Paul Howsley
Autor von The Year of the Badgers
Werke von Paul Howsley
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- Werke
- 1
- Mitglieder
- 3
- Beliebtheit
- #1,791,150
- Bewertung
- 4.5
- Rezensionen
- 2
- ISBNs
- 2
Set in the very near future, this novel encapsulates the red tape problems of the system which cause poverty and homelessness. Zero hour contracts and their like, work placements serving the quota statistics of politicians rather than the actual people, the injustices of big business tax evasion and all that stuff.
In this story, people on benefits are issued badges to pay for (some) essentials (You can have tea, but not coffee, for example). Therefore, with the help of media spin and sensationalism, people on benefits with badges become known, in derogatory terms, as ‘badgers’. And I loved the fact that the protagonist of this story is simply referred to as Badger, therefore reflecting the everyman(/everywoman) in poverty.
Badger’s tale is an all too familiar one in our current society: you get laid off work, you fight with daily demons of depression and self-worthlessness ‘cos all you want to do is work, but the more time you spend in poverty and loneliness, the harder it is to climb back into the real world, you go round and round in the system, where you get new work only for it to be taken away again, until finally you’re made homeless. This story captures how easily anyone can be made homeless really well.
Once Badger is made homeless, he joins a fast growing group/charity called SayNo, who are people deciding to take matters into their own hands (and Badger soon finds himself playing an important role in the organisation); the government won’t do anything, so let’s cater for the destitute ourselves and fill the empty houses and warehouses etc. (Which reminded me that Brighton once had a Squatters’ Estate Agents which was trying to a do a somewhat similar thing – but which, of course, got shut down after just a few years.)
The writing is easy going, sometimes really funny, sometimes extremely poignant, and occasionally beautiful, and it smacks you round the face with the injustices that are right under our noses. Sure, there were a few niggles to be had with this book, and the type of issues that most Indie debut books suffer from, but they paled into insignificance when the majority was so damn good. Above all, this book gave me hope – hope that we can change things if we really want to and if we all work together. Fuck divide and rule, man!
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, and I’m certainly looking forward to reading more by Paul Howsley. So stop watching damn TV shows like Benefits Street and read this book instead, ‘cos this is how it really is.
4.5 stars.… (mehr)