For The Good Times by David Keenan
David Keenan's new novel takes a mystic and poetic look at Belfast during The Troubles, capturing its sound and fury first-hand
For The Good Times is a paradox which both challenges our boundaries and lets our guards down. On one hand, it is to some extent predictable in terms of style and tone – there are few directions one can go with such themes. The subject matter of '70s Belfast, combining terrorism with casual socialising, cannot help but be painfully raw; the colours of narrated violence and hedonism were always going to be too bright and lurid for comfort.
On the other, the mystic, poetic bent of the novel takes the reader very pleasurably by surprise, adding rich texture to what could have otherwise been a very simplistic narrative of pugilistic events. Occasionally one might feel that certain passages labour a bit too hard to shock when they would have as great an effect if left to the imagination; however, it is also clear that this overpowering tumult of blood and hurried impressions is exactly what is at the core of the book's purpose.
For The Good Times is not simply a fictional account of men in the IRA, or a narrative, but an attempt to capture the sound and fury of the time first-hand – a visceral representation that will make readers simultaneously shudder and savour the spark.
Released via Faber & Faber, 24 Jan, £12.99