Review of The Crooked Man (Paperback)

This novel is rather unlike anything I've ever read before. At best, I could compare it to Camus' The Stranger, as it shares the same dark, surreal quality of narrative. However, in The Crooked Man, the protagonist, Harry Fielding, does manage to make a hint of peace with his circumstances, but it's a hellish sojourn before he obtains even that much.

Fielding is employed by the M15 to do someone else's dirty work, which puts him outside of the law, more or less. Although Fielding manages to escape the legal consequences reserved for ordinary citizens, his deeds do not go unpunished. As he goes through his existence making choices according to a half-anesthetized morality, he begins to become aware that he, as an individual entity, is being eclipsed by the shady manipulations of his unscrupulous boss. That sense of powerlessness breeds in him desperation, and as he makes his slow and steady way toward damnation, he discovers that potential exits are really deceptions that lead him back to his previous course and there are no u-turns to go back and undo past deeds. He also finds a singular yet grim consolation in knowing that he is not alone in being punished far more than he deserves, and becomes a sympathetic witness to the desperation, fear and suffering of others, from incidental strangers to his neighbors, friends and family. In the end, Fielding manages to thwart fatal resignation and comes to terms with his situation, acknowledging wryly the twisted means of his survival in a world dominated by desperation, confusion and moral ambiguity.

Author Davison's pithy and direct writing style is effective in evoking the sense of desperation and confusion felt and witnessed by the narrator. It's also a notable accomplishment by the author to have been able to capture the protagonist's disorientation so effectively while making the novel so readable. Additionally, Davison has a much more profound understanding of irony then many of his contemporaries, which affords some of the novel's most quotable bits. He does an equally commendable job in creating sympathetic, believable, even haunting characters, including smaller, marginal ones such as the drunk carrying the bag of coal. These characters are disturbingly memorable, as they become as etched into the reader's mind as in the protagonist's. Overall, this is an excellent, recommendable book, providing a poignant and unforgettable narrative of a very flawed and very human individual making his 'crooked' way in a very grey world.

Product Description
Harry Fielding is an understrapper-a sort of odd-job freelancer for the British intelligence agency, MI5. One night he watches his neighbor exacting murderous revenge on her brutal brother-in-law-a premeditated act, for which she is sentenced to prison. Not long after, Harry witnesses a different murder: a crime of passion committed by a cabinet minister. Harry must help clean up the crime scene, turn the dead woman into a Missing Person, and ensure the guilty man does not become a suspect.

In The Crooked Man, Philip Davison offers fans of contemporary Irish literature something wonderfully unexpected-a wry, grim thriller with a dark sense of humor, of depravity, and of humanity.

"Harry Fielding, the narrator, is a gem. World-weary and clueless, knowing and blind, he's the perfect escort through this memorable and very accomplished book." (Roddy Doyle, author of A Star Called Henry)

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