Jack Common: Kiddar's Luck and "The Ampersand"

These novels are so rich in the writing and the stories they tell. They crackle with humour. "Kiddar's Luck" is set at the beginning of the 20th Century and follows one family and a child's progress. It is autobiographical but very much a novel. It covers life in an industrial, poor community with big extended families feuding, laughing and loving through all their days. On streets and in middens it is all exposed for public view and discussion; the drinking, the brawling, the eating and the coming together and the disintegration of a family with drink and the stress of hard work, and too many children. But Mr Common has a sharp eye and a sense of humour to match. What could be dreary is instead a story of hope, courage and love. The "Ampersand" carries on the Kiddar's story but in a slightly darker tone. I am pleased Mr Common wrote in Geordie as much as possible. It is a rich part of our culture. I picked this up second hand as it is hard to get otherwise. Why begs the question. It is a good as anything produced by the angry generation. It sits easily alongside the domestic novels of George Orwell and politically as astute as that writer at his best.  It is evident (from his dairies) that Gorge Orwell (Eric Blair) thought highly of Jack Common's work and they shared socialist beliefs and in supporting working people to write or at least be represented in the literature of the day.

Jack Common (from dust cover photograph)