The Underground Man review

[alobear]

I've been trawling through the back catalogue of Booker Prize shortlists, and came across The Underground Man by Mick Jackson.  It quotes from the journal of an eccentric and reclusive Victorian Duke, loosely modeled on William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland.

Despite, or perhaps because of his eccentricities, the Duke is a really lovable character, his random trains of thought are strange yet endearing.  I really enjoyed the first three quarters of the book - it was whimsical and amusing in a very gentle way, and I got to like the Duke a great deal.  He has a very distinctive narrative voice, but the book still manages to give strong impressions of the other characters (mostly servants) as well, a difficult feat with a first person narrative.

Then, this morning, the last 30 pages or so took a turn for the incredibly unpleasant, and the ending of the novel was really horrible.  So, instead of highly recommending it as an entertaining read, I must relegate this book to my negative review pile.  A real shame.