I have followed the poet Brian Bilston on social media for a few years now. I like the way he plays with words and with different formats of poem, so I was interested when his book, Diary of a Somebody, was available to download for 99p. I consider a 99p download to be a very low threshold to find new authors and have discovered many great new reads that way. I found the time to read it recently and was not disappointed.
As the title suggests, the novel is written in diary form and takes place over the course of a single year, with entries for almost every day. The format of the book is interesting. It’s a novel, yes, but one in which ‘Brian’ (a nom-de-plume itself) is the principal character. I get the sense too that there is quite an element of self-disclosure in the story, which gives it something of an intimate feel.
Diary of a Somebody has a loveable anti-hero
The story starts on 1 January with a poem and a resolution that Brian will maintain a diary for the year and try to write a poem every day. As with most of his aspirations this does not last very long, which proves to be something of a theme for the book.
We are introduced to his monthly routine, his project to rearrange his bookshelves into ISBN order and his dislike for a marketing job creating pointless spreadsheets and PowerPoints. Brian’s monthly evening at a poetry club is described in detail (this will form a major element of the plot), and there we encounter his nemesis, the insufferable and pretentious Toby Salt, with his pompous opinions, smugness, and impenetrable poetry.
On Saturdays Brian takes his son Dylan to football, where Dylan’s side always gets thrashed. Dylan reports to his dad that Brian’s estranged wife now has a new boyfriend, who has all the hallmarks of being irritating: Stuart, the motivational coach and charity fundraiser.
Another monthly event is a book group where we learn that Brian regularly turns up having read virtually nothing of the book under discussion.
The plot runs through the calendar year, with a very bad patch of negative events happening in Brian’s life in the middle and things then improving in the latter part, culminating in a happy(ish) ending.
A range of relatable characters and situations
One of the strengths of Bilston’s book is his ability to create relatable characters that we can recognise. Our anti-hero Brian himself strikes a chord, and I sympathised with his habit of starting out with good intentions, yet often achieving little, due to lack of application and tenacity. It’s easy to see people we have probably all met ourselves in many of the characters Brian encounters. Toby Salt, the arch-bore at the poetry club, is an archetype for every self-satisfied, pompous, vain twit that we might have met.
Another familiar caricature is Stuart, his wife’s new boyfriend, a man into self-help jargon who is teaching Dylan to spout motivational quotes and has a life coach mantra for every situation.
Bilston also evocatively describes situations. I loved a passage where he takes his son Dylan for a week’s holiday in a rented cottage. The weather is horrible and they are stuck indoors with little by way of entertainment as the Wi-Fi isn’t working. The passage reminded me of a few holidays in rented cottages where the crockery wasn’t quite matching and the owner’s taste in old books was somewhat limited. A very relatable passage.
The key part of the story starts with Brian being made redundant by the company he works for. The scene where the HR Director informs Brian of his impending redundancy using a barrage of impenetrable management buzzwords is very well written. I have been on the receiving end myself.
A light and fun read
The plot of Diary of a Somebody is relatively light and paints a picture of an aspiring writer who cannot finish anything, careering from failure to failure in a hapless and endearing way – the irony being, of course, that you are actually enjoying his writing. The diary is full of colourful and quirky characters who provide plenty of humour and it’s also interspersed with poems, often relating to elements of the plot. Many of the poems are witty and humorous and I’m guessing the author had a lot of fun creating them for Toby Salt, as they are really dire and obtuse.
Despite his apparent personal failings, Brian comes across as a warm and sympathetic character. I wanted him to succeed, although I must admit I did feel that the resolution of all his problems at the end of the year felt just a little too good to be true.
In summary, Diary of a Somebody is a light read and will provide you with many laughs – I feel like Toby Salt after that last sentence. Part poetry, part novel, part comedy and part detective story, it’s a very different novel to the norm.
I enjoyed many of the poems (except Toby’s), and it’s undeniably a very good read, especially if you (or someone you give it to) is looking for something a bit unconventional. Most of all, it’s fun! Enjoy.
