Sad news as it emerged yesterday that Glaswegian author and artist Alasdair Gray had passed away at the age of 85.
Anyone who has read his masterpiece 1981 novel Lanark will know it as a baffling, unique work. Crazy as it sounds, he created the ultimate novel to “celebrate” Glasgow not with historical accuracy but by a mix of science fiction, Kafka-esque absurdism and a dose of post-modern fourth wall-breaking. I’m not sure what it all means but it’s a monumental work and never anything less than a page turner.
But probably just as important was his work as an artist and illustrator. His unfussy, mythic-looking style has become as big a part of Glasgow’s visual landscape as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, John Byrne or Alexander “Greek” Thomson. Two of his fabulous murals are readily viewable in Glasgow’s Byres Road area, one at Hillhead underground station and one in the lobby of the Oran Mor pub/restaurant/venue. I love the Hillhead one in particular, a typically chunky and rambling “map” of the local area you can spend ages poring over (while missing your train and getting in the way of busy commuters).
On top of that he was a staunch socialist and passionate advocate for Scottish independence.
Farewell Alasdair Gray, a Glasgow giant, if a curmudgeonly and reluctant one.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-50938892
Gatz says
Lanark blew my mind when I read it about 30 years ago (though I came to think that 1982, Janine was an even better book).
I was terribly disappointed to find out that a rare signing in Edinburgh a few years ago coincided with the time our flight landed so there was no way we could attend. He was already in his 80s at this point, and a fall down a flight of stone steps had broken his back and left him in a wheelchair, so this would have been my last chance to meet him and say how much his work meant to me.
I did manage to do the next best thing and get a copy of his pictography put aside for me, but I am deeply envious of those who attended earlier signings where he would draw portraits for those who came to meet him.
Iainiain says
I was at that (somewhat chaotic) Amnesty bookshop event – it’s literally just down the road from where I live.
I’ve seen many AG “in person” events. He was always eccentrically entertaining at them. Sad to know he’s gone, now. A genuine polymath, although I actually preferred his visual art to his writing.
There won’t be another quite like him, I don’t think.