il portello portatile! (The Portable Door - Tom Holt)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	The Portable Door - Tom Holt
Date:	29/01/06 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice change of style midway, empathy with anti-hero.

Disadvantages: No great description.

Paul Carpenter sits quietly at a job interview he knows he will not be getting, just like the countless others he has attended. Across from him sits a sour-faced girl equally convinced she will not be getting it. It is therefore, something of a surprise when he receives a letter asking him to start on Monday and even more of a surprise that the same sour-faced girl is also there on his arrival. All he has to find out now is what the company actually does, what the claw marks are on the back of the door and whether he and the sour-faced girl will live happily ever after.

Tom Holt’s “The Portable Door” is my sort of book. Holt is an author I have avoided for many years due to over recommendation and ranting by friends. Comparisons to favourite authors including Pratchett and Adams would usually send me rushing to the bookshop but I found myself reluctant due to the “too good to be true” factor. I need not have been so sceptical. “The Portable Door” is a well-written, imaginative romp with a fundamental British humour to it reminiscent of Douglas Adams. Centring round the run of the mill goings on of the office environment it is situation comedy. This is Gervais and Merchants “The Office” before it even existed. With endless inexplicable spreadsheets, a teleporting stapler that you could swear you left on the table and a much abused photocopier this is humorous fiction at its most apt. Anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of office politics and hierarchy will appreciate Carpenter’s miserable existence as the apprentice and of course the unrequited office love.

“The Portable Door” differs from standard humour/fantasy in its quick change from situation comedy to fantasy. Just as we think this is to be a novel on office politics out pops Goblins who own the building and the mysterious “Portable Door” a magical item able to transport Paul Carpenter anywhere and any when. Of course this leads to the obligatory nemesis who wants to seize the door to his own evil ends. What is also great about “The Portable Door” compared to other masters of the genre is that Holt keeps the action based on our earth and this adds a strange sense of realism to proceedings. Add to this an Arthur Dent style reluctant hero in the inept, cowardly Carpenter whose only friends play nomination whist and what you have is a read in which you cry out for a strong character but at the same time empathise with the confused, cynical anti-hero.

Holts writing style is surprisingly simplistic. In a genre were description and imagery is usually hugely important he does little to humanise his characters and as such, other than Carpenter you have little empathy for the surrounding characters of clerks, goblins and sorcerers. This does not detract from an exciting, amusing plot but does leave the way open for more of the more interesting characters such as the horny goblin also known as Mr Tanner’s mum to be expanded upon in future outings.

Chapters are surprisingly long and the plot does seem to a while to unfold but Holt’s observations throughout make this an engaging read and he certainly bears comparison with Adams and Pratchett. His quick-witted, self deprecating style and willingness to mock British culture is in fact so similar to the late Douglas Adams you could almost believe they are one and the same (which for me is high praise indeed).

This is not a novel of one liners and laugh out loud moments but is one of sarcasm, sharp observation and satire. Huge conglomerates are run by bumbling, argumentative idiots and traditional British institutions are endlessly mocked. Holt is masterful and biting in his satire yet silly enough to make this a light, entertaining read that flies by at 304 pages. Indeed considering I bought this on promotion at 99p in Ottakars I consider this my buy of the year.

ISBN: 1841492086
Price: 99p on promotion in Ottakars or £3.99 on amazon.uk (paperback)

Bring on the sequel “In your dreams”.

Summary: As good as Adams which is the highest praise I could think of!