Review: A Taste of Human Nature Garnished with Farcical Wit
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2014
"Henry First" is a novel that is much more than a story of excess, despite what the secondary title tells us. It is a madcap adventure that bursts with so much symbolism and with so many underlying themes that it threatens to make your head spin...in a good way. In addition to the aforementioned story of excess, this is also a story of win-at-any-cost attitudes, of capitalism gone wild, greed and corruption, yellow journalism, all manner of obsessive/compulsive behavior, and the dark side of human nature...just to scratch the surface of what this story is about. This extremely intelligent and multilayered story is also infused with constant wit that almost makes us feel guilty for laughing aloud at the misfortunes of others, and that there is humor to be found in people doing horrible things to one another. Basil Lawrence seasons this culinary adventure with a brand of British humor that is sometimes shocking and always hilarious.Much of Lawrence's humor is derived through his characters meeting with awkward and, in many cases, unconscionable situations. The sheer brilliance arises not so much from deliberate jokes, but from the realistic ineptitude of the characters' attempts to cope with a high stakes melodrama that continues to snowball further out of their control in appalling and hysterical ways.I also found the character of Henry First to be intriguing and unpredictable both in the context of the story and because of the name itself. Henry First has many implications and could be interpreted in numerous ways in relation to this elaborate thematic web. I even saw how the name could be an allusion to King Henry I. Like the famous king, Henry First is also a multidimensional character that may be viewed with sympathy by some and with disdain by others. I tended to view him with a little of the former and a lot of the latter. Nonetheless, it can hardly be argued that both King Henry I and Henry First both have at least some personality traits that would be considered highly unpleasant by most peoples' standards.This was one of the smartest and funniest books I've read in a long time. It is a dark and hilarious treatise on the less palatable aspects of human nature, and the recipe for one heck of a good time for its readers. Basil Lawrence has found a new fan from across the pond