I just finished reading "How late it was, How late"(HLHL) by James Kelman a few weeks back and I

found it to be an absolutely suerlati!e iece of writing, one that really brought home to me just what an
absolute master Kelman is" I#ll admit to being the teensiest bit scetical before I started the book though"
$his is largely because of how underwhelmed I%d felt by the Bus Conductor Hines (&'H) which I read a
few years ago on the basis of (ouglas )cLean#s ad!ocacy of the book in his foreword to Knut Hamsun#s
Hunger, the mid *+s Rebel Inc edition"
In the course of detailing the imact Hunger had on him, )cLean relates the comarable e,erience of
reading &'H, which he found so e,hilarating that he finished it in one sitting and stayed u all night in
order to do so" -ell, I lo!ed Hunger and so had !ery high e,ectations for &'./ I managed to track down
a coy in a charity sho in .dinburgh not long after reading )cLean%s assionate endorsement of the
book"
0ltimately howe!er I didn%t feel anything like )cLean%s e,citement for &'H 11 and it took me far longer
than just a night to finish it" $he fact is that although I was really struck by the otency and the !itality of
the language 2 and in articular by how natural Kelman%s skillfully rendered 3laswegian synta, felt to
read, which is not really surrising since I sent the first 45 years of my life li!ing in 3lasgow 2 I wasn#t
articular insired by the main rotagonist, the titular bus conductor Hines himself, yet another of those
inscrutable, headstrong characters that Kelman seems to so strongly identify with but which I often find
just too irrirating"
Later on I icked u a slim !olume, of Kelman%s short stories and, desite being once again drawn in by
the wit and energy of Kelman%s sentences 11 I think Kelman#s rose style is e,6uisite 11 I didn%t find the
stories satisfying o!erall/ I thought they were a little mundane to be honest"
7o then, desite ha!ing been a little disaointed by my re!ious encounters with Kelman%s work, I
decided to gi!e it another go and started HLHL a coule of months ago" I was going to send a week and
a half in 3lasgow during the holidays and thought it might be fun to immerse myself in Kelman#s
3lasgow before !isiting my home town for real" I actually remember HLHL winning the &ooker in 8**9
6uite well, I was in my second year of 7econdary 7chool back then/ there had been 6uite a fuss at the
time, maybe e!en something aroaching an uroar" $here was talk about the !ulgarity of the language,
the artlessness of the rose, how it was in no way fit to win such a restigious literary ri:e"
-ell, it was a total re!elation" ;eading through the book, I soon started to recognise the same feelings of
e,citement and disco!ery that )cLean described in his breathless raise for &'H" &ecause once you start
to really get into the ulse and the rhythm of it 11 and it took me about 8+ ages or so 2 it is a book to
absolutely de!our" $he acing is incredible, and as always Kelman handles the cadences of his nati!e
3laswegian with consummate craft" &ut this time round language and seech lay an e!en greater role
since the no!el consists of a first erson narrati!e, most of which is taken u by the narrator%s internal
monologue 2 and most of consisting of the narrator, who is the central rotagonist of the book, egging
himself on, encouraging himself to kee going in site of the numerous and reeated hurdles and
obstacles that fate kees lacing in his way"