The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Viking, 176 pages)

Tom lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandfather’s trade as a shanker. His heart is in his music, but these ambitions seem far away from the dreary town around him. Instead he rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey gloomy beach and scrape for shrimp, spending the rest of his time selling his wares, looking after his Ma, and daydreaming about Joan Wyath down the street.

When a striking visitor turns up, an American who oozes glamour, Tom thinks it’s a good deal – show him around the misty coast in exchange for enough money to raise an eyebrow at the bank, maybe enough to broaden the narrow horizons he’s begun to strain against. Mr Acheson says he’s in the movie business, but how much of what he says is Hollywood magic?

SEASCRAPER is a mesmerising portrait of a young man confined in by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of artistic fulfilment. It confirms Benjamin Wood as an exceptional talent in British literature.

Wood's first book won France's Prix du Roman Fnac and Prix Baudelaire in 2014. His other works have been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, the Costa First Novel Award, the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the European Union Prize for Literature, the Commonwealth Book Award, and the RSL Encore Award. He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College London.

The fact that the Booker brings well-deserved attention to a gem like this is the reason I love to read the longlist - this is really, really strong literature!

Yes I liked it a lot. One I definitely am looking forward to revisit in August.

We collectively thought it might make the longlist after that interview where Roddy Doyle bemoaned the lack of books about people who worked in manual jobs.

It was also nice yesterday morning pre longlist as I called into my favourite book store and they had it as their book of the month as the owner was reading it and loving it.

Ok, that settles it, I will make this my first read of the unread

Short read also.

I strongly recommend the audio, which contains the author singing the title-giving folk song the protagonist composes - to great effect.

This will be my next read of the longlist as well, just finished Endling

I think the song is also available on the author's website for those with a paper copy - there's a link in Gumble Yard's review

This does sound the one book I ought to read from the list

Paul wrote: "I think the song is also available on the author's website for those with a paper copy - there's a link in Gumble Yard's review"

There's also a link in my review! :-) But that's not the only added sound in the audio book.

Yes just saw that! What else does it feature? I'm not keen on audiobooks so wondering if the paper version is a lesser experience?

Paul wrote: "Yes just saw that! What else does it feature? I'm not keen on audiobooks so wondering if the paper version is a lesser experience?"

The author sings a couple of times, there are some sounds included, and I loved the whole atmospheric experience - Wood also has a beautiful reading voice. It's not like some highly produced sound extravaganza, so if you're really struggling with audio books, it's probably not worth it for you, but for people who also enjoy listening to stories, it's great. I just LOVED the singing and the sounds!

I took Meikes advice and listened to the audio book. I am a bit torn: there is certainly great prose, a good story and beautiful imagery, but I struggled a bit with the artistic conviction of the protagonist. For me, the art takes itself a bit too seriously, a feeling that was heightened by the audio. It wasn't quite saccharine, but rather heart felt in a way for which I might be too jaded/German.

It's still a great contender, incredible atmospheric, but rather a good 4 stars than 5 for me.

But then, I am not really one for the "music frees my soul"-trope, and taken that into consideration, it was impressive.

Finished, short but beautiful. And surprisingly surprising in the second half, after the 'event' that happens half way. I thought I could predict what would happen, but it took some unexpected turns.

The audio version was a great recommendation. It felt a bit self congratulatory because the song has to be great for the plot to work, and as a reader we know he himself wrote and then sings it... but it's just really well done, good song and good voice. I sometimes listen to French audiobooks and they tend to mix in music more often.

Style and atmosphere reminded me of Carys Davies' Clear and also Audrey Magee's The Colony.

Great summary.

I'm really happy you enjoyed it as well, Ruben & Annna!

@Anna: I understand your reservations re the emotional register, that's certainly also a question of personal taste! My jaded German heart was touched :-)

I loved this. Sometimes I find the long list a little too clever for its own good but this was stunning and read in one sitting. It's my favorite so far.

On a re- read I moved it from 6/13 to 4/13 in my rankings

It’s also fascinating that on a long list which has a lot of children born to young mothers and given up for adoption (Dawn of course in “Love Forms” where it’s the dynamic of the novel, in Xavier’s Part 1 view the narrator of “Audition”, Anne with Tobias in “Flashlight”, even Istvan’s last lover in “Flesh”) here we have a 15 year old keeping her baby but suffering the consequences in terms of a loss of agency).

I loved this beautifully written, richly atmospheric book.

It’s also fascinating that on a long list which has a lot of children born to young mothers and given up for adoption (Dawn of course in “..."

It is an odd coincidence.

The absent father gave this novel a lot of its structure: if Thomas had been going shrimping each day with his dad, this wouldn't have worked so well. But the fact that his family was down to the bare minimum of what a family could be was important. Their whole lives were pared down to the bone. Rather like a non-comical Steptoe and Son: parent, child and horse, (and I think there was a reference to people mistaking him for a rag and bone man).

Yes he was once mistaken for a ragman.

Ooh, loved this one. Definitely was feeling the similarities to Magee’s “The Colony” with its sense of place of eking out a bare living from the sea, fated to soon come to an end after generations, but then it surprised me with the turn it took.

I feel like the horse is a bit of the book’s unsung hero. A steady observing presence throughout, and was even there to observe Thomas’s visit to the far, far, shore, so to speak.

Big fan of horses and I think he captured them well

I found this one to be a stunning success. The writing is great. The sense of atmosphere and place is beautifully rendered and it is proof that sometimes you don't need grand themes to produce wonderful novels.
The main character, Thomas, is so relatable. So believable and so well rendered. His wishes for life are easy to understand and easy to relate too. Whilst there is no great plot line and no huge reveal the final part is done with enough subtlety and with an element of surprise to keep you turning the page.
Wood, also brilliantly captures the flavour of the time in which the novel is set. Far from the later swinging sixties Thomas's world is one on the cusp of change, one where the deference of the pre-war world remains but one where new technologies are starting to appear.
It is also so refreshing to have a depiction of a working class man in this type of novel.
Though it is short there is a lot in here and I'm sure a second reading would reveal nuances that I missed the first time round.
It would be great for the prize if this wins.

Yes would reflect well on the prize although I have family members who will be horrified that it might actually encourage people to read books.

I loved this book. Right now, I have it in first place. If it doesn't make the shortlist, I will be very disappointed.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Yes would reflect well on the prize although I have family members who will be horrified that it might actually encourage people to read books."

I want people to read books - but good books and ones that they might not normally read. That's the whole point of the Booker - cf Milkman.

This one does sound good though - can I borrow?

No as I need to keep all the books for my Insta posts.

Paul wrote: "Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Yes would reflect well on the prize although I have family members who will be horrified that it might actually encourage people to read books."

I want peop..."

I want people to read good books, too, so publishers will keep publishing the good stuff, and we won't be stuck searching for something really good to read. We have music and art appreciation classes. Why not reading appreciation classes where teens are taught what to look for in a really superior book. I want books that actually live up to the hype. And I'm not saying this one doesn't. It does.

I keep seeing people rave about the audiobook for this, read by the author. Sadly the audiobook is not available in the US yet. I have cards to 3 libraries in my state and none have even gotten either a physical copy or the ebook. If it gets shortlisted--which judging by reader response, I feel there's a good chance--hopefully that'll motivate libraries here in the US to get it.

You can at least listen to the song.

http://www.benjaminwood.info/seascrap...

CJ wrote: "hopefully that'll motivate libraries here in the US to get it.

The book isn't published in the U.S. until November so they wouldn't be getting it until then.

Kindle now has Seascraper for September 23 Pre-order in the US.

I found a review copy of this for sale for less than a fiver in the basement of a secondhand shop on the Charing Cross Road. I might never have picked it up otherwise.

It sets itself up as another bit of dreary misery porn where everything is damp and grey and hope only exists to be dashed. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to get even as the plot offered some variation to the drudge of the protagonist's life. But just as tragedy seemed inevitable, the author zagged. The story becomes something other than expected and the grey mist of despair is pierced by a rainbow of human decency and kindness.

Perfectly wonderful.

Daniel, your comment tipped me over the edge to buy this one. I've been expecting a variant of Clear or Whale Fall but am now anticipating something more.

This was my favorite book of all thirteen. Moody, atmospheric, dreamy, and short.

I just finished this and absolutely loved it. I had read Wood before (The Bellwether Revivals) and had been a fan, but this was a huge step up. I'm so impressed with what he brought into such a short book, and I was completely caught up in the story and the characters and the atmosphere. Just beautifully done.

I re-read this book and bumped it up to 5 stars. It holds up well. What a beautifully crafted book!

Excellent - great writing , well structured story , unpredictable in places and inspiring in others,

I came here to echo what many of you have already said. This book is at the very top of my list (S&S is the only one I haven’t yet read). It’s not even close to get to the second place book (maybe Endling or Audition or S&S, once I can read it). This book would be at the top of my list in many other years too.

It’s a slender book, but it’s far from simple. There is so much packed into this story—the details of daily (and dangerous) manual labor and difficulty surviving, a tender mother-son relationship, a son missing his father, a son feeling like he had to sacrifice his education to support his small family, a ‘stranger from out of town’ plot line, music and the joys of creativity, mental illness and addiction, romantic love. It’s all in here. There’s also a haunting setting beautifully depicted and gorgeous sentence-level writing. And, last but not least, there’s a good bit of plot momentum and suspense. What an incredible accomplishment!

This is why I read the Booker longlist every year—to find books like this that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up (heck, it’s not even available in my country yet, so I had to get it from a friend who travelled to London).

I just snuck this in before the shortlist and had a really enjoyable, atmospheric weekend reading it. It's definitely a like, rather than love, book for me, but I appreciated the Northern atmosphere, the specificity of Thomas's profession, and the fact that it had some heart and wasn't a total downer.

I do hope Thomas gets his toenails looked at.

Right? Every time his ingrown toenails are mentioned I curl my toes in sympathy.

I'm reading this now, was trying to finish before the announcement. It's also a like-not-love for me so far.

Finished with 8 minutes to spare before the shortlist announcement!

Sticking with liked not loved, super solid, in my top 6, hope it makes the shortlist . . . we'll see momentarily.

My copy arrived along on the same day as the shortlist was announced. Given how well received it was by this group. I dive in. I enjoyed it. It definitely would have been in my top 3 or 4. Seascraper is not a job I'd want.