Random Deaths and Custard

by Catrin Dafydd

Littered with an array of memorable, colourful characters, 'Random Deaths and Custard' brings a vibrant valley community to life, and leaves us pondering whether life really is anything more than a chance sereis of coincidences.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Welsh novelist and poet. Awarded the Crown at the National Eisteddfod in 2018. Her novel Gwales won the 2018 Welsh-language Fiction Award.

Mae Catrin Dafydd yn sgwenwr ar ei liwt ei hunan. Cyrhaeddodd ei nofel gyntaf, Pili Pala (2006), rhestr hir llyfr y flwyddyn yng Nghymru a chyrhaeddodd ei nofel Saesneg gyntaf, Random Deaths and Custard (2007), restr fer gwobr ‘Books to talk about'. Mae hi newydd gyhoeddi ei thrydedd nofel, Y Tiwniwr Piano ac mae hi’n sgriptio i Pobol y Cwm.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I looked through the windows. The bus was deathly quiet and the Rhondda looked pretty tonight, ‘cos you couldn’t see it I s’pose. Orange lights and rain, that’s all there was.”

Eighteen-year old Samantha works in the custard factory, lives with her dysfunctional family, and survives a catalogue of near-death experiences – at least two of which involve fish fingers.

This sounds promising, but the writing never rises above the level of a script for an unsuccessful soap opera. I liked the line about the Rhondda at night, but it’s difficult to find another sentence that’s at all memorable. As Samantha doggedly diarizes events, even potential set pieces – family mealtimes, foul-mouthed Anti Peg at the bingo, shopping in Merthyr – are drained of life.

Just to finish things off, there is an ill-judged attempt to insert – or rather, bluntly shove - a Welsh language subtext into the novel. This may tick some committee’s box, but it’s crudely done. I see (too late) that the back cover says “Catrin Dafydd is...keen to bridge the gap between the two main language cultures of Wales” which is fair enough. But not with some rusty pipe and a sledgehammer.

It also says “she is much in demand as a creative-writing tutor in schools all over Wales.”

So that's something to look forward to in years to come.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

18-year-old Samantha lives in the Rhondda and works in the local custard factory. She has become obsessed with the random death “near misses” she is experiencing – almost choking on a fish-finger, falling face down into a bowl of trifle, falling into an open grave at a funeral, being concussed by a fall on a bus. Her imagination runs riot as she imagines the obituaries which would be written following each of these scenarios. However, both her current and recent life experiences have involved numerous real losses – the separation of her parents, the deaths of her grandmother and a potential boyfriend, the sense of loss when her elder brother is away serving in Iraq, and then when he returns as a changed person.
Told in a vernacular style, in the first person, Sam’s experiences are brought vividly to life and, once I was able to “tune in to” the adolescent argot, I soon found myself warming to this confused, but likeable, young woman as she struggled on the verge of adulthood. Her voice, with its wonderful, lilting Welsh accent, came over loud and clear, and I found myself immersed in the struggles and confusions she was facing, wanting her to emerge from them successfully. The story is full of humour, some of it “laugh out loud” but often rather black; it is also poignant, sad and, ultimately, very wise. It is full of acute observations on life and the lives of everyday people and, although apparently light-hearted, contains a very real depth of feeling. Although the marketing of this book is probably aimed at teenagers I do think that it has something to say to people of any age.
I did find the lack of a glossary very frustrating because, although for the most part the use of Welsh throughout the story was either self-explanatory or spelled out, some of the words used weren’t even in the Welsh dictionary (and not many people have such a dictionary on their bookshelves!) so I can only assume that they were dialect words.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for an upcoming family odyssey to one of my ancestral homelands- Wales. The author is highly regarded in a movement of new Welsh authors.

It’s not lengthy, but it’s full. Full of Welsh words (I kept my phone handy to translate). Full of the protagonist’s tentative emergence into adulthood. Full of pain and loss and hope and hopes dashed.

The author’s stream of consciousness prose is impressive. Really hard to do and often harder to read. My sister asked me wryly if this book was like Trainspotting but in Wales. My answer? No, but...it is sad and a hard look at a culture.

I’m so glad I read this and so happy to have experienced this author’s work.

[Tansy Hepton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adrian Mole (or rather, a slightly older, female version), in the Welsh Valleys, a long way from his comfortable middle class world. This was a book group read and took time - and a bit of effort - to get into, but I ended up really feeling for Samantha and was glad I'd persevered. It's a great portrayal of a person and community, with a lot of dark humour.

[Sam Fuller · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointing read. I felt like I was reading an old diary from when I was 16. I hate leaving books once I have started them, but when I got to the end of this book, I had to check that there wasn’t pages missing as it ends so abrubtly that I fail to see the see the point of the book!

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was quite looking forward to this, cover looked fun and write up was intriguing. Page one delivered wry smiles and mild shock with chosen language, but the novelty quickly wore off. There are only so many times swear words can be witty, whatever the setting. Given the low page count this took longer to finish than I'd hoped as had no desire to get to the end. Only one word to describe this really: random.

[Libbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've given this book three stars as a sort of middle score because I abandoned it, it just didn't hold my interest and it was due back at the library.

[Neil Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, quick read. Written in the welsh valleys vernacular, which I understand fortunately, and interspersed with Welsh. Darkly funny!

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

a must for valleys-lovers. do it, you know you want to. it's sweet and amusing and funny.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately it's only redeeming feature was how quick it was to read.

[Cara M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent book, but so sad as well as being horrendously funny.

[Plum-crazy]

Picked this up as I do love the cover! Sadly what's between the covers isn't for me....only made it to page 33 :o(