Review of Ironing
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James Rosati
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Review of Ironing
[Following is a volunteer review of "Ironing" by Navajo.]
Ironing is a novella-length book by Navajo about the lives of several people in East London. The central narrative follows three college girls – Emma, Ginie and Royanda – riding a bus to the dog races. Along the way, they gossip, chatter and rage about their many concerns, from boys, to healthy eating, to giant ants, to how tall people are destroying the planet. Throughout the book, the narrative makes brief deviations from the three girls in order to follow different characters’ stories. These characters include other passengers on the bus, staff and students from the college, or people entirely unrelated to the core cast. Some of these subplots are amusing anecdotes, while others are stark revelations of unseen suffering. The book always returns to Emma, Ginie and Royanda, narrating their journey on the bus and their evening at the dog races.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself laughing at the many ridiculous things the characters say and do, and also at how Navajo narrates many scenes. What became especially striking, then, was the presentation of suffering in the book. In such instances, the humour completely disappears, leaving brutally vivid descriptions in its place. The point of the book is, in my opinion, to show the depth of humanity of everyday people. Emma, Ginie and Royanda seem like nothing more than silly teenagers until we get glimpses at their deeper thoughts and feelings. Navajo shows us many instances of human strength and vulnerability in order to give value to the lives of people from various walks of life.
Navajo’s writing style defies many conventions. For instance, he does not break up different characters’ dialogue into separate paragraphs. Instead, a conversation between as many as five people all fits within a single paragraph. Similarly, there are no chapters, page breaks or section breaks to distinguish one scene from another. Like real life, the book is not neatly divided and organised. It happens all in a rush. This is a definite stylistic choice that some readers will appreciate and others will not. It reads like an unfiltered stream of consciousness, taking no time to follow any typical rules of writing or to censor content. The style is raw and uncompromising. I myself found this very engaging, though it could just as easily put people off.
Across the many scenes, we find plot threads that diverge drastically from one another, and many of them do not reach a definitive conclusion. This could also divide the book’s audience. Again, though, I believe this is a very deliberate way to mimic reality: in real life, most people’s stories don’t have a satisfactory ending. We don’t always know how a specific conflict resolves, or even if it resolves at all. At first, I found these quirks very confusing, but I soon started to enjoy the uninterrupted progression from one slice of life to another.
Ironing is unconventional and uncompromising in its style. I feel that this is the book’s strength, though many will disagree. The book’s definite weakness, unfortunately, is its poor proofreading. There are many oddities in the spelling and grammar that are probably not deliberate choices, but are, in fact, errors. It is disappointing that such a short book contains so many mistakes. I was honestly quite annoyed at first, though the book’s strong points did win me over.
I rate this book three out of four stars. Although I initially found the writing style confusing, I soon found myself thoroughly enjoying the read. Ironing is funny, moving, saddening and heart-warming. It does need careful proofreading in order to appear professional, though that was the only thing I actively disliked. The book’s content – that is, the stories and what they describe – are unlikely to provoke strong opinions. The content is pithy and honest, but not especially groundbreaking or outspoken. The writing style is what will divide opinion; I enjoyed the way Navajo writes, but those who do not enjoy it will struggle to rate the book very highly.
Ironing is definitely for mature audiences. There is a lot of very strong language from page one, along with frequent discussions of sex, drugs and violence. Most importantly, there is content that could be especially distressing for some readers more than others: there are scenes of child abuse that include the threat of extreme violence; there are instances of attempted sexual assault; there is strong violence and injury detail, including a rescue operation at a disaster site. As for who would enjoy this book, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting a glimpse at working-class life in a large city. Ordinary people are far more complex than they may appear.
******
Ironing
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Ironing is a novella-length book by Navajo about the lives of several people in East London. The central narrative follows three college girls – Emma, Ginie and Royanda – riding a bus to the dog races. Along the way, they gossip, chatter and rage about their many concerns, from boys, to healthy eating, to giant ants, to how tall people are destroying the planet. Throughout the book, the narrative makes brief deviations from the three girls in order to follow different characters’ stories. These characters include other passengers on the bus, staff and students from the college, or people entirely unrelated to the core cast. Some of these subplots are amusing anecdotes, while others are stark revelations of unseen suffering. The book always returns to Emma, Ginie and Royanda, narrating their journey on the bus and their evening at the dog races.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself laughing at the many ridiculous things the characters say and do, and also at how Navajo narrates many scenes. What became especially striking, then, was the presentation of suffering in the book. In such instances, the humour completely disappears, leaving brutally vivid descriptions in its place. The point of the book is, in my opinion, to show the depth of humanity of everyday people. Emma, Ginie and Royanda seem like nothing more than silly teenagers until we get glimpses at their deeper thoughts and feelings. Navajo shows us many instances of human strength and vulnerability in order to give value to the lives of people from various walks of life.
Navajo’s writing style defies many conventions. For instance, he does not break up different characters’ dialogue into separate paragraphs. Instead, a conversation between as many as five people all fits within a single paragraph. Similarly, there are no chapters, page breaks or section breaks to distinguish one scene from another. Like real life, the book is not neatly divided and organised. It happens all in a rush. This is a definite stylistic choice that some readers will appreciate and others will not. It reads like an unfiltered stream of consciousness, taking no time to follow any typical rules of writing or to censor content. The style is raw and uncompromising. I myself found this very engaging, though it could just as easily put people off.
Across the many scenes, we find plot threads that diverge drastically from one another, and many of them do not reach a definitive conclusion. This could also divide the book’s audience. Again, though, I believe this is a very deliberate way to mimic reality: in real life, most people’s stories don’t have a satisfactory ending. We don’t always know how a specific conflict resolves, or even if it resolves at all. At first, I found these quirks very confusing, but I soon started to enjoy the uninterrupted progression from one slice of life to another.
Ironing is unconventional and uncompromising in its style. I feel that this is the book’s strength, though many will disagree. The book’s definite weakness, unfortunately, is its poor proofreading. There are many oddities in the spelling and grammar that are probably not deliberate choices, but are, in fact, errors. It is disappointing that such a short book contains so many mistakes. I was honestly quite annoyed at first, though the book’s strong points did win me over.
I rate this book three out of four stars. Although I initially found the writing style confusing, I soon found myself thoroughly enjoying the read. Ironing is funny, moving, saddening and heart-warming. It does need careful proofreading in order to appear professional, though that was the only thing I actively disliked. The book’s content – that is, the stories and what they describe – are unlikely to provoke strong opinions. The content is pithy and honest, but not especially groundbreaking or outspoken. The writing style is what will divide opinion; I enjoyed the way Navajo writes, but those who do not enjoy it will struggle to rate the book very highly.
Ironing is definitely for mature audiences. There is a lot of very strong language from page one, along with frequent discussions of sex, drugs and violence. Most importantly, there is content that could be especially distressing for some readers more than others: there are scenes of child abuse that include the threat of extreme violence; there are instances of attempted sexual assault; there is strong violence and injury detail, including a rescue operation at a disaster site. As for who would enjoy this book, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting a glimpse at working-class life in a large city. Ordinary people are far more complex than they may appear.
******
Ironing
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Double Down by C J Axlerod
