characters are playing cards and a bomb goes off under the table. Suspense is when the audience sees someone plant the bomb under the table. Then the characters come in, sit down and start playing cards. We want to be able to warn them. We root for them to find the bomb. But how?

If ever there was an age I would not like to be again, it would be 15, yet some of things that happened that year made permanent changes that still resonate. The confusion, trying out different roles and passionate longing for unattainable love.

The story starts with a theft and spirals out of control when a street gang gets involved. There are surprises as well as suspense and an ending no one could predict. The first page finds Ryan trying to track down his aunt's stolen lawnmower. He and finds who involves his street gang in retrieving the lawnmower and an eight-year-old follower of the gang in his bid to woo Stephanie.

The plot twists into many surprising directions before the violence catches up with the kids. Then it twists again as the story explores how some families can make survival more possible for teenagers living on the edge of violence. The eruption of a violent confrontation sets off echoes that change everyone's lives.

Ryan's aunt's reaction to his coming home battered from a fight reminded me of a story my father used to tell about returning from a street gang fight in 1920s Chicago with a ice pick through his hand that he couldn't remove without fainting. Busted. They shipped him off to live with his Scottish uncle in a small Kansas town where he was daily lectured on the evils of crime and Irish hooliganism.

Ryan's family protects him by moving back to his birthplace of Antigua, where life moves slower and he can get into mischief of a different kind. Nathan's fate is more dramatic and intertwined with the mysterious disappearance of Aidy, the 8-year-old gang follower.

The Distant Sound of Violence takes us on a journey of self-discovery as high school friends lose track of each other, find each other in unexpected ways and resolve the trauma of a mysterious disappearance.

[M.W. Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Distant Sound of Violence is a raw, emotional, character driven story that speaks to the heart. It confronts dangers that can happen in a blink of an eye while examining personal conflicts ignited by loss and reflection. When Nathan becomes involved with a tragic mystery, it will haunt him and those close to him for years. It will shatter the world that he thought he knew, and forever alter the man he would one day become.
It’s moody, gripping, heartbreaking, and not to be missed.

[L.E. Fitzpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book is a must read for anyone who can remember 80's Britain. Not leg warmers and perms, The Distant Sound of Violence is set amid a brutal urban landscape. Gangs, kids and video shops, this story is a brilliant reworking of our childhood legend, only this is real.

This story is a true rites of passage. Passionate, harrowing, honest. A must read. And it has taught me my favourite insult of all time too.

[Kurt Brindley · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE DISTANT SOUND OF VIOLENCE by Jason Greensides is a hauntingly atmospheric tour de force with its stark and captivating descriptions of English life during the Nineties and beyond set in, on, and around the mean streets of London, its fully-fleshed characters as flawed and true-to-life as any character on a page can be, and its ringing dialogue that is at times achingly smart, witty, and/or sad, and that is always cut with just the right amount of a pleasingly rhythmic patios.

Not to say that I didn’t have some quibbles with this masterwork. At over 500 pages, I thought the narrator interjecting his personal story from time to time, while interesting enough to some extent, didn’t add enough value to the overall arc and purpose of the story to merit the lengthy interjections. Specifically, there is one part of the book where the narrator again interjects himself and becomes oddly obsessive in trying to track down and map out the locations of mysterious graffiti tags left by Nathan Dawes, our also oddly obsessive (but oddly obsessive with clear purpose) protagonist; where, in the end, all the time and effort spent in the narrator’s mapping of the tags served no revealing purpose that I can tell except to further highlight something that we already knew — that our protagonist is oddly obsessive to a life-wrecking fault.

But again, these are mere quibbles and ones not nearly severe enough to lower this grateful reader’s overall five-star ranking of this highly intriguing and highly recommended epic of a read.

[Jean Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unforgettable story of teenagers with big hearts and the world against them

What a marvelous portrayal of London teenagers from multi-cultural backgrounds, coming of age in all their vulnerable situations and personalities. I was reminded of so many of the youngsters I taught for many years and my heart went out to every character in this book. Jason Greensides shows just how it feels to be too clever and always misunderstood; to be damaged by family – or lack of; how hard it is to make a real friend or boy/girlfriend; and how dangerous the streets are, with their gangs and violence. The title is perfect. Violence always threatens.

What really struck me was the impotence of adults. Even where there are two caring parents, a youngster has to fight his/her own battles in a tough world and fear of disappointing/hurting those parents can cause just as many problems as fear of abusive parents. The kids are so much more street-wise than their adults – how true but sad. I so much wanted Adie to be found that I raced through the end of the book, just willing Nathan to be rewarded for his unrecognised heroism.

If you to know what motivates adolescents who drop out of school and society; if you read their stories and cared about Kevin and Micka, you will love this book as much as I did. Unlike those other, more famous kids ‘gone bad’, Nathan is driven by his inner hero and an admirable set of moral values. Unfortunately, life and his peer group present him with impossible choices, between romantic love and loyalty to the gang; between the promises he can keep. His fate kept me on the edge of my seat, rooting for him all the way. I will never forget Nathan.

[Jessica Wren-Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember your first crush in school? What would you have done to get his or her attention? In Jason Greensides’ The Distant Sound of Violence, a childhood crush produces a snowball effect that will have life-changing consequences for many people. For teenager Nathan Dawes, his long-awaited opportunity to get a chance to talk to his crush, Stephanie, come when his friend Ryan asks for his help retrieving his aunt’s stolen lawnmower. Nathan, who is a member of a street gang, agrees to help on one condition: that Ryan put in a good word in his behalf with Stephanie. Unfortunately, things spiral out of control, and in the midst of a battle with the rival gang who took the lawnmower, a child disappears. This leads Nathan, Ryan, and to some extent, Stephanie (who is hiding a shameful secret of her own) to a life of obsessive searching for Aidy.

The Distant Sound of Violence has a very strong existentialist, picaresque flavor reminiscent of Charles Dickens. His characters are beautifully flawed. They are neglected children, delinquent teenagers, drug addicts, criminals, single parents, and gangsters. Because they are not idealized, they are more relatable to readers. A small but perfect example is how Nathan finds Stephanie’s most endearing trait is her crooked front teeth. Readers will find themselves going along with Ryan and Nathan on their separate journeys across the city to locate Aidy, a journey that costs Ryan his marriage and Nathan his mental health. I found it very difficult to put this put down. A strongly recommended read.

[Rebecca McCray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend the Distant Sound of Violence

When I started reading this book, I didn’t know quite what to expect. I was immediately drawn to the characters and the various events in their lives. As the story unfolds, the direction the various storylines take curve and intertwine in a fascinating and sometimes unpredictable way.

In brief, this is a compelling coming of age story about consequences.

I think the story could easily be enjoyed by a variety of ages and backgrounds. Even now, a few weeks after finishing it, I find myself remembering fondly the relationships that develop throughout the book, as well as thinking more broadly about how our choices can often lead to unexpected ends.

Quite simply, I loved this story and highly recommend it. I’m hoping to read more by this author in the near future. In the meantime, I might just have to read the Distant Sound of Violence again.

[Michael Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw urban drama at its finest.

Jason Greensides has taken a microscope to examine the problems facing British youth and created a brilliant tension filled journey. A group of teens with problems as common as exams and first love coupled with more serious social issues such as drug abuse and domestic violence serves as the background for this vividly portrayed story. The theft of a lawnmower will have serious and long lasting consequences for these teens even as adults. The author has created incredibly realistic characters and each of their own lives was totally believable. I could actually see these people and the story as a movie in my head whilst reading, the sign of a great author and their ability to draw the reader in. I thoroughly recommend The Distant Sound Of Violence and I eagerly await Jason's next book.

[Michael Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found The Distant Sound of Violence haunting and insightful. The story spins around a handful of young men, gang members, whose actions in youth affect the rest of their lives. It is not a happy-ever-after coming of age tale, but rather a reminder that there are consequences that may never leave us. Although the story takes place in London, the reader can imagine any city where a struggle to maintain existence takes place.

If you read for plot and character, you will like the off-beat urban narrative. The author captures language patterns in vernacular, and describes the human condition well, as the characters unravel a mystery within a mystery. Interesting story structure, that builds to a satisfying climax.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It just kind of rolls along and then suddenly, Jason stomps on the accelerator. I basically read the last two parts of the book in 12 hours. Love it.

[Lizzie Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Distant Sound of Violence is a beautifully written, poignant and perceptive account of a group of teenagers whose identities are emerging within the urban world of early nineties London. Right from the start, Greensides presents vivid and original characters who leave their imprint long after the story ends. Throughout the novel, it's the sensitivity and strength of characterisation which highlights the real skill of this particular writer. Greensides displays an astonishing ability to conjure up an entire background and history to his characters while sometimes offering what appears to be the briefest glimpse into their life.
While violence is an ever-present possibility and theme, most of the story occurs on its periphery as the two main characters, Ryan and Nathan, shuffle between personal loyalties, desires and fears. Without either sentimentality or glamour, the descriptive style of the narrative is something approaching sociological poetry - objective, concise, stark and, because of this, heartbreaking. Although there are many instances of this throughout the story, one example in particular illustrates the powerful and immediate impact of this kind of writing.
Justin, someone already immersed in gang culture, displays an almost sadistic cruelty towards his younger brother, Scott, adopting familiar bullying tactics as he does so. The backdrop to this, however, is the death of their mother and although this detail is understated (hence its force), its traumatic consequences permeate a scene in which 10 year old Scott unwittingly interrupts his brother as he's bringing down Christmas decorations from the loft. Justin has just found an angel which triggers a specific memory of both his mother and his little brother but the plastic figurine also becomes a slightly perverse source of sexual stimulation.
The psychological complexity of this short scene is staggering. Coaxing his brother into fetching the Christmas tree from the loft, Justin closes the trapdoor shut and disappears into his bedroom with the implicit intention of masturbating over the doll. His frustration and his pain and his confusion collide as he feels 'the place on the right wrist where his mum had once glued her hand back into place.' He presses down until the hand snaps off and in this split second, we feel the agonising weight of emotions which lack any effective outlet for their expression.
There is a real moral struggle involved as Justin unlocks his brother's makeshift prison and sees Scott 'sat between some boxes and crates full of his parents' stuff, curled upright in the foetal position.' Hugging his brother more tightly than anyone he's ever held before, his sense of remorse extends far beyond the confines of these cramped four walls.
The detail, care and compassion with which Greensides portrays Justin and Scott is true for all the characters in the book, no matter how they behave in the external world. It's this which marks out Greensides as a writer to watch.
At its finest, The Distant Sound of Violence combines the sparse realism of a Ken Loach film with the metaphorical resonances of a Graham Greene novel. As a result, Greensides creates an emotive and compelling story which doesn't finish as the book draws to a close but lingers, curious and haunting, in the mind.

[Jin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book I had to read it twice before I could feel comfortable about writing a review. Jason takes you through the life of his characters that makes you bleed for them (not literally of course).
On my first read I sped through the whole book which was a big disservice to the work. This is a novel that you want to take your time with and enjoy as one would a well aged Brandy. This is due to the fact that this story has been aged to perfection. Jason has taken the time to write not only a novel but an experience and I recommend any would be reader to enjoy this work and find themselves actually living a second life.