LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL

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This is the stillness I feel giving Maya her drip. I know she is slowly dying, and I’ve cried. But there is also this almost inexpressible sweetness to this time. There’s the matter-of-factness in the moment when you accept and just live it for as long as it lasts. Hession captured it and makes you feel it in this slow,* wise story. Instead everyone they meet - family, friends, colleagues, shopkeepers - seems to be similarly nice. Even when Hungry Paul (in one of a number of rather contrived sitcom style setpieces) causes a major scene in a supermarket, falsely claiming it sells out of date good, the store manager sees the bright side and send him away with a free Easter egg. I would have liked to see the duo encounter hostility or negative reactions and see how they dealt with it - but then I am guilty of wishing for a different, and perhaps more conventional book. But the charm wasn’t enough for me. Even accepting that this is primarily a character rather than an event driven novel. the leisurely pace was an annoyance. I kept waiting for something – anything – dramatic to happen. Several times I thought we were approaching a plot development that would make a refreshing change to the leisurely narrative pace, only to be stalled. Disappointingly, since I found this a very irritating sub plot, even the wedding of Paul’s older sister goes swimmingly.

The quiet, unobtrusive and meaning-filled book is the story of two friends – Leonard and Hungry Paul – both quiet 30-ish year old men living quiet, unobtrusive but still meaning-filled lives, still based in their childhood homes.The next book to be featured on the Jo Whiley Radio 2 Book Club will be Leonard and Hungry Paul, the brilliant debut novel by Rónán Hession. It is released on 20 March and Ronan will be on the show on Monday 18 March. I discovered while reading this (and trying to find out more about the writer Rónán Hession), that this was published by Bluemoose Books (great name). They have a great range of quirky titles. Well worth having a look. The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Leonard and Hungry Paul – here are some of their comments:

It is a story of charm and wit that immerses the reader within the ordinary, everyday lives of our narrators. The titular Leonard works as a ghost writer of children’s encyclopaedias, of which he himself is an avid reader. Paul lives at home with his parents and works every second Monday as a postman. The wants and desires of both men are simple, and they remain gloriously void of external influences while steering well clear of extroverts. Oh, I loved this book! I liked how Hession showed us these two men slowly and gently, revealing their strengths and flaws, as we got to know them. They are grounded in their home life, in the people they love and care for, and in those who care for them. They don’t make waves, they’re not out to change the world, or even their corner of it. If it all sounds charming and heart-warming, then you won’t be far off off the mark. In a world where we’re so accustomed to characters who are discontented with life and always looking for the next big adventure, it makes a refreshing change to find a novel with two men who are …. well, just nice.

Leonard took off his noise-cancelling/society-repelling headphones and went to the kitchenette for a mid-morning cup, even though he always disliked the awkward wait for the water to boil and the prospect of the kettle-related time-killing small talk.

As such it acts as a perfect anecdote to the tendency to see unpleasantness as somehow more literary; as one wedding guest says of an attendee on a creative writing course she ran: She was [in her stories] always using phrases like “There was an empty chair by the door”. You know, trying to be depressing, because she thought it was more writerly. It had taken someone with the special insight of Hungry Paul to realise the answer to the problem, strange though it seemed, was to get people to do nothing.” Jemanden seine volle Aufmerksamkeit zu schenken ist der größte Respekt, den man einem Menschen entgegenbringen kann.“ (S. 290) The pair are well matched since Leonard is equally unremarkable. He has a job researching and writing the text for children’s encyclopedias, a role that suits him because he’s fascinated by ideas and facts. He never gets credited as the author but that’s OK because “he preferred to play a minor part in someone else’s story rather than being his own star.The unspecified location reinforces the slight detach from reality. There is a rough sketch of an urban landscape, streets, shops, restaurants, mentions of McDonald’s and a Tesco but only blueprints, which alleviates the characters from any major specific socio-geographical struggles. Both men reside in their family homes not (like many of us) because of unprecedented rent prices, but because they are happy in these homes. I think I would have enjoyed this far more if it hadn’t had so many unreal or cliched events/characters/conversations. There are several scenes (yes, you, IT Help Desk Guy) that seem to be there with an eye to the movie. In fact, large parts of the book seem to be written with a movie version in mind. But there are also bits that are frankly unbelievable (a huge cash prize for a competition and only 3 entrants, getting a job with the mime association because you can’t think of anything to say in an impromptu speech?). I don’t mind unbelievable events in a novel, but this doesn’t feel like that kind of novel. Through the new uncharted events both men are facing, their friendship remains steadfast and true. Both are each other's number one supporter. Never second guessing, never judging. yazar Rónán Hession'ın ilk romanıymış bu. 30larında iki arkadaş olan Leonard ve Paul'ün süssüz dostluklarını merkeze alıp, ikilinin hayatının bir dönemine göz atıyor yazar ve bence bizi bildiğimiz kategorilerin dışında düşünmeye çağırıyor zarifçe. Hızlıca bazı kalıplara sokabileceğimiz karakterler bunlar aslında, mesela pekala "başarısız" diyebileceğimiz tipler ama o stereotiplerin dışında / ötesinde kim olduklarını görmemizi sağlıyor bu tatlı roman.