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Buddha Da
Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.
Anne Marie's dad, a Glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first takes up meditation at the Buddhist Center, no one takes him seriously. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in a search for the spiritual, his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife, Liz. Cracks appear in their apparently happy family life, and the ensuing events change the lives of each family member.
Anne Marie's dad, a Glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first takes up meditation at the Buddhist Center, no one takes him seriously. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in a search for the spiritual, his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife, Liz. Cracks appear in their apparently happy family life, and the ensuing events change the lives of each family member.
358 pages, Nook
First published January 1, 2003
48 people are currently reading
1451 people want to read
About the author
Anne Donovan
19 books33 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Anne Donovan’s prize-winning short stories have been published in various anthologies and broadcast on BBC radio. Her collection Hieroglyphics and Other Stories came out in 2001. 2003 saw the release of her debut novel Buddha Da, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize; both books published by Canongate Books. A resident of Glasgow, Scotland, Donovan often employs the local, working-class dialect in her writing; as she says, it provides "a more direct line to the heart, you get closer."
Anne Donovan’s prize-winning short stories have been published in various anthologies and broadcast on BBC radio. Her collection Hieroglyphics and Other Stories came out in 2001. 2003 saw the release of her debut novel Buddha Da, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize; both books published by Canongate Books. A resident of Glasgow, Scotland, Donovan often employs the local, working-class dialect in her writing; as she says, it provides "a more direct line to the heart, you get closer."
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October 18, 2020
There's a lot to like on a sentence level in this Glaswegian family novel, and especially in the narrative by twelve-year-old Anne Marie. (And I say that as someone who doesn't necessarily like child narrators.) However, I wasn't so fond of the rather clumsy and sometimes predictable storyline between her parents Jimmy and Liz, or of some of the ways Buddhism was employed in the story.
Do other people have books that feel as if they are more famous than they actually are? This is one of mine. I used to own a copy of Buddha Da, and until yesterday it still bugged me as an 'unfinished' book. In 2005 or whenever it was I tried to read it, I probably didn't even read to the end of the first chapter, given the unfamiliarity of that this time round. It'll have been because I didn't read further on account of being too ill to get into it. There are many other books I've read more from - and not continued with on account of merely not feeling like it or not having time - that didn't feel 'unfinished', like a small defeat, in the same way.
Anne Marie's chapters were great. I looked forward to them throughout the novel, and often wished she narrated the whole thing. I especially liked the friendship in which she bonds with classmate Nisha over old pop music (Madonna) and singing. This rang very true to me from when I was younger, how it was all about shared interests, resonant experiences with family and unselfconsciously talking about your respective heritages, in these two's case Punjabi Sikh and Irish Catholic. (I remember times like these fondly after, as an adult, the politics of the 2010s made me more aware of difference and otherness and I would sometimes become overly conscious of a friend as a PoC of and what online activists might think about things like their avid fandom of white pop culture. I resented this for getting in the way of I'd always seen them, as another person with some similar interests and experiences who like me also has family from another culture - and I'm pretty sure it made me a worse and clumsy friend. Some of the essays in The Good Immigrant helped me resolve this but I still think I may have better socially before.)
The melting-pot of cross-cultural participation in the novel seems entirely celebratory, and innocent of culture wars (which at the time this was written had died down somewhat in the US, and in the UK they hadn't been such a big deal in the 90s anyway). Jimmy does Tibetan Buddhism; Anne Marie and Nisha, as fans and then music makers, blend American pop, Catholic and Buddhist chanting, with Nisha's brother's DJ samples of Euro house, bhangra, Bollywood tunes and just about anything. (Fatboy Slim is invoked, but the sheer breadth and variety also suggests DJ Shadow.)
So far as I can tell from my limited experience - for a while I went to FWBO/Trinaratna Buddhist Centres in two UK cities, and, years earlier, an old flatmate became seriously involved in Tibetan Buddhism - the novel is using an odd mashup of these two types of Buddhism and implying it's all one thing. Perhaps as if Buddhism didn't have different schools, as Christianity has denominations, because that would be too complicated for the readership? (I'm prepared to be corrected by readers who know more.) The place Jimmy goes to has resemblances to photos of the Glasgow Buddhist Centre - in being beside a takeaway (and it's called a Buddhist Centre), but there are lamas. The term 'lamas' seems to be overused in the book for Buddhist monastics, and whilst that could be down to some characters being uninformed, if it were I'd have expected Jimmy to stop using the word later in the novel as he learned more about Buddhism. And even if Tibetan Buddhists did go around looking for newly reincarnated lamas in Britain (so far as I know this is only done in certain regions of the world), why on earth would they take a newbie meditation student of a few months' standing on a trip to talk to the parents of one, who were strangers to him too? This incident is at the beginning of the novel and it reads like a clumsy comedy sketch, contrived to showcase characters' personalities - and to make a point about sexism in Buddhism, which could have been done more naturally and realistically in another context. In a later scene, 'lamas' who are wise and considered in other contexts suddenly become rather socially inept, as if they may not have understood the English being spoken around them, despite appearing to have perfect English in other scenes. Buddhism seems at times to be bent around a cartoonish and contrived plot. Though as some Buddhists try to cultivate a sense of humour, maybe it isn't the worst the novel could do.
Jimmy has various experiences which either show why he connected with Buddhism in the first place, or which are typical for someone starting out in it. When it's convenient for the plot, other more experienced Buddhist characters appear to give commentary and contextualise (e.g. the Rinpoche on how listening to the rain was meditation too, and Barbara on right livelihood, clarity and ahimsa), making the novel seem like a somewhat didactic representation of a spiritual journey. (And Barbara as a character generally subverts tropes, which is good.) But then when it becomes inconvenient for the plot, this commentary tactic suddenly disappears. Why does Jimmy never get told anything similar about spiritual egotism and early enthusiasm, or about working to control his temper, when there are obvious opportunities to raise these things? Because it would get in the way of the story that had been planned out. Likewise, it implies through events that Buddhism can't be supportive of a better family life. Yes Buddhism has a strong monastic tradition and isn't family-focused like the Abrahamic religions, but in an urban Buddhist centre you would very likely meet people who combine family life and Buddhism and who would explain to someone like Jimmy how to do so in a more effective way, and hint how Buddhist traditions of community could point the way to pulling his weight at home. The novel has some useful things to say about Buddhism - and how Buddhism can be useful - but also shows a clichéd story about a man who becomes interested in something ostensibly positive but whose new pursuit leads to extra work for his wife. Sort of an incomplete response to The Dharma Bums?
Liz has a lot of issues that would later become common topics of discussion on Mumsnet and no doubt similar venues for other Anglo countries - like live-in male partners' role in housework and life admin, husbands' time-consuming hobbies, extra cooking when a household member becomes vegetarian, the drawbacks and merits of settling down and having kids early, and a couple of things that would be spoilers. It's noticeable now how in a lot of these she is either passive and resigned, and doesn't really imagine doing them differently (despite her and Jimmy being old punks), or thinks contrary to present-day received wisdom. For me, this highlights how internet discussion has changed a lot of mores and expectations about family life in the intervening years, sometimes for the better, but has also created overly rigid formulae and harshness, at least potentially for those who read a lot of such content and don't naturally bring flexibility and imagination to these situations.
The novel is also aware of class issues in Buddhism (some of which are also marked as Glasgow/Edinburgh or Scottish/English culture issues) but doesn't go anywhere much with that. I don't have the background to comment with any certainty on how Jimmy was portrayed (and of course there are people with varying personalities and aptitudes in every class) but I did wonder if the narrative sometimes patronised him and/or working class men in general via things like his finding it hard to verbalise experiences to other characters, or not thinking more for himself, or getting carried away. However, variations on these, especially the latter two, are common with newbies to spiritual disciplines like Buddhism. I thought Donovan seemed to be going along with the common idea of how spirituality, therapy or similar can disrupt relationships and others' idea of a person - without considering more carefully how that would manifest with a couple who already felt they were good at talking about things. These things are most often disruptive when the other party is emotionally articulate or otherwise dysfunctional. I wasn't sure that it would happen like this to these people given their prior relationship. The personalities, backstory and story didn't quite gel, I thought.
I was left wondering what the point of the book was - it may be one of the interesting things about it, that that's not obvious. It's unsatisfying for the soapy predictability of the ending. Yet it also refuses the tidy solutions and moral lessons that readers of popular fiction often demand, and along the way illustrates how everyday experiences can be mindful. By the end there's a curious mixture of living in the moment, combined with an old-fashioned not-talking-about things which reverses the parents' pre-existing healthy belief in talking about everything with each other and their daughter. (And that silence looks set to be steamrollered by a couple of developments of the 2010s - in spoiler tag in comments.) Issues of sexism - in Buddhism and in the practicalities and the 'mental load' of running a family household - are raised but not substantially discussed or resolved. It now seems like these issues were culturally left hanging, in this novel set in 1999-2000 and published in 2003, to be confronted head-on in the activism of the second half of the 2010s. Liz's opposition to gender-stereotyping of children will still be well received now. (Even if the age gap between her and Jimmy when they first met as teenagers won't be.)
It had been a few years since I'd read a book in Scots and I was apprehensive that I'd be rusty, that it would be a mistake to have kept this on a 'light reads' shelf, but no. It seemed as quick as reading in Standard English, and it actually kept my attention better and made the story more interesting than the same plot and characters would have been in Standard. (Not unlike the way I found capitalisations of nouns in Tom Jones kept me alert.) There were only about ten words I didn't think I'd seen before, all more or less understandable from context. Rather my problem was temporary accent acquisition; even when I wrote comments and emails I was hearing them in my head in a Scottish accent, and using some slightly different sentence structures from usual.
Needless to say the setting feels totally authentic. I spent a fair bit of time in Glasgow myself during the year or so this book is set, due to a relationship, and Liz's frequent mentions of the then-new Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, its atmosphere and marvelling how late everything opened, were spot on. (Shops starting to open late on multiple evenings always feels redolent of the Blair boom years.) That place was so shiny and new and surprisingly big and expensive-looking, especially to an outsider, given Glasgow's traditional image. And weirdly I learnt more from this book about the context and joke of being a Partick Thistle supporter than I did from having one as a partner. But it was very odd that despite the attention to the year by talking about data backups due to Millennium Bug concerns, and all the hype about new year celebrations, there wasn't a single mention of the Scottish Parliament having been established that year. (I had read so little of Buddha Da before that I had no idea it was set that year; I'd just assumed it would have been 2002, the year before it was published.)
Culturally, the novel is kind of prescient, written at a time when Buddhism and meditation were already becoming more popular, though the mindfulness trend of the 2010s had not yet emerged. But I'm glad I didn't read Buddha Da before I explored Buddhism myself. Not only because I wouldn't have been able to critique the book as much (aside from the Buddhism, it's also more interesting now looking at the points about gender relations it raises than it would have been c.2005) but because I think that, as an introduction, the novel could easily induce someone to take Buddhism even less seriously.
This is a strange novel, as some things are really excellent about it and others lazy and probably inaccurate. There is genuinely useful info about Buddhism here alongside what seem to be some rather daft and unhelpful portrayals. It is, or was, well-enough thought of in Scotland that - as I accidentally discovered the other day during a GR search - a study guide was published in 2010. (Other work by Anne Donovan is on a current exam curriculum.) In some respects I really don't think Buddha Da is good enough for a set text - though for the great dialect writing, initial characterisation and overall portrayal of the younger characters I can see the point, and it's still kind of interesting simply because it covers an unusual subject for contemporary UK fiction.
Do other people have books that feel as if they are more famous than they actually are? This is one of mine. I used to own a copy of Buddha Da, and until yesterday it still bugged me as an 'unfinished' book. In 2005 or whenever it was I tried to read it, I probably didn't even read to the end of the first chapter, given the unfamiliarity of that this time round. It'll have been because I didn't read further on account of being too ill to get into it. There are many other books I've read more from - and not continued with on account of merely not feeling like it or not having time - that didn't feel 'unfinished', like a small defeat, in the same way.
Anne Marie's chapters were great. I looked forward to them throughout the novel, and often wished she narrated the whole thing. I especially liked the friendship in which she bonds with classmate Nisha over old pop music (Madonna) and singing. This rang very true to me from when I was younger, how it was all about shared interests, resonant experiences with family and unselfconsciously talking about your respective heritages, in these two's case Punjabi Sikh and Irish Catholic. (I remember times like these fondly after, as an adult, the politics of the 2010s made me more aware of difference and otherness and I would sometimes become overly conscious of a friend as a PoC of and what online activists might think about things like their avid fandom of white pop culture. I resented this for getting in the way of I'd always seen them, as another person with some similar interests and experiences who like me also has family from another culture - and I'm pretty sure it made me a worse and clumsy friend. Some of the essays in The Good Immigrant helped me resolve this but I still think I may have better socially before.)
The melting-pot of cross-cultural participation in the novel seems entirely celebratory, and innocent of culture wars (which at the time this was written had died down somewhat in the US, and in the UK they hadn't been such a big deal in the 90s anyway). Jimmy does Tibetan Buddhism; Anne Marie and Nisha, as fans and then music makers, blend American pop, Catholic and Buddhist chanting, with Nisha's brother's DJ samples of Euro house, bhangra, Bollywood tunes and just about anything. (Fatboy Slim is invoked, but the sheer breadth and variety also suggests DJ Shadow.)
So far as I can tell from my limited experience - for a while I went to FWBO/Trinaratna Buddhist Centres in two UK cities, and, years earlier, an old flatmate became seriously involved in Tibetan Buddhism - the novel is using an odd mashup of these two types of Buddhism and implying it's all one thing. Perhaps as if Buddhism didn't have different schools, as Christianity has denominations, because that would be too complicated for the readership? (I'm prepared to be corrected by readers who know more.) The place Jimmy goes to has resemblances to photos of the Glasgow Buddhist Centre - in being beside a takeaway (and it's called a Buddhist Centre), but there are lamas. The term 'lamas' seems to be overused in the book for Buddhist monastics, and whilst that could be down to some characters being uninformed, if it were I'd have expected Jimmy to stop using the word later in the novel as he learned more about Buddhism. And even if Tibetan Buddhists did go around looking for newly reincarnated lamas in Britain (so far as I know this is only done in certain regions of the world), why on earth would they take a newbie meditation student of a few months' standing on a trip to talk to the parents of one, who were strangers to him too? This incident is at the beginning of the novel and it reads like a clumsy comedy sketch, contrived to showcase characters' personalities - and to make a point about sexism in Buddhism, which could have been done more naturally and realistically in another context. In a later scene, 'lamas' who are wise and considered in other contexts suddenly become rather socially inept, as if they may not have understood the English being spoken around them, despite appearing to have perfect English in other scenes. Buddhism seems at times to be bent around a cartoonish and contrived plot. Though as some Buddhists try to cultivate a sense of humour, maybe it isn't the worst the novel could do.
Jimmy has various experiences which either show why he connected with Buddhism in the first place, or which are typical for someone starting out in it. When it's convenient for the plot, other more experienced Buddhist characters appear to give commentary and contextualise (e.g. the Rinpoche on how listening to the rain was meditation too, and Barbara on right livelihood, clarity and ahimsa), making the novel seem like a somewhat didactic representation of a spiritual journey. (And Barbara as a character generally subverts tropes, which is good.) But then when it becomes inconvenient for the plot, this commentary tactic suddenly disappears. Why does Jimmy never get told anything similar about spiritual egotism and early enthusiasm, or about working to control his temper, when there are obvious opportunities to raise these things? Because it would get in the way of the story that had been planned out. Likewise, it implies through events that Buddhism can't be supportive of a better family life. Yes Buddhism has a strong monastic tradition and isn't family-focused like the Abrahamic religions, but in an urban Buddhist centre you would very likely meet people who combine family life and Buddhism and who would explain to someone like Jimmy how to do so in a more effective way, and hint how Buddhist traditions of community could point the way to pulling his weight at home. The novel has some useful things to say about Buddhism - and how Buddhism can be useful - but also shows a clichéd story about a man who becomes interested in something ostensibly positive but whose new pursuit leads to extra work for his wife. Sort of an incomplete response to The Dharma Bums?
Liz has a lot of issues that would later become common topics of discussion on Mumsnet and no doubt similar venues for other Anglo countries - like live-in male partners' role in housework and life admin, husbands' time-consuming hobbies, extra cooking when a household member becomes vegetarian, the drawbacks and merits of settling down and having kids early, and a couple of things that would be spoilers. It's noticeable now how in a lot of these she is either passive and resigned, and doesn't really imagine doing them differently (despite her and Jimmy being old punks), or thinks contrary to present-day received wisdom. For me, this highlights how internet discussion has changed a lot of mores and expectations about family life in the intervening years, sometimes for the better, but has also created overly rigid formulae and harshness, at least potentially for those who read a lot of such content and don't naturally bring flexibility and imagination to these situations.
The novel is also aware of class issues in Buddhism (some of which are also marked as Glasgow/Edinburgh or Scottish/English culture issues) but doesn't go anywhere much with that. I don't have the background to comment with any certainty on how Jimmy was portrayed (and of course there are people with varying personalities and aptitudes in every class) but I did wonder if the narrative sometimes patronised him and/or working class men in general via things like his finding it hard to verbalise experiences to other characters, or not thinking more for himself, or getting carried away. However, variations on these, especially the latter two, are common with newbies to spiritual disciplines like Buddhism. I thought Donovan seemed to be going along with the common idea of how spirituality, therapy or similar can disrupt relationships and others' idea of a person - without considering more carefully how that would manifest with a couple who already felt they were good at talking about things. These things are most often disruptive when the other party is emotionally articulate or otherwise dysfunctional. I wasn't sure that it would happen like this to these people given their prior relationship. The personalities, backstory and story didn't quite gel, I thought.
I was left wondering what the point of the book was - it may be one of the interesting things about it, that that's not obvious. It's unsatisfying for the soapy predictability of the ending. Yet it also refuses the tidy solutions and moral lessons that readers of popular fiction often demand, and along the way illustrates how everyday experiences can be mindful. By the end there's a curious mixture of living in the moment, combined with an old-fashioned not-talking-about things which reverses the parents' pre-existing healthy belief in talking about everything with each other and their daughter. (And that silence looks set to be steamrollered by a couple of developments of the 2010s - in spoiler tag in comments.) Issues of sexism - in Buddhism and in the practicalities and the 'mental load' of running a family household - are raised but not substantially discussed or resolved. It now seems like these issues were culturally left hanging, in this novel set in 1999-2000 and published in 2003, to be confronted head-on in the activism of the second half of the 2010s. Liz's opposition to gender-stereotyping of children will still be well received now. (Even if the age gap between her and Jimmy when they first met as teenagers won't be.)
It had been a few years since I'd read a book in Scots and I was apprehensive that I'd be rusty, that it would be a mistake to have kept this on a 'light reads' shelf, but no. It seemed as quick as reading in Standard English, and it actually kept my attention better and made the story more interesting than the same plot and characters would have been in Standard. (Not unlike the way I found capitalisations of nouns in Tom Jones kept me alert.) There were only about ten words I didn't think I'd seen before, all more or less understandable from context. Rather my problem was temporary accent acquisition; even when I wrote comments and emails I was hearing them in my head in a Scottish accent, and using some slightly different sentence structures from usual.
Needless to say the setting feels totally authentic. I spent a fair bit of time in Glasgow myself during the year or so this book is set, due to a relationship, and Liz's frequent mentions of the then-new Buchanan Galleries shopping centre, its atmosphere and marvelling how late everything opened, were spot on. (Shops starting to open late on multiple evenings always feels redolent of the Blair boom years.) That place was so shiny and new and surprisingly big and expensive-looking, especially to an outsider, given Glasgow's traditional image. And weirdly I learnt more from this book about the context and joke of being a Partick Thistle supporter than I did from having one as a partner. But it was very odd that despite the attention to the year by talking about data backups due to Millennium Bug concerns, and all the hype about new year celebrations, there wasn't a single mention of the Scottish Parliament having been established that year. (I had read so little of Buddha Da before that I had no idea it was set that year; I'd just assumed it would have been 2002, the year before it was published.)
Culturally, the novel is kind of prescient, written at a time when Buddhism and meditation were already becoming more popular, though the mindfulness trend of the 2010s had not yet emerged. But I'm glad I didn't read Buddha Da before I explored Buddhism myself. Not only because I wouldn't have been able to critique the book as much (aside from the Buddhism, it's also more interesting now looking at the points about gender relations it raises than it would have been c.2005) but because I think that, as an introduction, the novel could easily induce someone to take Buddhism even less seriously.
This is a strange novel, as some things are really excellent about it and others lazy and probably inaccurate. There is genuinely useful info about Buddhism here alongside what seem to be some rather daft and unhelpful portrayals. It is, or was, well-enough thought of in Scotland that - as I accidentally discovered the other day during a GR search - a study guide was published in 2010. (Other work by Anne Donovan is on a current exam curriculum.) In some respects I really don't think Buddha Da is good enough for a set text - though for the great dialect writing, initial characterisation and overall portrayal of the younger characters I can see the point, and it's still kind of interesting simply because it covers an unusual subject for contemporary UK fiction.
February 17, 2023
What a fantastic book! One glasgow familys confusion and struggle coming to terms with the fathers new found faith in Buddhism. A hallarious story in parts where each individual character has there own trials and tribulations that we go between in individual chapters. The main character is the daughter who cant understand where all this has started with her dad or why but has an open eager mind to find out.
I loved the light hearted comedy elements in this and the glasgow slang. The way things are explained to the reader and the imagery created really had me chuckling away while reading this. It was like a kitchen sink drama playing out.
By the end we really have covered all elements of family life. From anger and frustration to love and kindness.
A great book. Great author
I loved the light hearted comedy elements in this and the glasgow slang. The way things are explained to the reader and the imagery created really had me chuckling away while reading this. It was like a kitchen sink drama playing out.
By the end we really have covered all elements of family life. From anger and frustration to love and kindness.
A great book. Great author
October 7, 2007
The world is about the same size, but we are definitely all closer to other cultures than we have ever been before.
What happens when part of one culture fits an individual better than his own culture?
"Ma Da's a nutter...He'd dae anthin for a laugh so he wid...but that wis daft stuff compared tae whit he's went and done noo. He's turnt intae a Buddhist.
At first Ma thought it was anther wanny his jokes."
And life for Jimmy gets a tad more complicated after that.
This is one of those stories with no villains. It is just that life is complicated enough just as it is.
What happens when part of one culture fits an individual better than his own culture?
"Ma Da's a nutter...He'd dae anthin for a laugh so he wid...but that wis daft stuff compared tae whit he's went and done noo. He's turnt intae a Buddhist.
At first Ma thought it was anther wanny his jokes."
And life for Jimmy gets a tad more complicated after that.
This is one of those stories with no villains. It is just that life is complicated enough just as it is.
April 26, 2012
[7/10] This is a re-read for me, confirming the good impressions from the first visit, but also showing why I considered it well written but not all that memorable (I've forgotten a lot of details). There's also the Glaswegian brogue in which the text is rendered, prompting me to give a warning to readers who are turned off by such deviations from standard English. Personally I found a lot of the charm and authenticity of this book is due to this local flavor.
What I love about the story is the focus on ordinary people and day to day problems like coping with children growing up, marriages getting stale, aging relatives, midlife identity crises, religion in the modern world, immigration so on ... After reading a lot of heroic fantasy in which nothing less than the total destruction of the world is acceptable as the main plot, it is refreshing to recognize characters that I could meet on the street tonight, the kind of people I visit on weekends or I hang out with in the evenings.
Jimmy is a freelance construction worker doing mostly paint jobs, with a beautiful wife, a smart 12 y.o. daughter and a bit of a wild streak that is great at parties (he's a former punk rocker). And he has just discovered Buddhism. The opening chapter is one of the funniest I've read from a Scottish author, with Jimmy coming out of the closet in his conversion from heathen to believer, and going on a quest to discover the reincarnation of Dalai Lama in Carmunnrock.
The novel does a good job transitioning from the funny side of life to the actual problems induced by Jimmy's spiritual journey. Anne Marie and Liz parts of the story are sometimes even more interesting that the ones narrated by Jimmy. And the ending was as good as the first chapter for me.
What I love about the story is the focus on ordinary people and day to day problems like coping with children growing up, marriages getting stale, aging relatives, midlife identity crises, religion in the modern world, immigration so on ... After reading a lot of heroic fantasy in which nothing less than the total destruction of the world is acceptable as the main plot, it is refreshing to recognize characters that I could meet on the street tonight, the kind of people I visit on weekends or I hang out with in the evenings.
Jimmy is a freelance construction worker doing mostly paint jobs, with a beautiful wife, a smart 12 y.o. daughter and a bit of a wild streak that is great at parties (he's a former punk rocker). And he has just discovered Buddhism. The opening chapter is one of the funniest I've read from a Scottish author, with Jimmy coming out of the closet in his conversion from heathen to believer, and going on a quest to discover the reincarnation of Dalai Lama in Carmunnrock.
The novel does a good job transitioning from the funny side of life to the actual problems induced by Jimmy's spiritual journey. Anne Marie and Liz parts of the story are sometimes even more interesting that the ones narrated by Jimmy. And the ending was as good as the first chapter for me.
November 6, 2021
“The mind is like a house, with many rooms. And some people’s houses have lots of junk in them. But our minds are very clever - we can keep some parts of our minds tidy by pushing the junk into other rooms. The meditation process is one of clearing. We need to clear the junk from the other rooms we don’t use, to pull it out, look at it. And it can get very messy for a while. But if we don’t do it we don’t ever get clear. I think you are just starting, Jimmy.”
This was our latest pick for The Scottish book club and it did not disappoint. It has proudly mate it into the Scottish hall of fame for me!
This is the story of Jimmy, Anne Maries dad. A Glaswegian painter and decorator, brother, husband, dad and genuinely fun loving typical West Coast fella. Someone that the world didn’t take very seriously very often. Anne Marie opens the book by saying “Ma Da’s a nutter. Radio rental.” Which sums up the way everyone sees him.
So when Jimmy starts on the path of spiritual awakening, taking up meditation at the local Buddhist centre everyone assumes this is a joke. A phase. Something that won’t last. And when it does last the family tries to come to terms with the change in Jimmy; and the change it brings about in their own life too.
This book is about so more than Jimmy and Buddhism for me though. It shows how people change throughout their life and how priorities change and coping mechanisms can be very different. For Jimmy and Liz, settling down very young it’s only natural that they lose each other for a while as they try and figure out who they actually wish to be. And it shows how men from the West coast are not taken seriously when they try to be more sensitive and in tune with their own feelings and thoughts. Jimmy’s awakening is not the “manly” way.
It’s also not just about Jimmy. But about Anne Marie’s and her mother Liz; who stole the show for me. Coming from a broken home myself, Liz and Jimmy reminded me of my own parents and how it must have been for them; marrying young and then changing in different ways. For Liz, she was always known as a mother and a wife. And through Jimmy’s awakening she has one of her own- albeit entirely different.
A very personal book for me that wasn’t too heavy on the subject matter. But with beautiful hidden messages throughout. I miss this family already.
This was our latest pick for The Scottish book club and it did not disappoint. It has proudly mate it into the Scottish hall of fame for me!
This is the story of Jimmy, Anne Maries dad. A Glaswegian painter and decorator, brother, husband, dad and genuinely fun loving typical West Coast fella. Someone that the world didn’t take very seriously very often. Anne Marie opens the book by saying “Ma Da’s a nutter. Radio rental.” Which sums up the way everyone sees him.
So when Jimmy starts on the path of spiritual awakening, taking up meditation at the local Buddhist centre everyone assumes this is a joke. A phase. Something that won’t last. And when it does last the family tries to come to terms with the change in Jimmy; and the change it brings about in their own life too.
This book is about so more than Jimmy and Buddhism for me though. It shows how people change throughout their life and how priorities change and coping mechanisms can be very different. For Jimmy and Liz, settling down very young it’s only natural that they lose each other for a while as they try and figure out who they actually wish to be. And it shows how men from the West coast are not taken seriously when they try to be more sensitive and in tune with their own feelings and thoughts. Jimmy’s awakening is not the “manly” way.
It’s also not just about Jimmy. But about Anne Marie’s and her mother Liz; who stole the show for me. Coming from a broken home myself, Liz and Jimmy reminded me of my own parents and how it must have been for them; marrying young and then changing in different ways. For Liz, she was always known as a mother and a wife. And through Jimmy’s awakening she has one of her own- albeit entirely different.
A very personal book for me that wasn’t too heavy on the subject matter. But with beautiful hidden messages throughout. I miss this family already.
November 4, 2021
I read this book for the #ScottishBookClub.
It was an engrossing and quick read, written in Scots. The characters drew me in immediately and despite their all having their flaws, I actually liked and sympathised with all of them.
Jimmy's interest in, and growing commitment to, Buddhism is not understood by his wife Liz or daughter Anne-Marie. Based on his previously fun loving and haphazard character no one expects him to stick at it for any length of time, but when he does, cracks start to show in their previously "happy" family life.
There were a few aspects of this book I found particularly interesting:
Jimmy's attraction to Buddhism - he found something that gave him some peace and clarity in his life but it wasn't something he discussed with his friends or family or was able to explain to them. This lack of communication was prevalent throughout the book. Despite being regarded as a bit of a "nutter" he actually took real pride in his work and without realising it, painting served as a kind of meditation for him.
Liz was an interesting character. At first, I didn't like her and her somewhat dismissive/hostile attitude to Jimmy's newfound practice. However, getting to see things from her point of view changed my mind. Again, I wish there had been more communication between the two! Liz goes through her own journey of enlightenment and self-discovery and it's perhaps more unexpected than Jimmy's.
Anne-Marie was a highlight for me. Her journey into being a teenager and discovering new friends and interests was light relief throughout the novel. She suffers in her own way through her parents’ troubles but finds good friends and a passion for music to support her.
This novel touches on a lot - family dynamics, communication in relationships, stereotypical class and gender roles and varying types of grief.
I really enjoyed this book. The end left me with some questions however and I wasn't satisfied with it as a resolution to the plot. I felt it sold the characters and their journeys short. Nevertheless an engaging and enjoyable read.
It was an engrossing and quick read, written in Scots. The characters drew me in immediately and despite their all having their flaws, I actually liked and sympathised with all of them.
Jimmy's interest in, and growing commitment to, Buddhism is not understood by his wife Liz or daughter Anne-Marie. Based on his previously fun loving and haphazard character no one expects him to stick at it for any length of time, but when he does, cracks start to show in their previously "happy" family life.
There were a few aspects of this book I found particularly interesting:
Jimmy's attraction to Buddhism - he found something that gave him some peace and clarity in his life but it wasn't something he discussed with his friends or family or was able to explain to them. This lack of communication was prevalent throughout the book. Despite being regarded as a bit of a "nutter" he actually took real pride in his work and without realising it, painting served as a kind of meditation for him.
Liz was an interesting character. At first, I didn't like her and her somewhat dismissive/hostile attitude to Jimmy's newfound practice. However, getting to see things from her point of view changed my mind. Again, I wish there had been more communication between the two! Liz goes through her own journey of enlightenment and self-discovery and it's perhaps more unexpected than Jimmy's.
Anne-Marie was a highlight for me. Her journey into being a teenager and discovering new friends and interests was light relief throughout the novel. She suffers in her own way through her parents’ troubles but finds good friends and a passion for music to support her.
This novel touches on a lot - family dynamics, communication in relationships, stereotypical class and gender roles and varying types of grief.
I really enjoyed this book. The end left me with some questions however and I wasn't satisfied with it as a resolution to the plot. I felt it sold the characters and their journeys short. Nevertheless an engaging and enjoyable read.
November 4, 2021
I found this one a bit of a slow starter for me and only just finished by the skin of my teeth since the chat is tonight but I absolutely loved that it was done from three character POV. I felt that helped move things along. Although I found it this way that anytime I did have time to sit and get into I found myself utterly captivated by this family and the dynamics of how things change and how all three are finding themselves but in very different and unexpected ways.
I did find this book very thought provoking in parts especially in regards with your own life and journey.
What I also really loved was how lighthearted and in parts funny this book could be as I really wasn’t expecting it to be like that at all.
I thought it would be fully serious and hard to take in parts but I really did enjoy it for not being this way.
I did find this book very thought provoking in parts especially in regards with your own life and journey.
What I also really loved was how lighthearted and in parts funny this book could be as I really wasn’t expecting it to be like that at all.
I thought it would be fully serious and hard to take in parts but I really did enjoy it for not being this way.
June 25, 2013
As a proud Scotswoman this novel appealed to me not only because it was short-listed for the Orange Prize (now the Woman’s Prize for Fiction), but because it was written in the Glaswegian dialect in the same manner as Irvine Welsh’s novels. It is the story of a family, consisting of Jimmy, Liz and their young daughter Anne-Marie, and how their lives are turned upside down when Jimmy decides to explore his spiritual side by becoming a Buddhist. Each chapter is written from the point of view of the three main characters which I found to be very effective, and added to the charm of the whole story as a whole. When Jimmy starts to spend more time away from home in the Buddhist Centre and changes his way of life – no alcohol, meat etc, his relationship with Liz begins to fall apart, and it was interesting to read how the outcome of this affected each character.
Anne Donovan’s story seems to flow off the page so effortlessly and I was completely drawn into the story, and found myself engrossed and caring for each character as an individual. I think she has captured the ups and downs of relationships, and the troubles we all face with daily life so easily, that it was a real pleasure to read. The dialect, as I mentioned earlier, was a big attraction for me, and it was wonderful to read small words like “oxter,” and “boking,” that transported me right back to my childhood (and the periods of my adult life, whenever I am around my Scottish parents!). A worthy short-lister for the Orange Prize, I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in spirituality, family dynamics, and great story-telling.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
Anne Donovan’s story seems to flow off the page so effortlessly and I was completely drawn into the story, and found myself engrossed and caring for each character as an individual. I think she has captured the ups and downs of relationships, and the troubles we all face with daily life so easily, that it was a real pleasure to read. The dialect, as I mentioned earlier, was a big attraction for me, and it was wonderful to read small words like “oxter,” and “boking,” that transported me right back to my childhood (and the periods of my adult life, whenever I am around my Scottish parents!). A worthy short-lister for the Orange Prize, I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in spirituality, family dynamics, and great story-telling.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
December 9, 2009
I have one very important piece of advice about this novel - read it out loud. It is written in dialect, and it is hard to make sense of the words when only reading them with your eyes. As you read it out loud, you start to get a feel for the words in your mouth and you can actually begin to hear the dialogue much clearer. This is a really neat way to read, I discovered, and I almost wish more authors would write this way.
Now to begin the review. Jimmy is a Glasgow painter, father and husband. He lives a nice, quiet life, but begins to yearn for something more. He begins to delve into the world of Buddhism, going to meditation and hanging out with the 'lamas.' He spends so much time at the local Buddhist center that his family life beings to unravel and he is forced in to a crossroads.
Anne Donovan shares with us the pleasures of small town life through beautiful dialogue and colorful characters. An excellent novel.
Now to begin the review. Jimmy is a Glasgow painter, father and husband. He lives a nice, quiet life, but begins to yearn for something more. He begins to delve into the world of Buddhism, going to meditation and hanging out with the 'lamas.' He spends so much time at the local Buddhist center that his family life beings to unravel and he is forced in to a crossroads.
Anne Donovan shares with us the pleasures of small town life through beautiful dialogue and colorful characters. An excellent novel.
August 8, 2008
I enjoyed this book to a point. Gently amusing. Heartfelt in places. Relationship between the girls perfectly pitched.In fact, I felt that all the central female characters were very well drawn and fully realised.
Jimmy, the da, wasn't.
It was an interesting premise: Jimmy develops a growing interest in Buddhism - alienating his family- while he floats on seemingly oblivious to real life around him. The problem I had with this was that Jimmy and Liz, and Jimmy and Annmarie had previously enjoyed very strong relationships and he seemed to throw all of that away without a second thought. Surely the point of any faith is to love others? Seemed to me he only thought of himself throughout his whole dalliance with Buddhism.
Admittedly this is a more interesting concept than the usual 'other woman' setup, but his continued blinkered behaviour just didn't ring true with the relationship as portrayed earlier in the novel.
Good summer read, but ultimately somewhat disappointing.
Jimmy, the da, wasn't.
It was an interesting premise: Jimmy develops a growing interest in Buddhism - alienating his family- while he floats on seemingly oblivious to real life around him. The problem I had with this was that Jimmy and Liz, and Jimmy and Annmarie had previously enjoyed very strong relationships and he seemed to throw all of that away without a second thought. Surely the point of any faith is to love others? Seemed to me he only thought of himself throughout his whole dalliance with Buddhism.
Admittedly this is a more interesting concept than the usual 'other woman' setup, but his continued blinkered behaviour just didn't ring true with the relationship as portrayed earlier in the novel.
Good summer read, but ultimately somewhat disappointing.
October 11, 2021
I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I usually struggle with books written in Scot’s but I flew through this. It was such an easy and enjoyable read.
Each character was lovable in their own way. I don’t think I could pick a favourite, they each stood out in different ways.
We follow the story of Anne Marie and her family which is told from 3 different points of view, all of which I enjoyed immensely.
Anne Marie is a young school girl navigating every day life while her dad leaves home after turning to Buddhism. This change in religion causes a rift between her dad, Jimmy, and mum, Liz. The story line following their separation is heartwarming. Despite their differences they still support each other daily to allow as much normality as possible for Anne Marie.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. A brilliant read.
Each character was lovable in their own way. I don’t think I could pick a favourite, they each stood out in different ways.
We follow the story of Anne Marie and her family which is told from 3 different points of view, all of which I enjoyed immensely.
Anne Marie is a young school girl navigating every day life while her dad leaves home after turning to Buddhism. This change in religion causes a rift between her dad, Jimmy, and mum, Liz. The story line following their separation is heartwarming. Despite their differences they still support each other daily to allow as much normality as possible for Anne Marie.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. A brilliant read.
July 20, 2022
This book is a blessing. Just read it.
March 18, 2024
Gently engaging. Nice characters. A worthwhile read.
September 1, 2016
Easily 5.5 or 6 stars
Absolutely shot straight into my lifetime favourites list! I normally find prize-listed books disappointing but not this one. Each family member has their very own voice and, in places, this book achieves the Holy Grail of stream-of-consciousness that so many writers have attempted to write, mainly unsuccessfully. The characterisation is wonderful - the character observation is acute, meaningful and entertaining. Jimmy is one of the most lovable characters I have come across on a long time and a heck of a lot of books.......
Written directly in each characters distinct version of the Glaswegian accent, after about 3 chapters this ceased to be a (pleasant) distraction - who can't like any Scots accent? - and simply became the voice I was listening to - and I could hear that voice! How I miss the accents of the UK.....
At the same time the story gives an authentic account of anyone trying to make large changes and reach for something 'more' in life. This is an altogether charming novel with depth to it as well as humour.
Absolutely shot straight into my lifetime favourites list! I normally find prize-listed books disappointing but not this one. Each family member has their very own voice and, in places, this book achieves the Holy Grail of stream-of-consciousness that so many writers have attempted to write, mainly unsuccessfully. The characterisation is wonderful - the character observation is acute, meaningful and entertaining. Jimmy is one of the most lovable characters I have come across on a long time and a heck of a lot of books.......
Written directly in each characters distinct version of the Glaswegian accent, after about 3 chapters this ceased to be a (pleasant) distraction - who can't like any Scots accent? - and simply became the voice I was listening to - and I could hear that voice! How I miss the accents of the UK.....
At the same time the story gives an authentic account of anyone trying to make large changes and reach for something 'more' in life. This is an altogether charming novel with depth to it as well as humour.
January 14, 2017
I chose to read Buddha Da for my Reading Scotland 2017 project. It is set in Glasgow, the city in which I now live, and written entirely in dialect. Whilst this proved marginally difficult to get into at first, it soon seemed an incredibly natural way to read, and I was soon invested within the story. The three narrative voices used are distinctive, and the emotional depth included within the volume has been well-evoked. I did find some elements of the plot a touch predictable, but there was undoubtedly a sense of realism to the whole for the most part. The structure was effective, and I'd certainly like to read more of Donovan's work in the near future.
May 21, 2020
Written in dialect, this book needs to be read out loud for at least a few chapters, until one gets used to it.
A Glaswegian Dad converts into Tibetan Buddhism. His wife is skeptical and his daughter is curious, but pretty soon everything gets out of hand. Each family member is facing life-changing events in their lives all of a sudden. Karma?
As a Buddhist with a devoted Christian husband, I can relate to some of the situations described. The book is actually quite hilarious, I definitely didn't expect I'd be laughing so much, but that is probably because I saw myself in Jimmy from time to time :))
A Glaswegian Dad converts into Tibetan Buddhism. His wife is skeptical and his daughter is curious, but pretty soon everything gets out of hand. Each family member is facing life-changing events in their lives all of a sudden. Karma?
As a Buddhist with a devoted Christian husband, I can relate to some of the situations described. The book is actually quite hilarious, I definitely didn't expect I'd be laughing so much, but that is probably because I saw myself in Jimmy from time to time :))
January 7, 2020
Brilliant. Never felt so close to characters before.
June 30, 2023
This book is truly wonderful, from beginning to end. The story is told from three points of view: the father, Jimmy, the Da of the title, a house painter and former punk who discovers Buddhism; Liz, his wife; and Anne Marie, their teenage daughter.
Each viewpoint character is beautifully illuminated and their thoughts being expressed in a Glaswegian accent adds a wonderful feel to the book. It did take me a page or two or five to get used to, but it was a very good idea of Donovan's to write it as they would speak it.
As usual I won't go into the plot as you can find that out easily enough. I'll just write that watching them live their lives and rub against each other and, yes, I'll say it, grow in their own sometimes challenging ways, is a very satisfying experience. My only regret is that Jimmy's voice is heard less in the later stages of the book then I would have liked. But at the same time, Liz's voice is strengthening and Anne Marie's world is changing brilliantly.
If you want to book that makes you think a lot (but not in a dreadful and dry sort of way), cringe a little, laugh out loud, and smile, this is a great one to grab.
Each viewpoint character is beautifully illuminated and their thoughts being expressed in a Glaswegian accent adds a wonderful feel to the book. It did take me a page or two or five to get used to, but it was a very good idea of Donovan's to write it as they would speak it.
As usual I won't go into the plot as you can find that out easily enough. I'll just write that watching them live their lives and rub against each other and, yes, I'll say it, grow in their own sometimes challenging ways, is a very satisfying experience. My only regret is that Jimmy's voice is heard less in the later stages of the book then I would have liked. But at the same time, Liz's voice is strengthening and Anne Marie's world is changing brilliantly.
If you want to book that makes you think a lot (but not in a dreadful and dry sort of way), cringe a little, laugh out loud, and smile, this is a great one to grab.
August 5, 2019
https://thecaffeinatedreader.com/2019...
Reading the synopsis I was intrigued by Buddha Da and I felt the need to see what exactly made up this book. Was it a book of spiritual growth? Was it more like the Glaswegian Eat, Pray, Love? Or was I about to find myself learning more about Buddhism than ever before? [And to be frank, it wouldn't be that hard, my knowledge of it is minimal]
I can happily say it was a little of all of that and completely different than I expected, all rolled into one.
The story swivels from three POVs of the family members, Jimmy our Buddha Da, Liz his wife, and Anne Marie his daughter. But the POVs do tend to stick more with Liz and Anne Marie.
This isn't just a book about the division of a family, and it's not that Buddhism is the cause of it, it's how people so often can change and sometimes it's necessary to make a few mistakes along the way to do so. It's a coming of age story of Anne Marie, it's a spiritual journey for Jimmy, and it's a journey to desires of the heart and mind for Liz.
Thank you to Canongate Books for sending me a copy to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Reading the synopsis I was intrigued by Buddha Da and I felt the need to see what exactly made up this book. Was it a book of spiritual growth? Was it more like the Glaswegian Eat, Pray, Love? Or was I about to find myself learning more about Buddhism than ever before? [And to be frank, it wouldn't be that hard, my knowledge of it is minimal]
I can happily say it was a little of all of that and completely different than I expected, all rolled into one.
The story swivels from three POVs of the family members, Jimmy our Buddha Da, Liz his wife, and Anne Marie his daughter. But the POVs do tend to stick more with Liz and Anne Marie.
This isn't just a book about the division of a family, and it's not that Buddhism is the cause of it, it's how people so often can change and sometimes it's necessary to make a few mistakes along the way to do so. It's a coming of age story of Anne Marie, it's a spiritual journey for Jimmy, and it's a journey to desires of the heart and mind for Liz.
Thank you to Canongate Books for sending me a copy to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.
August 26, 2020
I enjoyed this. It touched some raw places in me, and became something of a discussion starter in my house. Mainly around the effects on a family when one person gets religion, or becomes immersed in something outside the home, or simply changes. The loss. The outrage. The feeling of being put second to something that doesn’t seem like a priority to you. All this amid a story of ordinary lives and extraordinary humanity.
April 21, 2017
Charming tale
Intriguing story about the tension between spirituality, individualism and family life. The characters are believable and the context a lovely balance of the extraordinary and the commonplace.
Intriguing story about the tension between spirituality, individualism and family life. The characters are believable and the context a lovely balance of the extraordinary and the commonplace.
August 17, 2020
Lovely to read a book set in such a familiar place, with very convincing Glaswegian dialect. Good to think of Glasgow as a mix of cultures and challenge preconceived notions of who can participate in what culture
July 14, 2020
Really enjoyed this, laughed out loud at times and a nice feel good factor.
April 28, 2022
3.5 stars
Review to come.
Review to come.
February 20, 2024
A lovely, heartwarming book. 😊
April 6, 2024
I read this when it first came out, just reread it for college. An enjoyable novel with a great deal of heart.
December 11, 2018
It’s a thought-provoking story about how the decision of one person to make a seemingly small change in his life ripples through the lives of everyone around him. Written in a delightful Glaswegian dialect, it’s a lyrical read and engages you from the first page.
September 19, 2025
A big hearted novel, about the fallout of a working class Glaswegian dad going through a Buddhist awakening. I loved all of the characters. It had a dry humour, and I found it laugh out loud funny in places, but also some thoughtful bits which made me think and reflect. It is written in a Scottish dialect, which helped add to the story I think.
August 2, 2020
This is a story about an average man from Glasgow who discovers Buddhism. It impacts on his life as his family don’t really understand what is happening or what it means.
I thought it was a good story but it wasn’t something that I really loved.
I thought it was a good story but it wasn’t something that I really loved.
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