"LaidLaw" by William McIlvanney.
I finished reading "Laidlaw" by William McIlvanney on the bus on the way home from the town. This was ideal because as I was reading I was in the surroundings and setting of the novel. It made me very aware of the real dangers and traps of the true Glasgow. I my S.S I am going to trace how Laidlaw's job controls his life and limits his time with his family.
"Laidlaw" is set in modern day Glasgow, a city full of hard men and powerful villains. After Jack Laidlaw finishes a case in Dumfries he arrives home to a cold and bloody morning, a morning of death. Laidlaw tasks the case and with his unusual and precise questions picks at the case until eventually it opens. The case takes him deep into Glasgow, into the slums and dark dance halls, introducing evil and sadistic characters that play an important part in the murder.
In the beginning we find out that he has been away from home working in Dumfries. Straight from Dumfries he goes to his office. We find out that his job is a key part of his life. When he arrives he says "back to office gloom sweet gloom."
There is another sentence that suggests that Laidlaw had not been home nor had a rest when we read " He was tired, would soon be home. Already we can see that Laidlaw does not really make reference to his family and this presents a feeling of absence. Laidlaw now begins to drift into his past. This may be because of his drinking or maybe because his family life is giving him problems. He refers to his marriage as "a maze that nobody had mapped" and this suggests that his relationship is going nowhere. There is no set route to be taken. Only trial and error will sort it out. Furthermore he sees his marriage as an "Infinity of habit and hurt and betrayal." He goes one way and does his own thing and Ena (Jacks wife) her own, only meeting occasionally through the children. He being a Detective Inspector a demanding job, which is at the core of the fragile marital bond, causes this.
I finished reading "Laidlaw" by William McIlvanney on the bus on the way home from the town. This was ideal because as I was reading I was in the surroundings and setting of the novel. It made me very aware of the real dangers and traps of the true Glasgow. I my S.S I am going to trace how Laidlaw's job controls his life and limits his time with his family.
"Laidlaw" is set in modern day Glasgow, a city full of hard men and powerful villains. After Jack Laidlaw finishes a case in Dumfries he arrives home to a cold and bloody morning, a morning of death. Laidlaw tasks the case and with his unusual and precise questions picks at the case until eventually it opens. The case takes him deep into Glasgow, into the slums and dark dance halls, introducing evil and sadistic characters that play an important part in the murder.
In the beginning we find out that he has been away from home working in Dumfries. Straight from Dumfries he goes to his office. We find out that his job is a key part of his life. When he arrives he says "back to office gloom sweet gloom."
There is another sentence that suggests that Laidlaw had not been home nor had a rest when we read " He was tired, would soon be home. Already we can see that Laidlaw does not really make reference to his family and this presents a feeling of absence. Laidlaw now begins to drift into his past. This may be because of his drinking or maybe because his family life is giving him problems. He refers to his marriage as "a maze that nobody had mapped" and this suggests that his relationship is going nowhere. There is no set route to be taken. Only trial and error will sort it out. Furthermore he sees his marriage as an "Infinity of habit and hurt and betrayal." He goes one way and does his own thing and Ena (Jacks wife) her own, only meeting occasionally through the children. He being a Detective Inspector a demanding job, which is at the core of the fragile marital bond, causes this.
