Gavin Dobson

I thoroughly enjoyed every one of the stories in this collection, which is as rare as finding a music album comprising only of songs you really love. Once again we follow Geordie as he blasts gung-ho into uncomfortable and outrageous situations full of his usual charm and determination, while also getting a chance to see the more sensitive and naïve side of him as he interacts with early romances and later with his family. I had planned to read a story or two before bed each night but ended up finishing the entire collection in two nights as I couldn't wait to read the next chapter in Geordie's life. My favourite stories were A Day in New Zealand, Chicago Burns, San Andreas and The Great Experiment. Highly recommended.… (más)

A greatly entertaining and possibly somewhat provocative collection of excellently written short stories which cleverly explore very different situations in the protagonist Geordie's life. Through these tales we see that Geordie is a well-rounded and complex character who is at times innocent and vulnerable, while bitter and cocky at others, but always completely likeable. Each story is so well written and the scenes so wonderfully described that when I think back on the stories I can visualize each one as clearly as if I were remembering a film I had watched. Of the ten stories my favourites were The Popsicle Man (loved Cicero and Geordie's suicidal rebelliousness near the end), The Contrarian (what a great ending, and what a wonderful character Aristide is), and The Big Smoke (quite simply hilarious). I hope others get to enjoy these stories as much as I did. Can't wait to read the next collection of Geordie stories.… (más)

Once again this was a wonderful collection of very different stories, mostly concerning the excellent protagonist Geordie. I love this character and the way his full personality is explored through the medium of short stories. More so than in a full length novel, all aspects of his character are revealed as he can be confident and assured in some situations but also completely helpless and out of his depth in others. To me that feels a lot like the reality of what most people are like, and this is one of the things makes me relate to Geordie on a personal level and always want to root for him.

Having read the first and third collection of Gavin R Dobson's short stories about Geordie Kinloch I felt as if I knew what to expect with this volume. How silly of me. This is not simply more tales about the life of Geordie. In the same way that Chicago Burns and other Side Trips surprised me a little by having a slightly darker and more sarcastic tone than Tales of a Free Spirit, The Novice and Other Stories unexpectedly stands apart from the other two with elements of the supernatural creeping into a number of the stories. Mostly, this works very well. As a fairly pragmatic kind of person I normally find it a little hard to process such things when they occur in what I consider to be non-ghost stories, but for some reason I have no issues with it at all when supernatural happenings occur when the characters are away from home (I suppose for some reason having it be part of everyday life makes it less believable for me). This is perhaps why Palenque, The Prees Branch, and The Leopard were some of my favourite stories in this collection. I also thoroughly enjoyed The Novice, Billet Doux (though, of course, I don't condone Geordie's lax attitude towards potentially lifesaving health checks!), and AlkawaSi Jamel on account of Geordie's sheer cheek. Great stuff.

As always, this was a wonderful read in the company of a character I now almost consider an old friend.
Highly recommended.… (más)