White Trash

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Brilliant - Rated
White Trash should be essential reading for politicians everywhere. Written before Harold Shipman was discovered, this book is a wake-up call as to the value of human life and the importance of the national health service. This is a political novel which brings to life the quote from Brave New World that introduces the book. It also comes highly recommended by none other than Alan Sillitoe. - Brilliant.

Very Dissapointing. - Rated
I loved King's "hooligan trilogy" (The Football Factory, Headhunters, and England Away) as well as his last book (Human Punk), but this is a subpar effort. After a confusing and overwritten fifteen-page prologue, the book begins in earnest, introducing Ruby, a nurse at a London hospital. She's kind of a millennial salt-of-the-earth type, waking up to pirate radio, young and comfortable with herself and her body, and always up for a night out clubbing with pals, and a few tokes. Chapters about her alternate with chapters about Mr. Jeffrey, who is a operations consultant working at the same hospital. He's a precise single man of precise upper-class tastes-the embodiment of establishment efficiency with a caring face.

For a hundred pages, not a lot happens, as the reader is given a greater sense of the duo's work at the hospital and their worldviews. Then there's a strange chapter in italics whose stream of consciousness appears to tell the life story of someone who is a patient at the hospital. Three more of these appear roughly every fifty pages, and each brings to life a regular person who's had ups and downs before arriving in the hospital. Meanwhile, as the chapters roll on, it becomes clearer and clearer that Ruby and Mr. Jeffrey have strongly divergent perspectives on life. Ruby is a good person, always finding the good in people, striving to maintain a smile on her face in spite of life's injustices and ugliness. Mr. Jeffery, on the other hand, gets gradually more and more sinister. His thoughts about society and observations of people get more and more cynical and judgmental until they become hateful. Through this semi-straw man, King none too subtlety attacks the worship of money and efficiency, as well as the role of the government in shaping modern society.

For about three-quarters of the book, not much happens beyond the above, making for a rather tedious read. A somewhat predictable but sweet love interest arrives on the scene for Ruby, but that's about it. Then suddenly, the plodding buildup reveals a nasty secret at the heart of the story. It's an over-the-top and completely awkward revelation that unfortunately catapults the book into lame thriller territory. And be warned, there is some extremely graphic and unpleasant violence lurking at the end. It's a dissapointing, because while King's championing of everyday human decency and goodness is certainly welcome, it's not done with any subtlety whatsoever. There are some great characters, especially Ruby and her coworkers, but it's not a great book.

Put me out of my misery!!!!!!!! - Rated
Having read his other books, I was looking forward to reading this so much, and........... what an overly sentimental, contrived, predictable and drawn out piece of writing. The whole book just rambles on and on about the lead character Ruby and how 'good' she is, and I mean ON and ON and ON. The "pure evil" the rear cover speaks of, you spot by the fourth page of their introduction. Yet King just over eggs the whole thing, and labours the point of each character constantly. By page 70 boredom and disbelief at yet more sentimental romatic drivel firmly set in. I was going to give it two stars because yes, the last 80 pages are very good (apart from the mushy pulp romatic novel rubbish of the last five), but thought that surely the whole point of a good book was that the whole 355 pages were good and not just the last few chapters?!

Sorry, a book that got thrown at the wall four times in frustrated boredom doesn't deserve more than one star. Don't under ANY circumstance purchase this book, even buy one get one free. Get a libray card, it'll cost you £2.00 at the most not the £7.00 I wasted on this.

Compelling Reading - Rated
White Trash is an unusual structure for a novel. Other than King's usual stylistically different content, it takes 270 pages for the story to actually begin in earnest. Only in the final 80 pages does it become clear where the plot is leading.

That aside, White Trash is a brutally honest portrayal of life in Britain in the time we live in, centering on a number of people connected with an NHS hospital. Gradually it become clear the story is actually a thriller! King manages to delve into his various characters and burrow past the stereotypes to their lives and aspirations beyond. Ultimately the book's ending is a victory for the ordinary person over the brutal system represented by the hospital.

The worst book that I have read for years - Rated
I bought this book as I had heard that King was master of authenticity. What I found was a book chock to the brim with the usual hackneyed stereotypes. Good nurse. Unfeeling Doctor. The stereotypes just kept coming. I struggled on hoping it would get better. It doesn't.

Save your money and buy another book. Any other book.