Narrowboat reads

I've just come back from a week's holiday on a narrowboat, pootling along at 4 mph on the Shropshire Union Canal. Between working the locks there has been ample opportunity to sit up front with a good book.

I really enjoyed Douglas Coupland's The Gum Thief, set in a Staples megastore. It's an entertaining, easy read, as Coupland writes in short chapters, and moves the action along fast. The novel takes the form of a dialogue between two colleagues: Roger, a jaded, middle-aged divorcee, and Bethany, a twenty-something Goth. What makes this different, is that the "dialogue" happens through mock diary entries which Roger writes in Bethany's diary, pretending to be her. Two colleagues who would probably never mix socially begin to share each other's secrets and tragedies, and Roger's novel in progress: "Glove Pond."  Through this secret correspondence a friendship is forged and other family members become embroiled until the reader feels totally involved in their personal histories.

It is an extremely funny, quirky and touching book, dealing with the big themes in life such as death, grief, ageing and relationships. I would read it for the crazy toast interludes alone!

Midweek I turned to a barging book, Terry Darlington's Narrowdog to Wigan Pier. What's not to like about Terry? You get a road trip (on a canal), Terry's offbeat humour, and poetic soul searching to boot. It's a travelogue with a cast of worthy characters and places, stuffed full of literary references. I love his writing. He has a unique voice, and I have enjoyed all three of his Narrowdog books. This is perhaps my favourite, as it is the most autobiographical, weaving details of his life into the travel narrative. Plus, I was reading it whilst travelling on a narrowboat through some of the places in the book, experiencing some of the things he mentions. Oh, and I forgot the Whippets, Jim and Jess, and having met lots of pairs of dogs on various barges over the past week, I can testify to the fondness of  the barging fraternity for their canine companions. (Btw we saw 2 of the following: Westies, Bassett Hounds, Collies, Cairns, Red Setters, Huskies - all of them lovely, lovely dogs).

Two lovely Westies on the Shroppie