I had a shorter version of this review in The Independent on Mon 6th Feb, which, because of a techie problem, did not appear on the Indy website.
Light Lifting – Alexander Macleod
Jonathan Cape £14.99
Reviewed by Leyla Sanai
Alexander Macleod is already a rising star in his native Canada: this debut collection of stories was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2010. Shortlisting for the Frank O’Connor and winning an Atlantic Award added to his reputation. Colm Toibin and Anne Enright are fans.
Light Lifting has an assured tone that’s rare in debuts, but the most striking feature of the seven stories here is the detail they divulge about their protagonists’ work and routine. The emphasis here is not so much on people and the relationships between them but the way they become sucked into activities which take over their lives due to obsession, duty, or both.
In Miracle Mile, Macleod inhabits the world of professional runners. The first-person narrator, Mikey, reminisces about one race he ran with his racing buddy Burner. Like all sports stories, the build-up is as important as the event itself, and Macleod, an ex runner himself, takes us into the twitchy, minds and bodies of the two men. Macleod’s interest in the sport may explain how he is so well versed in the minutiae of a runner’s existence, from the obsessive compulsion that incites some to give up alcohol, sex and many foods, through the arduous training, to the crazy methods for cheating obtaining erythropoietin, which induces formation of red blood cells to transport more oxygen to muscles. The transformation from interesting sports piece to compelling story comes at the point when Mikey breaks news to Burner that ignites a fire that serves Burner well, but also a simmering volcano waiting to erupt.
Sports is on the agenda again in Adult Beginner 1. Stacey, who nearly drowned as a child, overcomes her phobia as an adult by learning to swim with a charismatic teacher. Macleod is wickedly funny about the bitchiness of older women, competing for the handsome coach’s attention: ‘No need to make a big show. Just go for Godsakes’ snipes one middle aged classmate when Stacey remains reticent to push off from the side of the pool. Later, when the coach plies Stacey with kids’ badges, ‘The Ladies were not impressed. ‘He’s not supposed to do that, you know,’ one of them said.’This story builds on the dramatic tension of the first in that while the consequences of Burner’s actions were left to our imagination, here, the ending has a terrible inevitability, the shock of which is not lessened by our having anticipated it.
Another outstanding story is The Loop, in which a young delivery boy is exposed to far more than any child should be on his evening trips to people’s homes with their pharmaceutical supplies. It’s not only the physical danger that Macleod conveys, although his description of the boy cycling in heavy snow is alarming. It’s the horrors of adult life – illness, decrepitude, loneliness, neglect – that age him before his time.
Wonder About Parents is a story comparable to Lorrie Moore’s People Like That Are The Only People Here in that a sick baby is the focus of one strand. I craved more on this gut-punching thread than on the temporally later thread about a more minor problem, which served mainly to show that baby and family had survived.
Sometimes the mechanical details seem to take precedence over the human aspect. In The Number Three, less about the manufacturing work and more about the devastation following the loss of the protagonist’s wife and daughter would have made the story more powerful. In Light Lifting, although the details about manual labour authenticate the story, the human aspect could have been expanded.
Still, MacLeod has shown himself to be a highly accomplished writer able to generate atmosphere, produce credible characters and dialogue, and enter a variety of different ordinary working and recreational situations.
