Learning to Swim - Graham Swift

Last Orders - Graham Swift

Last Orders (1996) is a very moving, very stylish novel about four men paying their last respects to their longtime friend Jack. The novel is shaped by various real and figurative journeys, the first of which begins, very appropriately, in the bar of the local pub, where Jack's "last orders" are revealed. He wants his ashes to be taken to Margate. This odd choice is explained later in the book but should not be revealed here. The writing is at first enigmatic, but later becomes a very satisfying experience, as each of Jack's friends records the journey from his own perspective, offering the reader the opportunity to piece together information from more and less ...

Last Orders - Graham Swift

Born four years after World War 2, Graham Swift's concerns as a novelist and a short story writer are history, memory and inheritance. But he's funnier than he sounds. Five male friends go on a car journey. One of them is in an urn. Everyone intends to be on their best behaviour, to pay tribute to the passing of their mate but the situation soon gets tense, as each man recalls events from the past, quibbles and all. The narrative is shared between them, with different chapters taking us into the mind of different members of this little funeral group. The reader is therefore privy to details that not all the men know of, and we start to build up a complete ...

Waterland - Graham Swift

This is an exceptionally good book which is about a history teacher being forced into early retirement. The book very sensitively takes the reader through school children's discovery of their sexuality, their tentative initial approach, sexual relationships and, finally, an abortion.The author’s descriptive writing make you feel as ...