Subject: Review: Magnus Mills' _The Restraint of Beasts_

From: [email-masked] (Paul S. Jenkins)
Date: 06 Jun 2000 11:15:03 -0400

_The Restraint of Beasts_ by Magnus Mills
     Review Copyright (c) 2000 Paul S. Jenkins

How can one classify this book? At first it seems like mainstream fare,
with a touch of humor. But before long, surreal black comedy slips in.

Here are some very ordinary lives: three blokes employed as fencers -- not
swordsmen, but building workers who specialize in high-tensile fencing.
One of the three is their newly appointed foreman, telling us the story as
they set off from their Scottish headquarters, to put up a fence for an
English customer. What could be more mundane?

The three of them battle deadlines, English weather, and customers who
want extra work. It's all very British, but the dead-pan narrative has a
darker, more threatening side. Every so often a streak of black humor cuts
across the humdrum lives of our three protagonists.

Mills' writing is deceptively plain, giving the story an air of
unshakeable reality. That's why the surreal elements come as such a
surprise.  It's as if the author is having a superb, circular joke at the
reader's expense, but in such an innocuous manner that this reader doesn't
mind.

These three people will be instantly recognizable by anyone who has cause
to visit building sites. The stunted dialogue, liberally shot through with
commonplace expletives, and the transparent motivation seem all too
typical.  Yet who can blame them? The management treats them like dirt, so
no wonder they're self-interested.

The book is a quick read, and not just because it's short. Mills'
straightforward style keeps the pace moving at a clip. As a first novel,
_The Restraint of Beasts_ is remarkably assured. What will Mills do next?

%A   Mills, Magnus
%T   The Restraint of Beasts
%I   Flamingo (HarperCollins)
%C   London
%D   1999 (copyright 1998)
%G   ISBN 0 00 655114 9
%P   215 pp.
%O   paperback GBP 6.99

Paul S. Jenkins | More reviews at: 
Portsmouth   UK | http://www.rev-up-review.co.uk/