Book Review of Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

 

Name of Book: Caledonian Road 

Author: Andrew O'Hagan 

ISBN: 9781324074878

Publisher: W.W. Norton

Type of book: Classicism, 2021-2022, performative allyship, gender, parent/child relationships, friends, illegal immigration, LGBtQ+ relationships, art, marijuana, dark web, Eastern European, gang, Robin Hood, technology, elite, downtrodden, death 

Year it was published: 2024

Summary:

From the author of Mayflies, an irresistible, unputdownable, state-of-the-nation novel - the story of one man's epic fall from grace.

May 2021. London.

Campbell Flynn - art historian and celebrity intellectual - is entering the empire of middle age. Fuelled by an appetite for admiration and the finer things, controversy and novelty, he doesn't take people half as seriously as they take themselves. Which will prove the first of his huge mistakes.

The second? Milo Manghasa, his beguiling and provocative student. Milo inhabits a more precarious world, has experiences and ideas which excite his teacher. He also has a plan.

Over the course of an incendiary year, a web of crimes and secrets and scandals will be revealed, and Campbell Flynn may not be able to protect himself from the shattering exposure of all his privilege really involves. But then, he always when his life came tumbling down, it would occur in public.

'A brilliant state-of-the-nation novel that pulls down the facades of high society, and knocks over the 'good liberal' house-of-cards. O'Hagan is not only a peerless chronicler of our times, but has other gifts - of generosity, humour and tenderness - which make this novel an utter joy to read.' Monica Ali

Characters:

There are a ton of characters (don't worry there is a list at the front listing who's who)  but I think main ones would be Campbell Flynn and Milo Mangasha. Campbell Flynn is performative ally, the type that goes with the flow rather than questioning things deeply, which works against him in this year. (Throughout he does try to be more proactive but he doesn't succeed) he lives an upper middle class with a wife that comes from titled nobility and has two kids, a son and a daughter who have had extremely successful careers. Although we spent almost all the book with him, its hard for me to understand him, in particular during certain incidents involving his son Angus. Milo Mangasha is half Ethiopean and half Irish college student who sees himself as a modern day Robin Hood and who has encouraged the professor Campbell Flynn to join the dark side (not joking about that...) Milo has lived to tell the tale and is quite aware of the injustices of the world. There are also a lot of secondary characters such as Campbell's family of wife children and sister as well as his wife's family and Milo's friends, girlfriend and her family, and so forth. but it would take me way too long to list all of them. 

Theme:

I really am not sure what I should have gotten out of the story, maybe how different lives are on one  street?

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from a whole lot of characters' points of views, although main one would be Campbell Flynn, a Scottish art historian who comes from a Middle class, if I am not mistaken and marries into titled nobility, having among his relatives people who know the queen. The story also takes place over the course of one year, from the time he begins to meet an impoverished student named Milo who is half Ethiopian half Irish to the conclusion of next year in 2022 when consequences catch up with him. I really wanted to understand the story and Campbell's motivations for doing what he did, as well as why he was drawn so much to Milo, but unfortunately it all happened in backstage, especially the numerous enlightening conversations that the two have shared. In addition from seeing things from Campbell's point of view, the reader also sees numerous plotlines from faux art to illegal immigration to gang related violence to damage control and so on. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Andrew O'Hagan, FRSL (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author.

He is the author of the novels Our Fathers, Personality, and Be Near Me, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The Guardian (UK). In 2003, O’Hagan was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. He lives in London, England.

Opinion:

I definitely feel that the book tried to present everyone's point of view as possible, but it felt uncertain and seemed to be stunted, especially when it comes to characters, which I thought would be one of the strongest parts, but instead the characters seemed to feel shallow. The story seemed to meander a lot and the numerous plots didn't connect until the last few chapters. Unfortunately, not one of my favorite reads. In some ways, this is an interesting comparison to Quarterlife by Devika Rege, with both focusing on the changes that nations undergo through, except one moves on to liberality, I believe, and the other is more of conservative. 

This was given for review

3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)