"if nobody speaks of remarkable things" by Jon McGregor (Bloomsbury, 2002)

I prefer this to Coetzee's "Disgrace": various types of relationships shown, good control of multiple narrative threads, ability to compress remembrance. Lots of "show", though the implications aren't always clear until later we have a bit of "tell". The students/twentysomethings aren't as different from the other adults as perhaps they should be. I like the imagery, but maybe others will think it too flashy

• "The rippled roll of shutters pulled down on late-night cafes, a crackled voice crying street names for taxis, a loud scream that lingers and cracks into laughter, a bang that might just be an old car backfiring, a callbox calling out for an answer, a treeful of birds tricked into morning"
• "I see a line of cars crossing an empty carpark like wagons across a prairie"