Reviews

Luda by Grant Morrison

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fiendfull's review against another edition

3.0

Luda is a sprawling novel about a drag star working in a new pantomime who becomes obsessed with their mysterious new co-star. Luci LaBang has had a varied career, but now she's appearing in a meta-pantomime in her hometown of Gasglow, an alternate version of Glasgow. When the Principal Boy playing Aladdin has an accident, the mysterious Luda appears to take the part, and with it, capture Luci's interest, wanting to know the secrets of the Glamour to be able to transform yourself, but as might be expected, things means not everything is as it seems.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, as it has a great concept and some really fun elements woven in. The thing that I—and I think many people—found difficult was the narration style, which is very purposefully too verbose and full of digressions as Luci's style. I appreciated what it was doing, but even with this, it felt like it still needed more cutting down or honing, so that the style didn't actually become a barrier to wanting to keep reading. It is all about obfuscating, both the style and the book, and I like that, but it wasn't always enjoyable to read.

In terms of the plot, it's fairly simple, with a lot of bits of backstory (that may or may not be true, as the whole book is fashioned with layers of lies and ambiguity) thrown in as well: obsession, mirroring, and people mysteriously dying. A lot of the twists are very obvious, and it was hard to tell if this is purposeful or not, which might in itself be intentional. The setting of Gasglow is a whole thing, though for me I found there wasn't actually as much of it as a setting as I might've expected, and I felt like the speculative element (which isn't so much my thing anyway) often got lost amongst the narration. I did like the way you slowly learnt things about Luci's history and these felt like they could've been whole books in themselves, which is a testament to the messy ambiguity that was conjured around them.

One of the themes that really comes across when reading is the idea of being who you are without worrying if it's what people expect or problematic or anything else, and it's interesting how it addresses this, with Luci's narration often focusing on weird details and comparisons to be edgy and shocking, but at other times being very nuanced about who people are and what is expected of them. If nothing else, it gets across the complexity of a person's inner self, whether or not it is actually authentic, but hilariously, at the same time, the book argues that pantomime shouldn't be politically correct or change, maybe because it's too much of a mess to actually be offensive (and 'messy' definitely describes Luci and Luda, too).

I like that Luda is bold and, yes, messy, playing around with what is appropriate and the reliability of anything you are told in a book. It also takes a very British look at queerness and drag, filtered through the eyes of a very specific character. At first, I could handle the narrative style, but the further I read, the more it grated on me, and by the end I was lost in the swirling references and digressions. I don't know Morrison's other work though I'm aware of them, so maybe fans of their work will enjoy this more, but for me, I would've maybe liked the same vibe but just more cut down.

krakow54's review

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funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

creaz's review

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I will return to this book. in time!

thomasgoddard's review against another edition

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2.0

This one was such a grind. I hate not enjoying books that I know are, in places, really quite special. There were so many amazing lines, but they all just got swamped.

I loved the character, but after about 20% of the way it was just too repetitive and self-aware. And I realise that that is the point, there is a metaphysical self-awareness to the whole performance - but it just came across as contrived and far too self-referential to be deemed good narrative anymore. It was rather like getting beaten over the head by a brick and the brick telling you it is a brick and the brick then telling you about how it became a brick and... exhausting, especially whilst you’re trying to focus on the plot and wherever it comes vaguely into focus you’re hit again with some snarky remark that reminds you... you’re not yet free to carry on just yet.

I think this would have worked really well as a comic book - sorry, graphic novel - so maybe the author should stick to that as it is clearly their home territory. Judging by the reviews. I have never read anything by Grant Morrison, but I haven’t lost hope. I know that the ideas that they were trying to tackle are formidable and very interesting and you could see little glimmers of them here. So I think I’ll pick up something with far higher ratings.

But honestly. I felt like the whole story was so weighed down and mushy. There was no real passion at work in it. No pace. It felt like the book itself had taken some weird tranquiliser and just couldn’t get a single word out that progressed things. It was so overwrought. That’s the only word.

A glamour of a book that hid too much.