Ten Storey Love Song

by Richard Milward

Book by Milward, Richard

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2009

About the author

Richard Milward was born in Middlesbrough in 1984. His debut novel, Apples, was published in 2007, and he recently passed his degree in Fine Art from Byam Shaw at Central St Martins in London. He currently lives in Middlesbrough.

Essay on his writing: http://www.faber.co.uk/article/2009/2...

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave it 66 pages. 67 if you count the front cover which is the 'first' page.

Sure, it's clever... clever like as if Ken Kesey met the Trainspotting guy and regurgitated a Slacker baby that emulated The Young Ones and then decided to 'honor' classics like Georgie Girl for no real reason except to name a character after her and have her sort of pudgie and fond of sweets (Willy Wonka homage too) I guess I'm too old to appreciate snogging and farting and head trips and scuzzy boys and lots of drugs and shit encrusted assholes and mucky flats and trash filled hallways and really (really) bad sex and more bowel issues and dinners of jellybeans and licorice and razor blades and then the drug withdrawals and even a rainbow appearance! I hated all the characters (maybe because I knew people like them on tv and in real life WINK WINK WINK) and maybe because there is never a fucking paragraph break! BE ORIGINAL and yeah I can keep up with the stream of consciousness writing, I'm not a dolt, but maybe I just don't want to because I grew up and it began to bore me. Maybe the idea of all these daft characters mean nothing and their lives are just replicas of old. Maybe I should thank you, Richard Milward, you might have just driven me back to Coetzee or at least Milton. Maybe instead of trying to draw readers in with a 'hip' writing technique isn't enough... maybe you need substance and maybe people won't be fooled by you. Maybe people over 22 at least. GOOD RIDDANCE!

[JK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Milward gives us the lives of the residents of Peach House - a tower block in Middlesbrough. We see them all rise and fall within their own lives as they wander around in their separate working class hells. Each of them struggling with some sort of flaw, each of them desperate for affection, each of them someone you’ve probably met before. Except maybe the paedo.

The novel is written as one entire paragraph - no line breaks, no chapter breaks, no bloody breaks at all. I knew this before I started, and managed to convince myself it would all be okay - the book has been on my shelf for around eleven years, though, so it’s been a long time convincing. Although intended as stream of consciousness narrative, and which does work to a degree, it becomes very tiresome, very quickly. I found it next to impossible to encourage myself to read it. The issues I have with this book I will lay solely at the feet of the big paragraph.

Initially, I loved these characters. They felt really raw and gritty, real people plucked off the streets and thrown into a story. Their lives felt relatable, their struggles those of the everyman, their joys and laments starkly comparable to thousands. But something went wrong not too far in; I stopped caring about them, their fates held no interest for me. Was it the writing, or was it just the big paragraph?

Anyway, I soldiered through this by attaching my questionable ‘don’t give up’ moral compass to my hip, a moral compass which I may discard very soon. I navigated the trips, the fights, the emotional backflipping. The big paragraph exhausted me; I persisted. And I feel I’ve come away with nothing. Even the big sentence in Ulysses was more rewarding.

I’d love to say don’t let the big paragraph put you off. The big paragraph will lead you to a breakdown. The big paragraph will consume your love for reading whole. The big paragraph is a villain, a nightmare, an assassin. Do not go toe to toe with the big paragraph.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this book in a day and a half. Millward’s gritty, yet at times heart warming tale of the residents of a tower block on a Council Estate in Middlesborough is a real joy to read.

The relatively short cast of characters is wonderfully developed throughout the book and you can’t help warming to them, despite their numerous character flaws. Millward’s description of Bobby’s drug psychosis is positively ‘trippy’ and the Johnnie’s journey from a porn loving, ultra violent, uber-chav to a sensitive ‘new man’ is comically done.

Despite the grimy setting and the myriad of problems the characters go through, a sense of optimism prevails throughout the book. I look forward to reading more of Richard Milward.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more appropriate title may have been Ten Storey Drug Song. And yet I found the main male characters both compelling and likeable, even though they spend their days in a haze of druggy, self-absorbed behavior. The female characters had less depth and felt more like props than people. The book owes a lot to Irvine Welsh, and has the same working class Brit feel. I'm sure I didn't get the whole story because I've never been to Middlesborough and some of the slang was unfamiliar, but I don't feel I wasted my time reading this book and there were sentences that had me laughing out loud. Not for the faint of heart, there is a lot of graphic sex, drug use, and language in this book.

[Edmund Hyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting novel. Not thanks to the single-paragraph style, which you could complain about with a degree of satisfaction if not total confidence. No no, the interest of this is in the way it tells an outsider's story. The read on London is particularly hearty and hands on, and rings true for me in the least. There's also a lot of peripatetics going on here - each of the characters seems to have a segment (not chapter, of course) where they go walkabout and take in Middlesborough and its surrounds. That's joyful; each voice is a little different, but they all carry the ache you can tell Milward feels for his town. A real sense of place to this book, then, even if it is a hard read.

[Kate Moxon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, and maybe one day I still could, but right now I couldn't get into it. It has that meandering feel of a slightly drunk guy at the pub telling you a story with no determined point or conclusion, and after repeatedly procrastinating from picking it up I've had to call it a day less than halfway through. I'll leave it on my bookshelf for another time.

[Patrick Tarbox · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s insane (286 pages as one chapter and one paragraph) and a bit vile, but it has some good storylines during the book. One of the biggest negatives was that it had a nice twist right at the end that would’ve been better explored in the book instead of another drug trip. A good read.

[sally davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. A story of scummy people living in a scummy tower block. No chapter breaks or even paragraph breaks was off-putting to start with but it was lovely. Bit like Irvine Welsh with a bigger heart.

[Faye Ducker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming little book but nothing life changing. The stream of consciousness narration fits well with the theme but can get a little tiresome at times.

[Tracey Lormor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to read, no paragraphs or chapters.

[Alec Downie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irvine Welsh does this so much better but an ok read.

[Rabia · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 60%

[Jordan Aech · Rating 4 out of 5]

I once wrote a short story that only had one paragraph that I brought to a reading group. It was in a rough state with very little editing, just how I wrote it at the time. I even notified the others that I intended to polish it up and add paragraphs. I was amazed how that became the focus of criticism and also how many people had trouble reading it. I was partially inspired to leave it in that condition after reading this book. Seeing it in the library with the first page beginning on the cover got me intrigued. It reminded me of You Shall Know Us By Our Velocity by Dave Eggers. I found a copy and was charged with the freshness that permeates this novel. Again I am amazed why so many people talk about the difficulties of reading one long paragraph. I find it exciting when authors challenge the rules of the English Language. When you start reading it you find that there is no problem with it in the slightest. You forget about it and get used to it, kind of like reading subtitles to a foreign film. As you read you also find a complexity that would be absent in other "rule-bound" novels, which is how seamlessly Milward can connect ideas, whether they be related or not, together without allowing himself the use of a new paragraph. Like a literary magician he uses slight of hand to change subject, tense and even point of view. Throughout the book we float in a drug fueled fantasia from person to person, situation to situation; climbing a story on the rungs of swirling prose. This work is far from elegant or graceful; the grit can get into your teeth if your not careful. We are treated to the underside of society with all its drugs and theft, but unlike the black and white world of Film Noir this one is populated with bright colors and a feverish pace that will make you sweat and gasp for air. This is comparable to Darron Aronofsky's deeply excruciating 2000 film Requiem For A Dream in that it concerns four individuals that suffer their own personal form of addiction. The main difference being is the overall tone which is a great deal lighter than Requiem. Brightness seems to shine from every page and delivers an optimism surmounting the odds that the characters are facing. Even at the climax of the book-from where the namesake comes-the scene is terrible in a conventional sense but somehow the book retains a feeling as if everything will be okay. The book contains many funny moments but skimps on the poignant ones. There are no life-changing revelations to be gleaned here. The characters do have epiphanies but they are far from profound. However the question must be begged, does one need profundity in order for a revelation to be relevant? Perhaps common sense is not inherent and whatever we learn is new and important for the individual. Despite this the story does not suffer. It was a joy to read something new and something good from someone not named Egan, Franzen, Foer or Kingsolver. Not to crack on them, their talent far exceeds mine, it's just that their names have dominated literary media for several months. Richard Milward is no rookie, Ten Storey Love Song is his second novel, but his is far from veteran status. I hope to see more from him in the coming future. Richard, please don't keep us waiting.

[Scotch Egg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Milward again, what more can you say about that lad that hasn't already been written, he's a writer, a male human, a philanthropist, a poet, a good egg with morals and brilliant mind, he puts his thoughts down on paper and sells them to earn his crust, priceless crack all round that.
This books as good as anything I've read and I've read some classics, the bible was good, mein kampf didn't really grab me but neither of them had my full attention like this Milward classic. There's no point beating about the bush when it comes to reading books I always say and I didn't with ten story love song, i had to sack werk that week believe me, I just phoned up and said " ere there's no chance of seeing me this week I'm reading Richard Milwards new offering so I'll see you next Monday " what a week it was, I stock piled pastys, sausage rolls and pies from Gregg's made sure I had plenty of tins of beans and got stuck in, again I was left with a wonderful feeling of achievement and had to be coaxed back to graft with the threat of a written warning.
I love story's me, they're off it.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got to be some kind of literary and artistic feat that this whole story is a single long-winded paragraph, and that in the case of my edition, this paragraph begins on the very cover of the book. Because of all this, the rambling, though intended, gets a bit boring, especially when it's already been well-illustrated for the last 50 pages (albeit beautifully) that a character is drugged up. The whole thing is a nice piece of work not unlike something Bobby the Artist would create: distinctive in voice and style, with characters all too human, and lying at its core, a pervading soulful idea--the notion that our thoughts and judgments about ourselves and others ultimately dictate our fates.

[Godzilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pacy, rollercoaster of a book. Wonderfully drawn charcaters and interlinking plot lines draw you into this immediately.

Family connections with Middlesbrough meant that this resonaated with me instantly.

The book veers from comedic to dark seamlessly, providing a sharp and funny insight into this modern world.

This certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, with all the sex and drugs, but frankly you won't pick it up off the shelf, if that's the case will you?

There are some great observations about life interspersed with the shenanigans. This is one I'll be re-reading at some point.

[Jodie Cotgreave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely lost track of time whilst reading this book, although i think that may have something to do with the complete lack of chapter breaks or paragraphs.
It reads a lot like Irvine Welsh but not quite as brutal (although some bits did make me a bit queasy)
Great storyline which focuses on a group of friends living in the same block of council flats, some working and some on benefits. The ups and downs of their relationships and friendships are both amusing and moving and sometimes harrowing. The big twist at the end caught me unawares and made me retrace certain parts of the story.

Excellent.

[Dodie Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really bittersweet story. Raw, boisterous, and wild.
The fact it was one long paragraph made me nervous initially but I found it actually kept me gripped. I also loved how it seemed like one long camera pan too, never really focusing on one storyline for too long, but still managing to tie it all up nicely (and also heartbreakingly) in the end.
I picked up this novel solely because I grew up around the Boro area, and it was nice to see that in writing, as I’ve never really seen much set around there, but I stayed for the characters who, whilst being incredibly flawed and sometimes downright detestable, seemed so real.
Loved this one!

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book. I did enjoy it, but I found it hard to read. It is one long paragraph. There is no chapters. Literally just one long paragraph. Its written differently than any book I've ever read. It is a lot of drug psychosis, what's real and what's not. It was raw, honest, trippy. There is minimal punctuation and no indentations but I have no complaints because the writing style fits the story perfectly. The characters are very real and well developed. Overall it was enjoyable, but very different.

[Cath · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but I think it was aimed at a much younger reader! I found Bobby rather frustrating, although also endearing.
There is a very clear Irvine Welsh influence here, although not nearly so dark - more Diet Coke than Irn Bru (not a criticism, more an observation).
The lack of chapters and almost complete absence of paragraphs was trying at times, but it was in keeping with the feel of the story.
I would recommend it for late teens/young twenties - perhaps not so appropriate for a thirty-something mother of three!

[Chris Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. Just brilliant, expressive writing. Not an easy thing to do. The happy bits make you feel ecstatic; the druggy bits make you feel psychedelic; and the amorous bits make you feel sexy. It's a remarkable achievement. And since Mr Milward's a young lad, we'll hopefully get a shedload more books out of him. Five gold stars from me.

[Nick Davies · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - I started reading this - in early 2011 or 2012 - but just couldn't get past the stumbling block of the style in which it was written. Not so much the language or the subject (I read 'Apples' and enjoyed it very much), just the reams and reams of text without paragraph or chapter break. This stylistic choice ruined what could have been an enjoyable novel.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't want to live in Peach House, but sure was a nice place to visit. Bobby, Johnnie and Alan were all nutty in their own way. I have a crush on Georgie...
The artisty bits needed a leap of faith to believe in, as did the happy ending.

[Dan Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part a good read. Like Apples it shines a light on the less desirable aspects of British youth culture, but felt like it lacked the heart and smarts of Apples. In parts clever and definitely worth a read, Ten Storey Love Song is a little above average...

[Lynne Milligan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really clever book. The narrative is fantastic and I loved the way the characters interacted. The single paragraph structure (yes only one for the whole book) put me off at first but it worked!

[Florence Jillett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting concept (the book is one long paragraph) and a bit like Apples (Milwards first book) we have the viewpoints from things you don't expect (for instance a condom). Read it in one sitting to appreciate it more.

[Jessica Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this many years ago, but I remember buying it in London. I remember that the entire book is one paragraph. I remember that it is basically a crazy story with a lot of drugs, but I do remember liking it! Will come back to it again someday.

[Tuck]

supposed to be good. about a group of misfits living together in a council estate. from review "its a high-wire act on par with the better irvine welsh" SOLD

[Mubongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Kidlazarus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned why you should be a sensual lover. Also, I learned that taking tons and tons of ecstasy is totally passe in England.