"I had no real feeling for her, but there was some kind of pain when she went away, and when the pain yielded nothing, I converted it, like an alchemist busy with the seaweed, into something approaching love."
Considering how slight a volume this novel is, it was rather surprising how long it took me to finish. There was something rather discouraging and demoralising about the story of a young man who dreams of a scriptwriting career with a comedian, leads women on left right and centre and just basically achieves nothing.
Recycling the same engagement ring to get his way, with no intention of follow through, Billy Liar is not exactly the most reliable character.
An atmosphere of futility and disappointment is not a place I'd really choose to dwell and hence my lack of passion for this story. There is a sense that Billy would be just as home today on Tinder, making up stories and headed around in circles.
3 out of 5 day dreamers finish last.
No comments:
Post a Comment