An unexpected novel, really interesting.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This is a very unusual book. Whilst comic in places it can also be very dark (Dachau scenes). I did find it quite difficult to read as Julius’s thoughts (other/predictor) were constantly interwoven into the dialogue. I understand that this was a technique to enhance the trauma of Julius’s mental health but I found it quite challenging.

The central character, a former cameraman, has been living in a mental institution in Wales for over a year, when he is released to attend his sister’s wedding in Italy. The story, set in 1934, follows his family’s car journey across Europe and their adventures along the way, against a backdrop of rising fascism. I enjoyed this book very much. The author creates a vivid sense of time and place, as well as believable characters and their often fraught relationships. He handles the cameraman’s illness sensitively. While it is a constant presence, it doesn’t dominate the story. Well written and well paced. Recommended. Thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. My opinions are my own.

A very dysfunctional English
family with dubious political views takes a memorable trip throughout Western Europe in 1934 with some hilarious consequences...

A comical and cynical romp full of absurd situations and maddening idiocies that kept me in stiches from the get-go. All the exquisitely drawn characters are simply self-centered morons who love to flirt with disaster.....
It's quite obvious that the author had a ball writing this screwball comedy with an acid pen, taking great joy in depicting a British family that has simply gone totally bonkers. The writing is crisp, sarcastic and arch. I loved it so much that I read it twice! Hopefully this fantastic read will end up very soon on the big screen!

Please get this fabulous novel and enjoy it without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Atlantic Books and Netgalley for this terrific ARC!

'The Cameraman' is set in the early 1930s and the narrator is Julius, a young man who worked as a film cameraman before being committed to a mental institution after suffering psychotic illness. In 1934 he is released in order to attend his sister's wedding in Rome, meaning a cross-Europe road trip with his mother, fascist stepfather and unpleasant siblings. Julius finds a changed Europe from the one he knew, and soon sees first hand the realities of life in the dictatorships in Germany and Italy. He is charged with two unlikely missions, but the hardest task of all is controlling his own unruly mind.

Julius is a quiet, intelligent and sensitive character and very likeable. His mental illness is depicted sensitively and in a way that I felt gave me a greater insight into what it might feel like to live with a psychotic illness. I felt a huge sympathy for him both for how he was treated by others, and for how he couldn't rely on his own thoughts and perceptions. But I also admired his compassion and his determination to do the right thing even though he faced various obstacles both internal and external.

The depiction of Europe in 1934 is chilling and disturbing, and the attitudes of Julius' fascist relatives are particularly repellent as you would expect. The rising intolerance and pressure on freedom of speech are things we are seeing an increase in today and it's hard not to fear we might be on the same slippery slope again. Kneale doesn't try to draw any clumsy parallels like that himself though, the text is very much set in its time and place and it is down to the reader to decide how relevant it might be to their own life and time.

It's a compelling and well paced read which flows nicely from beginning to end and is never slow or dull. I found it a thought provoking and absorbing read and one of the best I've read by Kneale so far (and I did like his others). I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary fiction, and particularly for readers with an interest in 20th century European history or mental illness in fiction.

I did enjoy this road trip that was fraught with mishap and misfortune almost from the start. Julius was a very credible titular character, struggling with his mental health but determined not to display any of the ‘silliness’ that got him confined to a nursing home. Trapped in the middle of the back seat of the car surrounded by his mother and step - family and on a secret mission to stop his sister’s marriage he maintains a dialogue with himself to determine the fate of events and keep himself on track. It is fascinating and completely believable. I liked the interactions between the family members, their petty squabbles and minor irritations and their attempts to hide their wariness of Julius’ mental state felt natural and honest. Julius tries to fit in but has to conceal his growing distaste for his step-father’s political stance together with a realisation that the world has changed since he has been away. At face value some of the scrapes they get into are quite amusing but there is a sense of an underlying and developing tension that most of the travellers seem completely unaware of which makes it a compelling read. The book is very readable, moving forward at a good pace and is difficult to put down. The writing is succinct and the ending is both fitting and satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy.