The Damned Utd by David Peace

I bought this little wonder for my husband for Christmas. He is not normally a novel reader but he started this on Christmas Day night and couldn't put it down, in fact he followed me about the house reading bits to me. I just had to have a read myself after that.

The Damned Utd by David Peace is based on the true story of English football manager Brian Clough. For those not familiar with Clough he was a charaismatic, eccentric and very successful football manager in the 1970s and 1980s. He had great success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. Between managing those clubs he spent 44 disasterous days managing Leeds United. Leeds were the previous year's champions and had been managed by Cloughie's rival Don Revie; Clough prided himself on the the fair play of his teams and now he was off to the hard men of 'dirty Leeds', a team he had publically loathed. What happens next is not pretty.

The story, and it is a fictional version, is told day by day through the increasingly paranoid and desperate medium of a characterised version of Brian Clough. All the famous ticks of the real Clough are there: the brashness, the ego, the willfullness, the charisma and the odd vulnerability; he is both an entertainer and an inspirational despot. The mind of this verison of Brian Clough is not an easy place to be, depressed as he was, and gradually succombing to alchohol, but it is also witty, unexpected and oddly charming at the same time. Lightening the tone, the 44 dreadful days are interspersed with memories of Clough's own football career, his time with long-term collaborator Peter Taylor at Hartlepool and then the breakthroughs and successes of his Derby days. Clough is not always likeable but he is a mesmerising figure.

The subject matter may be popular but the prose style is not. It is a difficult, highly literary read that simultaneously drains you whilst pushing you onto the end of the novel whether you like it or not; like some kind of demented personal trainer. But like any well planned exercise it is really well worth the effort (whether you like football or not). The mind play and the charactisation are superb, and because this is focusing on Cloughie, master of the one liner and throw away comment, it is not just a dark book but an extremely funny one. There are no long pass-by-pass descriptions of football. It is the politics and characters off the pitch on which we focus. A superb achievement, which I highly recommend, but not a comfort read. I gather the recently released film is a much softer version incidentally.

If you know nothing about the Brian Clough/Peter Taylor story then the following bits of documentary from youtube might help before reading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US_-hm0-zP8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeL7mXJgCYM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYExt-G7His&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOFjqh9463Q&feature=related

There is also an excellent review of another David Peace book Tokyo Year Zero, which sounds equally uncompromising in style, on Ready When You Are, CB.

Comments

[Jackie (Farm Lane Books)]

This book doesn't appeal to me at all, as I'm not a fan of football - but I have Tokyo Year Zero on my wishlist.

I enjoy reading your blog so I've given you an award:
http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/?p=1070

[cbjames]

Thanks for th link. I'm going to look into gettintg The Damned Utd. soon. Mr. Peace has me hooked.

[Simon S]

Hmmm I am tempted, I dunno there has been something that has been holding me back from this book but you have sold it to me... I will see if I can find some none movie covered versions in any shops over the next few weeks.

[Jane]

You've sold me Juxtabook. I couldn't be less interested in football but I'm going out to buy the book this afternoon. And I'm not going to see the film until I've read it.

[Juxtabook]

I don't think - I hope at any rate - that you need to like football to like this Jackie and Jane. I do hope you're not disappointed Jane!

Simon - movie covers - seriously depressiong habit of the publishing world aren't they??