Where I Was

These short stories were previously published in [b:Lean Tales 1106858 Lean Tales James Kelman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1181051903s/1106858.jpg 1093797], and is a sort collection here in the Penguin 70s set of books.The stories vary from a couple of pages to several pages, and are all generally bleak stories - stories of homeless men, of drunks, of minimum wage earners, addicted gamblers, of Scotsmen displaced in the UK, recalling the (imagined?) splendours of their former time in Scotland.The are very accessible stories - it is easy to imagine oneself in the situations described, down and kicked, without much hope - except for a miracle, and looking to survive the day without planning any further forward. When I say stories, I think I probably need to disclaim a little - some them are not really stories - they don't all have a start, a middle and an end, some are more like a snapshot of a small part of a story; a couple of hours, or days of a story.The other James Kelman book I have read is the Man Booker Prize winning [b:How Late It Was, How Late 89208 How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358745713s/89208.jpg 1193963], which is written in Scottish dialect, much like Irvine Welsh's books. I had expected this to be the same, and I enjoy the quirkiness of that, and find it adds to my interest. It is not - but despite this, still a tidy three stars.