Download Way to Go Books Online Free

Be Specific About Regarding Books Way to Go

Title	:	Way to Go
Author	:	Alan Spence
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 294 pages
Published	:	June 3rd 1999 by Phoenix (first published 1998)
Categories	:	Fiction. Novels

Way to Go

Alan Spence

Paperback | Pages: 294 pages

Rating: 4.22 | 161 Users | 14 Reviews

Interpretation To Books Way to Go

Death is everywhere in this odd novel, a coming-of-age story that dissolves into notes from a funeral business. First US publication for the Scottish Spence.

Neil McGraw is a lad in Glasgow, an only child, the son of a dour undertaker permanently embittered by his wife's death during childbirth. Whenever the boy misbehaves, he's locked in the basement among the coffins, so it's not surprising he asks every body: What happens when you die? Against his will, he finds himself learning the trade. This is less gloomy than it sounds. The story moves at a good clip as the resilient Neil experiments with drinking and dating.

The crisis comes when his dad finds him and his girl making out in a coffin. Soon, it's Neil's turn to lock his old man, dead drunk, into the basement, before hightailing it to the London of the Swinging '60s. A friendly queer, Abe Morris, offers him a crash pad, no strings attached, where Neil finds drugs, straight sex, and Zen. The party ends when Abe, stoned, is killed in traffic and Spence abandons conventional narrative to send Neil hopscotching around the world before depositing him, 15 years later, beside the funeral pyres of the Ganges. Here, he gets very sick but is rescued by a vision in a sari: Lila, a Londoner, back home for her father's funeral. The two fall in love and marry, lickety-split, before Neil is summoned back to Glasgow. His father has died, leaving him the business, which Neil gives a hippie twist, producing brightly painted coffins in unusual shapes, with Lila a business partner.

The mood is light and buoyant, but novelistic concerns (what makes Lila tick? why do the couple decide not to have kids?) are shelved in favor of a scrapbook of original last rites, seasoned with Eastern mysticism. There's an appealing freshness to Spence's writing; too bad he gives up on credible plotting and characterization.

Identify Books As Way to Go

Original Title:	Way to Go
ISBN:	0753807327 (ISBN13: 9780753807323)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Neil McGraw
Setting:	Glasgow, Scotland

Rating Regarding Books Way to Go

Ratings: 4.22 From 161 Users | 14 Reviews

Appraise Regarding Books Way to Go

Scotland's prequel to "Eat, Pray, Love". But not really.

Interesting and funny.

Spence writes with a great style, easily immersive and a book that can be read at breakneck pace. It has helped look upon death more openly than before.

Quite enjoyed this though it was a little outlandish at times and some of the Eastern philosophy bits were up themselves. Next book club meeting we're going to come up with our 3 funeral songs though, so good chats ahead!

Never before have I read a fiction book with that many references to death or dying; or with that much humour, either.

Alan Spence's writing is some of the best I've had the privilege of coming across. His ability to write in a style that mimics his topic (death) is uncanny. The plot and writing style are equal parts brusque, eloquent, and beautiful. His characters are robust through the use of telling dialogue and adventure. If one has ever found oneself preoccupied with death, or mortality, this book is extremely relevant, and somehow comforting.

A stunning novel on one man's twisted relationship with death and life.