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A Disaffection
Patrick Doyle is a 29-year-old teacher in an ordinary school. Disaffected, frustrated and increasingly bitter at the system he is employed to maintain, Patrick begins his rebellion, fuelled by drink and his passionate, unrequited love for a fellow teacher. A Disaffection is the apparently straightforward story of one week in a man's life in which he decides to change the way he lives. Under the surface, however, lies a brilliant and complex examination of class, human culture and character written with irony, tenderness,enormous anger and, above all, the honesty that has marked James Kelman as one of the most important writers in contemporary Britain.
337 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
39 people are currently reading
2714 people want to read
About the author
James Kelman
82 books268 followersKelman says:
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
December 3, 2023
Hay quien piensa que el mayor atractivo de la literatura de Kelman, quizás el único, es su destreza para llevar al papel el habla de la clase trabajadora escocesa. Yo, triste mortal que no he podido leerla en su idioma original y que, por tanto, no he podido apreciar ese aspecto de la novela, puedo decir que la obra tiene muchos más atractivos, tantos o más que su famoso y controvertido premio Booker “Era tarde, muy tarde”.
La novela es la paranoia en la que vive su protagonista, Patrick Doyle, cuyo relato nos llega a través de una tercera persona que se transforma sin transiciones ni disonancias en una primera persona (y viceversa) para introducirnos en la mente de este insatisfecho profesor de escuela. Así, seremos partícipes de su tumultuosa cascada de pensamientos, reflexiones, invectivas y fantasías, más o menos obsesivas y neuróticas, sobre sus fracasos y carencias, sobre todos aquellos con los que se relaciona y sobre todas las cosas que le van sucediendo, en un claro estado de ansiedad creciente, en una semana de su anodina y odiada vida.
Kelman es en su personaje un Thomas Bernhard malhablado de clase obrera, que en forma de corriente de conciencia se expresa con una sintaxis más salvaje, una puntuación más caótica, pero con la misma rabiosa fuerza en su prosa, la misma capacidad para decir siempre mucho más de lo expresamente dicho, la misma indignación hacia una sociedad hipócrita e injusta y la misma insatisfacción consigo mismo. Como en Bernhard, Patrick Doyle es un suicida que no se suicida, alguien incapaz de tomar decisiones y con aspiraciones inalcanzables desde el día en el que aceptó ser el primero de su familia que accedía a la universidad. De esa forma se encontró en tierra de nadie, dejando a su clase obrera de origen para pasar a ser lo que él denomina un “civil titulado representante de fuerzas que corrompen” y falto de aquello que es la única “cosa por la que merecía molestarse y eso era la verdad del asunto: amor“.
Una novela a veces triste, incluso deprimente, de un divertido patetismo y, como marca de la casa, provocadora.
July 15, 2012
Along with 'The Magus', 'The Idiot', 'Catch 22' and 'The Monkey wrench gang', this is one of the few books I return to each decade approximately. Sad, hilarious and emotionally exhausting, I recommend this to anyone who, deep down, feels isolated and desperate.
May 29, 2018
This is my final book from the 1989 Booker shortlist and perhaps the hardest to assess. Kelman is an uncompromising writer with a very striking style, and I suspect that I might have enjoyed this one more if How Late it Was, How Late was not still fresh in the mind.
This time we are in the head of Patrick Doyle, a 29 year old Glaswegian teacher in a sort of early mid life crisis in which he rebels against what he sees as the futile conformity of the educational system and his part in the perpetuation of a system and society he feels fundamentally opposed to. He is also seeking personal fulfilment, pursuing a married fellow teacher who wants to help him but does not requite his feelings, dealing with family issues and pursuing a strange dream in which he sees some electrical pipes he has found as musical instruments that offer some form of escape.
The whole book covers less than a week in his life, and very little is actually resolved, but the whole amounts to a compelling vision, if a very bleak one.
This time we are in the head of Patrick Doyle, a 29 year old Glaswegian teacher in a sort of early mid life crisis in which he rebels against what he sees as the futile conformity of the educational system and his part in the perpetuation of a system and society he feels fundamentally opposed to. He is also seeking personal fulfilment, pursuing a married fellow teacher who wants to help him but does not requite his feelings, dealing with family issues and pursuing a strange dream in which he sees some electrical pipes he has found as musical instruments that offer some form of escape.
The whole book covers less than a week in his life, and very little is actually resolved, but the whole amounts to a compelling vision, if a very bleak one.
June 8, 2023
29-year-old Glaswegian secondary school teacher Patrick Doyle is, as the title implies, disaffected. Instead of teaching lessons in his classroom, he rails against authority in all its forms and encourages his students to think for themselves. Bored with his colleagues, he alternately agitates and ignores them. Hopelessly smitten with his fellow teacher, the inscrutable (and married) Alison, he makes repeated clumsy attempts to share his feelings with her. Uncomfortable with his middle-class earnings he struggles to connect with his working class family, namely his parents and his unemployed brother Gavin, who is married with two young children. In short, Pat is dissatisfied in virtually all areas of his life and contemplates suicide on more than a few passing occasions.
On the very first page of the book, while urinating in an alley Pat finds these two pipes, which are never quite adequately described, although they appear to be some sort of cast-off construction equipment, at one point even referred to as being made of cardboard. Whatever their intended purpose, he perceives them to be musical instruments, as they remind him of large saxophones. So he blows on one of them and the resulting sound speaks to him. He takes the pipes home and paints them, then doesn't do much with them for a while. He fancies playing them for Alison, which does in fact happen, though not exactly as he had imagined. He believes in their potential to tap into a primal center that without realizing it he has yearned to access. But he doesn't end up playing the pipes much, and their ability to stimulate lasting change remains elusive.
Despite its publication date of 1989, the novel feels modernist in both its concerns and style. It's mostly written in a limited third-person stream-of-consciousness style, with occasional sections of dialogue (all transcribed in Glaswegian dialect). The progression of the narrative is slow and aimless. Pat and Alison dance around their possibly mutual attraction for most of the novel. Pat cares less and less about teaching to the point where no one can ignore his failing performance. He avoids seeing his family until late in the book where suddenly there is a long section in which he visits his brother Gavin's house and ends up drinking the afternoon away with Gavin and his two buddies, an experience which serves to accentuate the alienation he feels from his working class roots.
I came away from the reading experience uncertain as to how much I liked the book. It feels, at some times more than others, like it could be autobiographical in nature. As a piece of literature evoking a singular personal experience in a specific place, and perhaps time, as well, it's certainly successful. The grim economic realities of the working class in Glasgow are readily evident, and Pat's position is unique in that he is a university graduate, the only one of his family, with a middle-class job. So to an outsider it could appear that he's made it, risen in the ranks, transcended his original social position, become a success, etc. Yet it all feels phony to him--the entire system is rigged is what he perceives. He feels disaffected. And he's not certain what to do about it.
On the very first page of the book, while urinating in an alley Pat finds these two pipes, which are never quite adequately described, although they appear to be some sort of cast-off construction equipment, at one point even referred to as being made of cardboard. Whatever their intended purpose, he perceives them to be musical instruments, as they remind him of large saxophones. So he blows on one of them and the resulting sound speaks to him. He takes the pipes home and paints them, then doesn't do much with them for a while. He fancies playing them for Alison, which does in fact happen, though not exactly as he had imagined. He believes in their potential to tap into a primal center that without realizing it he has yearned to access. But he doesn't end up playing the pipes much, and their ability to stimulate lasting change remains elusive.
Despite its publication date of 1989, the novel feels modernist in both its concerns and style. It's mostly written in a limited third-person stream-of-consciousness style, with occasional sections of dialogue (all transcribed in Glaswegian dialect). The progression of the narrative is slow and aimless. Pat and Alison dance around their possibly mutual attraction for most of the novel. Pat cares less and less about teaching to the point where no one can ignore his failing performance. He avoids seeing his family until late in the book where suddenly there is a long section in which he visits his brother Gavin's house and ends up drinking the afternoon away with Gavin and his two buddies, an experience which serves to accentuate the alienation he feels from his working class roots.
I came away from the reading experience uncertain as to how much I liked the book. It feels, at some times more than others, like it could be autobiographical in nature. As a piece of literature evoking a singular personal experience in a specific place, and perhaps time, as well, it's certainly successful. The grim economic realities of the working class in Glasgow are readily evident, and Pat's position is unique in that he is a university graduate, the only one of his family, with a middle-class job. So to an outsider it could appear that he's made it, risen in the ranks, transcended his original social position, become a success, etc. Yet it all feels phony to him--the entire system is rigged is what he perceives. He feels disaffected. And he's not certain what to do about it.
December 21, 2020
A fateful Friday-to-Monday in the teetering life of a 29-year old Glaswegian teacher -- the perfect Christmastime read! Kelman excels here with Patrick, a protagonist suffering a kind of mania of self-loathing, in incessant thrall to his own self-reproach, a man neither happy nor grateful for being relatively affluent at a time of national economic crisis, constantly flirting with disaster borne of the sure knowledge that he's preparing his charges for fraudulent, self-defeating lives. He wavers between a loneliness that only exacerbates the ongoing dialectic between his private self and the Patrick he sees as 'playing the game' and a desperate need for the company of others, scenarios that he will inevitably sabotage in some way. You can't help but like him - the book would be a bit of an ordeal otherwise - yet you certainly fear for those who draw too close, such as Alison, who plagues his love-famished mind, and his brother Gavin, who he both loathes and dearly, reluctantly loves. Oh and there are some pipes he finds round the back of the teachers' Friday night drinking venue, not strictly musical (electrician cast-offs by the sound) yet soon repurposed as such, a perfect symbol of his awkward refusal to conform and need to communicate in his own unique way. Compassionate, funny and moving, A Disaffection is surely a key part of any Scottish canon.
January 4, 2008
It would be hard to convince you how great a book about a guy finding some discarded pipes can be, so I won't bother. The dialect may be off-putting to some, but you'll catch on. You have to like Kelman's voice to love this, and I do. Oh, how I do.
April 20, 2024
A Disaffection is an endlessly passionate and masterful piece of existentialist fiction. James Kelman has crafted a brilliantly bitter, isolated character with some of the most intense and moving prose ever committed to literature.
December 5, 2013
An absolute beauty of a book from James Kelman. How he isn't recognised more widely as one of Scotland's greatest authors is beyond me. A heartbreaking, intense, compelling book covering one week in the life of Patrick Doyle, a secondary school teacher struggling with life. This book starts off with Patrick finding a couple of electrical pipes round the back of a pub, but really it's about love, hope(lessness), class, education and and life.
April 17, 2014
A Disaffection
By: James Kelman
1989
What is the role of Males in education?
“I mean it fucking stinks, it’s rotten from the outside in and the inside fucking out. Every last fucking thing about it, it stinks. And what goes on in the classroom, it’s a load of dross. This is how I’m fucking chucking it. And all these wee weans Christ they think ye know everything, every last thing in the fucking universe – especially about how to change for good. I’ll tell ye something else, bastards people think lies are true and even when they know they’re no true they’ll say fuck all because the shitey fucking arse who’s telling the lie holds the position of power.”
James Kelman – A Disaffection
The discussion of gender and its impact on education should include an historical account of how males are perceived through a cultural lens. It is important to trace the lineage of how men are understood in the classroom in regards to knowledge production and distribution. De-gendering male teachers and the pedagogy they symbolize is paramount for understanding why gender is an important issue in education. De-gendering male teachers takes the form of seeing males in positions that are uncommon in learning. More specifically, working with very young children.
The word "education" can be attributed to a masculine, positivistic pedagogy, while women, in opposition, can be perceived to perform a nurturing role in human development. If men are symbols of patriarchy in education, they are marked as purveyors of knowledge and power. What ramifications do these notions harbour for students? Is it impacting their learning in a positive or negative way? Do traditional symbols of masculinity and femininity in education negatively impact learning in children? Should these traditions be upset to provide balanced learning for children at a critical time in their formation of their own understanding of gender?
Joe Kinchloe’s article What We Call Knowledge is Complicated and Harbours Profound Consequences situates knowledge and its production by discussing procedures and guidelines that have been employed to create particular kinds of knowledge. He references standardized test driven curriculums that create learners that are dependent on their teachers for information. The delivery of information is from the teacher to the student, and the student, in turn, synthesizes the information, then demonstrates their mastery or proficiency of the subject by accepting the information as truth, and recounting the information verbatim on a test. This positivistic pedagogy is further employed by taking the recounted information and filtering it through a measurable system and assigning a grade that is supposed to reflect the quality of work submitted. Therefore, if this pedagogy thrives in a patriarchal institution such as school, male teachers become symbols of this positivistic pedagogy. They become responsible for the dissemination of information that engenders a student that is reliant on their teacher for praise, feedback and grades. Kinchloe continues the article by providing applicable suggestions for creating a learning environment that produces critical knowledge, where learners are responsible for their own development and are mindful of social justice.
“In the epistemologically mechanistic, test driven, standardized and scripted classrooms of the present era students learn that school is not connected to the world round them. They learn that there is nothing complex or problematic about knowledge – it is produced by faceless experts and it is our job as students to learn it.”
(Kinchloe, 12)
The above quote recounts the positivistic pedagogy by creating a student that accepts knowledge without being critical of it. It is important to understand that the expert or holder of knowledge and power is indeed not faceless or genderless. While Kinchloe could be referring to a distant empirical body that communicates information through teachers, he omits references to gender and its implication of knowledge production. We as learner should critically examine knowledge as gendered to understand it implications of learning. The face or gender of knowledge is not blank or empty. It is the face of patriarchy and the symbol of man.
Here it is important to state that patriarchy does not limit social transformation. Feminism has thrived in a patriarchal environment and positive social change has occurred in history. By understanding the implications of a patriarchal system one can be critical of its underpinnings which can engender social transformation. Teachers who employ a critical pedagogy in their work help to create critical learners who question traditional notions of knowledge. Women, in positions of authority upset the historical norms of gender in education. Men consequently disturb their roles as teachers by taking on the responsibility of human development of preschool children. Critical pedagogy should not be limited to school age and adult learners, but should be implemented with human development of preschool children. With higher numbers of men working with young children, with an articulated philosophy of education that is founded on critical pedagogy, young children will enter school questioning knowledge rather than accepting it as truth.
A difficulty arises from this troubling of gender norms. How can males be attracted to this profession? Presently males are not visible in preschool environments. Women are perceived as being accepted in preschool professions. Pre-conceived gender norms have made the profession one where women are intended to belong. Subsequently, if women are allocated to this profession, men will not feel as through, according to critics such as Judith Butler (who argues that people need to feel that they belong in their jog/gender/race etc to be accepted in culture), that this is an unlivable vocation, where they will be encumbered by isolation, and discriminated against based on their gender. Men are meant to feel like they belong when teaching older children and adults where they employ a positivistic pedagogy. How can men be invited to feel as though they belong when working with all age groups?
Kinchloe discusses the ideas of “a literacy of power”, where particular textbooks and mandated curriculum undermine people’s best interests. Material in textbooks reinforces an empirical truth, not to be questioned by students. These textbooks are meant to be read and the information regurgitated and supported as they are tested on the material. Evidence of “power” is present in how textbooks are used every year to convey the same information, often taught in the same fashion. Continuing to teach the same knowledge (from the same textbook) annually assists in valuing the material as something that is essential and universal for all learners. In regards to attracting men to preschool environments, textbooks or journal articles should reflect a diverse population of educators. Showing men engaged with young children in a positive and nurturing way in photographs or anecdotes assists in helping men feel like they belong in a female dominated vocation. This is one way of presenting the occupation as accepting and inviting for men. Since there are so few men working in this field it is imperative to see them as visible, accepted and helpful.
Kelman’s quote above serves as part of a tirade from a Scottish male teacher. His character also serves as a symbol of the male teacher, one who embodies patriarchy and a positivistic pedagogy. He becomes annoyed, and there is evidence of that in his words above, while attempting to disrupt his traditional gender performance. He is frustrated by the universal pedagogy that is implemented in his school. He sees students every day that believe he is the foundation of knowledge, and since he is a teacher he must have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything conceivable. He feels conflicted by implementing a critical pedagogy to his students. His teaching strategies vary from having the children repeat aloud nonsense political conjecture and asking them forwardly why their families are considered poor. The protagonist is understandably frustrated when he is attempting to invite the children in this class to be critical of their everyday lives, but they still ask him to relay truths in politics and cultural theory.
Subsequently, he is coming to terms with the irritation of embodying the symbol of patriarchy. His response to his exasperation is quitting the profession. He no longer feels, as Butler argues, that he belongs. This turmoil is created because he perceives himself to be a failure as a teacher. He cannot de-gender the minds of his students, and have them begin to think critically as learners. This could be reflected in that his teacher education did not support a critical pedagogy and he was intended to continue to employ a positivistic approach to teaching. Perhaps where he might feel as though he belongs would be in teaching younger children. This way he can introduce pedagogy to young learners as reflective and arguable. He will have to clean up his language first.
This is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Absolutely amazing.
Grade:
A+
By: James Kelman
1989
What is the role of Males in education?
“I mean it fucking stinks, it’s rotten from the outside in and the inside fucking out. Every last fucking thing about it, it stinks. And what goes on in the classroom, it’s a load of dross. This is how I’m fucking chucking it. And all these wee weans Christ they think ye know everything, every last thing in the fucking universe – especially about how to change for good. I’ll tell ye something else, bastards people think lies are true and even when they know they’re no true they’ll say fuck all because the shitey fucking arse who’s telling the lie holds the position of power.”
James Kelman – A Disaffection
The discussion of gender and its impact on education should include an historical account of how males are perceived through a cultural lens. It is important to trace the lineage of how men are understood in the classroom in regards to knowledge production and distribution. De-gendering male teachers and the pedagogy they symbolize is paramount for understanding why gender is an important issue in education. De-gendering male teachers takes the form of seeing males in positions that are uncommon in learning. More specifically, working with very young children.
The word "education" can be attributed to a masculine, positivistic pedagogy, while women, in opposition, can be perceived to perform a nurturing role in human development. If men are symbols of patriarchy in education, they are marked as purveyors of knowledge and power. What ramifications do these notions harbour for students? Is it impacting their learning in a positive or negative way? Do traditional symbols of masculinity and femininity in education negatively impact learning in children? Should these traditions be upset to provide balanced learning for children at a critical time in their formation of their own understanding of gender?
Joe Kinchloe’s article What We Call Knowledge is Complicated and Harbours Profound Consequences situates knowledge and its production by discussing procedures and guidelines that have been employed to create particular kinds of knowledge. He references standardized test driven curriculums that create learners that are dependent on their teachers for information. The delivery of information is from the teacher to the student, and the student, in turn, synthesizes the information, then demonstrates their mastery or proficiency of the subject by accepting the information as truth, and recounting the information verbatim on a test. This positivistic pedagogy is further employed by taking the recounted information and filtering it through a measurable system and assigning a grade that is supposed to reflect the quality of work submitted. Therefore, if this pedagogy thrives in a patriarchal institution such as school, male teachers become symbols of this positivistic pedagogy. They become responsible for the dissemination of information that engenders a student that is reliant on their teacher for praise, feedback and grades. Kinchloe continues the article by providing applicable suggestions for creating a learning environment that produces critical knowledge, where learners are responsible for their own development and are mindful of social justice.
“In the epistemologically mechanistic, test driven, standardized and scripted classrooms of the present era students learn that school is not connected to the world round them. They learn that there is nothing complex or problematic about knowledge – it is produced by faceless experts and it is our job as students to learn it.”
(Kinchloe, 12)
The above quote recounts the positivistic pedagogy by creating a student that accepts knowledge without being critical of it. It is important to understand that the expert or holder of knowledge and power is indeed not faceless or genderless. While Kinchloe could be referring to a distant empirical body that communicates information through teachers, he omits references to gender and its implication of knowledge production. We as learner should critically examine knowledge as gendered to understand it implications of learning. The face or gender of knowledge is not blank or empty. It is the face of patriarchy and the symbol of man.
Here it is important to state that patriarchy does not limit social transformation. Feminism has thrived in a patriarchal environment and positive social change has occurred in history. By understanding the implications of a patriarchal system one can be critical of its underpinnings which can engender social transformation. Teachers who employ a critical pedagogy in their work help to create critical learners who question traditional notions of knowledge. Women, in positions of authority upset the historical norms of gender in education. Men consequently disturb their roles as teachers by taking on the responsibility of human development of preschool children. Critical pedagogy should not be limited to school age and adult learners, but should be implemented with human development of preschool children. With higher numbers of men working with young children, with an articulated philosophy of education that is founded on critical pedagogy, young children will enter school questioning knowledge rather than accepting it as truth.
A difficulty arises from this troubling of gender norms. How can males be attracted to this profession? Presently males are not visible in preschool environments. Women are perceived as being accepted in preschool professions. Pre-conceived gender norms have made the profession one where women are intended to belong. Subsequently, if women are allocated to this profession, men will not feel as through, according to critics such as Judith Butler (who argues that people need to feel that they belong in their jog/gender/race etc to be accepted in culture), that this is an unlivable vocation, where they will be encumbered by isolation, and discriminated against based on their gender. Men are meant to feel like they belong when teaching older children and adults where they employ a positivistic pedagogy. How can men be invited to feel as though they belong when working with all age groups?
Kinchloe discusses the ideas of “a literacy of power”, where particular textbooks and mandated curriculum undermine people’s best interests. Material in textbooks reinforces an empirical truth, not to be questioned by students. These textbooks are meant to be read and the information regurgitated and supported as they are tested on the material. Evidence of “power” is present in how textbooks are used every year to convey the same information, often taught in the same fashion. Continuing to teach the same knowledge (from the same textbook) annually assists in valuing the material as something that is essential and universal for all learners. In regards to attracting men to preschool environments, textbooks or journal articles should reflect a diverse population of educators. Showing men engaged with young children in a positive and nurturing way in photographs or anecdotes assists in helping men feel like they belong in a female dominated vocation. This is one way of presenting the occupation as accepting and inviting for men. Since there are so few men working in this field it is imperative to see them as visible, accepted and helpful.
Kelman’s quote above serves as part of a tirade from a Scottish male teacher. His character also serves as a symbol of the male teacher, one who embodies patriarchy and a positivistic pedagogy. He becomes annoyed, and there is evidence of that in his words above, while attempting to disrupt his traditional gender performance. He is frustrated by the universal pedagogy that is implemented in his school. He sees students every day that believe he is the foundation of knowledge, and since he is a teacher he must have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything conceivable. He feels conflicted by implementing a critical pedagogy to his students. His teaching strategies vary from having the children repeat aloud nonsense political conjecture and asking them forwardly why their families are considered poor. The protagonist is understandably frustrated when he is attempting to invite the children in this class to be critical of their everyday lives, but they still ask him to relay truths in politics and cultural theory.
Subsequently, he is coming to terms with the irritation of embodying the symbol of patriarchy. His response to his exasperation is quitting the profession. He no longer feels, as Butler argues, that he belongs. This turmoil is created because he perceives himself to be a failure as a teacher. He cannot de-gender the minds of his students, and have them begin to think critically as learners. This could be reflected in that his teacher education did not support a critical pedagogy and he was intended to continue to employ a positivistic approach to teaching. Perhaps where he might feel as though he belongs would be in teaching younger children. This way he can introduce pedagogy to young learners as reflective and arguable. He will have to clean up his language first.
This is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Absolutely amazing.
Grade:
A+
June 22, 2017
Who knew a book about a disaffected teacher who lives alone and finds some pipes round the back of an arts centre in Glasgow could become one of my all-time favourites? Kelman's narrative style is staggeringly original, adapting the modernist stream-of-consciousness to a Glaswegian dialect, refusing to separate dialogue and narration and creating the most accurate representation of the interior life, a kind of simultaneous third- and first-person narration. Patrick Doyle is an exceptionally crafted character, an example of the self-destructive psychology that comes with working-class masculinity. I related to this on a deeply personal level and I seem to have read it at exactly the right time. It's just a fuckin brilliant book - honest, uncompromising, heartfelt, hilarious and oh just such an absorbing and natural evocation of a life half-lived.
did-not-finish
July 18, 2025A late 20s Scottish school teacher finds a couple of plumbing pipes leaning against a building one night while taking a leak outside a bar. He takes them home and imagines making music with them, or something. A welcome distraction from the misanthropic moping that otherwise preoccupies him.
I got halfway through it and—fine writing notwithstanding—suddenly lost interest. (yawn)
I got halfway through it and—fine writing notwithstanding—suddenly lost interest. (yawn)
September 6, 2025
Like if Catcher In The Rye was set in Glasgow and actually good
February 23, 2024
Kind of a suppressed primal scream of a portrait of reality for protagonist Patrick Doyle, a working class teacher in Scotland mired in quiet desperation but - as evidenced by his obsession with creating a musical instrument out of pipes - still able to pursue beauty, to seek access to the sublime. Doyle seems to intentionally choose things to desire which he knows are out of reach - a married coworker, beautiful music from PVC pipes - and I think it's because he needs to know for himself that he's still capable of the wanting, if nothing else.
Kelman's a lovely writer, one I've not come across before but I'm trying to dig deeper into Scottish lit now that I'm here! His work reminds me a lot of Hubert Selby, Jr.
Kelman's a lovely writer, one I've not come across before but I'm trying to dig deeper into Scottish lit now that I'm here! His work reminds me a lot of Hubert Selby, Jr.
September 26, 2024
A story of a disaffected Scottish English teacher, which, apparently, is also the favourite book of the UK’s current Prime Minister, Keith Stromer. I kind of like him for that, but I do wonder if he actually read it.
October 23, 2023
The main character is one of the most convincing I've ever read about.
Perhaps because I identified with him straight away? Was it personal? I don't know. But every sentence I read made me want to repeat it with even more emphasis and a sense of revolt.
How happy I am to have discovered this writer. I want more!
Perhaps because I identified with him straight away? Was it personal? I don't know. But every sentence I read made me want to repeat it with even more emphasis and a sense of revolt.
How happy I am to have discovered this writer. I want more!
October 21, 2017
Patrick Doyle needs to get laid.
And I mean that in the nicest way.
Although it's doubtful if even that would save him; from living in 1980's Scotland, from feeling an instrument of a corrupt society, from himself and his bitter misgivings and his blindness to Things As They Are around him.
Because he is really a good teacher, and the woman he loves is in love with him, and he could make a change if he wanted. But he won't. And that's where the title comes in.
Not an easy read, but a satisfying one.
I feel for Patrick.
I hope the 1990's have treated him better, if he ever made it that far.
And I mean that in the nicest way.
Although it's doubtful if even that would save him; from living in 1980's Scotland, from feeling an instrument of a corrupt society, from himself and his bitter misgivings and his blindness to Things As They Are around him.
Because he is really a good teacher, and the woman he loves is in love with him, and he could make a change if he wanted. But he won't. And that's where the title comes in.
Not an easy read, but a satisfying one.
I feel for Patrick.
I hope the 1990's have treated him better, if he ever made it that far.
September 6, 2018
I've always rated this novel higher than Kelman’s 1994 Booker Prize winner. This is How Late It Was, How Late minus the bloat - and is just as truthful, deep. I can’t think of many books today that take you so thoroughly into every nook and cranny of a character going about the daily business of living.
Some might be frightened off by Kelman’s obscenities and truth-telling. Too bad for them.
Some might be frightened off by Kelman’s obscenities and truth-telling. Too bad for them.
June 25, 2016
Phenomenal book. A hard read as in grim, hard set, unrelenting and what happens in everyone's head.
March 15, 2019
I like James Kelman's stream of consciousness writing style. This book is rewarding but a pretty bleak read.
December 26, 2023
A glimpse into the life of a disillusioned man for a couple days as he goes around Glasgow. It ends with a fuck off, and we're out of his head. It's written stream-of-conciousness like with a natural voice (IE not 'proper' English, with lots of Scots). As Patrick gets more fed up he becomes more embittered to the detriment of himself. I read this whole also feeling a bit fed up with my job and place in society, part of a harmful system. Feels quite relevant today.
I liked Nicola addressing Patrick's issues with women and whinyness (speaking to bitter men in general). I enjoyed the drinking session with his brother Gavin and his friends. The parts of the book where Patrick tries and sometimes fails to contain his rage for the things other people say were good, especially on the casual racism by Gavin. Patrick's imagination is quite strong and it's enjoyable to see what he imagines. His beaten up car was a good symbol for how he felt. The pipes were odd but I feel like that's the sort of the you latch onto when you're depressed.
There are constantly references to literary and artistic figures, especially Goya (who I know nothing about) and Kafka. A particular event of this book is a bit 'Kafkaesque'. I wasn't around during this time period but I have read Shuggie Bain and this seems to depict the same sort of hopeless atmosphere.
I was reading this at night and it got a bit difficult to keep up when I was tired but by halfway through I had the hang of it. I quite liked this book and it was good to become acquainted with the currently bitter Patrick Doyle. I hope he went on to get better!
I liked Nicola addressing Patrick's issues with women and whinyness (speaking to bitter men in general). I enjoyed the drinking session with his brother Gavin and his friends. The parts of the book where Patrick tries and sometimes fails to contain his rage for the things other people say were good, especially on the casual racism by Gavin. Patrick's imagination is quite strong and it's enjoyable to see what he imagines. His beaten up car was a good symbol for how he felt. The pipes were odd but I feel like that's the sort of the you latch onto when you're depressed.
There are constantly references to literary and artistic figures, especially Goya (who I know nothing about) and Kafka. A particular event of this book is a bit 'Kafkaesque'. I wasn't around during this time period but I have read Shuggie Bain and this seems to depict the same sort of hopeless atmosphere.
I was reading this at night and it got a bit difficult to keep up when I was tired but by halfway through I had the hang of it. I quite liked this book and it was good to become acquainted with the currently bitter Patrick Doyle. I hope he went on to get better!
January 29, 2024
what an insane book
April 1, 2024
"A Disaffection" is a thought-provoking novel that delves into the mind of Patrick Doyle, a disillusioned schoolteacher living in Glasgow. As he navigates through his mundane existence, Patrick's internal monologue exposes his deep-rooted dissatisfaction with society, his job, and his relationships. Through a raw and introspective narrative, the book explores themes of alienation, identity, and the struggle to find meaning in a world that seems devoid of purpose.”
My dad had reviewed this 15 years ago and when I saw it on my mum’s bookshelf I was eager to read it. It’s highly engaging and the stream of consciousness style was easy to follow. It’s quite sad and reminded me slightly of a Glaswegian version of Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground.
My dad had reviewed this 15 years ago and when I saw it on my mum’s bookshelf I was eager to read it. It’s highly engaging and the stream of consciousness style was easy to follow. It’s quite sad and reminded me slightly of a Glaswegian version of Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground.
February 20, 2025
James Kelman birls out 337 pages of rampant stream-of-consciousness in A Disaffection. The author and his spewing narrator appear to be equally in love with the language and the characters of the colonized Scots, the fat-fried food, the crushing football, the crashing romance, the wee, continuous flow of ever-present bevy, crippling internal conflicts of family and cranium, the scathing attacks of the educated mind. Up in there is where Kelman’s great affection turns to bitter dis.
February 6, 2025
the fact this is (allegedly) Keir Starmer’s favourite book is utterly perplexing, five stars
January 21, 2020
It’s understandable that judges should have short-listed Kellman’s novel for the Booker Prize. It’s an extraordinarily audacious piece of writing, almost entirely recounting the inner thoughts of teacher Patrick Doyle.
He’s depressed, with paranoid tendencies, and close to a nervous breakdown. As processes of the mind do not correspond to laws of syntax, Doyle’s language is ungrammatical, repetitive and profligate in expletives, while his brilliant brain means he jumps from one object to another as in the irregular flight of a butterfly.
Doyle is disgusted with the system, disgusted with himself for being a part of it, disgusted with his failure to take responsibility and frequent escape into fantasy and/or drink.
He tries to stimulate the curiosity of his pupils by arousing their contempt for the world around them, but he is for the most part largely concerned with looking inside himself. His personality combines the introspection of a Raskolnikov and the paralysis of Oblomov, Goncharov’s anti-hero who just cannot raise himself to get out of bed.
The story is comic and tragic by rapid turns and written in a startlingly original style, that might well earn the accolade of professional critics and academics. But it comes at a cost for this reader, at least.
Doyle is caught in the web of his own inaction. And the trouble is that, as a result, nothing significant happens, either in the narrative or character development.
The most meaningful conversations emerge toward the end of the book, as he chats with brother Gavin and his working-class cronies, and particularly later with Gavin’s wife Nicola.
They prefectly capture the rhythm and tone of complex family relations, touching on politics, class and apirations, but Doyle’s solipsism means there is little chance to add depth to the personalities of those involved.
All you do, Gavin tells him, is rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. And 332 pages is rather much of the cunicular.
He’s depressed, with paranoid tendencies, and close to a nervous breakdown. As processes of the mind do not correspond to laws of syntax, Doyle’s language is ungrammatical, repetitive and profligate in expletives, while his brilliant brain means he jumps from one object to another as in the irregular flight of a butterfly.
Doyle is disgusted with the system, disgusted with himself for being a part of it, disgusted with his failure to take responsibility and frequent escape into fantasy and/or drink.
He tries to stimulate the curiosity of his pupils by arousing their contempt for the world around them, but he is for the most part largely concerned with looking inside himself. His personality combines the introspection of a Raskolnikov and the paralysis of Oblomov, Goncharov’s anti-hero who just cannot raise himself to get out of bed.
The story is comic and tragic by rapid turns and written in a startlingly original style, that might well earn the accolade of professional critics and academics. But it comes at a cost for this reader, at least.
Doyle is caught in the web of his own inaction. And the trouble is that, as a result, nothing significant happens, either in the narrative or character development.
The most meaningful conversations emerge toward the end of the book, as he chats with brother Gavin and his working-class cronies, and particularly later with Gavin’s wife Nicola.
They prefectly capture the rhythm and tone of complex family relations, touching on politics, class and apirations, but Doyle’s solipsism means there is little chance to add depth to the personalities of those involved.
All you do, Gavin tells him, is rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. And 332 pages is rather much of the cunicular.
November 19, 2023
The mundanity and ennui of working in your twenties, delivered in broad Scots.
This is a story of an English teacher whose own mouth rebels against its strictures: firstly in his use of local dialect; secondly as a teacher who longs to resign. He thereby asserts freedom in language, if not in action. Patrick Doyle is the classroom rebel, leading from the front as a 29-year-old who longs to move on, but finds himself enmeshed in a system of lifeforce-draining staffroom chatter and thwarted (questionable) sexual chases. Unfortunately for Doyle, this is largely mouthing off. He radiates powerlessness and the disaffection of the title comes from a dreams of a man steered by the tide.
I learned soon after from a Scottish friend that 'polis' is very much the recognised local form (for police), which suggests the dialect is probably fairly accurate. It made for slower reading but was not ultimately too hard to follow. The language, like the sagging swell of plot beneath the spiky prose, felt like the work of an author self-consciously not playing by the rules. It didn't feel too forced. Just don't go to this one if you are seeking empowerment.
This is a story of an English teacher whose own mouth rebels against its strictures: firstly in his use of local dialect; secondly as a teacher who longs to resign. He thereby asserts freedom in language, if not in action. Patrick Doyle is the classroom rebel, leading from the front as a 29-year-old who longs to move on, but finds himself enmeshed in a system of lifeforce-draining staffroom chatter and thwarted (questionable) sexual chases. Unfortunately for Doyle, this is largely mouthing off. He radiates powerlessness and the disaffection of the title comes from a dreams of a man steered by the tide.
I learned soon after from a Scottish friend that 'polis' is very much the recognised local form (for police), which suggests the dialect is probably fairly accurate. It made for slower reading but was not ultimately too hard to follow. The language, like the sagging swell of plot beneath the spiky prose, felt like the work of an author self-consciously not playing by the rules. It didn't feel too forced. Just don't go to this one if you are seeking empowerment.
January 4, 2022
Kelman’s prose is both easy yet complex to read. Don’t give up a third of the way through this brilliant book, the pace is meaningfully slow (I needed patience!). Pat’s dissatisfaction with his life was deeply saddening, yet like so many people, the contrast of his achievements as a teacher with the poverty of those in his family and community insufficient in bringing contentment. Indeed it is this contrast that contributes to his simmering and sometimes explosive anger. I couldn’t help but admire a lot of what he said, but also cringe at some speech and his many unsociable actions. One doesn’t know what Pat will say, or do next… and I felt somewhat anxious as I progressed through the few days of his life presented in the book. ‘Scenes’ within this impactful book are so mundane, yet so insightful and will stay with me. For me, the almost stream of consciousness from Pat was somewhat reassuring, the change in topic mid-sentence and sometimes rambling thinking more realistic to me than the average novel! This somewhat depressing exploration of a passionate teacher’s frustration with the system reminded me of another of my favourites, Stoner (Williams), the life of an academic (a career referred to within as being somewhat more comfortable than secondary teaching!).
October 20, 2018
This book is a revolution of the word. I have to praise Kelman as this book really caught me off guard, it has so much nostalgia in there with east Glasgow references, the second division and things that remind me of my dad. However, even though the storyline is seemingly null there is really a lot of deep cuts to be had in this text. The sheer anti-establishment and references to the 80's Tory Government in the UK is rife, the distinctions between classes are vastly juxtaposed in Patrick Doyle which makes the read all that more Challenging. Kelman throws out the rule book right in the faces of the literary establishment, rebelling against already established literary norms that are wholly accepted and gives me the finger. He even wins the booker prize for this book causing two judges to immediately resign in protest. The first Scottish person to win said prize ever, I would strongly advise reading this book. Especially if you are a hopeful and newly minted writer, If it wasn't for Kelman we would have never had the likes of Scottish great like Irvine Welsh or Alan Bissett.
October 26, 2014
It felt too personal to review, or even to recommend. A Disaffection struck me with a force that I had thought art could never again strike me. I had become convinced that adulthood disallows a sublime sense of warmth and engagement in response to the arts. This feeling was commonplace, my memory claims, in youth, but experience had tempered the impact. And then this. I doubt the reaction could be a universal one, although Kelman has earned high praise and a Booker. This is a book for a particular kind of person in the midst of a particular kind of life, and written in a voice which can seem to come from within.
January 13, 2023
Interesting book about the disaffected Patrick, a male guy who is uncertain about many things (visible in contradictions and change in repetitions). He seems to be on a quest to finding his sense of self in changing times. He seems caught between the yearning to be like the hegemonic masculine ideal and the new masculine (which is still in the process of being formed). It's a novel full of contradictions, gaps, curse words, negations and repetitions that seems to attempt to show a slice of Patrick's uncertain life.
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