Having never read any Will Self I decided to read this novel as a starter due to its nomination for the Man Booker. This is a dense and complex novel that covers a variety of themes but a book that rewards the hard work of the reader. The Plot is about three siblings of the Death family around the time of the First World War, a Psychiatrist who is treating Audrey Death in a 70s mental hospital and finally this same psychiatrist in 2010. The book encompasses many topics including class struggle, socialism, war, death, mental health and feminism among others. Despite the plethora of ideas the novel builds nicely to a dramatic ending. The book is written in a modernist style with stream of consciousness (similar to James Joyce's Ulyesses I'm told, although I aint never read that book) which I was a fan of, It can be really fucking annoying. Some people might be put off by the long and meandering sentences coupled with a boggling amount of odd and interesting words or, like me you might enjoy the beautiful use of language and lexicon. Read it and feel the letter dirge.
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