A Spot of Bother (by Mark Haddon)

(Amazon UK link)

I am rather shocked to see that it’s nearly twelve years since I read Mark Haddon’s excellent and unusual novel ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’. I liked it very much, and it’s one of those books that isn’t easily forgotten. So when I saw ‘A Spot of Bother’ by the same author at a church book sale a few months ago, it was not a difficult decision to spend 50 cents to buy it.

However, I didn’t find it nearly as interesting or enjoyable. Each chapter is very short and focuses on the viewpoint of a different person. The main character is George, a middle-aged father who discovers a strange lesion on the side of his body. He imagines the worst - as one might - but his doctor assures him it’s just eczema.

George has a comfortable, if sometimes awkward marriage to Jean, and has no clue that she’s being unfaithful. He’s newly retired, and spends his time building a studio in his back garden. He hopes to do some painting, although it’s clear that he is much more interested in the building project than in actually sitting down to do some art.

George and Jean have two adult children: Katie, who is divorced and now living with a man called Ray. She has a young son Jacob, and Ray is very good with him. He’s practical and kind, but for some reason George and Jean don’t think he’s good enough for Katie. Their other child, Jamie, is gay, and they sometimes struggle to deal with this.

In addition, there’s a huge cast of minor characters, most of whom I struggled to tell apart. Some of them were only referred to once, in passing, which was very confusing. Everyone seems to have friends, but there’s really no character development at all. Even the main cast are somewhat caricatured and I had a hard time believing in any of them. The story is more a series of dramas in the lives of this rather dysfunctional family, with George’s mind going into overdrive. He has panic attacks and starts to believe he’s going completely crazy.

There are medical scenes, incidents that made me squeamish, and a few times where people realised things about themselves or those around them which were pretty obvious to the reader. But no great revelations, no surprises, and no character development.

In a sense it’s quite a light novel - some of the antics are bizarre, and if I indulged in schadenfreude, I suppose I might have smiled a few times. But I don’t find other people’s distress amusing. However since I never entirely believed in any of the people, and didn’t relate to any of them, I didn’t find anything moving or poignant either.

I kept reading, as I don’t like to abandon a book unless it’s really bad. The writing is mostly fairly good, if casual, even if the people are two-dimensional. The pace is good, too. The end of the story, after increasing stress and angst, is quite encouraging. All the threads are drawn together, and the future looks mostly positive for George and his family, as far as that might be possible.

Unfortunately, there are some extremely unpleasant sex scenes, including some which I skipped over entirely once I realised what was coming. I don’t want to read in detail about anyone’s intimacies, and the descriptions in this were extremely crude and unpleasant. There were, thankfully, only three or four such scenes but, in addition to the extreme bad language in places, they ensure that I won’t be lending the book to anyone, nor would I recommend it.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews