Caledonian Road, By Andrew O'Hagan
Latent Book Club Review #2501
O’Hagan creates a slice of life in the ‘Old Metrop’ (Bertie Wooster) that holds a mirror up to 21st Century England.
Caledonian Road is, a complex, but simultaneously simple book. This dichotomy is at its heart because it is a pastiche - a slice of London Life, firmly - affixedly - dated in 2021, as the pandemic ebbed. We are told that it took O’Hagan 10 years to write, notwithstanding its setting in post pandemic Britain. And given its intricacy, this is very easy to believe. We first heard about this groundbreaking book given its exceptional review on ABC’s The Bookshelf.
Caledonian Road is complex because it contains so much. And it is simple, because it doesn’t dive deeply unnecessarily . You just get a slice, a flavour, of the character’s lives. And that flavour is enough: It says things about the 21st century. About the pandemic. About migration. About modern slavery. About exploitation of others. And as it does so, it cuts into themes that pervade the modern zeitgeist: the aristocracy / the oligarchy; the culture wars; Socialism and capitalism; finding meaning in an increasingly isolationist world.
O'Hagan paints London as both vibrant and decaying, with scenes spanning elite dinner parties, underground hacking communities, and courtrooms. The narrative is rich with satire, reminiscent of Martin Amis’ London Fields.
On one level, how it does so is simple. You follow Campbell Flynn, an academic with aristocratic pretensions - which are almost justified. He comes from money, as does his wife. He is a 52-year-old art historian and celebrity intellectual, whose interactions with his student Milo, reveal themes of social disparity, power, and downfall. Despite his outward success, Campbell’s life is marked by contradictions and concealed vulnerabilities.
Campbell’s downfall is inevitable, driven by his own moral blind spots and the complex dynamics he navigates, including his dubious friendships with wealthy, ethically compromised figures, and his secret authorship of a controversial self-help book on modern masculinity, Why Men Weep In Their Cars. His relationship with Milo adds a layer of tension, as Milo’s intentions are not as sincere as they seem.
Caledonian Road not only contains a shocking denoumeount, but the themes of the novel stick with you long after the pages have closed. What it says about the modern world is prescribed reading for anyone who ‘feels things along the pulse’.
Before you go…
Want more from Vaudeville’s golden age? Get similar works by subscribing to the Latent Book Club today, for free. We post all reviews, free, and have a huge range in our archive.
If you just can’t wait for the next one:
Check out our latest Latent Book Club finds:
Haruki Murakami’s motivational What I talk about when I talk about Running
Max Porter’s unconventional Lanny
Ian McEwan’s contemporary parable Machines Like Me
Patrick Stewart’s stellar autobiography, Making It So
Richard Matheson’s devilishly readable I am Legend
Or see of our full range of reviews and finds in our archive.
Explore our collection of poetry:
Check out our long form poetry analysis:
Or read our entire back catalouge in our poetry archive.