Manual The Papers of Tony Veitch (Laidlaw Trilogy Book 2)

The Papers of Tony Veitch (Laidlaw Trilogy 2) by William McIlvanney

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Reviews of books…and occasional other stuff.

I quite liked this, but couldn't completely escape the fact I more 'appreciated' it than 'enjoyed' it. I'm just a little disappointed that the plot lost me - the level of complexity was a bit too much, the amount of the writing dedicated to helping the read I quite liked this, but couldn't completely escape the fact I more 'appreciated' it than 'enjoyed' it. I'm just a little disappointed that the plot lost me - the level of complexity was a bit too much, the amount of the writing dedicated to helping the reader understand a bit too little. It was almost as if because this was an early and seminal work in the Scottish Noir genre, it lacked some of the familiar frameworks around which many of the more modern more books I have enjoyed reading from the same genre.

Dec 04, Linda Boa rated it it was amazing Shelves: I'm still digesting it. It is a world full of greys, rather than black and whites, with Laidlaw a man of contradictions -- obsessive to the point of alienating colleagues in doing the right thing in his work, but failing in his home life by cheating on his wife. McIllvanney infuses the tale with an underlying pathos and world weariness, and conveys well the sense of place and communities of Glasgow in the early s. The result is a very well told story with three dimensional characters and an intricate plot.

The mixing of pithy images and the gritty Glasgow accented speech is just great. I had to 'read the dialogue in my head' before I could get some of the meaning but I loved the contrasts. The subject of the title, Tony Veitch, like 'Rebecca', is never met alive in the book, I was idly wondering if I knew of any more books with dead main characters.

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A good read, and looki The mixing of pithy images and the gritty Glasgow accented speech is just great. A good read, and looking forward to the third volume of the trilogy. I liked this even more than the first Laidlaw book, and that's saying quite a bit. The plotting is interesting - an elderly alcoholic summons Laidlaw to his deathbed. Laidlaw, of course, is the only cop who thinks there might be something other than alcohol involved and insists on a post-mortem.

There was paraquat, but why?

Who would dislike the old man enough to do that or what did he know that posed a threat to someone. What was the connection between him and the missing wealthy student Tony Ve I liked this even more than the first Laidlaw book, and that's saying quite a bit. What was the connection between him and the missing wealthy student Tony Veitch? It's a good story, complex and well thought out, but the best things about the book are the main characters - Laidlaw and Glasgow.

We learn more about Laidlaw's character - why he left the University after passing his first year. Coming from a background not dissimilar to Lawrence's, he thought he saw fairly clearly how Lawrence had put out his eyes with visions rather than grapple with reality that was staring him in the face And after the tour of Glasgow high and low, wealthy and destitute that the case involves, "Rectitude is a sanctimonious bastard, Laidlaw thought.

The Papers of Tony Veitch (Laidlaw 2)

It would unravel the jumpers from its shivering children's backs to knit gloves for public charity. It's an excellent book on its own, but even better as the companion to Laidlaw. Recommended to Xabier by: St Ninians Library Book Club.

Reviews of books…and occasional other stuff.

Buy The Papers of Tony Veitch (Laidlaw 2) (Laidlaw Trilogy) Main by William McIlvanney (ISBN: ) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low. Series, Laidlaw #2. Publisher, Hodder and Stoughton. Publication date. ISBN · Preceded by, Laidlaw (novel). Followed by, Strange Loyalties. The Papers of Tony Veitch is a crime novel by William McIlvanney. This book is the second in the series featuring the character Laidlaw.

I have heard many times that sentence of being more fun a funeral in Glasgow than a wedding in Edinburgh, and I could not be certain about what was first, if Glasgow as a myth of a city of violence, gangs and humour, summarized in that comparison between the two rival cities, or Laidlaw and McIlvanney's novels; it looks to me as hard to split one of the other as it is to separate Scotland from Scott.

As I really love Glasgow, this is a novel I also must love. Violent, and very hard to read for a I have heard many times that sentence of being more fun a funeral in Glasgow than a wedding in Edinburgh, and I could not be certain about what was first, if Glasgow as a myth of a city of violence, gangs and humour, summarized in that comparison between the two rival cities, or Laidlaw and McIlvanney's novels; it looks to me as hard to split one of the other as it is to separate Scotland from Scott.

Violent, and very hard to read for a non-Glaswegian speaker I wonder what would happen to a reader that had no contact whatsoever with that city and its language.

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But, hey, do not take too seriously that violence, physical, linguistic, economic, as this is fake too. As one of the Book Club members, Barbara, said this morning, that "eerie faerie" philosophy of a policeman is irritating, but only if we consider it true. This is not just fiction, but a series of genre motifs, like the policeman-philosopher, the loving woman, the Marxist student, and that city of violence and humour.

I am very glad for having read it. The foundations of the Tartan Noir lay on this novel on its trilogy , apparently, and I cannot be surprised: May 04, Alex rated it really liked it. I think WM maybe one of the very best English-language crime writers alive That said, I had a bit of a problem following the plot here. And I'm willing to take resp. It wasn't super-clear to me why the papers of Tony Veitch were impt, and I have to say, keeping the rival Glasgow gangs, and their complicated allegiances, straight, was a challenge for me.

Cdn't they have worn, like, pinneys, or something? Jul 29, Steven rated it it was amazing.

Descriptions to die for. Bella sorpresa questo thriller di William McIlvanney e una nuova umanissima figura di detective da aggiungere ai nostri preferiti. Jun 27, Joe Kosarek rated it it was amazing. The second book was as lyrical as the first. Feb 05, R. The second Laidlaw from the 'Godfather of Tartan Noir'. Laidlaw with his existential angst is a wonderful creation.

The novel itself is compelling with its marvelously drawn characters. McIlvanney is particularly good at painting villains and the menace they exude. A lesser writer would give you cliches and explain too much. McIlvanney trusts his readers to follow his intricate plots. The writing is superb. The crime novel elevated to literature. He writes on page It's so neat, it's like a preconception. One thing you can be sure about any preconception.

If there's a God and he tried to preconceive the world, he got it wrong. If you tried to imagine taking a walk down the street you know the best, you couldn't come near the reality of doing it. There's always the bit of paper blowing you couldn't have imagined. May 14, Roger Brunyate rated it liked it Shelves: Cops and Crooks on the Clyde Detective work was a delicate symbiosis with the criminal world, a balancing of subtle mutual respects.

In other words, with a foot in each camp. Which pretty well sums up the attitude of both McIlvanney and his detective, Jack Laidlaw. Except that the words "delicate" and "subtle" apply incongruously to Glasgow, a tough but vibrant city that "danced among its own debris. The drunkenness and dereliction, certainly, the simmering mayhem, the fact that "you never knew where the next invasion of your privateness was coming from. But I have no familiarity with the dark bars in dangerous corners of the city, run by one criminal kingpin or another, and used as meeting places by their henchmen.

I noted in McIlvanney's first novel of the series, called simply Laidlaw , that he approached his story from both ends: In this one, though, the proportions are much more even. In the first part of the book at least, until cops and crooks begin to get involved with one another one on one, there might even be more time spent with the criminals than the police. And such a range of them: Big John Rhodes and Cam Colvin, the two rival bosses, and almost a dozen followers, wannabes, and hangers-on.

My main trouble with the book is that I found it difficult to distinguish between them all as personalities, and could see relatively little psychological interest in people driven equally by violence and differing only in their ability to control it. The case hardly matters. Three people are dead: Their deaths seem connected, though maybe it is only Laidlaw who thinks so. Certainly, he is the only one who refuses to wrap it up.

That line amazed me, because I did not think it simple but well-night impenetrable. Indeed, it was the ultimate solution that I found simplistic, and certainly not enough to resolve the many psychological issues of the book, which required another three chapters to put to rest. For William McIlvanney is not only a very good writer, but psychologically acute too. This is the greatest strength of the book. It is full of remarks like "The more desperate the talker, the more effectively he defines his own silence. And what he wouldn't give her, a sense of her own worth separate from him, was precisely what would nail her to him.

So, from just a couple of pages: Feb 05, Antenna rated it liked it. The second in a series of novels involving Detective Jack Laidlaw, this can be read as a freestanding novel. Laidlaw is no saint: Linked to this is the powerful sense of place, bringing Glasgow alive even for those who have never visited it. Examples of the striking prose: I used to tell him daft things. Like eating porridge out of a drawer. I agree with reviewers who have suggested that the book would have benefitted from being longer.

Hardback Editions

Lists with This Book. Again it has a convoluted plot, but the characters are wonderfully drawn, and the dialogue is full of rich Glaswegian humour. It is a world full of greys, rather than black and whites, with Laidlaw a man of contradictions -- obsessive to the point of alienating colleagues in doing the right thing in his work, but failing in his home life by cheating on his wife. There was paraquat, but why? All his days a luckless man. We're featuring millions of their reader ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book.

I often found the use of different viewpoints clunky, the dialogues artificial, the characters caricatured, the plot somewhat plodding. Feb 28, Peter Pinkney rated it it was amazing. This is so much more than a crime novel.

This is a study of life in Glasgow, and the people who inhabit that city. Having lived near Glasgow nearly forty years ago, I can recognise the types. McIlvanney puts you inside the characters' heads, and makes you feel a part of the story. The book is littered with great metaphors, very like Raymond Chandler does. In fact he is often compared to Chandler, and known as the Scottish Chandler.

Great though Chandler is, I think he should be known as the Americ This is so much more than a crime novel. There are also some very funny and poignant lines-" my mother was so soft, she'd get in extra cheese if she knew there was a moose in the hoose". Sep 06, Wal. Schottenrock Ein Obdachloser wird schwerkrank in die Klinik von Glasgow eingeliefert. Immer wieder verlangt er nach Jack Laidlaw. Sollte zwischen diesem Todesfall und einem weiteren Opfer, das mit mehrfachen Stichverletzungen aufgefunden wurde, ein Zusammenhang bestehen.

Laidlaw hegt jedenfalls den Verdach Schottenrock Ein Obdachloser wird schwerkrank in die Klinik von Glasgow eingeliefert. Glasgow in den ern, modern und doch schon wieder altmodisch. Wie seltsam das heute anmutet und doch irgendwie retro spannend. Doch kann Jack Laidlaw auch zu weit gehen.

The Papers of Tony Veitch

Dennoch oder gerade dadurch fesselt dieser bereits im Jahr geschriebene zweite Teil der Jack Laidlaw Trilogie. In eine Zeit hinein geschrieben, die fast schon vergessen ist, werden Erinnerungen geweckt und Facetten aufgezeigt, die packen und das Verlangen nach mehr wecken. Jul 30, Matthew Fray rated it it was amazing.

I stayed on the bus to the end-of-the-line to finish this and still hadn't finished it so sat down in the shopping centre and completed the job. Great first line; "It was Glasgow on a saturday night, the city of the stare. I love McIlvanney's prose, he describes almost everything and everyone but concisely. And picks the right words but not the one's you expect.

He's got a great line in similies and knows how to use a metaphor suddenly I sound all "wild west" ; " I stayed on the bus to the end-of-the-line to finish this and still hadn't finished it so sat down in the shopping centre and completed the job. He's got a great line in similies and knows how to use a metaphor suddenly I sound all "wild west" ; "At the turn of the corridor he heard the smallest whimper, a shaving of fear that had fallen almost inaudibly into the silence".

The dialogue is vivid and beliveable and Laidlaw is a great character for a detective, someone so obsessed with his own idea of justice and compassion that it goes far beyond police work or the law. Someone whose own principles alienate the people who would be his friends. When you look at the set-up it could seem like so many other detectives, in books and or on television but McIlvanney's writing presents it so vibrantly it does not feel cliched. It also manages to make you see why Laidlaw cares so much which gives the book heart. Although this is the second book to feature Laidlaw they are standalone books.

And I would recommend all of them to anyone who likes modern crime fiction or imaginative prose. Aug 21, Ian Mapp rated it liked it Shelves: Second in the Laidlaw Series - written in McIlvanney is an intelligent writer that weaves a complex plot. He has a great turn of phrase and lashing of Glaswegian humour that makes part of the prose sound like a literary version of "Still Game". Something went wrong for me in reading the book.

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I must have failed to concentrate at key moments. As I crime novel, I was hopelessly lost in how the investigation went. The Best Books of Check out the top books of the year on our page Best Books of Looking for beautiful books? Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more. Other books in this series. Strange Loyalties William McIlvanney.

McIlvanney lays bare the soul of Glasgow, capturing every nuance of its many voices -- Alex Gray McIlvanney paints a world of harsh reality, but does so in language that is strangely beautiful and hauntingly poetic. His work defies pigeonholing in any genre: McIlvanney died in December Book ratings by Goodreads.