Unbelievable

Free books are a good thing, right? That was certainly the thinking behind the book club application to win a set of books courtesy of the library service and the publisher. Even better, we did actually get them, giving us a dozen copies in return for some feedback and reviews. Which seemed fair enough, especially as we were going to be discussing it anyway, that being the raison d'être of a book club. Thus armed with copies of Nigel Farndale's The Blasphemer, we are prepared for Wednesday's meeting.

Sadly, I think it's likely to be a bit of a bitch fest. It certainly didn't wow me and I've heard other mutterings that suggest it's in for some scathing reviews. So what was the problem? Well, several things. Firstly, there was just far too much going on, and secondly, lots of it didn't make much sense, at least not to me. If he'd stuck to just one story, with a couple of side plots, it would have been a lot better, namely the main one, with perhaps the exploration of Daniel's relationship with his father, who was probably the most likeable, and probably believable character in the book.

Which leads me on to the next point. Despite their imperfections, the main couple were both just a bit too good. At everything. And though I didn't necessarily like them, they were at least more rounded than the rest. From their oddity of a daughter, through the bizarre subplot involving her teacher/Daniel's guardian angel, to the gay doctor, it was all a bit much. Throw in the frankly sadistic Wetherby (a name I can't take seriously anyway as a result of a bizarre years old in-joke), the completely unrealistic pseudo-counsellor, and the World War I narrative, which stirred nothing in me, and you have a huge mess of a novel.

The whole atheism/faith debate could have been interesting, if it hadn't been handled with all the sensitivity of a breezeblock. It just wasn't subtle, the whole Catholicism debacle – "you go to mass, you're going to be fine, pal" – can't really have shocked anyone and the main guardian angel thread was just pushing the boundaries of belief. Which perhaps was the point, but not the way it turned out. Saved by a turtle? Seriously? And how many near-death experiences can a man have in the space of a few weeks?

I actually thought it had promise and it started off fairly well. It wasn't badly written as such, just in desperate need of some editing. The central premise (by which I mean fight or flight rather than theism) was interesting, and had more care been given to the main theme and we could have ended up with a pared down Richard Yates, perhaps with the war as a subplot rather than another narrative. However, from the crash onwards, so much of it just felt so unbelievable. I did feel there was a good book buried in there somewhere. Just a shame it wasn't the one I read.

Book number: 56
Title: The Blasphemer
Author: Nigel Farndale
Category: Book club/recommendations