Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh – Reviewed by Guy Portman
Roy Strang narrates this story from the hospital in which he is lying in a coma. It begins in South Africa, where he and his friend Sandy Jamieson are hunting the environmental havoc-wreaking, scavenger/predator marabou stork. The account soon shifts to Roy’s working-class upbringing in Scotland and South Africa; an upbringing marred by a dysfunctional family and abuse. We follow Roy through to early adulthood. Along the way are escapades, brutality, bullying, girls, drinking, bird watching, ‘fitba’ violence and a horrific crime that will have far-reaching ramifications.
This is an inventive book, boasting parallel stories and different levels of awareness. It is peppered with stylistic idiosyncrasies. These include the utilisation in places of a smaller font size, as well as passages in which the text is presented diagonally.
The early chapters of this bleak and at times harrowing work are eminently readable. However, the story loses direction somewhat and there is a lot of glossing over in the latter stages. Marabou Stork Nightmares is far from Irvine Welsh’s best.
