Legenda Barneya Thompsona

by Douglas Lindsay

Niesmialy fryzjer Barney Thomson przezywa swoje zycie w nastroju rozpaczliwej przecietnosci Rutyna ostatnich dwudziestu lat spedzonych w fachu golibrody zaczyna dawac mu sie we znaki Jednak nawet najnudniejsze zycie mozna doprawic szczypta nieumyslnego zabojstwa W jednej chwili monotonne zycie Barneya Thomsona zmienia sie w istna groteske a sam bohater wkracza do komicznego i absurdalnego swiata seryjnego mordercy Na podstawie ksiazki powstal film z Emma Thompson Robertem Carlylem i Rayem Winstonem

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2015

Reviews

[Lizzy Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Gleefully Macabre,’ what a brilliant way to review a book and it was that quote that made me pick up this book and give it a read. And is it worth it? YES. I read this in one sitting, absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down! So grab a copy and settle down to this thriller of a book!

A serial killer is lose in Glasgow; not only do they kill their victims but they then post a body part through the post to the victim’s relatives. The case has the police stumped with no leads. Whilst this is occurring, Barney Thomson is resentfully cutting hair in the local barbershop. He is vexed at his colleague’s lack of support, as he grudgingly cuts hair in the chair furthest from the window. Many of the customers that come into the shop would rather wait to have their haircut than be seen by Barney and he is seriously hurt. To make matters worse Barney’s wife is a soap addict that barely remembers that he exists and his mother is losing her hold on the world, and becoming more and more unstable. Barney fantasises about how much he would like to kill Henderson (his colleague) and rightfully reclaim his seat by the window. But what of the Glasgow serial killer? Could Barney Thomson, the gentle and dull barber really pull off a murder?

The writing is full of black humour and stinks of macabre and chilling thoughts. The story is simple and keeps a strong pace, which means the story doesn’t lack impact or dwindle at any point. The story is not particularly complicated and it has a number of strong twists that leave the reader in a dither. The dialogue of the barbers chatting is witty and brilliantly written like a running commentary much like you would find in a regular barbers. I also laughed a number of times through the book, which doesn’t happen to often. The characters were well written and were gleefully dark and salacious at times, which made the plot line even more exciting. I honestly can’t describe how brilliant the writing style is! It’s hilarious but ghastly and so well written! Overall, this is a brilliant read! I am about to start reading the next in the series so stay tuned to read my review of the other books in the series! (Also, looks like this is going to be made into a film! So get on it!)

*I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been previously published as The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson in 1999.

The story is about Barney who is a Glasgow barber who is just a boring, middle aged man with a wife that is addicted to soaps and doesnt care about him, younger coworkers in the shop who thinks he is just a loser with no friends.

The novel is a dark comedy about an inadvertent killer who is trying to get away with it and the dark, suspenseful crime story with the police looking for more dangerous, smarter killer, a serial killer in the same city. That makes it a very different read and very schizophrenic read some chapters can be blacker than than humor, the other are well written but standard police-book chasing a killer. Barney is just one of many fascinating, captivating characters that elevate the book, the humor and the very suspenseful story. I was impressed by the writer mixing it so easily between laugh out loud hilarity grounded in the characters and in the creepy, dark serial killer crime book it is from the detectives POV.

I liked Barney for a someone that is seen as a loser and you can see why people look down on him and will be interesting what happens with the character in the next book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cracking wee book and the film adaption [rewatched last night] was a fantastic adaptation of the dark humoured book.
To accidently kill two people and then to discover your 85 year old mother has been killing for years, must be a head messer. There are more books in the series so I shall definitely look out for them.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was unique and enjoyable and laugh-out-loud funny. I really did laugh out loud a bunch of times. You can read a summary anywhere, but I'll just say, the writing style of this book just totally keeps you involved from the very start. It's really witty and fun and I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

[Tracey Pearce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never seen the film nor did i know it was based on book. I got this from my faithful library and for some reason my threshold for gore is getting better as getting older - two books i have read this year involve beheading. Few things I did not like about it - two many Charcters point of view (i got confused) - also the soaps/reality tv programmes his wife and mother were watching was going to say bit far fetched but sounds like programmes on TV at moment. Would say never drinking red wine again but have a bottle of shiraz on shelf for tomorrow. Quick and short read only took me 2 days and that was reading late at night and i had no nightmares.

[Steve Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was made into one of the funniest films I've ever watched (several times) and whilst the novel was slow in starting and quite different in some aspects to the film it is still hilarious and a must read

[Julia W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nigdy nie powiedziałabym, że ta pozycja kupiona na targu książki za niecałe 9 zł stanie się moją ulubioną w tym roku, a tu proszę. Bardzo miło się zaskoczyłam i BARDZO polecam.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty, clever, laugh out loud funny.

[Corrieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of Barney Thomson 
Douglas Lindsay
Rating: 4 stars

I actually planned on watching the movie, but then I discovered there was a book and I ended up reading that instead.

Synopsis - warning: slightly spoilerish-
An downtrodden, miserable Glaswegian barber who nurses homicidal fantasies but cannot bring himself to hurt a fly murders his boss completely by accident. 
Complicating matter: there’s a serial killer on the loose, so either he manages to get rid of the body or he’ll be framed for a lot of very brutal killings.
Thank heavens for small mercies though: his mother happens to have a rather large freezer. Unfortunately said freezer turns out to be rather stuffed already.
Another small mercy: the detectives in charge of the investigation are complete idiots. 
Unfortunately Barney has a tendency to screw himself over massively as well.

This book is genuinely funny with a very snarky undertone and I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions. 
While I was on the train. So yeah. 
This might not be a good book to read in public because it causes the reader to produce many undignified snorting noises.

Barney Thomson is not a particularly likable character. He’s passive aggressive, resentful and a little conceited. But you find yourself rooting for him despite all that. You just want the poor sod to catch a break.

This book is described as being a dark comedy and it’s very much that. It’s basically rather lethal slapstick.
You have to like absurd stories, if you don’t and if you’re going to take the contents of this book very seriously you most likely won’t enjoy it.

But if you’re into reading a rollercoaster-ride of a string of crazy events this is definitely a book for you.

[Kathy Averbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining book in a very dark way. Quirky characters and set in Glasgow, so the language is a bit different. The story is very preposterous. And the ending is not really the ending to the story as there are more books in the series.

[Michelle Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was really a great book