The Real Gorbals Story: True Tales from Glasgow's Meanest Streets |
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Author:
Colin Macfarlane
By Mainstream Publishing
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £3.98
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- Mint Condition
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Product Description
Colin MacFarlane was born in Gorbals in the 1950s, 20 years after the publication of 'No Mean City', the novel about pre-war life in what was once Glasgow's deprived district. The author witnessed the last days of old Gorbals as street boy as a regeneration programme was implemented. He reveals what it was really like to live in old Gorbals.
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 Gritty!!, 2009-09-28
I like it, but it is not the type of book you can leave lying around if you have kids in the house. The language is choice from the beginning, and I wonder if there is really any need for some of it. I am not a prude, but I also bought this book for an ex Glasgow woman for her to look back on her childhood days; but being in her eighties now, I know that she will not read it, as, in the part of Glasgow she was brought up in, they did not use that language.
the real side of glasgow, 2009-03-05
this book gets you absorbed into the real life of the writer and the families of the streets, bars and homes in the gorbals. there is a few shocks and plenty of laughs . this is one book that is hard to put down. the hard men and women of the gorbals have many tales to tell and colin mcfarlane has given us a great insight into his and their lives. fantastic reading. cant wait to read the follow up.
The Real Gorbals Story, 2009-10-16
Bought as a gift for my husband to read as he recouperated from a knee operation. He says it's a good read.
It's Real Alright, 2008-06-21
Colin has captured the genuine feel of what may have been a physically run-down area but what the people turned into a tightly-knit community. To anyone growing up in 1950's or early 1960's Glasgow the Gorbals was an area to be avoided. These infamous slums however had a heart - the people of The Gorbals. Colin gives voice to how people had a strong community spirit that survived the 1960's redevelopment of the area and why even today people will be proud to say "Ah'm fae the Gorbals". I understand he is producing a follow-up to come out in late 2008 recounting his own change from a Gorbals Boy to a cosmopolitan man. I look forward to reading it knowing that you cannot take the Gorbals out of the boy (and I'm sure he wouldn't want it any other way).
A wee bit boring, Jimmy., 2010-01-14
I bought this book for research purposes. On that level it has been quite helpful. The author seems ro be sticking to the facts, I detect little in the way of exagerration. Perhaps that is why it is boring in places.
How can people be nostalgic for living in a dump like the Gorbals? Throughout the book I found myself asking this question and the author supplies mostly superficial answers to it, a sense of community and belonging etc.
I don't see it as necessary when sticking to the facts to deliver such a two dimensional story. A good example is when the author smokes marijuana and ingests magic mushrooms. The descriptions of his drug experiences are absolute cliche and have no real tie in with where he is. He looked at some people and they turned into monsters. What a revelation. Excuse my sarcasm but that is simply lazy writing. Then its back to the pub to good old pints of beer....zzzzzz. Thank God for Mcewans Export reality, eh Mr Macfarlane.I enjoyed perhaps fifty percent of the writing and the other half I found uninspiring and mundane. I originally gave the book three stars but the Real Gorbals Story has heart and that is why I gave it four.Mind Bomb
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.440856092
EAN: 9781845962074
ISBN: 1845962079
Label: Mainstream Publishing
Manufacturer: Mainstream Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2007-09-06
Publisher: Mainstream Publishing
Studio: Mainstream Publishing |
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