Hopefully this conveys the almost hyperaware way Welsh sets a scene through Rilke's observations. And I don't mean this as criticism, because it's not a bad stylistic choice at all. However, I do think it prevented me from viewing any of the other characters as fully three-dimensional personalities; to me, they all seemed too distilled when filtered through Rilke. This is a danger of any story narrated in first-person, but it is not one that The Cutting Room overcomes. More tease, less stip; Review: The Cutting Room". The Guardian. 31 August 2002 . Retrieved 14 August 2011. For God's sake, Rose, look at those wardrobes. The Sally Ann had a sign in their window last week, Buy one wardrobe, get another one free.' I halted, my hand resting on the door jamb. She was staring at me hard, hesitating, as if she was trying to make up her mind about something. Glasgow Women's Library | Celebrating Scotland's Women". womenslibrary.org.uk . Retrieved 30 March 2016.

The Cutting Room by Welsh, Louise, First 9781841953830 - The Cutting Room by Welsh, Louise, First

In 2009, she donated the short story "The Night Highway" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the Air collection. [8] The stained glass of the front door cast a red glow across the hallway, a staircase with an ornately carved mahogany banister was to our left, the parquet floor laid with thinning Turkish rugs; this family had been rich for a long time. A heavy mahogany table stood to the right of the door. It was bare, none of the usual family photographs, and I guessed she'd been doing some clearing out already. Welsh studied history at Glasgow University and after graduating established and worked at a second-hand bookshop [2] for several years before publishing her first novel. I made my phone call. It went no better than I'd anticipated. I promised to come in at five and explain myself. The rest of the afternoon would be spent on a rough inventory - furniture, paintings and miscellaneous objets d'art to be removed first. Rule number one: always move the good stuff first; that way you won't lose it or drop it, and if the deal falls through, you may still get something. The crew arrived at two, mutinous at the prospect of double shifts. I jollied them into a semblance of good humour - told them I was sure it would be thirsty work. I could see my commission ending up down their throats come the end of the week. When they saw what we had, they quietened down. The job was big. It was a while since we'd had a whole town house and the tight schedule meant we'd need extra hands - the usual unemployed sons, brothers, cousins, dragged away from their beds and daytime soaps for cash in hand.He is quite the character, Rilke, a man who tries to pass for a respectable citizen, “but I am too tall, too thin, too cadaverous to look anything other than a vampire on the make”. Now uncomfortably into midlife, he remains a perpetually single gay man who spends far too much time on Grindr and balances a bleak worldview sustained largely on a liquid diet of whisky. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ From December 2010 to April 2012, she was the Writer in Residence for the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. [1] Resident Participants | The International Writing Program". iwp.uiowa.edu . Retrieved 12 April 2017.

The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh – Canongate Books

Rose took a deep breath and dredged up a smile. I knew her well enough to know she was miserable, and I appreciated the effort. Best true crime documentaries on Netflix: 10 of the most highly rated documentaries on cults and cult leadersYes, Mr McPhee,' I'd said. Looking all the while at a pile of furniture reaching almost to the ceiling and thinking, You stupid old git, thirty-five years in this place.

Louise Welsh, review: Squalid, sardonic and The Second Cut, Louise Welsh, review: Squalid, sardonic and

Woolworth's has had better sales. It's sad, Rose, sad. Crap furniture for DHSS landlords and it's been like that for weeks, months. This is good stuff, the best. I've seen it, you've not. We can shift it, but only if we stop arguing and get moving.' Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth It's clean. Christ, I remember a time when you weren't bothered whether you had a glass or not, so long as there was some alcohol on the go. Now drink up and tell me all about it.' I'll need to take a look around before I can give you a preliminary estimate of how long it'll take. I'll provide you with a rough valuation by the end of the week.'Rilke, when my father left me his share in this auction house it was little better than a junk mart and organised fence. What is it now?' I raised my eyebrows; never interrupt the litany. 'It's the best auction house in Glasgow. But it'll not stay the best if you do things like this. There is no way we can shift that amount of stuff in a week.' Death Is a Welcome Guest by Louise Welsh, book review: A gripping survivor's story with shades of Agatha Christie". The Independent. 31 May 2015 . Retrieved 2 January 2016. The Cutting Room is the debut novel of Scottish author Louise Welsh. The book was first published in 2002 by Edinburgh-based publisher Canongate. It has won several awards including the 2002 Saltire Society First Book Award.

Louise Welsh - Book Series In Order Louise Welsh - Book Series In Order

And I believed her. I stood my ground half-heartedly, telling her she'd not get top price, that there was only so much possible in a week, but we both knew it was a useless dance. Plans to produce a film version of the novel were at an advanced stage in 2004. The film was set to star Robert Carlyle as Rilke with a screenplay from Andrea Gibb, and was due to be filmed on location in the West End of Glasgow, but the project failed to materialise. [4] [6] Carlyle did, however, contribute to an audiobook version of the novel in 2006. [7] References [ edit ] The novel was adapted for the stage a year after publication, the world premiere taking place in the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow in October 2003. [5] My brother had a second office at the top of the house. He had the attic floored and worked up there when he wanted total peace. It's one of those pull-down-ladder arrangements, too much for me. I would be grateful if you would work on that yourself. I don't think there will be anything of interest to me, more fuel for the bonfire I suspect, but I would appreciate your discretion.' The amateur detective, the cruising flaneur, the queer auctioneer and his dubious friends: it's the kind of set-up that makes the reader anticipate further adventures for Rilke and co; his crew of rough trannies, bent coppers and Merlot-slugging femmes fatales. Like any genre plot it makes us want more, and its world is strangely cosy. We know we're confined by the safe walls of certain conventions.

Louise Welsh is an award-winning author of eight novels. The Cutting Room, her debut novel, won the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award and the Saltire First Book of The Year Award. In 2018, she was awarded the Most Inspiring Saltire First Book Award winner by public vote. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. My apprenticeship had been served in an atmosphere of regret. The regret of my elders at the passing of 'the good stuff', the Georgian silver, treasures and spoils of empire that according to CP had littered the salerooms of his day. I'd rolled my eyes and cursed him for an old man. Now I mourned junk-shop Victoriana and art-deco bibelots. I missed the street hawkers and book barrows of Paddy's Market's prime, shook my head at what passed for quality, and pitied youth. The best was not yet to come. It had vanished for ever. Or so I had thought. Astonishingly this is a first novel, catapulting Welsh straight into the superstar league, while establishing Rilke as a true original” The novel won several awards, including the Saltire Society First Book Award 2002, the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award 2002 and the BBC Underground Award 2003. [3] Adaptations [ edit ] The Sunday Times described The Cutting Room as: "one of the most intriguing, assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years". [3] The List was particularly impressed by Welsh's portrayal of Glasgow: "...the city becomes a character in its own right; Gothic, dismal, decaying and frightening in equal measure". [4]