The Van by Roddy Doyle, finalist for The 1991 Booker Prize https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_and_shortlisted_authors_of_the_Booker_Prize 10 out of 10

 The Van by Roddy Doyle, finalist for The 1991 Booker Prize https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_and_shortlisted_authors_of_the_Booker_Prize

10 out of 10

 

 

This reader has been enthused by what he sees as a magnum opus, though this is not War and Peace, we could argue that first, it is better in the climate of today, when Russia has invaded Ukraine, and second, it is also fabulous to laugh and enjoy such a beano as The Van, which is the third in the Barrytown Trilogy, from which the under signed has had the immense joy to complete part one, another masterpiece, The Commitments http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-commitments-by-roddy-doyle-10-out.html

 

Jimmy Rabbitte is the main character of the narrative, a superb story teller, with an exhilarating sense of humor, not without shortcomings, which make him human and even more likeable and relatable, who is in the first part of the novel facing financial problems, he is unable to provide for his family, relying on benefits since he had laid off, with the trauma of having to plan in advance his visits to the pub, where he can only afford to go twice a week, and then he has to see to it that his turn to buy his friends two pints does not come again, because at times he only has a fiver or tenner given to him by one of his sons, Jimmy Jr – our hero is known as Jimmy Sr – and that would not cover many rounds of beers.

Veronica is his reliable wife, the one he can depend upon to support him and the family, both materially, for she is the bread winner, and psychologically – when there will be tensions with his friend and future partner at this stage, she will always give good advice, suggest the path of caution, anticipates what the loss of such a strong bond would mean…however, our sinful, virtual friend, will seek the chance to sleep with a bint, on one amusing night out, and he keeps looking, committing, gallivanting at young women (using the standards of this day, it is unacceptable and we can wonder if it would be printed with these passages and if that happened, what would be the chances of shortlisting the novel for the Booker)

 

Linda and Tracy are the twins that live with their parents – and would later show a rather dark side, being spotted by their father in the crowd of Zombies that attack the van repeatedly and do all sorts of dangerous, disgusting, ferocious things – and so does Sharon and her daughter, Gina, the former would be there to help her father, in nights when he will be overwhelmed at his job as a caterer – this is what he pretends on his big night out, when he wants to seduce a couple of women, sure as he is that they would not look at a man that just flips burgers and makes chips in the back of a van, and he might be wrong…

Darren is the younger son, who is an accomplished pupil – he would at a later stage take seven top marks in all the seven tests he gives, paving the way to university, if only the parents can afford that, which is an added torment for the protagonist, when he has to ponder over the strained relationship he will have at that point with his best friend, for if he is to look for the exit, then Darren would be unable to continue to study at University, and his father will be in the same spot we found him at the start of The Van.

 

When he is laid off, best friend Bimbo aka Brendan Reeves – this is a name that jimmy has forgotten, used as he has been for decades to use the nickname and it makes for another hilarious moment when he has to introduce him to two interesting women – has the idea of buying a ‘chipper’, which is a van that sells fish, chips and burgers, together with some other things, and he uses eight hundred pounds on an old jalopy, that has no engine and would take forever to clean and to which he suggests that Jimmy Jr becomes a partner, and when he accepts they embark on a serious adventure, that will change their lives.

Their relationship is also affected, in the beginning, it seems almost miraculous, for they had both been made redundant – this is one of the most important events, psychology studies have looked at Hedonic Adaptation, concluding that we can take almost anything and go through, but there are situations that are next to impossible to go through unaffected, without trauma, and becoming unemployed is such a traumatic instance – and when bimbo has the idea of buying a Van, to sell food from, it looks like the Escape Artist, they have managed to find a way out of depression, feeling gloomy.

 

Jimmy Sr had been using a plan through which he took his friend out, keeping him busy, helping him get over the sense of futility and all the rest, but getting the chipper would not only keep them busy – which is one of the secrets of reaching very old age incidentally, you can read in Ikigai how people on the island of Okinawa list keeping active as one of the secrets of their record high life expectancy rate http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/ikigai-byhector-garcia-and-francesc.html - but it also provide them with money, enough of it to help support their families, enjoy a few drinks, buy some clothes…

When Bimbo pays the eight hundred pounds for the rather decrepit van, he asks Jimmy to be his partner and this is emotional and wonderful to read about, inviting readers to think of friends – if they have them, which is one secret of happiness, the happiest have been surveyed and it turns out that they share not wealth, but strong connections with family and friends, and since I only have one friend left, if that, there is a need to put this down, in the vain hope that you read it, call and say you want to be my friend, or don’t you? – but something interferes, it could be Bimbo’s wife, Maggie, who has quite a few good ideas – expect perhaps when she thinks of them offering breakfast and Jimmy suggests parking the van near the motorway and then pretending they had not had customers when they are back…

 

Probably nudged by his wife, who may have said ‘you have to choose’ in Jimmy’s imagination, Bimbo says at one point that he will pay wages, thus throwing away the initial partnership proposal, which seems so unfair and redefines their connection or our definition of friendship – very often, if not always, this reader thinks of Thomas Mann and his musings on love and friendship, which only exist in literature, if we are to look at what happens in real life, when we offer a partnership to a ‘friend’ but along the way, we are tested and give up on that offer – albeit Jimmy has his share of the blame and he admits he should have offered to pay half of the cost of the van, if he had been serious about his contribution to their enterprise…

 

http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html