Watching the People Get Lairy, Not Very Pretty I Tell Thee (I Predict a Riot - Colin Bateman)

Member Name: samueltyler

Product:	I Predict a Riot - Colin Bateman
Date:	25/01/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, great characters, well observed

Disadvantages: A little too long - or a little too short!

Northern Ireland has only recently been a place were people are happy to visit. The days of random acts of violence are over and access to its beautiful countryside is now safer than ever, or is it? According to Colin Bateman the troubles may have ended, but this does not mean that there is any shortage of people willing to break a few kneecaps, especially if they make a little money doing it. According to 'I Predict a Riot' people are not visiting the Giants Causeway or other areas of natural beauty in Northern Ireland, but areas made famous for riots and crime. Americans can travel all over Europe and see beautiful sites, but there are not many places that have the danger and passion of Belfast. With this in mind should Bateman write a serious exposé into the continuing violence and people's fascination in it? Of cause not, not when you can have a love story around a severed head.

'I Predict a Riot' follows several characters over a few weeks as events conspire to change all their lives. Walter works for the council and has just met Margaret, a Primark security guard. Will their blossoming relationship survive affairs of the heart and bodiless heads? Meanwhile Detective 'Marsh' Mellow is on the hunt to bring down corrupt councilman 'Pink' Harrison. Finally we have Redmond whose been locked up in Cambodia for teaching the locals how to make bombs. These characters will all impact on one another, but will they all live happily ever after?

When I picked up 'Riot' of the shelf I could not help wondering why it was so thick. At over 600 pages long it has to be the longest comedy novel that I have read. Therefore, it is kudos to Bateman that I felt like I could have had a little bit more. The length of the book is due to the multifaceted aspects as several characters are followed and not all of them meet until towards the end. This means that 'Riot' contains at least four separate stories that meet up later. On the one hand this worked really well as I enjoyed jumping from one to the other e.g. an event that occurred in Cambodia in one chapter has unforeseen consequences in Belfast's regional store of Primark. Bateman uses subtle skill to keep all the stories separate enough to make them stand on their own, but close enough to make cross over believable. The one issue with the structure I had was that only one story actually hit a proper conclusion. It almost seems like Bateman realised that he would have to stop at some point and sacrificed some conclusions for the sake of space.

The slightly abrupt ending is not a major issue as this book is less about the ending as the journey and characters involved. It is here that Bateman excels. Without doubt he is my favourite author when it comes to creating genuinely likable and friendly characters. His usual protagonist is one Dan Starkey, a drinking, swearing, cheating scumbag that you can not help to love. Bateman uses his character magic again here with Marsh, Walter, Margaret and Redmond all being wonderfully rounded and flawed characters. Each of them is a failure in some way, but it is these elements that make you interested in their plight. It is worth the extra 200 pages or so to have characters this well fleshed out.

The other elements that Bateman writes wonderfully is humour. 'Riot' is a book packed with witty observations and clever uses of language. Bateman is never afraid to use bad language to make a funny joke, but he can also be very intelligent. The meandering pace of the book is Bateman's way of packing the story with as many laughs as he can whilst still keeping the stories on offer interesting.

As a stand alone Bateman novel I think that 'I Predict a Riot' could be a perfect introduction for new readers to one of the funniest black comedy writers around. It is slightly too long in places and the conclusion leaves you wanting more, but a lot of this is due to the fact that the characters are so well developed. The plot may meander, but the reader must get their enjoyment from the character's journey and not any specific actions they take. With many laugh out load moments 'Riot' is one of the funniest books I have read for a while. If you are looking for some slightly darker fun then you can not do much better than 'I Predict a Riot'. And just think of all the earlier Bateman books that you will be able to go back and read for the first time - lucky you!

Author: Colin Bateman
Price: amazon uk - £5.19
play.com - £5.99

Summary: A great comedy novel for fans of darker fiction