2005-09-09 Joyous but (only occasionally) frustrating

I'm about half way through reading this book, on the recommendation of a friend - so my review might not be entirely appropriate. However, so far so good. This is the story of an out-of-work academic who befriends a strange visitor from the (fictional) country of Laxaria, the eponymous Melog. Through Melog's pale-blue eyes we see Wales, and indeed the world - We see its idiosyncracies, its history, and its culture, all distilled through the microcosm of a small valleys town. This is not to say that the philosophy of the book is restricted to Wales or to the 'Welsh experience' - though Doctor Jones' study of an archaic Welsh 'encyclopaedia' often brings us back to these themes.
The writing is witty and surreal, bringing to mind a strange mixture of Mike Leigh and The League Of Gentlemen. It is only ever clunky when the spectre of 'welsh politics' rears its ugly head, and does so in a sometimes hamfisted way. Waiting for something for a long time is, it is said, like waiting for 'self government for Wales' - a Welsh Nationalist nudge in the ribs to anyone in on the joke. Anyway who isn't a Welsh Nationalist will probably just find this a little exclusive, not to mention lacking in subtlety.
This is a minor niggle, however, as there are other passages which have had me laughing out loud on the bus to work. Perhaps I will submit a second review when I have finished the book!