Right before I start this review of Loving Ghosts by Chris
Le Galle I feel as though it is my duty to tell you that he is a friend of
mine, he had given me this story after I last met him and I said I'd give it a go.
It's been a few weeks
until I actually got round to reading the 38 page story, not because I didn't
want to read it, but because I had other stuff to read and was busy with
writings of my own and as I didn't know what Loving Ghosts was about I wasn't
in too much of a hurry to start - sorry Chris.
However, I started reading it properly today and the first
thing that you notice is the way it is laid out. There is a collected paragraph
followed every time by a single line or phrase which very cleverly connects one
paragraph to the next and is very interesting to see how smooth it made the
story flow. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it really worked
well with the style of storytelling where protagonist (and unluckily named)
Dick Little tells of meeting his childhood love by chance.
I saw where this story was going (or so I thought) and
sighed, here we go again another one of those love stories where the hero meets
his soul mate and steals her away from her fiancé before she can make the
biggest mistake of her life, but it didn't go that way at all.
No, no, it hinted at it but procrastinated along the way,
and that's where the real strength of the story, for me lies. The story is
REAL. The protagonist isn't some sort of perfectly irresistible hunk who sweeps
the girl of her feet, and she isn't some too pretty and pert woman either.
They both fuck up, and things are dragged out (in the story,
not the way it's wrote) and that's what happens in real life. we are shown in
movies that love at first sight is real, and finding that soul mate is as
simple as walking up to them and carrying them away as though they were simply
a pack of crisps on the shop shelves.
Chris' use of words and connections with modern music,
movies and pop culture create a real atmosphere despite not really explaining
the environment, atmosphere or anything really in too much detail. At the same
time the only things that are explained (except the women) are the grey offices
and the luxurious gardens where the wedding reception is held, are explained so
simply that they flow well with the storyline but at the same time seem to
burst an image of the grandeur and
monotony of it all in a positive way.
The thing I like about it most is that its real, and because
of that it is captivating for someone like myself who lives in Malta.
The Maltese culture is shown perfectly through the mismatch
of Italian and English influences and interests. Dick is a drinker, a smoker
and does drugs like all of us do regardless if we are able to admit it or not,
also it's a story I can relate to (I've had no wedding yet, but similar) and
for that it feels as though Mr Dick Little, the seemingly unluckiest guy alive,
is one of the most real characters I have read in a story for a while, and all
done without really knowing what he looks like or what he really does.
This is what makes this short story powerful and the reason
it is captivating and enjoyable. It is unpublished, so therefore unavailable to
read unless you ask Chris for it yourself, so I could be making this all up and
have never read a story like it in my life and just felt like filling up some
time.
However , it is real, trust. It finishes with some reviews which
highlight why I think Chris is a great person who isn't afraid of a laugh. I
shall finish with a couple of my favourites, farewell.
“The
author is living proof, that sometimes capital punishment can be justified. Yes
it is that bad” – Jack Pink, The Business Weakly
“Buy it
only to annoy those on your hate list” – Jack White, The Mundane Times.
“The only
words worth reading in this story are; the end” – Jack Yellow, News of the
Word.
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