The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (Bluemoose, 2017)
Why I read this book
First and foremost I fell in love with the cover art. I know, I know ….you should never judge a book in these terms but it does make a difference.
A naff cover can be off-putting. A cool cover means you can look fashionable when reading in public, something that is not possible with a Kindle.
I liked the image to Gallows Pole because it looks like a subversive Penguin Modern Classic. It made me think of Weird British folk art; the kind of deranged visions that feed into Wyrd folk music and the cult movie classic, The Wicker Man. Could, I wondered, Benjamin Myer’s writing conjure up the same mood?
What’s it about? (Without spoilers)
The novel is inspired by real events in and around the Upper Calder Valley, West Yorkshire in the late 18th Century. It centres on the Craig Vale Coiners, a motley assembly of struggling land workers led by ‘King’ David Hartley. The gang forge coins in an attempt to get rich and challenge the oppressive capitalist system that keeps them poor and powerless. Hartley is an anti-hero prone to “delusions of grandeur, extreme hallucinations featuring stag-headed men and supreme acts of cruelty and violence”.
Pros – What I Liked
I think Myers’ rural reveries broadly succeed in creating a vivid sense of time and place. He says: “What I was aiming to achieve in the novel was a sort of haunted and ethereal earthiness, which draws on a limited vocabulary and heavy use of repetition”.
Cons –What I didn’t like
We are constantly reminded of David Hartley’s charismatic qualities but the reader mostly has to take this on trust because there aren’t enough scenes that demonstrate his heroic status. Ideally, I think he should have come over more like Thomas Shelby, the driven and flawed boss of The Peaky Blinders. A common criticism of the book is that it is too male-centered. I agree. I think the story would have been stronger if women figured more prominently.
Quotable lines
“It’s time to clip a coin and fuck the crown”
The rich vocabulary includes some colourful terms of abuse like. “fustilugged whores” and “scrofulous shit-rat cunt”
Would I recommend this book?
Myers is a fine writer, particularly when evoking the murkiness and roughness of nature. This novel is well worth reading but the absence of strong female protagonists means it’s likely to appeal more to male readers.
By the way
The author put together a cool soundtrack as a sonic accompaniment to the fiction which you can find in a feature article at The Quietus.
