The Unfortunates

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She relates her feelings and experiences over months at the university, all as a way to show why she, too, will disappear and die. Por lo menos una vez fue a visitarnos a Angel, entonces ya estábamos casados, se había consolidado el matrimonio, muy feliz, lo que Tony llamaba la saga de mis mujeres había terminado muy bien, para mí, se alegraba por nosotros, nos trajo con retraso el regalo de boda, una batidora, una batidora de mano, buena, dijo, ellos tenían una igual, y era buena, sí, aunque no la usamos hasta que se estropeó la eléctrica, pero para ciertos usos, en cierto modo, era mejor que la eléctrica, es verdad, más práctica, cómo me esfuerzo por investir todo lo que proviniera de él de la mayor rectitud, la mayor santidad, casi, posible, cómo su muerte influye en cada recuerdo mío que tenga relación con él.”

De hecho utiliza los lugares comunes para subvertirlos, como la típica incomprensión ante la muerte, sobre todo cuando “todo va sobre ruedas” (menos entendible que cuando todo está torcido) para contraponerla ante la palabra “podredumbre”, que se convierte en la condensación del dolor constante: Esa sentencia final condensa a la perfección la personalidad de B. S. Johnson, un escritor que sufrió especialmente su necesidad de innovar lo establecido, de experimentar más allá de los lugares comunes; quizá Los desafortunados se trate del mejor ejemplo de esta búsqueda constante de la ruptura: Es difícil pensar en estas cosas sin terror, la compasión es fácil de sentir, fácil de contener, pero tan inútil.” A sportswriter is sent to a city (identifiable through landmarks as Nottingham) on an assignment, only to find himself confronted by ghosts from his past. As he attempts to report on a football match, memories of his friend, a victim of cancer, haunt his mind. LGBTQ+ representation was a subtle yet powerful undercurrent of the entire story. We get glimpses of Sahara’s queer awakening, her queerstory and her love life throughout the story.

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Lo que inevitablemente escapará a los lectores húngaros es la sensación física de fragilidad y desintegración que transmite la novela en el formato original; la metáfora tangible de la manera fortuita en que, como he dicho, funciona la mente. The BIPOC voices in this story were all unique. They offered a paradigm shifting glimpse into an underrepresented community. Het voorwoord, geschreven door Jonathan Coe, spreekt boekdelen: 'Net zo belangrijk, maar voor de meeste lezers nog moeilijker te slikken, was zijn bewering dat een romanschrijver überhaupt geen fictie hoorde te schrijven. 'Wie een verhaal vertelt vertelt leugens', luidde Johnsons mantra, en hij stelde dat hij door zijn zorgvuldigheid en aandacht voor zaken als stijl en vorm meer was dan een schrijver van een autobiografie, terwijl de serieuze roman geen plaats kon zijn voor verzinsels, geen excuus om 'dingen uit je duim te zuigen''. The Unfortunates is possibly the most famous of his works. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a unique reading experience. But I must admit that I missed the ironic comedy that is found so abundantly in Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry and House Mother Normal. This novel was decidedly sombre all the way through. Of Johnson's other novels it most closely resembles Trawl but it was more enjoyable because of the novelty (probably a word he would have sneered at) of the format. In the first chapter Johnson arrives in Nottingham to report on a football game. He thinks he is traveling to a town that he has never been to before but, setting food on solid ground, is aware that he has spent a good deal of time in this town. In fact, he spent most of that time with his friend and colleague, Tony, who died some time ago from cancer. And so begin the twenty-five randomly arranged chapters that alternate between the present and the past, between Johnson’s day in Nottingham and his memories of Tony.

As the teens make their way through the extensive cave system they talk and share experiences. Things are tough but they have each other. Grant, slowly, starts to realise that running away from his problems will help nobody and he has to take responsibility for his behaviours, even if the consequences are bad. Our version of The Unfortunates is free to use. You can find it by asking Alexa to ‘enable The Unfortunates’ or on BBC Taster.

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Additionally, by including extra material along with the main story, we’re able to test the idea of using one programme as a jumping-off point to explore further content, something which will be useful to our friends in the BBC Voice + AI team. I initially thought that the plot would be more of a murder mystery than what it really was, but this way was much more impactful and I understand why it was written this way. The narrative format was super unique, and 100% weird, but somehow it worked? It was a bit difficult to get attached to the characters with this format, but it worked in the end, and I really enjoyed some of the relationships of this book. The Unfortunates is the second novel I’ve read by Kim Liggett, which I was excited to read after how much I enjoyed The Last Harvest even though on the surface it didn’t appear to have as much of a horror bent. The story follows Grant Franklin Tavish V, the son of a wealthy and prominent US senator. As a result, Grant never wanted for anything growing up, and his future was secure. He would go to the right schools, make the right connections, marry the right girl, and perhaps one day follow in his father’s footsteps. I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.** This book was definitely not what I expected but it was a nice surprise. It was so unique, with a bitingly funny/satirical voice and was narrated through the form of a thesis to the University committee that will judge the main character, Sahara, a queer half-Nigerian college sophomore.

But…I am not sure what that accomplished. According to Jonathan Coe who wrote a very fine Introduction in 1999, B. S. Johnson believed that: The protagonist, Sahara, was incredibly vulnerable. She lays everything out bare for the reader and was easy to empathize with.I'll have to think more about this. Despite its many merits, the book isn't interesting or endearing enough to make me want to read it again right away, and it's hard to imagine that I'll notice tremendous differences (apart from a more logical lunch regime) if I try again in a few months or years. In that sense, I didn't - and am unlikely to - experience the 'experimental' side of the novel in a satisfactory fashion, as reading the novel for the first time is much the same as reading any novel for the first time (apart from the feel of the chapter booklets). The most successful aspect for me was that it left me with an urge to rearrange the memories - not randomly, but as I would prefer to see them. And perhaps, given the novel's concluding paragraphs, this was Johnson's real intention. Sardonic humor is my jam, and Chukwu does a tremendous job of being ironic and satirical, yet entirely real as well. The writing is clever and includes great references and comparisons.