Goodreads: The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle

Author: James Dixon

Published: 12th October 2017 (Thistle Publishing)

Source: Copy from Author

Rating: 3/5 (I liked it)

Official Summary: “In a Scotland beset with depression, Willem is one victim among many. He loses his job, his mother dies and he is forced out of the flat they shared. Seeing no other option, he takes to the streets of Edinburgh, where he soon learns the cruelty felt outside the confines of his comfortable life. Stories from his past are interwoven with his current strife as he tries to figure out the nature of this new world and the indignities it brings. Determined to live freely, he leaves Edinburgh, hiking into the Scottish Highlands to seek solitude, peace and an unhampered, pure vision of life at nature’s breast.

The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle is at once a lyrical, haunting novel and a set piece in the rage of an oppressed, forgotten community. J. D. Dixon’s sparse, brutal language captures the energy and isolation of desperation, uniting despondency and untrammelled anger in the person of his protagonist.” – Goodreads

(Disclaimer – I received a copy from the Author. This as always does not affect my review in anyway.)

Review: Don’t know quite how to take this book. I finished it, but there was no emotions involved in it at all. I don’t know whether because the character didn’t really have any emotions, or I just didn’t feel emotional attached to anything in the story. Or maybe that was the whole point. Either way this review is a bit hard to write.

It extremely brutal and doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality of homelessness. It doesn’t sugarcoat a single thing. Not a single drop of the story. There is sex, there is lots of violence and there is reality. The main character is driven by basic human needs, he takes what he wants and does what he wants. He starts off innocent and a normal if not a little slow in the head person. Circumstances just give him the middle finger. He doesn’t know how to react, how to behave. So he turns himself into what society has labeled him. That’s the only way he knows how to ‘cope’.

I suppose the main issue I had with this story was I didn’t really get the point, or understand if there was an end goal. Was the whole point just to show how fucked he is? Or was it a middle finger to society. Or again maybe there wasn’t a point and it was just a story.

There is animal violence, you can skip these parts. Just be warned. There is human violence of course, but animal trumps human. (Well in my book it does)

There was one or 2 little errors. Nothing major or eye stabbing. Poor instead of paw.

Would I Recommend it? Yes.