Book Review: "Caledonian Road" by Andrew O'Hagan

Campbell needed William the way some people need to smoke, or the way others need to gamble or drink to excess. William was one of his risks. His outer limit. We need a friend who embodies the extent of ourselves.

- "Caledonian Road" by Andrew O'Hagan

When we come to discussing new releases we have to take everything with a pinch of salt, especially the marketing campaigns. A 'state-of-the-nation' novel is a novel which is set in our own times and makes light comment and story of the interweaving political outcries of each facet of existence. This, the novel does well and therefore, has an advantage. However, to call this book a 'masterpiece' as some already have, is something of a stretch. It is an achievement, nobody can argue against that - but it is a bloated novel with a great lack of wit. And where it is witty, the tone often gets tired like a joke that has overstayed its welcome - instead of making everyone laugh it simply makes the person telling it come across as brash and annoying.

The stereotyping is so overwhelmingly obvious that there is really nothing of any great analysis holding the characters together as they often display very predictable critical thinking skills (or lack thereof). In this way, the narrative has set itself up to fail against books of its type, including a novel called Echo Chamber by John Boyne. Boyne's novel takes a similar subject matter but as it is written by John Boyne, it is immediately wittier, less obvious and the ironies are amazing. I am afraid to say that I did not enjoy Caledonian Road nearly as much as I had hoped to. In my underwhelmed state though, I will ask my readers to make up their own minds about it and support the author in his endeavours. His previous novel was pretty good by comparison.

The book is about a man named Campbell Flynn. Flynn is something of a middle class half-failed writer and has the stereotype of not being grateful for what he has. There is a slight insufferability about him which at first comes across as a charm but, as you continue further into the book it just highlights his inability to hold two thoughts in his head at the same time. His friend has earned himself a knighthood and now, is about to see his life crash down around him (a while before Flynn sees his own come crashing down too). But what better way to explore stereotyping in a novel set in 2021 than to have two men who are basic stereotypes of their own predicaments become the mouthpieces for the majority of the novel's situational humour? This I thought was pretty good besides the fact that the humour did wear itself thin towards the midpoint of the text.

Campbell pens an controversial essay on the vanity of liberal guilt and sets it off as a piece that will make him money - not too worried that the subject matter will have a huge impact, he then starts to begin a strange working friendship with a former student named Milo. Milo has a MA in Computer Science and challenges the performative liberalism of Campbell Flynn in a way that might be well written at first, but turns into a mess of stereotyping later on, the inconsistencies in style are a bit strange to witness and there could have been a number of things the author could do with the character. The choice of what O'Hagan did here though, is pretty flawed. I understand that he needed to make Campbell and Milo look as opposite as possible but also have those base-value similarities, but the way in which he does it is odd and I have to say I didn't enjoy it.

The idea of 'we are who we know' comes back though to bite Campbell Flynn metaphorically in the ass as he is friends with a man who has committed monetary crimes and a relative (I am not saying who) who has committed some more serious offences. However, Milo knows drug lords and human traffickers - so I am really sure that both of them don't see the irony in the theme that pervades over their lives (and I am pretty certain is also a line in the novel).

We have many side-stories, subplots and character arcs going on alongside Campbell's downfall. There is William, the man accused of monetary crimes. There is Campbell's daughter who is in a strange relationship. There is Campbell's son who seems to be a source of both resentment and respect for Campbell. There is Campbell's wife and then her family. There is his sister who is a lawyer and MP, the businessmen and women, lords and working class people (like Milo's friends) and lots of other smaller characters around and about. This can be considered a wide view of the ever-shrinking world of Campbell Flynn, but honestly it makes the novel approximately 200 pages longer than it needs to be and, as the wit has tired itself out - the novel is no longer interesting enough for the reader to indulge in these fairly juicy storylines.

The house of cards inside us becomes shaky when we realise, one day, that we breathe like our parents and are nervous like them to hold the world steady.

- "Caledonian Road" by Andrew O'Hagan

As we see Campbell Flynn's life come to pieces one square mile at a time, we also see the lives of everyone else it has impacted morph into something entirely different. What I am trying to say through this review is that though I enjoyed the concepts it had to offer, I do not think that the humour lived up to its cause and nor do I think this novel was the best way to do it. It is somewhat an overstated novel which in itself, is tiring to read. The experience does not leave me feeling enlightened, but it does leave me feeling relieved for it to be over. I am not sure, however, whether that is the entire point. Whether it is the point that these characters are all completely and utterly insufferable.